My Exchange at Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University
My first impression of Lyon was great- I hadn’t heard much about the city and when I arrived I was surprised to see that it was actually more beautiful than the photos. I was lucky enough to flat In Vieux Lyon, the old Roman part of the town which was all pastel colours and gorgeous wee restaurants. I had a room that looked over the river, and just across the river was the city centre with the more modern shopping areas. It was a truly magical place to live, and still now I am obsessed with the city. There is always a great vibe and it is big enough that there’s always something happening, but smaller than Paris so it takes a fraction of the time to get around. There are heaps of markets and that was always where we would go to get our fresh food for the week.
The French culture was a bit challenging at times I must say- they are not very accommodating or helpful when you need it, and trying out your French is not a very fun experience. Unfortunately, I think that meant that we were all less inclined to speak French to strangers- they often ogle at you until you say it perfectly as if they can’t understand you at all, or they just resort to English in a huff (obviously some people are far more accommodating and this is a harsh generalisation). Unfortunately there is also quite an unsafe culture and not much of a feeling of trust in the community- which I now feel very grateful for in NZ. A few of my friends had their phones stolen out of their pockets in the metro or other places, and I had my laptop stolen a month in from beside my leg in the University cafe. I went to a couple of different police stations and they were all very rude about it as if it was my fault, which was frustrating. That put a bit of a dampener on my time as it was really hard to try to find a replacement. Luckily I ended up being able to borrow an iPad off a Kiwi family I was babysitting for over there.
Now about the university. I first went on exchange in 2020 to Mexico but had to return after 5 weeks due to COVID. So this was my second experience on exchange which unfortunately meant I was comparing everything to that. The University in France made no effort to organise any events or activities for our exchange student cohort which we were all craving. This meant everything was self-organised, which just meant it was very hard to get the full group of students together. For the whole semester this meant we were all quite distant, which was quite a contrast to Mexico when we all were very close due to the activities and trips we all did together at the start. This was my main disappointment with the exchange. The University was also very administratively difficult and they were terrible at communicating things. For example, there were some days when the University was blocked and closed because of strikes about the retirement age (which also has been quite interesting- ended up inadvertently being tear gassed one day biking home from the gym..). The University never communicated to us that it was closed so we all would make our way to school to find out. There were a few things like that about classes and things. Also, there are no common areas inside on campus. Because the French University is effectively free, they are really under resourced and the students don’t have much of a student culture there- they go to class and then go home. So whenever us exchange students wanted to sit somewhere between classes we were stuck- we could either go into the quiet library or go into the cafeteria where they would kick you out if you weren’t buying anything. Otherwise it was out in the cold. That was quite a different experience to uni in NZ. Those factors aside, I really enjoyed most of my law classes, which were all taught in English by professionals in the field. It was also great getting French lessons, which were for 4 hours every Tuesday. Although it often felt like a long drag, it was great getting so much French in.
The food was also a highlight- can never complain about getting 1 euro pain au chocolats every day for a semester. The bread and pastries and everything is just fantastic, and give the French food a go- it often sounds pretty random on the menu but they really pull it off. Coffee isn’t such a highlight- to get a coffee like we have in NZ costs a fortune, and strong coffee doesn’t really exist.
In terms of tips, I recommend signing up to Free mobile which is really cheap and gives you lots of data. Also get a Vélo’v subscription- which equates to about $2 a month and gives you access to bikes all around the city. Which is super helpful if, like me, you live quite central and therefore can get basically anywhere by bike. Overall, I loved the city of Lyon a lot, and while the University experience could definitely have been improved, I had a great semester.
Q&A
What were some of the highlights of the academic experience at your host university?
The courses I took were actually really interesting and useful. Although there was not much by way of options for law courses, the ones I took were all taught by professionals who were working or had worked in the field, which meant it was interesting and practical info. And it was all international based- so we didn’t learn specifically about the French system, which would have been interesting but not very practical. It was also great having French language as part of the course, which was really well done and brought up my level a lot.
What are your top 3 tips for future students attending your host university or going on exchange to your host country?
Really try to get to know people at the start and organise activities and events together. The University didn’t organise anything for us at the start and it meant the cohort was quite distant, and as time went on no one wanted to then start to reach out to the others, so I think it’s important to start strong in terms of creating a close cohort. Another tip would be to get accommodation either close to campus or close to the city centre (Bellecour/Cordeliers/Vieux Lyon area. Most classes start at 8am so you don’t want to be too far from campus, but it’s also great being close to the city (which also isn’t far from campus), but if you’re far from both you’ll spend a lot of time travelling. Finally, when I arrived I joined the ‘Expats in Lyon’ Facebook page, and saw a few people had posted asking for a native English speaker to come round and hang out with their kids and speak in English for a few hours a week. I did that with 2 families and it was great- very easy and paid well. So I would recommend joining that and you could always make a post offering that or just scroll through and I’m sure you’ll find someone. Nice way to get some extra cash.
How much did you budget for your exchange? Was this enough? Were there any lessons learned that would help future students budget for their own exchange?
I didn’t really do a budget beforehand, which was ok as I had money saved up. But it’s worth keeping in mind that you won’t get StudyLink until about 2 months into the French semester, which can be a bit alarming for a while if you’re not getting any money in. Also there are always so many costs that you can’t anticipate so everything is always more than you expect- so keep that in mind if you are budgeting.
What are your most significant takeaways from your experience abroad?
I learned so much to be honest. I learned to be very self-sufficient and resilient in the face of the French system and culture which tends to be quite unaccommodating and unhelpful whenever you need it. I also learned that even the University is a theft hotspot and having your laptop beside you is not sufficiently safe from a thief. I learned that it’s important to get to know as many people as you can as early as you can, otherwise people become cliquey and it’s more difficult to ignite friendships. I also learned that it’s good to travel around a bit, but make sure you spend enough time exploring your own city so you can really feel like you can say you lived there.
Do you want to share anything about travels you did outside your host city/country?
Beware of going through Switzerland as your phone provider probably charges you extra for using data there and you’ll suddenly find yourself with a 60 euro fee for listening to music for 10 minutes on the train through Switzerland.
Is there anything else you’d like to highlight?
I would add some more things to think about when choosing where to go on exchange. I went on an exchange to Mexico in 2020 which I returned from early because of COVID, and that was quite a different university experience. In our first week they had organised so many parties for our exchange cohort, and trips away etc. This meant that our cohort was very close and we had one big network of friends basically.
In Lyon the University did nothing to try to facilitate our friend-making process which was quite noticeable. I think also because we started the semester when it was winter, people were less inclined to hang out all the time as it was just quite cold. People who started the semester in Summer for example, said that it was a far more collegial cohort because everyone was more enthusiastic for activities as it was warm. So I would say to keep this in mind. But if you’re just going to learn and study then it’s a great university and I learnt lots.