EXCHANGE REPORT FALL SEMESTER 2014

EXCHANGE REPORT FALL SEMESTER 2014 NEOMA BUSINESS SCHOOL, FRANCE IRENE WU WAIYI YEAR 3 (MARK & OM)

1 Bonjour! Have you ever imagined spending 4 months in France? NEOMA BS Rouen was not my first choice on the list. When I first received this offer I hesitated if I should accept this offer. After coming back from exchange, I am glad that I made the choice of going even I was not very interested in going to NEOMA BS at the beginning Rouen is located in northern part of France and around 1.5 hour train ride away from Paris. It is a peaceful town which is totally different from Hong Kong. Sometimes it could be a bit boring but the experience was amazing overall. PART I MONTHLY ACTIVITY LOG Sep 2014 We (there were 5 students from UST going to NEOMA BS) arrived Paris on the 4 th of September and we took a three hour taxi ride to Rouen from Paris CDG airport. There were plenty of orientation activities organized by NEOMA and other students associations in that week. Since we arrived slightly later than many other students, we missed the cooking utensils mega-sale organized by a student society called Culture-Co which serves international students. Classes in fact have been started before the designated date of arrival so some of us have unfortunately skipped 1-2 classes already. It also was mandatory for all international students to attend a French Intensive Session at the end of the first week after arrival. It was very relaxing to study in NEOMA generally, especially for first month of the semester. Therefore my friends and I travelled in weekend including going to Amsterdam, Paris and Barcelona. Oct 2014 It got a bit busier than the last month but still the workload was not heavy compared to UST. Unlike UST, we did not have class every week; therefore I had enough time to travel to a few cities more like Prague, Munich and Krakow. I also spent one of my weekends in London to watch an Arsenal Home game in Emirates Stadium. At the end of the month I spent 11 days in Italy during the semester break. I joined some of parties organized by Culture-co including Halloween party.

2 Nov 2014 Time to study for final exam and work on projects! I spent a few days in Iceland and Edinburgh at the beginning of November and spent rest of the month in Rouen. The scenery in Iceland was fascinating and I was lucky enough to see northern lights there. Apart from school exams Besides I also spent time on studying materials on Common Recruitment Examination and Basic Law Test which would be held in first week of December in London. I had gatherings with my friends at weekends, including going to Christmas market near the cathedral in Rouen, the fair as well as travelling to Paris again. Dec 2014 I was busy with exams for the first two weeks. I have 4 final exams in France as well as CRE exam in London. Meanwhile I had to terminate my bank account and mobile phone service before I left France. I also had some farewell parties with my friends in Rouen. I left Rouen one day after my last exam and then I travelled to Paris, Germany for 12 days and UK for 11 days before I went back to Hong Kong. I feel really sad to say goodbye to Europe and all my friends there. I enjoyed staying in Europe and would definitely be back in the future! PART II GENERAL INFORMATION Visa Procedures You have to apply a long stay visa to stay in France. Please make an appointment for the visa application as quick as possible right after you get all documents required as the French Consulate needs to process large number of application during summer. It took me around 2 weeks to get my visa. Make sure you have every single document they need. If you miss anything, you would need to

3 re-hand in that which might significantly lengthen the waiting time to get the visa. Last but not least the policy changed around 2 years ago that Hong Kong students are not required to do OFII anymore Orientation Activities All the exchange students were required to attend the orientation seminar organized by NEOMA. You could get to know about the course structure, assessment methods, HUB (that is like a student affairs office and first point of contact in case any help needed) and so forth followed by a campus walk which they showed you different parts of the campus. Some more workshops were held on the second week but that would be on voluntary basis. There were 2 welcoming parties organized by Culture-Co. I strongly encourage everyone to go since it is the best opportunity to meet other exchange students. If you do not like parties you might find these not so enjoyable but still better not to miss the first activity. International Services & Activities There are plenty of student organizations there but I think most of the exchange students only join Culture-Co. If you do not speak French, it would difficult for you to fully enjoy activities from other student organization as most of the time French were used instead of English. Apart from parties, Culture-Co also organizes trips to Amsterdam, Mont-Saint-Michel and Disneyland. If you have time you might also join Running Dinner which is also organized by Culture-Co. You would visit 3 different groups of French students homes for appetizer, main course and dessert. Accommodations There are 3 housing options offered by NEOMA, namely on-campus student residence by CROUS, offcampus housing and host family. You can choose to rent a place by yourself also. Most of the exchange students would choose to stay in Ango. I picked Ango as one of my choices as well but I got sent to Bois with 2 more girls from UST instead. Bois is the cheapest, oldest, smallest and closest to campus among all the student halls. It s around 2000HKD cheaper than Ango. You would have your own toilet but have to share the kitchen and bathroom with everyone on the same floor. In Ango you would have you own stove but have to share bathroom and toilet with the person next door. Do not expect to meet a lot of exchange students in Bois. Nevertheless, it is not a bad choice if you want to save more money for travelling and know more local French students. The Wi-Fi in dorm costs 20 EUR per month. I only used that for 2 months as I used my phone as a hotspot to share internet connection with my laptop later on. Courses Registration I received the syllabus in summer holiday and registration starts in late August. Unlike the one in UST that in NEOMA everyone would register classes at the same time and the website is only opened during registration period (no shopping tart), so please be quick and familiar with course registration procedures sent by NEOMA. The minimum and maximum number of courses allowed would be 3 and 10 respectively. Teaching & Assessment Methods A few things to notice in NEOMA: 1. Classes actually have started before the designated arrival date, meaning you might have skipped

4 one or two classes already! Since skipping more than 2 classes without reason might bring you a F on the transcript from NEOMA, remember to hand in air tickets as justification for absence. 2. The class schedule could be changed WITHOUT any notice. Students are expected to check class schedule very frequently. Just ask the HUB in case anything goes wrong. I enrolled in a course which classes was supposed to held once a week, 3-hrs per session and 12 sessions in total. However, the school changed it to 6-hrs session and 6 sessions without any prior notification. They might also put students into other sessions of the same course without informing the students at all. You might enroll into Monday class but ending up in Tuesday class. 3. Class venue changes from week to week. Check your schedule daily! I took 4 courses in NEOMA in total and each of them carries 5 ECTS credits. They are French A1-1, International Marketing, Service Marketing and Brand Marketing. Sports & Recreation Facilities There is a gym next to Bois with monthly subscription fee of Euro 50. Jogging around Mont-Saint- Aignan could be a good way to keep fit as well. Cost/Expenses Visa 50 Student residence (Bois) 1000 Living expense 1200 Travelling 4800 Air ticket 1000 Insurance 209 Total 8259 EUR Health & Safety Rouen is a peaceful city and people here are very helpful. However, please avoid going out at night alone since it could dangerous around campus (The campus is located on the hill). The environment is darker compared to Hong Kong. There were a few robbery cases targeting Asian students so please do not walk alone and better not to carry any valuables including laptop at night. For health care service, as we have paid insurance so we can go to doctor consultation for free most of the time. The clinic is located near Université de Rouen. However, the insurance is only effective from the beginning of the second month of stay.

5 Food Most of the time I cooked by myself or with my friends in Bois. It is the cheapest and most convenient way to fill your stomach. There are two canteens nearby but they close at night. If you want to dine out you would have to go to downtown. Carrefour is a good place to go for buying food. It takes around 10 minutes to go to Carrefour by bus (Route F2). Despite Carrefour offers food with wide variety, the price is usually higher than SuperU and Simply Mart. SuperU is within a walkable distance from Campus (around 25minutes) while Simply Mart is located in Downtown. Transportation In Rouen: It would be a bad idea to get the unlimited travel bus card with monthly fee of around 20 EUR if you don t take bus VERY OFTEN. Jeune 10 voyages, the discounted 10 journey ticket for young people who under 26, would be a much better option instead. Remember to VALIDATE the ticket once you get on the bus! The buses do not run frequently at night so please check the bus schedule before going out. Travelling: Train: Train is in fact the most expensive transportation mode. The ticket price is rather stable and not many good deals available. In France, you can buy the Jeune SNCF discount card which costs 50EUR. Depending on the time of travel in a day, discounts card holders buy train tickets from 25% to 50% off. If you are interested in spending time in Germany, you might keep an eye on discounts on Einsteiger bahncard and Railpass. More information could be found on http://www.bahn.com/i/view/gbr/en/. Bus: Usually this is the cheapest option of all! Megabus(http://uk.megabus.com/) offers very good prices compared to other bus companies like Eurolines. Sometimes if you are early enough you can get a bus ticket by 1 EUR! You can charge your phone on Megabus as well. I recommend taking overnight bus to save costs on hostels and time. Carpooling: A cheap way to travel as well. Just be more careful in driver selection. Budget airline: examples includes Ryanair (It delays quite a lot ), Easyjet, Germanwings and so forth. Climate If you go to Rouen in Fall semester you might some summer clothes as it could be quite hot when you are travelling to Paris or Barcelona. Snow comes in late December in many parts of Europe including Rouen sometimes. Communication Please learn some basic French before going to France! French are nice most of the time but sometimes they are reluctant to speak English. Cautionary measures Keep your personal belongings well and avoid bring too much cash. Pay extra attention when you are in Paris as there are A LOT of pickpocketers.

6 PART III ITEMS TO BRING AND CONTACTS What to bring 1. Around 100ml of shampoos and shower gel - I did not have enough time to buy shampoos on the first day of arrival! Luckily I have read through the exchange reports by other students and brought some with me. 2. Laptop 3. Adapter - It costs 10 HKD in Hong Kong but 2-3 Euros in France! 4. A few passport copies 5. Credit Card and bank account card with Union pay - It is pretty convenient to get money if you have a card with Union pay. A lot of ATM in Rouen accepts Unionpay cards (e.g. the one right opposite to main entrance of Gare Rouen Rive Droite!)The charge is 15HKD per withdrawal. For more information please check: http://en.unionpay.com/englobalization/all_globzlization/eneurope/en_france/ 6. Umbrella - It rains A LOT in Rouen! 7. Backpack/small suitcases for travelling - Make sure it is small enough to get on budget airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet as hand-carry if you do not want to pay extra money for check-in oversize bags. 8. Local food - Therefore You would have something local to share with your friends there and relieve homesick. 9. Hair dryer 10. Stationery 11. Bed linen - It is included in the rent but you might consider bringing your own (I was unlucky that the bed linen I got was really dirty...) 12. Medicine 13. Some nice dresses if you are a girl - There would be a lot of parties during the semester. Be prepared to dress a bit nicer sometimes depending on the nature of the event. Contacts Feel free to contact me via SBM if you have any questions regarding exchange in NEOMA. Wish you have a pleasant stay in Rouen and enjoy your exchange!