While most exchange students take home conventional tourist souvenirs, Clement Demeusoy, an exchange student from France, will leave Bangkok next month with a unique memento of his time at Sasin School of Management – “Pad Thai”, written in Thai characters, tattooed on his leg. Exchange students from the Grenoble Ecole de Management have been studying at Sasin for the past three months. We sat down with Lisa Montaldo, Guillaume Cochard, Augustin Berg, Clement Demeusoy, Payel Hosen, Fanny Scheurer, and Alice Mainard to learn more about their experiences at Sasin. Besides getting tattoo, visiting temples, and absorbing Thai culture with visits to Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, and to Phuket for a Full Moon Party, Lisa Montaldo and Guillaume Cochard also talked about their courses at Sasin. “I liked the Leadership for Impact course. It was an interactive class and the cases Professor Milton de Sousa presented were very good,” said Cochard. Working with Thai students, Cochard noticed some differences between their ways of thinking, like how they choose a start-up business to invest in. “My Thai classmates would be focused on whether a startup is profitable or feasible, but we would look at more of the social factors, like if we agree with what the startup does,” he said. Before coming to Thailand, Payel Hosen researched Thai culture through the Hofstede Culture Index, which told her that Thais do not like to be direct or have conflicts. But she was surprised to see her classmates were much more expressive than she thought they would be. “They spoke openly and freely about their thoughts. I didn’t expect them to be so upfront,” said Hosen. When it comes to working with Thai students, she was also quite surprised that Thai students don’t have a problem working on a Sunday night. “Sunday is the day most French people like to relax and forget about work,” she said. Lisa Montaldo was also impressed with the friendliness of everyone and the ease of contacting administrators at Sasin. “It’s easier to communicate with the administration here, much easier than in France,” said Alice Mainard. The students were also happy with the facilities at Sasin and enjoyed having a microphone at their desk to participate in class. French university professors also seem to be much stricter in terms of class behavior. “We’re not even allowed to go to the restroom during class in France,” said Fanny Scheurer. The French students found the liberating culture in Thailand a great experience. Augustin Berg said that they would often spend their free time visiting places like Khaosan Road, where they had even tried some of the local delicacies, like fried insects. When asked if they would like to bring anything from Thailand back to France, Cochard smiled and said, “7-11! In France, it’s illegal to open a 24/7 convenience store.” “I highly recommend the Sasin exchange program – we visited many different countries and saw so many things that we don’t have in France. It’s really been a great experience,” said Cochard. For more information on Sasin’s exchange programs, click here.