Toulouse spring 2017 I had a time of my life in Toulouse, also called La ville rose, and I m very happy that I chose it as my exchange destination. Hope my report helps to choose yours! Preparing for the exchange Preparing for an exchange in an EU country is quite painless. I received an email from TBS in the beginning of October that included all the information about necessary documents and signing into courses. TBS s platform for all school related things is called Campus and you get detailed instructions how to use the platform, where to find syllabuses for the courses, how to sign in and etc. They also sent an email with an accommodation guide.
Important documents I was asked to have the following documents: A certificate of language proficiency (English or French) for non-native speakers only o You get one by just asking from our school s international office or a teacher Your CV or resume A copy of your European Health Insurance Card o Order this from KELA as soon as possible A copy of your current passport (ID section) A copy of your birth certificate translated into French or English for non-european languages o Later I needed a birth certificate also in Finnish for the CAF housing benefits. You can get one from a local register office (maistraatti). I recommend scanning all the documents and printing multiple copies of them to make your life easier later. Preparing for France and Toulouse is not too difficult but be prepared for the inefficient French administration systems you are going to face when planning things and once you get there. Also, when I was leaving, in order to get the deposit back to my Finnish bank account, I needed an official document from my bank that states my account information (it wasn t enough to just tell them the information yourself). Electricity & home insurance In addition to make sure you have the documents listed, pay attention to things you need to prepare for your accommodation. This varies depending on where you are going to live but main concern is the electricity and home insurance. In France, everyone has to make a personal contract with EDF (the French electricity provider) and they can be very strict about having a valid home insurance before you are allowed to enter your apartment. If your residence manager/landlord etc. doesn t mention the electricity issue you should ask them what you have to do. For example, I had friends living at the Atale residence and they didn t have electricity in their apartments when they arrived in Toulouse because the residence didn t
inform them about making a contract beforehand. My residence emailed me information (meter readings etc.) few days before my departure from Finland. Then I called the EDF English speaking customer service and got everything ready. I was contacted by the TBS online housing service after I chose my accommodation from their online service Studapart to help with filling the apartment contract. They recommended to get home insurance from the ISIC website: http://isicassur.fr/assurances-habitation/seule-ou-en-colocation. I signed up for the 6 months contract, though it is one month more than I needed I was quite cheap and I didn t need to worry about how to cancel it later. Insurance was easy to sign up to and you get a certificate straight to your email to give to your residence. Some residences offer home insurance also as part of the apartment contract so you can get it also that way. Exchange studies Spring semester schedule The semester started 3th of January and that day was reserved for the orientation. TBS main building is easy to find and relatively small so getting yourself to the right place isn t a problem. Classes started the next day. The last official day of the semester was 26 th of May and the last week was for exams. If you don t take courses in May it is possible to leave earlier. We had three exam periods during the spring. There is also a winter holiday and an Easter holiday, both were a week long. How the school works and the courses I found the school s system a bit weird. The spring is divided to three core course periods in the beginning and after that six periods of major courses. One period basically means one course which is done in approximately two weeks with the exception of the last period in the end of May is only one week long. That also meant that for example the exam for the course I had in the beginning of January wasn t until the end of February.
It depends really what kind of courses you choose but there were similarities with ones I took. In general there isn t much homework because the system is more focused on the mandatory presence on the lessons. Because one course is done fast in two weeks, it means having mandatory lessons around 3-4 days week for 3 to 6 hours. But don t worry, skipping few classes for example to travel isn t an issue. Just make sure you are up to date what is happening in the course. I even missed one whole week (50% of the mandatory presence and exercises) and still passed the course quite easily. There is no need get any books, you can pass all the exams with reading the slides. There are few different options for the majors. Most of them are in French and that s why mainly all the exchange students choose the International major in English. The French students can also take this major therefore it won t be only exchange students you take the courses with. Of course you also can take a French track if your French level is adequate. Here is the courses I chose and my thoughts about them: Core course: Information and decision (2 ECTS) The teacher of this course was good and he was from an English-speaking country. The course was about how make good, strategic decisions based on the information provided. Everything was very basic and the course is easy to pass. There wasn t any group work on this course. Core course: International business (2 ECTS) This course had interesting cases. The lessons were basically divided to a theory part and after we would do cases in groups based on the theory learned. All the cases were completed in class and in each lesson one group was selected to give a short presentation. The grade was based completely on the final exam. I wished this course was longer or a major course so there would be more time to spend on the cases. Core course: Strategic management (4 ECTS) To be honest, the teacher wasn t the easiest (thick French accent) or the most interesting to follow. This course focused on different kind of theories in management and we did short group cases and
presentations in class. The grade was based only on the final exam. As a core course, the theories were basic but also useful. Some of them were familiar from our entrance exam books. Operational marketing (5 ECTS) This was my first major course. There are all kinds of subjects to choose from in the international major, from finance to marketing. We had 5 different teachers on this course so there was a few different themes for example cause-related marketing. Marketing planning was given the most time. The exam was a case where we had to make a marketing plan using SWOT, PESTEL analysis and setting objectives and goals with segmentation, positioning and targeting. There also were three smaller group works during the course and two of them were similar to the exam. All group work was completed during the lessons. Opportunities, risk and actors in emerging economies (5 ECTS) As the title says, the course focused on emerging economies. It was about the things which have enabled growth and how stable is the situation in these countries and what these factors might mean in the future. I found this course interesting and relevant. There was a short assignment to return and one group presentation that the grade consisted of. There is no exam on this course. In the written assignment everyone was given a country in order to assess different types of risks on investing to the country in question. There was four different group works we did during class and every time one group was selected to present. International Political institutions and Business (5 ECTS) This was the course where I only attended to the second week. The course was about intergovernmental organizations, international regulations and contracts and EU. There was some group work done in class and we had two simulation games about an EU meeting between different countries. I liked the subject of the course and I found it really interesting. On the other hand, I feel like we spent too much time on the simulation games when I would have liked to get deeper knowledge to some themes. All in all, the course was a nice change compared to the others I took.
Performance assessment, governance and reporting (ECTS) We had three smaller presentations on this course that were part of the grade. The exam was 50% of the grade. This was the only course I took where we had to do group work after the lessons on our own time. The course was about understanding what are good measurements of performance assessment and how to present them in an informative way. We used excel on this course which was a nice change. There was also lessons with different teachers about good governance and sustainability accounting. French course (2 ECTS) I would have liked to have more French lessons. This course was short and was mainly the teacher keeping up conversations in the class for few hours. We had an exam in the end of the course. There is three levels to choose from: beginners, intermediate and advanced. Free time and other information Cost of living Price level in France isn t really in anyways significantly cheaper than in Finland. My 18 m 2 apartment was 503 euros a month in student residence called Nexity Studea Toulouse Ouest. This is quite a standard price for a furnished student apartment. You can live cheaper if you find a place to share with few people. Almost all Erasmus students lived in student residences. Comparing my residence Studea and the popular Atale, both residences had pros and cons. My friends told that Atale wifi was terrible but the Free mobile provided enough internet for a regular use. Studea had its own laundry room whereas Atale didn t. Atale is right next to TBS and Studea is only 10 minutes away by walking. Studea rooms are really basic and Atale s are bigger because there are in two levels. All in all, I was satisfied with my apartment choice but I had times when I would have rather lived at Atale because all my friends were
there and the apartments were more spacious and comfortable. Atale is around the same price as my Studea apartment. Atale is highly popular, so if you wish to live there contact them as soon as possible (www.residence-atale.fr). In France, there are somethings that are cheaper and others that are more expensive, especially you can notice this with food. Night life and partying is particularly cheaper than in Finland. Note that there aren t school lunches. There is a cafeteria in the TBS main building where you can buy small snacks and for example salads. There is also microwaves to heat up your own lunch. Electricity is expensive in France. I recommend signing up for the fixed monthly payment with your French bank account on EDF s website otherwise your bills are going to be huge. If you don t understand French enough to use the online service, they have an English-speaking customer service. Getting to know other students and free time Group of TBS students called the Welcome Team looks after the international students. Everybody is assigned to a buddy to help you. Welcome Team organizes events and get-togethers for the Erasmus students. The international student office at TBS is very helpful too. For example, they helped me with getting a doctor s appointment and provided templates in French to write official letters. Welcome Team organizes more parties in the beginning so be active to participate to get to know people. Other important student events are the Open Bar parties. Everyone agreed that they were the best parties and a good opportunity to hang out with the French students also. The campaigns for TBS student union elections starts in March and I recommend getting involved. The campaigns last for three weeks and there is so many fun things happening. In addition, the school system leaves quite a lot of free time because there isn t really homework to do. Useful information Don t assume that the locals speak English. It is okay to ask politely but expect the answer to be almost every time negative. Of course, the students at TBS speak English, especially those who study
at the international major or are in the Welcome Team. Any service I went to like the bank, CAF or the post office, I had to manage with French. When you get to Toulouse, you might need to buy household items. There is a big Carrefour just next TBS and at the end of the other metro line there is a big cheap store called Auchan. Also get a French mobile number as soon as you can when you get to Toulouse. Most exchange students preferred Free mobile. It had a good price and lots of internet to use. Even though I lived near the school and the center I got the Tisseo card. It is the card for the public transportation. Basically, everyone gets it because it costs only 10 euros a month for students and it covers the whole metropolitan area. You can order it online (www.tisseo.fr) or buy from Tisseo agency at Jean Jaures metro station. As a student, you can get CAF housing aid from the French government. You need the French bank account for this. On orientation day, there was different banks present at school. I opened an account with LCL and everything went smoothly with them. The CAF application online is difficult to fill in so ask the International student services for a guide. Remember to cancel the benefit before leaving France by going to the CAF office. Toulouse and traveling in France Toulouse isn t the biggest city but it s very lively due to the fact that it is after Paris one of the most important student cities in France. There is lots of night life and you can find a crowded place to party any night of the week. Toulouse is filled with cafes, restaurants and bars. For studying outside home or the library I recommend Ras la Tasse and Cafe Cerise. Because of the size of the city, TBS students live quite near to each other so it really helps creating an amazing atmosphere. The river banks of Garonne are a popular place to hangout. There is a lot of beautiful churches and interesting museums as well as the gorgeous park Jardin des Plantes. The weather in Toulouse gets summery warm in April and it can get quite hot in May. Pack warmer clothes too, the temperature in January is around 0-10 Celsius degrees and if you want to go the Ski weekend organized by the Welcome Team.
I really recommend travelling in France to see smaller places you wouldn t otherwise come visit from Finland. We used a lot the cheap bus companies Flixbus and Ouibus and of course the train SNCF. Places we visited included for example Tarascon-sur-Ariège (prehistoric cave paintings), Foix, Carcassonne, Albi, Cordes-sur-ciel and Biarritz. It is easy also to go skiing to the Pyrenees and for example travel to Cote d Azur, Lyon or Bordeaux. You can also find cheap flights around Europe from Toulouse. Final Comments I recommend Toulouse for someone who really is interested in the French language and culture. I feel like Toulouse is a great opportunity to see the real France without the tourist masses. It is a place you learn to know quite well in 5 months and I really liked that. Also, there are so many traveling opportunities because of the location. If you are looking for 5 months of sun by a pool or a really high level university, don t choose Toulouse. If I would do something differently maybe I would try using French more with the local students and study extra French language courses. My exchange was an amazing experience and I m going remember it forever. It really boosted my confidence because I had to handle so many things and issues just by myself outside my comfort zone.