Exchange Report
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EXCHANGE REPORT DAVIS, RYAN BSc in Quantitative Finance Fall 2019 2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT Table of Content Content Page Part I : Monthly Activity Log 2-5 Part II : General Exchange Information 6-13 Part III : Items to Bring 14 Part IV : Useful Links and Contacts 15 Ryan Davis 1 2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT Part I : Monthly Activity Log September 2019 A week after spending my summer in Hong Kong, I started my exchange experience by flying straight to Vancouver. My friend and I had decided to arrive a day before the official check-in date in order to get a bit rest before getting started. The first week of my journey was an eye-opening one, as it was my very first time to go to North America. During that time, I chose to settle my university courses, bought some cooking utensils, made a bank account, registered for a local phone number, and strolled around UBC to familiarize myself with the campus environment. In the time of that first week, UBC had also arranged a school orientation for all incoming exchange students where you could get to know people around the world. On the second week of add-drop period, a group of HKUST Indonesian student across North America and I had decided to visit United States for 10 days. We completed this trip by going across west coast, with Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas as our main destination. I would like to say that aforementioned period would be best for travelling as the school workload was still light and you may be able to travel without having excessive burden of school projects. Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles Pier 39, San Francisco Vegas Strip, Las Vegas Ryan Davis 2 2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT October 2019 October was indeed a hectic period for me, as I was having 5 tests as well as ongoing projects and homework that had to be done simultaneously. As I didn’t have a lot of time to travel during this month, I decided to just travel around Vancouver during my free-time and did a short yet a compact trip to Seattle on a weekend. I would like to describe the fact that the workload of assignments and homework on the mathematics courses that I took was heavier than that of HKUST. I had to do some continuous online and written-based homework that had to be submitted directly in class, with a weekly time frame. However, I personally felt that the workload of the tasks was still manageable, and it helped a lot in terms of understanding the course. As I spent most of my time in Vancouver during this month, I would like to describe Vancouver as a great place to live in, with it being less crowded than Hong Kong while at the same time, Vancouver offers a promising convenience to its residents through a lot of aspects. Besides, during October, Vancouver got colder with an average of 11-12 degree Celsius for the whole month. Moreover, I disliked the fact that Vancouver started to rain frequently as it made commuting less comfortable. At last, I had also found out that the sky tended to look gloomy with minimum sunlight exposure all the time. Spending some time with friends would be very beneficial to keep yourself happy and motivated during such a busy month. Pike Place Market, Seattle Space Needle, Seattle UBC Campus Ryan Davis 3 2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT November 2019 I spent my first 2 weeks of November by dealing with school projects and exams as I still had 3 tests on that period. The reason that I had to deal with a lot of test was the fact that most of my courses had at least 2 exams during the whole semester. Upon completing all of the course- work, I gathered some HKUST friends from different places such as Toronto, Boston, and Atlanta to have a trip together to United States. At that moment, we went to explore the east-coast, where we visited Boston, New York, and Washington DC. To end the trip well, I had also decided to spend 3 days by visiting the financial centre of Canada, Toronto. I did really enjoy my time during that period, as I had just completed all the burden that school had given to me. During that trip, we spent most of our time by trying different local delicacies while at the same time, we visited the most sought-after landmarks that the city offers. However, it was very sad that I had to go back to Vancouver a day before Thanksgiving as I had to face my first final exam that began on the very first day of the exam period. Although I only had a few days to prepare for the first exam, I had planned it earlier before the trip to make sure that I had enough time to study within my own capability and pace. In this sense, I might suggest waiting until the final-exam schedule to be released before making a travel decision as it would be costly to cancel your trip upon having it being booked. Harvard University, Boston Times Square, New York Washington Monument, DC Ryan Davis 4 2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT December 2019 Final exam period had finally arrived! It started early from December 2nd until December 19th. My personal schedule on the final exam was not that tight, and hence, I had a very adequate amount of time to prepare. In UBC, there was no such thing as a study break. For example, as classes ended on Friday, November 29th , the first final exam took place on Monday, December 2nd. I would describe my last month to be a mixed feeling between joy and sadness. I was excited to enjoy Vancouver to the fullest while at the same time, I did realize that this remarkable journey was going to an end. To top my journey off, my friends and I went to Vancouver Christmas Market where I could at least enjoy a taste of the festive season, Christmas, as I had my flight ticket back to my country before that joyful moment. As I hadn’t gone home for almost a year, I had decided to fly back earlier to my country as I missed home so much, especially to gather with my family and friends, as well as to eat the very delicious and well-known local delicacy, the Indonesian food. McArthur Outlet, Vancouver Gastown, Vancouver Downtown, Vancouver Ryan Davis 5 2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT Part II : General Exchange Information 1. Visa Procedure As an Indonesian, I had to apply for a temporary residence visa. Instead of applying for a student visa, I did apply for a normal visitor visa, but if I had to recall, I remembered giving out information regarding universities information in the application. If it happens that you are in Hong Kong, I would advise you to visit the Canadian website for more details and visit VFS Global where they provide services for the visa application. The process was very convenient as everything could be done online and only took about 2 weeks. Visa requirements are listed completely in the website but it goes beyond the extend of: • Your flight ticket departing to Canada • Travel itinerary • Digital photo of 35mm x 45mm • Invitation letter stating the purpose and length of visit and also specifying who will be responsible of all the expenses • A legible copy of your travel documents (e.g. passport) • Letter of acceptance • Travel History (including previous passports and visas, entry and exit stamps, expired or valid visas, study and work permits) • Recent education transcript from HKUST • Proof of means of financial support will be responsible of all the expenses 2. Orientation Activities An orientation would be conducted during the first week of school term. UBC would divide students into smaller groups where students were expected to get to know each other. Aside of making friends, they would guide you to travel around UBC to make yourself familiar with the campus surroundings. There were also plethora of universities club and society to choose which included an exchange students club that held activities for incoming exchange students. Ryan Davis 6 2019 FALL UBC EXCHANGE REPORT 3. International Services and Activities If you have any concern regarding your exchange program, please contact UBC Go Global Office at [email protected] if it happens that you are being outside Canada. You might also want to stop by their office at Life Building if you have arrived at UBC. Courses registration and waitlist are also managed by Go Global, especially with the fact that we are an exchange student. You might also want to join “UBC Exchange Student Club” if you wish to join their trips and activities to meet other exchange students. 4. Accommodations The accommodation registration arrived months before your exchange program. Make sure that you don’t miss the application if you wish to stay on campus. My first choice was Ponderosa Commons, but eventually received Walter Gage Residence. Walter Gage is pretty good in a lot of aspects despite the fact that it is one of the oldest residents in UBC. Walter Gage fee is comparatively cheaper than that of other residents and it has a strategic location near Irving K Barber Library, main bus station, and not that far from the business school. Options for off- campus housing might be either more expensive or cheaper depending from the location and the amount of period you will be staying.