Galih ARUMSARI

Bachelor in Management, Double Degree with Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia.

Where do you come from? (Country and University)

I come from Indonesia, a very beautiful country in South East Asia that has a culturally diverse heritage. I’m studying at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, a very beautiful and friendly student city.

What studies have you already done, and what exact program are you doing at TBS?

At UGM I’m taking a Business Economics major. I’m currently in my third year doing a double degree program in Management at TBS for one year. So when I graduate, I will have two bachelor degrees from UGM and TBS.

Why did you choose TBS over other schools?

I chose TBS because my French teacher in Indonesia told me that Toulouse is a beautiful city and, moreover TBS has good accreditations. TBS has totally exceeded my expectations.

How has your integration into TBS gone? Are there any services/support which helped you? Any events you particularly enjoyed? Any difficulties you experienced?

At the airport, the Welcome Team helped me to buy a transport card and find my house. The Welcome Team is very helpful – don’t hesitate to ask them for help. I had problems with my housing on several occasions. Thankfully, at those times I always asked the Welcome Team and they helped me to contact and meet the landlady for the place where I’m living now. Since I needed to do an internship, I also found the Career Starter service really helpful. They give job offers and consultations, so it is very beneficial.

My main difficulties have been due to the language, but since living with my landlady and a French student I can now speak better French – they could not speak English very well so I tried to speak French and they helped me to improve!

What do you appreciate about Toulouse: the people, the town, the School etc.?

I appreciate everything here! The city is blessed with sun, so for people who can’t stand cold like me, Toulouse is the perfect place. The public transportation is also very cheap (10€ per month) and it’s also very good – it’s the thing that I will miss the most when I go back home. People here are very helpful, even though they can’t speak English they will try to help you.

Can you give us a small anecdote concerning your time so far at TBS?

I arrived 3 weeks before school started. It was my first time in Europe and I could not any speak French. On the aeroplane, I met a French girl who helped me to have a conversation with a nice lady that was sitting next to me and to go through the immigration. We still keep in touch and she was my first French friend! So you do not need to worry, people from Toulouse are very friendly and helpful!

My favourite time was during the Team Building class with Hannah Havas. She is an amazing teacher and you are lucky if you can have her class. Like everyone else in my class, we thought that the Team Building was a magical class. It was an elective class, so it only lasted two weeks. In those two weeks, I felt I was able to be closer with anyone than the first three months because we had deep conversations, learned body language, learned listening skills, and played as a team. At the end of those two weeks, it was very sad and I still miss those moments. I recognized myself better with that class so I highly recommend that you take this elective class.

What advice would you give to a future incoming international student?

Listen to your gut and just come here! If you can’t speak French, it does not matter, you can learn it here. Do not hesitate to ask, people can’t understand if you do not ask and it is better to ask for help than get scammed. Don’t be embarrassed and say sorry if your English is not that fluent. Just talk with a lot of people and make friends from different countries, people will try to understand you and help you.