REPORT BANDUNG ITB 2015-2016 Karin de Vries S2508230
A. General report 1. Host institution and exact dates of semester abroad Last semester, I studied in Indonesia. In the big city Bandung. This city is located close to the capital Jakarta. It was the first semester of academic year 2015-2016. I studied at SBM (school of business and management), the non-technology part of ITB. The semester started with an introduction day in august (18 th of august) and my last day at ITB was in the begin of December (7 th of December). 2. Contact with home faculty, preparation and journey The contact with the home faculty was really good. After I heard I was selected for ITB, I received an email from Anti Novarianti with information. There was a lot to do but it was mostly paperwork and getting your VISA (start early with this!) and international driving license. You really need this last one, otherwise you have to pay the police a lot of rupiahs (Indonesian money). The journey to Bandung was easy but long. We took a flight to Jakarta and from there a taxi to Bandung, this is a four hours drive. I recommend you to do the journey in a group. It is ofourse more cosy but it also more safe! For your VISA you can ask Anti for all the information and she will help you. I had a social cultural VISA. To arrange my socio-cultural visa I had to visit the embassy in The Hague twice. And in Bandung I had to expire it. But Anti also helps you with this. 3. Residence abroad The socio cultural visa is valid for 60 days, after that it has to be extended every month. This can be done by ITB, they will help you with the extension. I needed several vaccinations. Hepatitis A/B, DTP, tetanus and rabius. In total I went three times to the GGD. Start early with a visit to GGD because some vaccinations you need a couple of months before you leave. I arrived the 9 th of august with three other students from Groningen. We discovered Bandung and did already some trips before the semester started the 18 th of august with an introduction day. We left Bandung the 23th of January, after some travelling though Asia. I stayed the whole semester in the Rooftop Residence. All the international students stayed here and it was really a nice place. I think it it the best place to stay in Bandung. The rent was around 130 euros and this is included with your own room with bathroom (toilet and shower). There was also drinking water included and security 24 hours. The best thing was the laundry service; everyday Watti (an Indonesian women) did our laundry. At the reception and introduction you ll get to know your fellow International Students a little better. Other than a useful tour around ITB (which is quite large) it is not a big deal. The student life in Indonesia is totally different than In the Netherland. You have to do a rather large amount of practical assignments (this is what makes it better comparable to HBO), but they are often not difficult. I ended with A s and AB s. As for the real student life (concerning leisure) Bandung is good city. You just have to know someone who knows the places and soon enough you ll be able to get around.
The Indonesian culture is very friendly and honest. When you know the locals, they can help you by going out and drinking some beers. There are some nice clubs but you first have to find them. In Bandung western people are not common. They call you a bule, a white people and they think you are very special. They always want to help you with everything The language Bahasa is a great language with some dutch words! It is not difficult to learn but it takes some time The teachers at ITB and all the students speak english. The other people in Bandung mostly not. So it is usefull to learn some grades and other words. 4. Grant Amount Next to my stufi I also received a marco polo fund and OV-vergoeding. In total this accounted for a little more over 400 euros per month. Though this might seem enough to get around with, don t underestimate what you spend on beverages (European prices) and traveling. Your main sources of output will be the rent on the room, the rent on your scooter (if you get one, which I do strongly suggest) and of course beverages. The food is really cheap, same for the travelling in Indonesia (taxi, train, bus and gas are very cheap). The vaccinations are also very expensive, I hope you have the right insurance! 5. Study (general) Studying I Bandung and all the other cities of Indonesia is not very hard. It is easier than in Holland. But there are a lot of assignments to make and also group assignments. All the group assigments I made in a group with Indonesian students. This is sometimes difficult but a good experience. I really mentioned the cultural differences during this collaboration. You can follow bachelor or master courses. The level is totally different. The master courses are way more difficult than the bachelor courses. Yu can compare the master courses with the bachelor courses in Holland. Filling out a learning agreement in Holland is not really necessary. Many courses that they say they have will be cancelled, often the teacher doesn t speak English and the courses is given in Bahasa Indonesia.The classes started the 18 th of august till the begin of December. It was great to choose your own courses because so you can choose your own schedule. I only had course Monday, Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning. A lot of free time to travel! The study facilities are good, there are some libraries where you can study and there are some places to get some food. There is a huge sport complex with fitness, a swimming pool and a running track. I took two master courses and two bachelor courses. The master courses were: modelling management and capital market analysis (both 9 ECTS) and the bachelor courses were shopper behavior and negotiation.
6. Other relevant info you want to share with our future exchange students Don t be afraid to drive scooter. The first two weeks I was a little bit scared because the traffic is chaos. But when I drove for two hours it was okay. You just have to get used to it. The scooter makes it easier for you, you can go everywhere and it is really cheap. Before you book your tickets, keep in mind that you are likely going to travel afterwards. About 90% of the people I spoke to regretted booking their flight back too early. Even if you don t think you are going to travel at all, it is a smart idea to book a flexible ticket (KLM is really good with this). 7. Summary impression of the study period abroad and any advice/suggestions/tips for students or academic staff who will be involved with the host institution in the future. Enjoy Bandung! It is a great experience to study here. You meet a lot of other international students but don t forget to become friends with the locals. They are also very kind and it is nice to hang out with them. Take also some time or travelling because Indonesia is amazing! You are able to miss two times the most courses so you can go for example two weeks to Bali. We also did this and it was amazing.
B. Specific report Host institution and study period I studied at ITB, Institut Teknologi Bandung. The bachelor courses started the 18 th of August and ended the 7 th of December. The master courses started one week later, August 25 and exams were at the middle of November. I took to master courses and two bachelor courses. The master courses were: modelling management and capital market analysis (both 9 ECTS) and the bachelor courses were shopper behavior and negotiation. The following points I will describe per different course:
1. Shopper Behavior (bachelor course) There was one lecture per week. This was a lecture and tutorial at the same time. The first hour was a lecture with information and the other two hours were making assignments and quizzes about the information of the lecture. There was no book, only slides. The whole lecture/tutorial takes 2,5 hours. The homework only takes you 15 minutes. The quizzes were also around that time and were during the tutorials. Preparing the mid and end term takes you more time, there are a lot slides! The same for the group assignments, these are a lot of work. Learning things about the consumers in Indonesia. In special about consumers in supermarkets. Every week a quiz about the lecture, every week some homework (answering really easy questions before the lecture started) and there were two big group assignments (doing a research in a supermarket). There was a midterm and an end term about the PowerPoint slides. A lot of practical research, this is different in Groningen. A great opportunity to see the differences in customers. The homework was only a few minutes. The group assignments takes you more time, this is a big research. Not really difficult but you just have to do it. You will get 6 ECTS for this course. This includes the home work, group assignments, mid and end terms and you attention during the course.
2. Negotiation (bachelor course) There was one lecture per week. This was a lecture and tutorial at the same time. The first hour was a lecture with information and the other two hours were doing negotiations with a partner. There was a book, but it is also possible to read the slides only. The whole lecture/tutorial takes 3 hours. The first five weeks you have to make some homework. This will take you around 30 minutes. After these five weeks you only have to follow the lectures. There is a midterm and the end term is making a video with a group about a negotiation. Learning things about negotiation. Improve your negotiation skills in different situations. The first five weeks making some homework, you have to do a negotiation in real life. With your friends or in some stores. This is learning full because in Indonesia you have to negotiate the whole time. I did not follow a course like this in Groningen. It is really practical and inter active. The homework was only half an hour. Also learning for the midterm is not really difficult and can be done in one or two days. The end term is again easy and not that much work. You will get 6 ECTS for this course. This includes your homework, the negotiations during the course and the mid and end term.
3. Modelling Management (master course) There was one lecture per week. This was a lecture and tutorial at the same time. The teacher will talk and explain things for 3,5 hours. This is very long and a little bit boring! There are no exercise to make, only listening. There was a book, you can find it online. The teacher also made some slides in English. It was necessary to have them both! The whole lecture/tutorial takes 3,5 hours. Sometimes the teacher gave us some homework and there were two quizzes. Each counted for 10%. There was a midterm for 30% and a big assignment for 40%. The final 10% was a presentation about your assignment. Learning mathematical things about modeling. It was really difficult and a big mistake we took this course. All the students from Groningen (we were with 6) had a very low grade for the first quiz. Around a 2 and 3. You really needed prior knowledge about mathematical models and methods. For the midterm we studied a lot and it was an open book test. We all made a good final assignment (improving a mathematical model), so in total we had a good grade. But I totally do not recommend you to follow this course. It was way too difficult without prior knowledge. There a better and easier courses to follow at ITB. Making some homework and quizzes. This was difficult and I spend a lot of time to make this. I did not follow a course like this in Groningen so in that way is was interesting. But I am studying business administration, this is a study without mathematical courses. So it was not really relevant for me to learn this. The study load for this course was a lot. I recommend you to choose other courses because they will be more easy. The quizzes were difficult, the same for the midterm. The assignment we had to make was also really difficult and it was much work to complete it. You will get 9 ECTS for this course. This includes your homework and your attention, the grades for the midterm and quizzes and the grades for your assignment and presentation.
4. Capital Market Analysis (master course) There was one lecture per week. This was a lecture and tutorial at the same time. The teacher will talk and explain things for 3,5 hours. There are also some guest lectures and you will visit companies. This is really interesting! There was a book, it was able to rent this book in the library (the local students will help you with this). The whole lecture/tutorial takes 3,5 hours. Sometimes the teacher gave us some homework and there were almost every week quizzes. These are not really difficult but you have to prepare them. They only count for 1 or 2 percent. Furthermore, there is a midterm and endterm and every week a group assignment. Because you will do a real life investing. Every week you have to write your findings and strategies. You will learn a lot about investing and trading strategies and about the capital market in Indonesia. It is interesting and the teachers were amazing. They were really kind and interested in the international students. Sometimes you had to make small assignments as homework. Every week a group assignment about your trading strategy. This will take some time. But I was in a group with Indonesian master students and they were really motivated, so it is nice to work together with them. They were also flexible about meetings. I did not follow a course like this in Groningen so in that way is was interesting. It was also relevant to learn more about the Indonesian capital market. The study load was average, there were many things do but they were mostly teamwork. Learning for the mid and endterm was more difficult if you compare it with the bachelor courses. The textbook was an American textbook (same as in Groningen) and you have to learn around 5 or 6 chapters. You will get 9 ECTS for this course. This includes your homework and your attention, the grades for the midterm and quizzes and the grades for your group assignment. 9 ECTS is a lot and this course is totally worth it!