ERASMUS EXCHANGE STUDENT FEEDBACK

Sissel Granholm

Grant Money?

We did not get the money on our own accounts which would have been more practical in my opinion. The money was though needed. We used it on many exiting things such as parapente, dolphin watching etc. We also had to pay for more extra French lessons, so we used the grant money. In the beginning we were told that there was money for that from the project, mais c’est pas grave 😊. I did not use the whole amount of the money.

Host family rooms/houses?

I had an own room with a large bed, a big closet and two desks. My host family’s house was extremely cute, colorful and full of beautiful paintings! They had a nice yard with a bathtub. It was like living in a nice beach house for two months. My host family was literally the best! I have only good things to say about them. I’m going to miss them a lot.

Meals/food?

My host mum (dad&sister also) was very good at cooking. I really liked the food we ate. My host sister really loved baking and she made extremely good desserts. Personally, I’m not that into cooking but they made it very fun. After dinner we always had cheese and dessert which was nice.

Clothes?

It was quite warm but thankfully I knew that and packed only summer clothes and bikinis. In Finland, your look is usually pretty important, and people think about it a lot. In Réunion people were more toned down and not so centered around the appearance which was nice.

Reunionese people?

The people were very chill on the island. In Finland, everybody is in their own bubble and usually very stressed, so it was nice to see the total opposite. I think it’s amazing how many different cultures and religions there were. I really loved the people and their vibe. I hope that Lila and Justine will meet people like that here in Finland as well.

Reunionese customs/habits?

There were really no strict laws or rules outside of the school which was pretty different compared to Finland. But I liked it. You could park your car in the middle of the street to get some bread from the boulangerie and no one was there to say that it was wrong. On the weekends you had siesta in the afternoon which is also not so normal in Finland. I was used to it though because I’ve been traveling quite a lot. Nothing was really chocking or very extraordinary for me.

Freetime activities?

We did a lot of different freetime activities such as: hiking, parapente, swimming, snorkling, chilling at the beach etc. We also saw a lot of friends on our freetime and had some parties with them. During the holiday and the weekends my host family took me around the island to see different places and do different things. I saw a lot of waterfalls and got to swim in them. Everything was so much fun!

French language?

Before we came to the island, we had been studying French for about two or three years, so we knew the basics. During the first week it was really hard to understand, and everyone was talking really fast. At the end I understood almost everything that was said. It felt amazing to see how much better my understanding had gotten. Speaking French is still challenging.

Schedule/Lessons/Tests?

We were able to change our timetables thankfully. At the start we had subjects such as biology and chemistry where we did not understand a word and the teachers were not helping in any way. At the end we had (a lot of) English, French, arts, PE, history and private French. We were helping in a lot of English classes and also had some tests in them. We had a lot of freetime during the school days and we spent a lot of time in the school library catching up with work from Finland.

Anything else you’d like to comment?

Thank you for everything, I will remember this trip for the rest of my life!