My most memorable phase at university was not in Helsinki and actually not even at university at all, but in Montpellier in Southern France, where I spent an exchange year in 2008-9. I didn’t have time to finish the autumn courses because the university went on strike. It took a several  months. A few professors gave lectures in the city squares, but there wasn’t much work, if any.

I still managed to spend my time well: I found an apartment and an Italian roommate, I travelled, met new people, tasted cheap wines, read and learned French, even a couple of words of Italian. In the spring I tried writing a little of my master’s thesis on a historical philosophical topic I understood nothing about in French, but I gave up after about twenty pages. Nevertheless, I managed to collect the minimum credits required (in introductory Arabic, among other courses) and on my return to Finland I started again to receive my student grant, for which I thank the broad-minded University of Helsinki.