What did you study at Linköping University? I studied at the department of computer engineering. I did courses in network computing, video games during the first half of the semester and later real-time systems, GPU computing and software security.

Are you happy that you came to Linköping University? Definitely yes! It was really fun to see other people and to discover another country. École des Mines de Nancy is a very small school compared to LiU - 500 students versus 27 000. It is not common in France to regroup this many departments and sciences in the same campus.

Could you describe your first day in Sweden? The first night I slept at the house of my father’s friend, so no problems. When I arrived at the university the administration was very efficient. I got a list with everything I had to do before the end of my semester.

Did you encounter any difficulties when coming to Linköping? I was lucky to get my accommodation! The International Office at LiU contacted my two weeks before the semester started to offer me a corridor room, as somebody had changed his mind about it. I knew I was going to Linköping in May - June so I didn’t have many queue points, which is important to get an accommodation in Linköping. I lived in a corridor room in Ryd. There were lots of foreign students there and not too many Swedish people.  We had a few problems, but it was ok for four months. There is always some guy not cleaning his dishes etc. but it’s always the same, even in France.

Did you try to learn Swedish?
Yes, I even passed the course! It was basic but interesting. I started understanding some sentences on TV!

What was your favourite moment during your time in Linköping?
All the parties - kravaller (overall parties). That is where you meet people, which is the point of Erasmus. I especially liked Intervallen, an international party organized by the Erasmus Student Network.

What assumptions did you have about Scandinavian culture?
I didn’t know much about the Scandinavian culture so I didn’t have many assumptions, except for the alcohol – that it was hard to buy and that parties were frowned upon. In reality it wasn’t that hard to buy alcohol and the parties were great. People are very respectful, much more respectful than in France. For example, the cars stop for pedestrians. People don’t cross the road during red light. The traffic lights in Linköping are organized impressively: they automatically detect the cyclists so they can pass. The city is well adapted to promote riding your bike.

In your opinion, what are the major differences between France and Sweden?
Mainly the organization and the administration were much more efficient and much clearer in Sweden, maybe due to the size of the university. Swedes are much more respectful and you can ask anybody anything. In Paris people say they don’t have time. Plus, it’s much easier to manage with English. Swedish people generally have good skills in English.

What surprised you the most at LiU? 
Mainly the amount of books you had to read while studying and the organization of the courses. LiU has more lectures and more lab sessions than my school in France, but fewer courses simultaneously.

What from your experiences at LiU has been most beneficial?
Mainly my improved knowledge of English. As well as that, since I had the possibility to choose my courses as I wanted, I could acquire more technical skills in computer science which is very useful for my internship. This would have been impossible in France, since my engineering school is very oriented towards management.

What did you do in your spare time in Linköping?
I attended a lot of parties. I also took the opportunity to discover Stockholm, Gothenburg and Copenhagen. Furthermore, I visited the region around Linköping, for example the lake Roxen and some museums. In the first half of the semester I had a lot of spare time since I was working on a project so I played some computer games too.

Is there anything you would have done differently during your time at LiU?
I would have liked to visit Lapland and the North of Sweden. I didn’t organise my timetable well enough to have the time for it.

Do you have a special teacher or course or something else you remember fondly?
The teacher in Software Security, Anna Vapen, was very engaged and she made the subject very dynamic. The course in Video Games was also great due to the projects that we could choose freely. I actually liked all my courses.

What does the future hold for you?
An internship in Paris. I will manage a team of developers in Madagascar at the company Markelys. They are developing a free-to-play system for games based on advertising. It is interesting, because the player gets the game for free, the managers can distribute their games more widely and the advertisers get more attention. This kind of product if very focused on a certain target group.

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Last updated: Fri Feb 22 14:10:56 CET 2013