The Advantages of Studying in Lyon

 Question: Now that you have studied in Lyon, do you think that Lyon is a good choice for the location of the UVA in France exchange program?

 Answer: "I would answer with an emphatic "yes!" Lyon, being the second largest city in France, has all the advantages of a big city without the inconveniences of Paris. Lyon has an impressive cultural life, including excellent museums, churches, theaters, and an engaging regional history. Lyon has the extra advantage of being near to so many places - by train, you can easily take a weekend trip to Paris or Marseille (2 hrs), a day-trip to Geneva or Grenoble (1 hr) or a weeklong trip to Italy (5 hrs). Lyon, unlike many of the other large French cities,

also has fewer tourists. In Paris, it is possible to live for a year speaking only English. In Lyon, students are forced to integrate into French society - the point, one must agree, of any study-abroad program. Lyon offers good schools, efficient public transportation, renowned food, few safety worries, exciting annual events and parades, exceptional museums and productions, and the warm Lyonnais people. If, after having visited a great deal of France, I could choose any city in which to study abroad, it would unquestionably be Lyon."

 Question: What impact do you think this experience in Lyon will have on your life?

 Answer:  "This experience has without a doubt changed my life forever. Studying abroad does not just teach you new things, it changes who you are and your perception of the world. Studying abroad goes beyond the experience you can get from merely being a tourist and allows you to integrate into a culture foreign to your own. You begin to question ways of doing and being that you have followed all your life. Everything in the United States is one way – it’s hard to imagine it ever being different. But France is a different place, with different ways of living. You get used to not having a dryer, to having strikes on a regular basis that affect your daily life, to buying bread on a daily basis, to the mannerisms and habits of the French. You learn how to adjust, to adapt yourself to new situations, to be independent. This brings tremendous confidence and self-sufficiency. There is no question in my mind that I could now comfortably live in France. A certain part of me has BECOME French. My ways of thinking are no longer the same. There are words that come to my mouth on a regular basis that are not English. I can think easily in that language. I am sure that whenever I return, I will to a feel as though in some measure I am returning to a home and not a foreign country. And, once having lived there, it is certain that I will return, and regularly. I have friends, places I want to see again, places left to see. France has become part of my life, and it is a wonderful feeling indeed."

Meghan Lynch, UVA in Lyon, Academic year 2000-01