EXCHANGE REPORT

EDHEC, Campus, France

John Au QFIN, Year 3 Spring, 2020

Monthly Activity Log

Late December 2019

Since there is no direct flight from Hong Kong to Nice, I decided to go and visit friends there for the Christmas and New year. It was very cold and everything is closed on the Christmas day, but we were still able to find something to do.

Happy New Year from London Eye!

The food there was actually not bad, especially the Indian food and Kebab, better than what we have in Hong Kong

January 2020 After spending more than two weeks in London, I finally moved to Nice, where my host institution is located. It was a very beautiful costal city. Thanks to the timetable, I had a lot of free time for me to travel around. The timetable is not fixed, which means the class schedule this week could be different from the last week and the schedule for the whole semester was not released in the beginning of the semester. However I still found myself had day-offs on most Mondays and Fridays. After spending the first weekend to buy necessaries for my dorm, ( API Sky didn’t even offer a rubbish bin) I spent my second weekend for , an old but major city for France.

There are some heritages of the Roman Empire were well-preserved in the city. Do not miss it if you are a history fan. Another reason urging me to visit Lyon is that the city has a lot of Michelin Star Restaurants. The lunch set charged me around 25 to 30 Euros but they are definitely worth visiting. The city offers the best food in France.

In late Jan, I went to Krakow and Berlin as I have a whole week of holidays for no reasons. I wish I could visit the Auschwitz concentration camp but it was closed on the day I visited due to the anniversary activities. With no choice I went to the Birkenau camp which is very closed to it. The concentration camp was the largest of the Nazi concentration and death camps. Most Jewish people who died in WW2 were killed here. It made my mood very heavy and somber simply visiting it. I didn’t take any photo on that day.

Another parts of Krakow were still very interesting and playful. The food there was the cheapest in Western Europe and were of good quality. I bought a bottle of Spirytus(only 100ml), only costed me round 30HKD. It is definitely worth trying but I spent 4 whole days to finish it. Be careful with it.

February 2020

I continued my journey in early February as I went to Finland and Sweden, the land of snow. It was stunning and definitely worth visiting. I only wish that I could spend more days in Finland.

I visited Santa Claus Village, tried Skiing and driving snow mobile in Rovaniemi. Do remember to bring the soft-copy of your driving license with you. It’s really useful.

After coming back from the North, the school continues. The first tests and quiz season is in mid-February but don’t be too worried about it. The atmosphere is more relaxing than that in HKUST and it’s not hard except some, like the French course and one elective I chose, which you can of course avoid it, the Financial Econometrics. It’s a great course if you have some knowledge in programming and econometrics. The language it used was R so be prepared for it. It’s pretty useful anyway. No pain no gain.

In late February, I went to and Rome. As a Roman history fan, I visited a lot of heritages in Rome. By the way, the food in Italy is the best in Europe.

March 2020

It is the last month I stayed in Europe unfortunately due to corona virus. In the early March, I visited my friend who were also in his exchange semester in Copenhagen. It’s a city of castle. Let the photos speak for me.

General Exchange Information Visa Procedures The process of application for French visa was quite lengthy so never apply it on the last day. It was very confusing to me as my host institution gave me wrong instructions. The correct instruction goes as follows. Applicants first need to apply on the Campus France’s website and interview with them. After the interview, the applicants then can visit the consulate of France for submitting documents with advanced appointment. Make sure the document submission for the Campus France is completed before going to consulate of France because the latter need a letter of approval from the Campus France. They will not inform you if there’s any missing documents so applicant to you contact them actively for the process. I didn’t know that when I was applying so I went to the Consulate of France for many times. Informed applicants should be able to save a lot of time on it. Orientation Activities You should inform the school upon your arrival. There will be a person picking you up and drive you to your hall, which you have selected and paid for it. The orientation day is pretty ordinary. You will meet with other international students. Banks and public transportation operators will arrive on that day. You are strongly advised to open a bank account since the Debit card is widely used in European countries and you can use it in any other countries in Europe. It saves me many times. International Services & Activities There were not many activities in EDHEC as it is a very small school. You can always find the office if you have any inquiries. Accommodations There wasn’t any hall in the Campus and the closest hall is three tram stations away from the school. I strongly advise fellows to apply for the cheapest dorm offered by school since the atmosphere there was really nice and it was closer to city centre. It was a very popular choice so do remember to apply for it as early as possible. If it’s not available, try to live near to city centre.

Course Registration Everything is done online before your departure. The Research in France course is not mandatory but strongly advised. Be careful with the electives, some of them have some pre-requisite and you need to treat it carefully since the school will not restrain you from selecting them.

Teaching & Assessment Methods Teachers are very professional and some of them are working in some pro-eminent institutions. The qualification of the professors are really good as EDHEC is mainly offering the best MSc in Finance programme in Europe.

Finance and Banking As I mentioned before, I strongly advise my fellows to apply for a local debit card. It’s really convenient. The process could be a bit lengthy, which took me 2-3 weeks. HSBC is the best option among all banks operated in France. You can take money out from every atm with OB logo so don’t worry about the ATM problem. There’s no transactional fee even I took money out in other countries.

Health and Safety EDHEC required you to have healthcare insurance so remember to buy one before your departure.

Food The food in canteen is around 5 – 7 euro. There is a better canteen in the campus but I had never visited there. They didn’t offer dinner and I don’t like the food there. Therefore, I mostly cook for myself at my room. The lunch in a normal restaurant cost around 10 to 20 euros depends on what you eat. Dinner will be 25 to 30 euros.

Transportation Its mainly trams, buses and bicycle in Nice. I strongly recommend my fellows to apply for an annual bicycle pass if they are not living in city centre. The waiting time of trams and buses is very long and I usually rode cycle to school.

Climate The weather in Nice is very good. It seldom rains. The temperature is around 15 to 25 degrees from Jan to March

Items to Bring

 Backpack

 Socket  Power Bank  Sim Card  Camera  Clothes for Winter  Pillow  Bed Sheets  Blankets  Silverware  Travel pillow  Sleeping Bags

Useful Links and Contacts

Official Website https://www.edhec.edu/en/nice

Mobile Apps Transportation in Nice: NFC Nice Ticket, Lignes d’Azure Travel Transportation: Ryan Air, Easyjet, Lufthanser, BlaBlaBus, FlixBus, , Skyscanner Accommodation: Hostelworld, Booking.com, Airbnb Tour: Tripadvisor, GetYourGuide Other: Moovit, ISIC, Splitwise