Ma vie à Valenciennes – France (Hendrik Voice Sihombing)

Bonjour a tous, je m’appelle Hendrik Voice Sihombing. Je suis etudient les Mecanique de l’Universite Sumatera Utara, je suis de Indonésie. And I went to French with the scholarship Erasmus+ student exchange program. I genuinely still didn’t really know how I got involved in this amazing experience. I guess it was some sort of fate, and I felt so privileged to have grabbed hold of this opportunity with both my hands.

It was only after receiving a confirmed place at Universite Polythechnique Hauts-De- France  and They send  information that I needed by email before I arrived there and then  booking my tickets to Charles de Guile France. I suddenly realized that this would be one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever had to face. After 21 hours flight, I arrived in Valenciennes, France on the 10th of September 2018. When I first arrived in valenciennes I really did not know what to expect, from the college, the way of life, etc.  I was extremely nervous and frightened but this changed very quickly. 

The next Monday, the orientation week started. All student from all over the world gathered at Maison des services l’etudiant. I felt so excited for meeting new people, the staff of International Relation Office UPHF explained us about curriculum and scholarship for this semester. The orientation program gave me the possibility to learn more about culture, the beautiful city of Valenciennes and also helped me meet and interact with people who would shortly become friends and part of my Erasmus family during this semester I was in Mecanique conception et calculs mechaniques assistes par ordinateur (IM-C²MAO) at Institut des Sciences et Techniques de Valenciennes (ISTV)-UPHF. The problem is the program taught full in French, it made me so nervous and little bit shy, especially with my low level French skill. It was really challenged me how I can communicate, make a relations with a lot of people and sharing about Indonesia.  The lecturers were well, professional and prepared all the documents for tomorrow. The teaching methods were a bit different from my home university and required a strongest theory. Also that each student have their own UPHF account so student get the access to all of the presentation slides, cases and material of each courses. Studying at Universite Polythechnique Hauts-De- France  was a completely different experience for me in comparison to the university system and teaching methods at home in Indonesia at the Universitas Sumatera Utara.

 I totally enjoy learning and living in Valenciennes, which is, in my view, very close to a perfect city for studying. The opportunities offered to students here are huge indeed. I have everything I need for being productive, enthusiastic, motivated and active learner: big library, access to a great variety of databases, stimulating environment-a lot of space for studying, including computer rooms, exciting study trips, inspiring company visits, including the language ones and much more. 

During my stay in Valenciennes, fortunately I met Indonesian  people who lives in Valenciennes. They are very kindness, and every once a week we make eating together with Indonesian people or we called it “pengajian”. So I can felt Indonesian food every week in their home.

International Relation Universite Politechnique Hanut des France frequently made some events for Erasmus students, I was joined the invitation to a cultural and sport daytrip like went to musseum, marche des noel, outbound at the park, etc 

Almost each day spent here has been filled with a great experience or new thing which I have tried and I have never been bored. To be in a group of people consisting of so many nationalities was enriching as well as challenging because we were so different, from many countries and backgrounds and we needed to find ways how to understand and tolerate each other. But our differences have very soon become a great advantage for us as we had an opportunity to got to knew different ways of life or perspectives.

I  had  some  expectations  as  to  what  I  wanted  to  get  out  of  the  Erasmus  experience.    Erasmus  for  me  was  about  having  the  opportunity  to  be  independent,  meet  people  from  other  counties  and  being  able  to  experience  a  different  culture. I wanted to become more open minded as a person and mature. This experience definitely taught me how to be more independent and gave me a taste of real student life with money constraints, parties etc. I value this opportunity to study abroad very high because it helped me in my academic studies and subsequently in my future profession as well as in my personal development and in broadening of my mind. I knew that now I was more opened to new things and people from different background. Thanks to all people from Universite Polythechnique Hauts-De- France  and international department and also to all the students, either erasmus. I would never forgot this great time and place I could live in for one semester. I really enjoyed the Erasmus experience and if I had the choice now I would go on Erasmus again. Thank you so much, Merci Beaucoup, Terima Kasih.

La vie en France

Bonjour!! Je m’appelle Aghni Syahmarani. I’ve just back from my Erasmus+ Mobility Program in Universite Polytechnique Hauts de France (UPHF), Valenciennes, France. I am from Mathematis Departement, Mathematics and Science Faculty in USU. Here, i would like to share you my great experiences during the program. That was really AMAZING!!

KUI usu was really kind for giving me this opportunity. I got a lot of precious moments and experiences. When i got acceptance email, i jumped and jumped and jumped again. I was really happy. Imagine!! It was full support from Erasmus+ from head to toe. And it was in France!! The country that was dreamed of the most people in this earth. And i would come to this coutry in time. I couldn’t wait to see the fabulous Eiffle Tower. That was like one of your big dream come true. Soooo happy but also nervous at the same time. I was so lucky.
The first experience was when i prepared my visa. That was also my first time to make a visa and that was Schangen Visa!! I though that i looked cool. lol. There were no significant obstacles in arranging my visa. Finished smoothly. And then just waiting for my departure!, I left for paris on 8 September 2018, 17 hours trip and 6 hours transit in Taiwan. So tired but fun. I arrived in Charles de Gaulle Paris on the next day and immediately proceeded to the main city, Valenciennes. I felt a different wether since the beginning come to this country. It was the last days of summers and going to winter, but i didn’t feel “The summer”, it was just cold anyway even the sun bright.

And do you know what myfirst impression about thiscity? It was Quiet. Valenciennes was a small city in north France. It was really quiet and  calm  city.  180  degrees  different  from Medan. Inversely proportional. The air really fresh and clean in all corner of the city. I called it a peaceful city. I’m missing Valenciennes now. I lived in university residence, Jules Mousseron. I spent almost 5 monts in a small room but for me still comfortable. And the important that the wifiwassuper great.

Now i want to share about UPHF. Universite Polytechnique Hauts de France (UPHF), used to be called University of Valenciennes (UVHF). Here i was during almost 5 months. I got a lot of experiences. I joined programming course in Python there. I got new knowledge to improve my mathematics programming. But i had to adapt to AZERTY style keyboard in all computer in the laboratory, that made me confused at first. I also joined some classes in applied mathematics  master program to get new knowledge in applied mathematics. My mathematics basic  were actually Combinatorial and Operational Research. So that was recent for me to study applied mathamatics which the approach was more technical. I studied about Control Theory, Numerical Treatment, Cryptography and Optimisations. This program was in Science and Technics Faculty (ISTV). The campus was nice, clean, green, with qualified facilities. The wifi was great, the library was really comfort but the books were mostly french 

My difficulty during this program was just about languange. Even i’ve studied french before. I still got a trouble. My french level stil before avarage . Because most of people here just speak french,
rarely can speak english, even the lecturers. Many lecturers and staff at UPHF didn’t speak English. With my terrible french, of course it became hard for me. Especially when in class, lecturers explain in standard french and fast . It was make me a little bit crazy at first. But, my friend helped me alot.Thanks God. International Relation Office UPHF served us with many cultural and sport activities. We went to many museum around Valenciennes and did some sport activities like outbound and skiing. But skiing was canceled because of yellow vest . But i was so honored because UPHF has tried their best to entertain all their guests verry well.

Living in French was delightful. I didn’t get any significant difficulties while staying there. Even my level of french still low, it didn’t matter. I still could make some small conversation with local people, i still could buy something in the market and talk to receptionist in my residence although the grammar still teribble. French people was so friendly, they always said “bonjour” to everyone with big smile. It made me feel comfort while living there. As a muslim, it was still okay too. There were pretty much halal foods around. Because the biggest muslim population in europe was in French. Many Muslims were from Morocco, Algeria, even Senegal. So i was not alone . I met many muslim friends from Morocco there. It was relief!

In Valenciennes, I also met many Indonesian families and we made a chit-chat activity once a week. Some of them often cooked Indonesian foods that treat our longing for Indonesian food and for us as a poor student, it saved our money for food . Our Indonesian relationship who living abroad was really warm. Especially in Valenciennes, we were like finding a new family.

This program gave me so much advantages. I learned a lot!! Not only about academic knowledge, but also about culture of many countries in the world. I met so many incredible people with different background from whole over the world. It gave me so much knowledge. I learned to be more dicipline, hard work, and struggle in any condition and situation. Tried to survive in other country that had so many different cultures and traditions with you. I learned more tolerance, regardless of ethnicity, skin color, economic, social and religious status. We are just fellow humans who must care and love each other.

And you know the best part when you were in Europe? That’s right!! Traveliing!! Yey!! That was not recomended if you come to europe then you just stayed in your area. Oh No!
If you go to Europe, you can go to another country just by taking a bus or train in just couples hours. The distance between countries is quite close. Thats why that explore Europe is a must while you in Europe.
I certainly did it too. I did Europe trip with my friends by renting a car. That was amazing. We spent 2 weeks to explore Europe and got so many crazy experiences. That would never be forgotten. I traveled to Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Prague, Budapest, Roma, Pissa, Zermatt, Barcelona, and of course Paris!! But it ended up spending a lot of my expense T_T, but it was worth it!!
That’s all that i want to share to you. I am very greatful to Erasmus+, UPHF and also KUI USU for giving me this opportunity. I’ll never forget it in all my life. Thank you so much. I have one suggestion. If there is a chance for you to study or something to abroad, just get it! Don’t thing twice! As a young, enrich yourself with extraordinary experiences. As far as you go, the farther you see, the bigger you get.
Merci, Au Revoir, Bon Courage!!!. And These are some gifts from my Europe Trip

USU HOSTED THE 2^ND STUDENT WORKSHOP ON THE INTRODUCTION – 27 FEBRUARY 2019

This workshop is the continuation of the INSPIRE Student Workshop held on 6-8 February 2019 and World Café workshop held on the 9 February 2019.
The participants came from the various Department and Faculties. Most . participants had attended the first workshop about Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship based on Local Wisdom, followed by the World café workshopThe speaker for the 2nd round workshop is Dr. Victor from the University of Alicante, Spain. This workshop focus more on the preparation towards business plan competition. The topic for the workshop is “Transferring Business Canvas Model into Business Plan” The workshop began with the presentation about Business Canvas Model, followed by Transferring Business Canvas Model into Business Plan.

Most of the participants had actively been involved on the Student Entrepreneur (SEC) Center of USU, and some of them had participated on the Student Entrepreneurship Competition at regional level and at national level. Hence, most students enthusiastically followed the workshop. It could be seen from the large number of students who asked the questions; responded and actively engaged in the group discussion. These students are generally interested and intend to follow business plan competition by the end of the project.

WORLD CAFÉ OF SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP INSPIRE BY UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA

Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) is one of the grant recipients of the ERASMUS + European Union INSPIRE (Introducing Social Entrepreneurship in Indonesian Higher Education). As one of the activities of INSPIRE, USU carried out world café on 9th February 2019 in the IMT-GT room at USU Central Administration Bureau, Medan Indonesia. The world café methodology is a simple, effective and flexible format for hosting large group dialogue. The purpose of this world café is to facilitate students to produce knowledge, models, best practices and experiences in developing social entrepreneurship that is capable of utilizing information and technology.

The world café program began with welcome and introduction by the USU’s INSPIRE team (Pramio Sembiring, Nelson Siahaan, Agus Harahap). After that followed by a brief presentation about the INSPIRE project ERASMUS+. This world café discusses the processing of community waste in the city of Medan. This theme was chosen because the culture of waste recycling has not been well socialized in Medan city. In addition to that, USU also wants to take part in overcoming the problem of garbage in the city of Medan.

The world café participants consisting of students from different fields of knowledge were divided into five discussion groups. Each group discussed to find a solution to the case study given. With the group discussion method, we invite students to find solutions to waste problems in Medan city by involving all elements of society. The program continued with listening to the presentation of the results of the discussion from each group accompanied by a question and answer session.

The entire event was guided by USU's INSPIRE team.