Maastricht University, The Netherlands

Transcription

1 Maastricht University, The Netherlands Spring 2013 Exchange Report Angel Cheng Accounting & Finance 1

2 Table of Contents Page Part I Activity Log 3 Part II General Exchange Information 5 Part III Checklist 9 2

3 Activity Log February 2013 I arrived Maastricht on late January, which was one week before the beginning of the new block. Upon arrival, I was picked up by a student organization, ESN at the Maastricht train station and they drove me to the main guesthouse (P building). During the first two weeks, I spent most of the time on settling down and exploring the city, for example, searching for the supermarkets, city center and the school. The Carnival in Maastricht was a bit earlier this year, which was right after the first week of the school. During the Carnival, there were lots of decorations in the street and people were all going out to celebrate the event. It was a pity that I did not stay in Maastricht during the Carnival, but I spent the 10-day holiday on visiting Paris, Nice, Milan, Rome, Florence and Venice. It was a very nice trip and the experience in Italy was unforgettable. After the long trip, I backed to school and started to adapt to the PBL system which requires students to have self-study and participate during the tutorials. March 2013 During March, there were a lot of readings, assignments and presentations. Although the presentations were more like facilitations, I still had to prepare a lot as I almost had one presentation every two weeks and the schoolwork were getting tougher. There was no long period of holidays in March, except for the 6-day Easter holiday. However, as the final exam came right after the Easter holiday, I did not spent time on travelling but studied hard in the guesthouse. April 2013 The examination was held in early April and I finished my exam on the third. After having one day of rest, I started my second 10 days trip by visiting Aachen, which is a small city in German nearby. The chocolate factory there is amazing and I almost could not stop myself from buying chocolate. Then I went to Munich, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne. 3

4 It was unfortunate that the weather was not very good but I did enjoy shopping a lot during the trip. Block 5 started after the trip and the tutorials were much tighter since this block was shorted than Block 4. Despite of the heavy workload, I still managed to have a day trip to Brussels. I also went to Utrecht and Amsterdam during the last Queen's day on the 30 th April (which will be King's day starting next year!) Everyone dressed in orange and celebrated the big day. I was very luck to witness the new King Willem-Alexander! May 2013 My May started with the visit in Zaanse Schans and Keukenhof. With the fine weather and beautiful view, it became the most fantastic and unforgettable day that I ever had in Europe. Though there were lots of case studies and projects in May, I was still able to spend the weekends on the cities nearby, such as Luxembourg, Gent, Bruges, Antwerp and Liege. Luxembourg and Bruges are very peaceful and you should not miss them. After some short day trips, I continued my study as the final exam was coming. June 2013 It was nearly the end of my exchange life and it was my first time to have my birthday in a foreign country. After having the examinations in the first week of June, I started my last travel in the Netherlands right away. I have been to Giethoorn, Rotterdam and Den Haag where I love the environment so much. I also re-visited Amsterdam and it was very nice to walk through the city singly. I would say I love the Netherlands the most after all the trips in Europe. After the trips, I went back to guesthouse and packed all my things. It was time to back to Hong Kong and start my internship. 4

5 General Exchange Information Visa Procedures We are required to apply for the Visa and residence permit in order to study in the Netherlands. The procedure is very simple and you only need to follow the instruction given by the Maastricht University (UM). You will be required to fill in the application forms and send the e-version of the forms and photos to UM for checking. You are also required to provide financial proof to support your study and depositing money to UM is the easiest way to do so. After UM has reassure the information, you can then send the hard copy to UM and UM will help you to do the rest. Normally it take around six weeks to get your visa ready but be aware that it might take longer time when it is at peak season (which is from November to January.) Make sure you left enough process time before your flight, otherwise you might have to change your flight. Orientation Activities There will be a compulsory two-day orientation for the exchange students to join. You will be given the information about UM and SBE, as well as the information about Maastricht. An information pack will be given and there will be a letter for you to open your bank account. Later, helpers from ESN will bring us to walk around the campus and the city. It would be a good opportunity to know more about the school and the city. On the second day, you will be taught how to use the Eleum (intranet like LMES) and system. A welcome party will be held after that and you will be given the chance to know more exchange students. International Services & Activities ESN is the official student organization providing different services and activities to students. One of the ESN offices is located in the main guesthouse and you can get a free gift pack from them, which contains a SIM card and some small gifts. ESN organizes varies of activities to students throughout the year and the cost is not very high. Accommodations Like most other exchange students, I chose to live in P-building which is provided by the UM Guesthouse. P-building provides private kitchen in every room with a higher price per night while C-building is cheaper but with common kitchen only. The location of the guesthouse is very convenient and everywhere is within the walking 5

6 distance. It takes around 20 minutes to walk to the campus and 10 minutes to walk to the mall that contains supermarkets (C1000, Albert Heijn and ALDI) and ING bank. Living in the guesthouse is a bit more expensive than renting the apartment by your own, but it also provides more opportunities for you to meet new friends. Course Registration The semester in UM is divided into 3 blocks where spring exchange students will normally take Block 4 and 5 as Block 6 are those skill classes only. For each block, we are restricted to take 2 courses only and in total at a maximum of 4 courses for the whole semester. You will receive an regarding the details and procedures from SBE later, so you will be fine if you follow the instruction. You do not have to worry about the quota as there is no quota limit, so just remember to register your courses before the deadline. The timetable will be released around 2-3 weeks before the block starts and normally you are not allowed to swap the classes. In Block 4, I took EBC2059 Management Accounting and EBC2070 International Financial Management. These two courses were not very difficult as some materials were taught in UST before and the exams were easy as long as you have done enough exercises. In Block 5, I took EBC2056 International Financial Accounting and EBC2053 Options and Futures. The materials for International Financial Accounting are almost the same as for the UST. If you have done enough exercises, you can easily get a pass for the course. While for Options and Futures, it is a hard course and it requires technical skills on excels. There were case study for every tutorial so the workload was actually quite high. The exam was quite tricky and it differed from last year, so make sure you are well-prepared before the exam. Teaching & Assessment Methods The teaching method adopted in UM is called Problem Based Learning (PBL), which is quite different from UST. Under PBL, we attend tutorial group meetings twice a week where each tutorial group consists of twelve to fifteen students plus a tutor. The learning method is explicitly student-centered rather than teacher-centered and the initiative lies with us. Book content is not taught in the tutorial but we have to be self-prepared, then discuss the related topics and present solutions for the assigned problems or cases in every tutorial. Indeed, there were assignments even for the every first tutorial!! Therefore participation and attendance are very important for you to get a pass as if you fail the participation part, you will fail the whole course. Generally, you cannot miss more than two tutorials, otherwise you may have to write a report. Apart from the participation and final exam, case studies, assignments and 6

7 presentations are often part of the requirement. Getting a pass is not difficult as you will work with the local students and I am sure you can gain a lot from them. Sports & Recreation Facilities There are tennis court and basketball court outside the guesthouse where you can use them freely. You can also rent the equipment at the reception if you need it. Apart from the facilities near the guesthouse, you can subscript to the MAC Maastricht for using the gym. Cost/Expenses Items Amount (HKD) Air Ticket Accommodation Insurance 1500 Visa and Residence Permit 6000 Food 4300 Travel Others 800 Total Social Clubs/Networking Opportunities As mentioned before, most exchange students will join the activities organized by ESN as it organizes events quite frequently. In addition, Way2Go is another choice for students who want to join some trips to other cities. Sometimes there will be activities held within the campus and you may pay attention to the promotion. Health & Safety It is important to prepare you own medicine because the medical expenses for non-local is quite expensive and sometimes it might be difficult for you to communicate. Maastricht overall is a safe city but try not to stay outside during midnight. Also, it is very common for the bike being stolen so you better prepare a lock if you want to have a bike. Food Going out dinner is especially expensive in the Netherlands and the choices may be quite limited. Most probably you have to cook by yourself and fortunately the food is not expensive in the supermarkets as there are promotions every week. There is a market opens every Wednesday and Friday in the city center as well. For Chinese 7

8 ingredients, you may go to 東方行 which is also near the city center. Stroopwaffle and fries are very common in the Netherlands and you should never miss them. Transportation The transportation in the Netherlands is quite expensive, no matter bus or train. There is a bus stop near the guesthouse which can take you to the train station and exam venue (MECC) and it costs 2.5 EURO. You may apply for an OV-card (something like Octopus Card) which offers you some discounts on the bus. For train, it is highly recommended to purchase the NS-train day tickets sold at the local supermarkets as it costs 17 EURO only for unlimited travel within the day. There are some discounts offered on the NS-train website as well, so you can also pay attention to it. You can also apply for the membership card which costs 55 EURO or 29 EURO during promotion period. It offers you 40% discounts on train and you can have three friends with you. Climate The climate this year was quite abnormal as it was snowing even after the summer time. Therefore bring more clothes for the cold weather on February and March. It became warmer after mid April and it soon became shiny all the day. However, be aware that the weather during the night is still a bit cool. There were also quite a lot of raining in the Europe, so remember to bring an umbrella. Communication Most of the things are indicated in Dutch but you can always ask help from the local people and their English are very good. The course materials are all conducted in English and the local students are willing to communicate in English as well. As mentioned before, ESN provides students with a free SIM card you can just top up it if you want to have a call. 8

9 Checklist Things to bring: - Passport, ID card & legal documents - ATM card and Credit card - Laptop - Camera and SD cards - Winter and Summer clothes - Medicine - Adaptors and charges (more than 2 is better) - Stationery (especially paper, calculator) Things not to bring: - Suit - Too many food (especially instant noodles) - Cooking utensils (except chopsticks) I really enjoy my exchange in Maastricht as I like the environment and atmosphere so much. People are very nice and helpful. I still remember when there was a little fire in my room as my roommate forgot to turn off the gas and later the oil was burnt, I received a lot of help from the owners and security guards. Here I would like to express my thankful to them. I am sure you will have a very unique and unforgettable experience when you are going on exchange. Feel free to contact me if you have any enquiry about the exchange life and I am more than happy to share with you. 9