Exchange Report Lund University, Sweden Vicky Cheng BBA (Finance and Information System) Spring 2014 Exchange
Part 1: Monthly Activity Log January I arrived Lund on 9 th January. It was also the arrival day of Lund University. There are mentors welcoming us in the Copenhagen airport. Lund is located in the southern part of Sweden where very close to Denmark. It takes only 30 minutes train from Copenhagen to Lund. On the first day, we will get the key of our accommodation and a welcoming pack. Inside the welcoming pack, there is a SIM card. The SIM card can be used after we activated it. The weather in Lund is cold. During winter time, it usually raining or snowing. Before the regular lessons start, there is a Swedish course. During that course, you can make new friends and have some basic knowledge about Swedish. This can help you in your daily life especially when you shop in the supermarket. I have two courses in this month but still I can manage to go to one trip. I went to Norway in the end of January. It is one of the most unforgettable trips because I can see northern light there. February It is my first time to celebrate Chinese New Year away home. Luckily, there are many Hong Kong exchange students in Lund. We had hot pot together to celebrate this big Chinese festival. I explore more on Sweden in this month. I went to Stockholm to visit a friend who was going on exchange there. It took around 5 hours train to go to Stockholm from Lund. Apart from Stockholm, I also visited Goteborg in this month. Goteborg is the second largest city in Sweden. March Since the semester is divided into two parts here, most of the courses will end in March. In this month, most of the students will be busy with the projects, presentations, essays or examination. For me, I have a report, presentation and take- home examination due in this month. Although the workload in this month is a bit heavy, I am sure UST students will not have problem handling these workloads. I went to two short trips in this month. I went to Prague and Berlin. These two places are nice especially the weather is getting warmer and warmer in March. There is a small town (CK) in Czech which I highly recommend you to visit if you are going to Prague. April I have one take home examination in the beginning of April. In many European countries, they have a very long Easter holiday. However, it is not the practice in Sweden. We only have the official holiday around four days. Although we do not have a very long holiday, most classes will extend the holiday for students by not having classes before and after the official holidays. I got a week off during Easter. Therefore, I went to Budapest and Vienna. Budapest is a very nice place with nice view and nice food.
May Spring is the most enjoyable time in Lund. There are lots of flowers along the street and more and more people walking along the street. This year, people are busy to prepare for the Lund Carnival. The Lund Carnival held once every 4 years. Therefore, I was so lucky that I can join this event during my exchange. During the Carnival, Lund was so crowded and full of fun. Apart from the food store and game store in the Carnival, there are performances and parade. At night, there are parties. In this month, I stayed in Lund most of the time and enjoy the nice weather there. I only went to two short trips which is Legoland in Denmark and Munich. I have one written examination and one final presentation in this month. They are not hard to handle. June My courses ended on 2/6 but I have booked my flight ticket and left on 14/6. Therefore, I have around two weeks time. I went to Italy and it was my last trip before I back Hong Kong. The weather in Italy is hotter than that in Lund. Italy is an amazing place to visit because the food and the architecture are great. However, it is not recommended to visit alone because there are lots of swindlers around the tourists spots. After my return from Italy, I still have two days to walk around Lund and pack my stuffs up. Although I miss Hong Kong, I am not willing to leave Lund because it is such a beautiful and relaxing place. It is like my second home after living there for 5 months. Part 2: General Exchange Information 1) Visa Procedures I submit the visa application online. You will receive the email from the consulate within one week after your application. After doing the biometric measures in the consulate, they will process your application. When the residence permit ready, you will receive email again and ask you to pick it up. 2) Orientation Activities Before you arrived Lund, you will be assigned to one mentor group. Usually, the mentors will contact you in advance so you can ask he/her anything about Lund. They will organize some city tours/ parties during the first few weeks so that you can make new friends and familiar with the new environment. You may also join the introductory of Swedish courses, hiking trips or IKEA tour which organized by Lund University. During these events, you may make friends with other exchange students. 3) Accommodations The accommodation application is done in September. Although the school will ask you to rank 5 choices, there is no guarantee that you will get an offer within the five choices. I was offered a studio flat in Palsojang which is located next to the economics building. I did not put this inside
my application because it is more expensive than I expected. There are private kitchen and toilet in a studio flat. There is a supermarket (ICA) near it. My room is well suited with necessary utensils. Since it is a studio flat, it cost around 5000HKD monthly. 4) Courses Registration The course registration is done in October. You will receive email from Lund University which asks you to apply for courses. You will be asked to apply for 5 courses with two alternatives each. Although you may not get the offer that you want, you still have a chance to add/ drop/ swap courses on the registration day after you have arrived Lund. On the registration day, you have a chance to talk with your coordinator to ask for changes on your courses. 5) Teaching & Assessment Methods I took five courses in Lund University, including one finance course, one information system course and three common core courses (SAS courses). The size of business courses usually larger (around 60 students) while that of SAS courses is smaller (around 30 students). 1. Gender, Social Change and Modernity in Sweden/ Scandinavian This course can transfer back as a social analysis course. This course composes of lectures, seminars and one take- home examination. We are required to participate in group presentation in two seminars. This course requires students to read a lot of reading materials after class. It may be demanding but the readings are interesting. 2. Information System Security This course can transfer back as an information system elective. This course composes of lectures, seminars and one take- home examination. Also, we are required to write a report on information system security and present our idea in the seminar. 3. The Old Icelandic Heritage This course can transfer back as a humanities course. This course composes of lectures, seminars and one final presentation. All seminars are compulsory and each group has a short presentation on that topic. This course does not have any written or take- home examination. 4. Corporate Finance This course can transfer back as finance elective. This course is a comparatively big class because there are around 60 students in one lecture. The course content is not difficult and it composes of lectures, homework and written examination. There are two homework throughout the course. The homework is a case study which done in group.
5. Swedish Politics Past and Present This course can transfer back as social analysis course. Similar to other SAS courses, it is a small class which only has around 30 students taking this course. This course talks about history and politics in Sweden. It contains lectures, seminars and one take- home exam. Seminars are compulsory. The politics concepts are quite difficult for me because I have not study similar courses before. 6) Sports & Recreation Facilities There do not have many sports facilities in Lund. There is a gymnasium in the city center. However, I am not sure about how much it costs because I did not go there. During winter, it is too cold to have outdoor activities. During spring, most people will go picnic and cycling around the city. 7) Cost/ Expenses Amount (~HKD) Return flight ticket 10000 Visa 1200 Accommodation 28000 Daily expenses 8000 Travel expenses 35000 Total 82200 8) Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities There are lots of social clubs and networking opportunities in Lund. Nations which similar to the students societies in Hong Kong will organize parties and lunches regularly. You can participate in their events once you joined their nations. If you are living in corridor, you may have party every week. There are several bars and clubs in city center where you can go partying at night. 9) Health & Safety The medical fee in Lund is very expensive. Not including the medicines, it cost around 1000HKD to visit a doctor in Lund. However, the student insurance in Lund University covers it. You can claim back the money afterwards. Lund is a very safe city where you would not feel scared even you are walking alone at midnight. However, you should always be aware of the bicycle when you are walking around Lund. 10) Food I cook most of the time during my stay in Lund because dinning out would be quite expensive when compared to Hong Kong. The food and ingredients can be bought in the supermarkets.
The supermarkets in Lund are ICA, Willy s, Lidl and Coop. They are located near the economics building and city center. 11) Transportation To take the public transports in Lund, you must get a Jojo card (Octopus card) before boarding. Jojo card can be used for the transportation within the Skane region which also includes the nearby cities and Copenhagen. When travelling between Lund and Malmo, you can take either bus or train. For a single ride within Lund, the bus costs around 18SEK. Therefore, most students will purchase a bike. However, I prefer walking because I live near the economic building and it took me only 25 minutes to walk to the city center. There are trains run from Lund to Copenhagen Airport every 20 minutes and buses run from Lund to Malmo Airport. 12) Climate From January to March, the weather in Lund is very cold. During winter, the average temperature in Lund is around - 5 to 5 and it is usually rainy and snowy. Therefore, it is better to prepare some waterproof bags/ clothes/ shoes. In April, the weather in Lund gets warmer and warmer. There are more and more sunlight and the sunset time is after 8pm. You can enjoy more outdoor activities like picnic when spring comes. The average temperature in Lund is around 10-20 degree Celsius in spring. However, it can reach up to 27 degree Celsius. Therefore, prepare some summer clothes there. During spring, the weather in Lund can change dramatically within a day. It can change from sunny to rainy or from hot to cold. Therefore, always get yourself prepared to the changing weather. 13) Communication The official language is Sweden is Swedish. All the notices and road sign are shown in Swedish. Although you can rarely hear or read English in Lund, the Swedish speaks very well English. Also, the Swedish are very nice and they are willing to help you. When you shop in supermarket, you may get confused about which ingredients you should buy because all the descriptions are in Swedish. You may use Google translate to help you or you can just simply ask other customers. It is fun to chat with strangers and meeting new people.
Part 3: Items to Bring Ø Passport and ID card Ø Visa Ø Student ID card Ø Acceptance Letter Ø Clothing Ø Laptop Ø Camera Ø Mobile phone Ø Credit card Ø Debit card with a Plus logo Ø Cash (SEK and Euro) Ø Calculators Ø Medicines Ø Adaptors