Exchange report Linköping Autumn semester 2015-2016 Daniek Verdonk 16-02-2016 1
The report is in two parts: a general part (A) and a specific report for each subject (B). A General report 1. Host institution and exact dates of semester abroad My host institution was Linköping University, or LiU. The semester started with an orientation day on August 15 th. The semester ended at January 22 th. Although, it depends on the courses you choose when you can return home: In some courses the lectures ended before the Christmas holiday, and instead of returning to Linköping to finish the course, students could write an exam paper and submit it from their home country. There is also an opportunity to choose the intensive Swedish language course, this course started at August 3 rd. 2. Contact with home faculty, preparation and journey The contact with the University of Groningen was in the beginning a bit confusing. The apply date for LiU was really early, so it was a little bit difficult to choose courses and to arrange all the needed papers in time. Later on, everything went very well and if I had any questions the mail contact was quite fast. My preparation consisted mainly on finding a room, working to save some money for my exchange, and figuring out which kind of stuff, for example summer and/or winter clothes, I would bring with me to Linköping. Besides this I spend some time by filling in the right papers for the Erasmus Grant, ding the OLS language test and arrange a substitution for my OV-card. You can arrange this with your DIGI-D on the DUO site and then you will receive around 105 euros per month. I also did a TOEFL test, keep in mind that you schedule this way before the date that you have to send you application form, because it will take a long time before you receive these results. My journey took me around 15 hours, my parents drove me by car, so that I could bring a lot of stuff with me to Linköping. Besides summer clothes and ski clothes, I also brought alcohol with me. Since my hometown is near the German border, I bough some alcohol there to save some money because the price of alcohol is high in Sweden. 2
3. Residence abroad Arrangements visa / residence permit Since Sweden is a European country, you don t need to arrange a visa or residence permit. Arrival and departure dates I arrived at August 12 th and I left Linköping at January 20 th. Finances / how much did the exchange cost you Sweden is more expensive than the Netherlands, the prices in the supermarket is more expensive. Especially alcohol and meat is really expensive here. However the rent for accommodation is cheaper, for my accommodation I paid 300 euro per month and I was living in a huge family house. I don t remember how much money my stay in Sweden exactly cost me per month because I also travelled a lot. Accommodation As soon as you read this, please sign up at https://www.studentbostader.se/en. Finding accommodation in Linköping is really a problem. LiU provides dorms to students, but there are too many students for the available dorms that LiU can provide. A dorm via LiU was around 320 euros per month. I applied for a dorm via LiU but unfortunately I and many other students weren t selected and we had to find accommodation on our own. To address this problem LiU also provides double rooms; housing 2 students, from the same sex, in a 20 m2 room. It may not sound very appealing, but I would really recommend to consider this option. It is really cheap (180 euros per month) and most people that I know became really good friends with their roommates. To find accommodation on your own LiU provided a couple of websites. The problem was that most of those websites handle a queuing system and the Swedish register really early, so most international students didn t had enough point to get a room. After checking every website that LiU provides and sending 100 reactions/mails, with 10 received responds, I eventually found a room. Although, the search for it was really stressing me out, the room was very nice eventually. I lived in a big red Swedish house, with a living room, garden, big kitchen, 5 other international students, 2 bathrooms, 2 toilets, and a washing machine. 3
Reception and introduction The introduction period is very nice. The semester started with a big welcome fair, where I got all the information that I needed. On this welcome fair almost every student association was present, from sports to party associations. There are two big student associations that organize activities for international students, ESN and ISA. Especially in the beginning there was almost everyday something to do and in this manner you have the opportunity to meet a lot of new people and friends. Student life, culture and leisure Linköping is a small city; you can compare it with Groningen. Although I was a little bit disappointed that I couldn t go to Stockholm and ended up in Linköping, I couldn t be happier now. Because the city is smaller you make easily friends here. All students live in the same area called Ryd. In the summer we went drinking and barbequing outside almost every day and when the weather became bad there was a party in one of the corridors almost every day. In Ryd there is a cheap student bar called HG, where beers are 2,50 euros. Every Tuesday they host an international night. LiU is known for its very nice student parties; they called kravallen. At a kravall you wear an overall, each faculty has its own color, when you went to a kravall or another party, you can buy a patch to pimp your overall, often other people write on your overall. This was very nice, all international students had a blue overall so we can easily recognize each other, now my overall is signed my all my friends and I have patches from all my parties and I have a really nice memory of my partying here. You can also party in the big city, although there is the disadvantage of entrance prices and expensive prices for drinks. The big difference with Groningen is that the nightlife is starting earlier and ending earlier; clubs are closing around 3 o clock. ESN and ISA are also organizing a lot of activities for students; pub-crawls, city tours, movie nights, theme parties, games, trips etc. The events were always fun and a good way to meet new people. Although Sweden is part of Europe, the culture is different than ours. First of all people are a bit shyer than here, it is for example not normal to talk small talk at a bus station. So don t approach the Swedes to directly. But besides this, they are all very helpful and nice to other people; they are high believers of equity and treat people the way they want to be treated. 4
The second thing that I noticed very quickly was the highly amount of queuing; queuing for tickets, queuing in the supermarket, there are queuing machines everywhere where you first grab a ticket and wait for your number to be called before you can pay or ask something. Lastly, the Swedish people are healthy; they love sporting and outdoor activities and things such as bitterballen, een patatje speciaal, frikadellen, stokbroodje met knoflook en kruidenboter etc. are not existing here. Instead of eating these kinds of things they eat all kinds of sweet things like pies, kanelbullar, cookies etc. You will notice the fika breaks when you are in Sweden; drinking coffee with something sweet, 4 times on a day. Besides studying and partying there were many other things to do in Linkoping. We had very nice sunny weather and the nature of Sweden is stunning! I travelled a lot, the gas is cheaper than in the Netherlands so we often rented a car and drive to different places in Sweden. Driving in Sweden is really nice since the nature is beautiful; we say wild moos and other animals across the roads and lots of lakes. Also the country is very different: in the south it is flat with farmers and lakes, the middle has islands, trees and hills, and in the north rocks and snow. During my stay I went to the coastline with the beautiful archipelago s, hiked in the Höga Kusten area went to Denmark, Norway, Finland, saw the Northern lights, visited a Moose park, and went to every big city in Sweden, did a dog sledge, saw reindeers, skied/hiked in Lapland and lots of other things! Language (of instruction) Swedish is really easy for Dutch people to learn. I would really recommended the beginners course, it is nice to know some basic words to understand the signs and things in the city better. Besides Swedish everybody speak perfectly English, even elderly people. 4. Grant Amount Since Sweden is a rather expensive country, you will get more money than for example a country like Hungary. I received 900,- euro (the first 70 %) before my arrival in Sweden and will get the remaining 30% after my stay. Besides this, if you put your public transport card on hold you can get another 105 euro per month. If you receive studiefinanciering this will continue during your stay. 5
Information on the adequacy of the grant The grant is by far not enough to cover all your expenses. I would recommend to save some money before going abroad, so you can participate on every trip and event you want. Expenses abroad The living costs are higher in Sweden than in the Netherlands. In the supermarket you will pay around 25% more than you are used to do. Especially medicines (like ibuprofen, paracatemol, etc) are more expensive. Also meat is more expensive. In some supermarkets some products are cheaper than in other supermarkets, for example the MAXI is cheaper in meat. So, search for the right prices. Normally Hemköp is very expensive. You do not need a visa or special vaccinations in Sweden. ESN and ISA will organize many trips, prices are different but keep in mind that when you are going to Norway or Finland, the prices are way higher than in Sweden. Renting a car is affordable in Sweden and the gas is way cheaper than here, so we used to hire a car and travel around Sweden. 5. Study (general) Introduction, general advice, etc. In the beginning at the arrival days I received a map with a goody bag, this was really nice it contained: A Swedish cell phone number, some maps of Linköping and the University, Swedish treats, Flyers from parties events and different student organizations, discounts, and a survival guide which provides al necessary information needed. The university is well organized, although there are so many buildings that I was sometimes lost in the beginning. So I will advice you to come 15 minutes earlier so you can find the right room. One thing that I found a little bit weird was that in the schedule the time of the lecture was set at 15:00, and the lecture really starts at 15:15, they call this an academic quarter. This is not the case at exams by the way. ESN will organize a campus tour, so that the international students know all the nice spots off the university, this was very nice. Dates of beginning and end of lecture series and examination period The start of the semester depends on the courses you choose. One big differences compare to Groningen is that at Liu you will follow once course at a time. You will follow one course for 6 weeks, end at the end of that period you have an exam. 6
I think this is really nice because you can focus yourself on one course and the students are more deeply into the subjects. Mostly every course is 7.5 EC, and half-year courses are 15 EC. Remarks on the organization of the study program As I said before, you will follow one course for 6 weeks, end at the end of that period you have an exam. Also be prepared for a lot of group work! The Swedish school system is very informal, and you have to work a lot in teamwork with other students and present your findings to teachers. I found it quite nice that they make the groups, based on your nationality, so that every group consists of different nationalities. Level of education language problems? I would say that the level of education is a little bit lower than in Groningen. There are many take home exams, which allow you to use your articles and books while writing the paper instead learning everything by head. I didn t have any language problems, since I had to make the TOEFL test, so I already knew that my language was ok for this university. Study facilities/ International Office abroad The international Office was always good reachable. They respond fast and were always nice to me. You can also reach them during office hours, but keep in mind that those hours are extremely busy because they are during lunch break. The study facilities were also very nice; in the beginning you will receive a LiU student card, with this card you have access to the university buildings 24/7, besides this there are always spots in the library. Liu provides good access to different kind of databases in order to collects literature for your study. There are also a lot of restaurants on the campus, which offer cheap students meals. Students receive also discounts for the Ice Hockey Club, you should have visited an Ice hockey game from FC Linköping once! Summary of subjects taken. I took the following subjects at LiU: 1. Swedish for beginners, level A1. I would really recommend Swedish for Foreign Students, since this is a nice way getting to know the language. It didn t take much of my time and I was easy to pass. You will have to make 4 short assignments (as in write about your spare-time, family, yourself etc.). 7
Followed up by a big written exam with grammar and an oral exam with your teacher. The lecture was once in a week, during 3 hours. 2. Nordic Culture This course was so much fun and it will give you 15 EC! It is all about the Scandinavian culture, and the best way to learn this according to the teacher, is to experience the culture in real life. The course consists of 2 parts, with lectures every week followed up by a live in seminar. You can compare a live in seminar with a high school camp, for example, in the fall semester; we went 4 days to the countryside. We canoed, went to the sauna, saw wild moose, followed guest lectures, hang out with each other, did outdoor workshops, swam in a lake etc. It was a really nice way to get to know your fellow international students (since there are only international students in this course). We also went to Stockholm for 4 days. In the spring semester you will visit Lapland and an area in the middle of Sweden. After the live seminars we have to write an academic paper about a topic discussed in the live seminar and lectures, followed up by a big end paper that you have to submit in December. 3. Sustainable business an ecological perspective This course was all about sustainability. Every week we had several lectures, it was quite interesting. During the course we had to pick a company and we had to find ways to improve the sustainability of this company by fulfilling 2 big cases. We had to present our findings from the cases to our teachers. It was a nice set up, because the theory was really well combined with how sustainability works in practice. The course ended with a big take home exam. 4. International HRM This course had a quite unique set up. In the first 3 weeks, before Christmas, it was really intense with many seminars, lectures, assignments etc. We had workshops, seminars, and case days. It was a lot of work, but the teacher tried to make the course as interesting as possible. After Christmas we didn t have any lectures or seminars anymore. During the last three weeks we had to write a group assignment with our virtual team and write an individual assignment. 8
6. Other relevant info you want to share with our future exchange students / 7. Summary impression and any advice/suggestions/tips Because a picture is worth a thousand words, I made a small photo summary of my stay! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me on d.m.verdonk@student.rug.nl 9
B Specific Report 1. Sustainable business an ecological perspective 1. Host institution and study period Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences 26-10-2015/ 27-11- 2015 2. Lectures and literature The literature required for the course was: Main course books: 1. Esty and Winston, 2009. Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage. Yale University Press. 2. Esty and Simmons, 2011. The Green to Gold Business Playbook: How to Implement Sustainability Practices for Bottom-Line Results in Every Business Function. Wiley. Besides this we had to read for every lecture 2 or 3 articles, described in the literature list. 3. Overview of lecture program 10
4. Contents Sustainable development is a growing priority for businesses all over the globe. Resource use in production cycle and subsequent impacts on ecological sustainability constitute challenges, but also opportunities, for private business. In order to integrate efficient resource management thinking and practices in corporate strategy and to realize potentials in clean-tech solutions, managers need a basic knowledge of the field of natural resource management, ecological/environmental sustainability and how these correlate to green business models, strategy, corporate branding and CSR work. In this course we will hence use the inter-disciplinary field of environmental science as a stepping stone to explore ecological challenges that private businesses need to take into account and the potential that these challenges provide. 5. Lecture-related activities The course consist of 2 Examination workshops (25% of final grade) where the students will discuss and apply what they have learned during project work, literature seminars and reading, in order to test their ability to analyse situations and present reasonable and relevant solutions to ecological constraints facing sustainable business and a final written take home exam (75% of final grade). 6. Relevance to Groningen study program It was related to my study program in Groningen because I study business and this was a business course. There was not a comparable course in Groningen. 7. Study load It was quite a lot of reading work and preparation work for the examination workshops, around 20 hours per week. 8. Assessment in Groningen The lecturer conducting the assessment was Anna Jonsson. 7,5 ECTS were obtained, with grade: B 11
9. Added Value Sweden is a very sustainable country. Sustainability is an upcoming trend in business; it was very interesting to learn more about this subject. I can definitely use the things that I have learned in this course in my later study program and business career. 2. International HRM 1. Host institution and study period Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences 30-11-2015/ 22-01- 2016 2. Lectures and literature The required literature for this course was: Main course book: 1. Evans, P., Pucik, V., & Björkman, I. 2011. The global challenge: International human resource management (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. ISBN 978-0071114172. Besides this we had to read for every seminar a case. 3. Overview of lecture program 12
4. Contents International expansion does not only mean new challenges and opportunities in the management of traditional tangible and intangible assets, but also in the management of human resources. In the great internationalization challenges - such as simultaneous local responsiveness and global integration - strategy, organizational capabilities, and people management are closely intertwined. In this course we will hence use the international business background as a steppingstone to explore the new demands placed on HR work as a firm develops internationally. Within the frameworks of local responsiveness, global integration and coordination we will discuss issues such as global talent management, global leadership development, global teamwork, expatriate management, and cross-cultural competence. This course will be very much based on casework, where you will analyze different types of international organizations and their HR structures and challenges. 5. Lecture-related activities For each literature seminar we had to make 4 questions per chapter in the book, to understand the literature better (5 points). Attendance to this literature seminar was rewarded (3 points). During case days we had to solve certain question in our team among a case and discuss this with other groups. At the end of each team case we had a big debate with each other, including jury. Also the case days were rewarded (5 points). Besides this we had the choice to write a case reflection paper (up to 12 points). 13
We also had one virtual team preparation day (4 points). In the following weeks we had to write a virtual group assignment (up to 15 points) and an individual exam (up to 40 points). 6. Relevance to Groningen study program HRM is an important aspect of a company, since I m studying business administration; it is relevant to my study program in Groningen. 7. Study load This course was really intensive the first two weeks. Because attendance was rewarded with points, and the whole book was discussed in 2 weeks, we really had to attain the lectures and seminars. So the first 2 weeks it took me around 35 hours per week. In the Christmas break we had nothing to do, and after the Christmas break, the assignments took me around 10 hours per week. 8. Assessment in Groningen The lecturer conducting the assessment was Birgitta Sköld. 7,5 ECTS were obtained, with grade: B 3. Nordic culture 1. Host institution and study period Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences 26-08-2015/ 22-01- 2016 2. Lectures and literature The required literature for this course was: Main course book: For this course no main book was used. We had to read for some every lecture an articles and read article in order to reference in the academic examination papers. 4. Contents Throughout the course, Nordic Culture is scrutinized from several different perspectives: historical as well as current ones. The relationship between culture, cultural heritage and identity creation is analyzed. Craft, Literature and music from the Nordic countries is dealt with; however, the emphasis is on Swedish culture. Swedes and Nordic people s relationship to nature is studied. Students visit and examine urban and rural surrounding areas. Outdoor education and learning methods as well as aesthetic methods are presented and applied as a means of learning. 14
The student s own experiences from the course form the basis for reflection and processing of the course content. The following subject areas are covered by the course: Culture and cultural heritage; identity creation; Art, craft and design in the Nordic countries; literature and music from the Nordic countries primarily from Sweden; some Nordic artists, musicians and film-makers; Immaterial culture such as popular belief and fairy tales; Traditions and festivals a cooking as way of getting to know a specific culture. 3. Overview of lecture program 15
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5. Lecture-related activities This course contained 2 parts; part 1 the countryside and part 2 the city. For each part, we had lectures about the subjects followed by a 4-day live in seminar. In a live in seminar we went with our class en we had to experience the culture in real life. After the live in seminar we had to write an academic report about the theme. In the end we had to write a big academic end report about culture. 6. Relevance to Groningen study program The course was not relevant for my study program in Groningen, however it was nice to know the culture from the country where I was living at that moment. 7. Study load This was a part-time course, so it wasn t much study load. Most of the time 3 hours lecture per week. Also writing the report didn t take me that much time, I think around 8 hours per report. The live in seminar took the most time, since it was compulsory and the course is a part-time course, it can be the case that it overlaps compulsory seminars from other courses. The end report took me the most time, since it had to be 15 pages or so. 8. Assessment in Groningen The lecturer conducting the assessment was Bo Hinnerson. 15 ECTS were obtained, with grade: A 9. Added Value It was very interesting to learn about the history, culture, traditions, stories etc. from the country that I was living in. It was very nice to experience these in real life. During the live in seminar I visited places that I wouldn t visit normally, en the group consisted only out of international students, so I made a lot of new friends during the course. 4. Swedish language course level A1 1. Host institutions and study period Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences 26-08-2015/17-12- 2016 2. Lectures and literature: The required literature for this course was: Main course book: Rivstart A1 + A2 Övningsbok 17
Rivstart A1 + A2 Textbok, Besides this we had additional study materials provided in the lectures. The chapters we covered were 1-8 (p.1-87) 3. Overview of lecture program The timetable on the course website does not apply in this case, as it shows all the different groups. In my case, it was a 3 hour-lecture, Wednesday from 5-8 PM, once per week. 4. Contents Learning the Swedish language on an A1 level. 5. Lecture-related activities Your final grade consisted of a written exam, an oral exam and the overall grade for your assignments. We had to make 5 short assignments during this course. 6. Relevance to Groningen study program As this was a language course, there was no relevance to my study program in Groningen. 7. Study load This was a course with a relatively low work load. On average, it must have been around 5 hours per week. 8. Assessment in Groningen The lecturer conducting the assessment was Monika Lopez. 5 ECTS were obtained, with grade: A 9. Added value It was very nice to learn the basics of Swedish; it was handy in daily situations for example in the supermarket, a restaurant, shop etc. 18