Exchange Report

Lund University ,
Sweden
Phoebe Tanlee, Ma ( Marketing & Management )
Year 3 Fall Exchange
1 Table of Contents
Page
Part I
Activity Log…………………………………………………… 2
Part II
General Exchange Information………………………… 4
Part III
Checklist……………………………………………………….. 6
Part IV
Reflection ……………………………7
2 Part I Activity Log
August 2014
I arrived Lund, Sweden on
19th August. There will be
student helpers pick you up
in Copenhagen airport and
teach you how to take train
and get to Lund. More
information about arrival
day will be released through
emails in early July. Right
after arriving lund, I was
picked up by several students
mentors and guided to AF building to go through a series
of registration process.
Afterwards, you will be given a schedule of orientation
activities, such as IKEA Tour and Treasure Hunt. It lasts
for 2 weeks. At the mean time, you also need to attend
SUSA course so that you will learn some basic Swedish. I
personally joined all the orientation activities. I reckon it
as a good opportunity to make new friends and have tons
of fun.
September 2014
September is a perfect month for you to adapt Sweden as
usually you only have 2 courses to take. And classes are
not in daily basis. I spent my September joining different
activities in school, home groups in church and different
student clubs. Also I joined gym room called
‘gerdahallen’ where I had tons of fun by working out and
attending classes such as ‘yoga’ & ‘street dance’.
3 I also joined color-run in Lund with some friends. It was
my first time to join color run, I was so excited by the
idea of getting colored and ran for 5 K. It’s a special
experience for me.
Since school work wasn’t demanding at all, I went on 14
days trip to Greece, Italy and Germany. September was
quite special to me as I just started to adapt Swedish
lifestyle and explore the world by traveling. I am so
amazed by how much I learned everyday during September.
Most of them may not be academic knowledge, however,
those experiences or new perspectives literally awe me a
lot.
October 2014
There will be two exams for
my courses at the end of
October, therefore, I spent
the whole October in Lund.
Life became more routine in
October. I went to class,
studied for exams, joined
or organized some fun
parties, went painting in the
cafes with my close friend
and worked out in gym
room everyday.
Since I was part of the
student magazine
‘Lundagard’ , I got to join
a camp for free. We went to
an 1920s old mansion for 3
days. It was really
unforgettable to hang out with more swedes and some
people from other part of the world, talking about art, life
and some deep topics and making some shallow silly
jokes.
After exams, it was the start of series of Halloween Party.
I went to 2 parties on Halloween. It was an interesting
experience by dressing up ridiculously and acted silly. I
went to Stockholm with my friends for 3 days right after
the party.
October was full of fun experiences.
November 2014
4 November is commence of another section of semester. I
got 2 new courses to take. As usual, not too much
workload from school, therefore, I decided to travel a bit.
I went to Budapest, Vienna and Prague for a week. After I
came back, I joined an ESN trip to Gothenburg, another
cool city in Skane. Since it has been 2.5 months living in
Sweden, I was used to everything in Sweden. I went to
Malmo once a week for church, met friends everyday for
different activities, worked out in the gym room. Sweden
was getting colder and colder, followed by the shorter day
time, it would be quite depressing to stay alone. Therefore,
it was perfect time to hang out more often with friends in
cafes or pubs in downtown. ‘Fika’ became a more popular
activity among friends. Don’t spend too much time alone!
You will get depressed easily! ;)
At the same time, I also traveled to Paris and Amsterdam
for a week to get some fresh air and checked out some
Christmas markets.
December 2014
I had love-hate feeling towards December. I love
December as it was a season for Christmas and lund got
Christmassy day by day. However, it was a season for
farewell as lots of my friends need to go back to other
part of Europe for Christmas. I spent the whole Christmas
preparing my final exams, hanging out with friends more
often and
checked out
different
Christmas
markets.
I helped out my
church in malmo
for Christmas
party. It was
extremely
enjoyable to be a
Christmas tree
builder, party
helper. I also
joined the choir
team for
Christmas party.
It was truly
unforgettable to
5 me as singing in a choir was something totally alien to
me.
Since I painted a lot, I decided to sell my paintings to a
local café before Christmas. Therefore, I decided not to
travel but stayed in Lund to finish my work. Even I didn’t
sell my paintings to the café eventually due to
insufficient time, I still drew loads of fun by simply
preparing my artwork.
When Christmas approached, there will be a big event
called ‘ Lucia’. It’s a tradition for Swedes. Traditional
treats such as Lucia bread ( lussebullar) and Swedish
Glogg ( a special beverage) will be served after Lucia
concert. Make sure you don’t miss it!
January 2015
Since semester ended at the end of December, I was able
to go travel for the whole January without worrying
schoolwork. I went to Lapland, Helsinki, Turku, Poland,
Milano, Portugal and Spain. It was the best way to end my
awesome exchange and made my exchange life extremely
memorable. During my trip, I got to see different
artworks, cultures and made different friends from all
part of the world. I gained new perspective towards life. I
finally figured out what I wanted to do in the future, and
mentally prepared to go back to Hong Kong.
6 Part II – General Exchange Information
Visa Procedures
After receiving the acceptance letter, I need to apply the
residence permit as I was staying in Sweden for more than
3 months. You can do it online and it cost 1000 SEK
through Credit Card. You will need to visit CONSULATE
GENERAL OF SWEDEN in Wan Chai to take photos and
fingerprint.
For detail, it is better to refer to the official website lest
miss some new updates of instructions.
7 Orientation Activities
There will be heaps of Orientation activities hold by the
International Desk, such as official welcome party, Ikea
Tour ,Student Association Fair (which you can know
different Nations), Guided Tour of Lund City. You can
check out the ‘International Desk’ through Facebook or its
official website.
In addition, you can also register the mentoring program
before you arrive Lund. You will be assigned randomly to
a mentor group and get to join different activities with
other exchange students for the first few weeks.
International Services & Activities
International
Desk is always a
place you can
turn to if you
start to get
bored during
exchange. There
are tons of
activities for
international
students to join.
Make sure you
check it out.
You can also
check out
Nations in Lund
university.
Usually different
nations will organize different parties for students in
daily basis. If you enjoy partying a lot, nations are the
places you will draw fun from. I personally joined Lund
nation, however, I reckon it was a waste of money as I
didn’t enjoy the parties organized by it. I recommend you
to hold party yourself in the dorm with your friends so
that you don’t have to line up for hours in cold weather
just to go party.
Accommodations
Make sure you apply as soon as possible when application
starts. It won’t guaranteed you will definitely get a
student dorm.
8 I was assigned to Ostra Torn, 10 mins by bike to the
Economics Building. It’s one of the most expensive student
dorm. It’s a studio flat where you have your own kitchen
and toilet. It is really far away from city center and you
won’t have any opportunity to meet anyone unless you
knock at your neighbours’ door and talk to them. I will
recommend this accommodation to people who need more
personal space. However, to people as outgoing and
extrovert as me, I would not recommend Ostra Torn no
matter how cosy and beautiful it is.
Courses Registration, Teaching & Assessment
Methods
You need to register your courses online in around
April/May. However, you will be able to change your
courses during the orientation week.
I took 4 courses in total:
FEKH 11 Business Policy
The over-all objective with the course is to give a wide
knowledge of theories of strategy and their application in
models, concepts, and tools in various contexts. In order
to fulfill this objective the course takes its departure in
historical and contemporary theories in terms of general
definitions and models of strategy, industrial
organization (IO) and resource based view (RBV). Theories
about strategy in highly unpredictable and volatile
9 contexts will be introduced in the end of the course in
terms of new approaches to strategy such as strategies in
hypercompetitive environments, standard setting and time
pacing. The course is offered in English and is conducted
in the form of lectures as well as case discussions and a
presentation made by the students. The course design is
based on active student participation and students are
expected to attend all activities.
FEKH 21 International Business and Multinational
Enterprises
The main objective of the course is to provide the student
with basic knowledge on the nature and scope of
international business and multinational enterprises.
The approach to the course is to discuss the following
issues and to relate them to theoretical and empirical
findings.
• Causes of competitive advantages related to
international business
• Co-ordination of international business activities
• Cross-cultural management
• Current global development in organisation and strategy
• Implications for management at top, middle and frontlevels
• Implications for marketing, production, R&D and human
resource management
FEKH22 Business-to-Business Marketing
The objective of the course is to give students a deeper
knowledge and skills of the area of Business marketing.
The course is introduced with a general description of the
characteristics of business markets. Next, the course
focuses on four fields of business marketing; Strategy,
Organization, Purchasing, and the Distribution channel
design. The main part of the course examines the various
management tools and models, which have emerged within
the area of business marketing.
FEKH42 Corporate Culture
Culture is a fundamental dimension of all organizations
and it significantly affects the way organizations
work.Understanding organizational culture is thus
10 important for consultants, managers and other
organizational members at all levels of an organization
and in various situations: When working with multicultural
teams, when implementing change, when developing HRM
practices etc. The aim of this course is to train students to
understand and use central cultural perspectives, concepts
and analytical tools. A main building block is the seminar
series where students are required to actively participate
in discussions of key issues. Case analysis, where the usage
of cultural theory is practiced, is an important part of the
course as well.
Sports & Recreation Facilities
There are many sports and recreation facilities at Lund
University. I went to Gerdahallen for gym everyday. There
are some classes such as ‘street dance’ and ‘yoga’, too. It
only cost me 1000 SEK for a semester.
Cost/Expenses
It depends on how much you travel during exchange.
However, the living standard in Sweden is quite high.
Items
Air Ticket
Housing
Visa
Living Expenses
Insurances
Total
Price (SEK)
1,0000
2,0000
1,000
2,0000
3,000
5,3000
Social Clubs/Networking Opportunities
I joined many student clubs such as the Lundagard,
debating team, drama clubs, Christian fellowship and
Taman.
Health & Safety
It’s generally really safe in Lund. But you need to pay
attention to the change of weather in Sweden to avoid
getting sick.
11 Food
I usually prepare food myself as I am really healthconscious. You can buy whatever ingredients you want in
ICA. If you are craving for Asian food, you can also
check out some Asian restaurants in Lund, such as Rose
Garden and Meijiang. They are not too pricy but really
delicious.
Transportation
To get around Lund University, there are different buses.
However, it would be more convenient to get a bike so you
could go to any places whenever you want to. There will
be lots of second-hand bikes on sale in Lundabocker, a
café near AF building. Make sure you ask your mentors
for it;) To take public transportations, such as buses or
trains, you need a card called ‘ JOJO CARD’. Make sure
you top up frequently before you get on the bus/ train.
You can’t pay cash on the bus neither credit card.
Climate
It was 14 degree Celsius when I first got to Lund in
August. During
September and
October, it would be
15-17 degree Celsius.
However, temperature
dropped dramatically
during November and
December. The
coldest could be -5
degree Celsius. Make
sure you bring a
down jacket.
Communication
There is a SIM card
in the welcome
package. You can top
up in 7-eleven. I
used Telia because
there is 500Mb data
each.
12 Part III Checklists
Items to Bring and Contacts
1. Acceptance Letter
2. Passport
3. Laptop
4. LAN Cable
5. Router
6. Charger, adapter
7. Phone (spare phone as well)
8. Camera
9. Down-jacket
10. Credit cards ( mastercard/ Visa)
11. ATM cards
12. Medicine
13. Skincare
Others:
Here are the websites that you will find it useful when you
go to Lund
University to have exchange:
13 http://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/
http://student.lu.se
Part IV Reflection
I can’t be more thankful that I could come to Sweden for
exchange. Lund is such a lovely place where it is peaceful
and joyful. And I personally grow a lot during this
exchange. I learn to see the world in a brand new
perspective. I figure out what I want to do in the future
and become more independent and strong. You can expect
lots of changes undergoing in your life, in a good way or
bad way. Try to set goal for your exchange and achieve it.
Learn not to be transformed by the world, but stay firm to
your faith.
If more information is needed, get my contact from SBM
Exchange Team by
emailing at bmugexch@ust.hk.
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