Exchange Report Fall Cass Business School, City University London. Lam, Pui See Vivien. GBUS & Finance, Year 3

Transcription

1 Exchange Report Fall 2014 Cass Business School, City University London Lam, Pui See Vivien GBUS & Finance, Year 3

2 Part I - Monthly Activity Log I spent lots of my time traveling around Europe, but I hope I spent more time in London. The more I travel around Europe, the more I appreciate London. The street market is the best part of London, as you can get every kind of food there at a cheap price and it taste good and authentic. I watched Les Miserable and Phantom of the Opera in London and I really enjoyed it. September School starts at 25 but I arrived London earlier to travel. As the weather in September is still pretty nice, I suggest you to arrive earlier and travel around. I traveled to Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Nice and Paris with my UST friends. Immediately after the trip, I went to school for the registration of student ID and welcoming reception. October As the workload in October is pretty slight, I spend ample of time traveling around. I travelled to Loughborough, Nottingham, Paris, Lake District, Cambridge and Black Forest respectively. I went to Loughborough and Nottingham in UK to visit my friends, but there is not much to do there. I highly recommend you to do the punting in Cambridge as it is a great way to visit the colleges and know its history. Lake District is very beautiful place in UK and I would recommend you to spend sometime there and hike around, people said it is kind of similar to Scotland. I went to Paris again as I only spent one day there in my last trip. It is better to go on a road trip to Black Forest if not you may spend most of your time taking trains instead of enjoying the scenery. And it is amazing to drive and walk around the woods. November I travelled to Munich, Manchester, Leeds, York, Bath and Ireland in November. As most of the assignments are due in late November, I spent most of my time in UK in November. I enjoyed Munich a lot and I would suggest you to go to the Neuschwanstein Castle as a day trip from Munich. The Cinderella Castle of Disney is also inspired by it and the scenery is amazing. Manchester, Leeds, York and Bath are nice places in United Kingdom but comparing to London, it is pretty boring too. I went to Stonehenge that is around one hour car ride from Bath. Ireland is amazing if you enjoy drinking as well as sceneries. Northern Ireland has lots of great landscape however the weather is even worse than that in London as it rains often. I went on a Game of Thrones tour in Ireland and it is amazing if you are a GOT fans. December As the exams and alternative assessments are mainly due in Early December, I spent my first two weeks in London finishing them. But I managed to go to Brighton for a day trip. I really enjoyed Brighton as I love beaches and the seafood. It is my favorite place in UK after London and I wish I travelled to Brighton earlier with better weather. Exams ended on 14 and I started traveling around Europe for a month. I went to Budapest (Hungary), Prague and Cesky Krumlov (Czech Republic), Berlin (Germany), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Vienna and Hallstatt (Austria) during December. January I travelled to Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, Rome (Italy), Salzburg and Vienna (Austria). I really enjoyed my time in Italy, as the food and people are very nice. Cinque Terre is probably my favourite place in Europe as the scenery is truly magnificent. However in winter, the hiking trails are closed so I don't get to have the chance to walk along the coast. I went back to London and spend time to visit the places city again and went back to Hong Kong on 21 January.

3 Part II - General Exchange Information 1) Visa Procedures Hong Kong students staying in UK for less than six months do not need to apply for visa. All you need to do is to make sure you have prepared the required documents and information, including your acceptance letter, bank statement and your UK residential address. 2) Orientation Activities There were not many orientation activities for exchange students. Most of the orientation activities were informative in nature. Some activities were compulsory such as informative activities included a Moodle induction session (a computer system like SIS in HKUST) and a university information session. As I arrived late so I missed the welcome reception. 3) International Services & Activities There was a staff member, Carly, from International office to help exchange students. She was quite helpful. There is an ESN which organize international events for students in United Kingdom. 4) Accommodations I stayed in Liberty Court during my exchange period. It cost 3633 pounds for three months. Five people shared a flat with two toilets and one kitchen. All the necessary kitchenware was provided except rice cookers. There was a double bed with pillows and a comforter. It was in great location with strong security. It was 5- minute walk from Farringdon tube station. I would suggest you to look for apartments yourself as it may be cheaper 5) Courses Registration Course registration is very easy, just fill in the form and hand in online. They save seats for exchange students so it is easy to enroll into classes that you like. 6) Teaching & Assessment Methods Workload was much lighter than the workload in HKUST. I took five courses during exchange. I highly recommend Historic London as you can understand the history of the city and go into some of the places free of charge. Course Code Course Name Details FR3100 Fixed Income Portfolios Management The course is pretty easy and is mainly calculations. The alternative assessment is straightforward without much complicated questions. FR3110 Technical Analysis The course is mainly about graphs and charts. The group assessment used the software Metastock to do simulation that is quite troublesome but it isn t difficult. This course also has an alternative assessment that is straightforward much like FR3100. AF2101 Financial Accounting The course is pretty easy. There is one midterm, one alternative assessment and 3 course works. But, they are all relatively simple and a high mark is easily attained. BS3111 Entrepreneurship Theory and The course is very theoretical.

4 Practise The alternative assessment is a 3000 words essay. LA2018 History in London The professor took us on regular city walks. She showed us some important landmarks in London and explained the history. Sometimes, we got free admission to some places that charges fees if we went on our own. The presentation is quite relaxing compared to HKUST and the exam contained essay questions. 7) Sports & Recreation Facilities There were paid sports facilities near the campus. I think a must do is to watch musicals in London. It contains many big- scale productions with fantastic stage effects. Football is another entertainment in London. However, usually the cheap tickets are extremely difficult to buy and I was not able to get one but I would imagine the atmosphere to be fantastic. 8) Cost/Expenses Accommodation Transportation Living expenses Travel Airplane Tickets Total 45000HKD 4000HKD 10000HKD 30000HKD 10000HKD 99000HKD 9) Safety Even though that London I think is a relatively safe place comparing to other European countries. But there are lot of drunk people on the street at night so I would not advice you to stay out late. 10) Food There are supermarkets everywhere in London so you can easily buy your grocery and cook at home. I usually go to the street markets for lunch as there are lots of varieties and it is cheap. People said the food in UK is bad but London actually has lots of nice restaurants. I craved for Japanese food after I went to London. Eat Tokyo and Dozo in SOHO serves very fresh sashimi and nice Japanese cuisine at a reasonable price. Also Burger and Lobster is a must- try in London. It is easy to find nice cafes and restaurants in London. My favourite market would be Borough market as they sell really fresh oyster at a low price. Also the roasted hog there is fabulous and my mouth is watering by just thinking of it. 11) Transportation Transportation is convenient in London. Underground and bus are major transportation. However, there is often signal failure in the Underground and there is not mobile signal reception underground. As the transportation cost is pretty high, I often walk from places to places. I would suggest you to buy a railcard so you can get a one- third discount for each nation rail journey for going to other cities in UK. You can apply the railcard online and search for discount codes and get a 10% off. And by linking it with your oyster card, you will get a discount in the Underground at non- peak hours. 12) Climate London is always gloomy and rainy starting from October. But it is relatively warm comparing to other European cities and it never snowed during my stay. Also sun sets at around 4pm so you will need to grab your time to visit places in daytime.

5 13) Communication I used Giffgaff and 3UK during my exchange. Both cost 15 pounds for unlimited data. For giffgaff, you have to pay using an mobile app to pay in order to get the 15 pounds offer. Also you have to order the sim card online as they are a virtual company. I switched to 3 as they have a plan that allows you to use your unlimited data allowance in selected countries (such as Austria, Switzerland), but the reception of 3 in London is pretty bad. Part 3: Items to Bring and Contacts Passport Acceptance Letter Hall Acceptance Letter Bank Statement Multi- adaptor Laptop Credit card ATM card with overseas withdrawal function Medicine Camera Backpack Stationary Small bag that you can hide under your clothes for money Conclusion and Contact I wish I had spent more time in London and explore the city more as it is a really dynamic and vibrant city. You would never be bored in here. It is important to be bold and meet new friends. By meeting people from different countries and get to know their cultures is a great experience. Contact me if you wish to know more, I will be more than happy to answer youj If more information is needed, get my contact from SBM Exchange Team by ing at bmugexch@ust.hk