Exchange Report, Fall 2017 Siu Kam Man (IS & ACCT, Year 4) Monthly Activity Log August I Arrived at Edmonton Via Vancouver on 29Th August

Home , West Edmonton Mall, William Hawrelak Park

! ! University of Alberta

! ! Exchange Report, Fall 2017 Siu Kam Man (IS & ACCT, Year 4) Monthly Activity Log August I arrived at Edmonton via Vancouver on 29th August. University of Alberta (U of A) offered FREE Sky Shuttle service for international students and the shuttle will take student straight to campus, so remember to sign-up for this service! A series of orientation activities started on 30th August. Transition activities organized by International Student Service are highly recommended. From there, you can get some tips on how to prepare for the extreme cold weather, how to adjust and adapt the cultural differences, etc. ! ! September Classes ofﬁcially started on 5th September. I took 4 courses in this semester and got a day-off on friday. My exchange buddy suggested me to take a visit to Banff and Jasper, so I took his suggestion and went to Banff for 3 days in mid-September. Banff national park is the oldest Canadian national park and it deﬁnitely worth a visit. The mountain scenery was spectacular. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been!

! The weather in Edmonton was really good in September. It was perfect for outdoor activities, so my friends and I went to William Hawrelak Park (the nearest park to U of A) for a picnic. October Since all of my midterms were arranged in October, so I had to assigned more time for my revision. In order to achieve a balanced life, I signed up for Pilates class, Zumba class and Yoga class. Those classes were a bit challenging to me at the beginning, because I needed to coordinate my body and adjust to different position while I were translating the English instructions in my mind. But once I got used to it, the classes became fun and enjoyable. ! As we entered the autumn season, most trees turned from green to yellow. It was a very good time to walk around the campus and the neighborhood to relax and admire the trees.

! ! After ﬁnishing all the midterms, I went to Yellowknife with my friend who is also from Hong Kong. We saw mild aurora in two out of the three nights. So far as I know, January is the best month of the year to see the northern lights. But that time would be extremely cold as well! ! ! ! November We focused on doing the course projects in this month. I had two course projects in this semester, so the workload was not that heavy. Temperature in Edmonton fell to minus 10 to 20 degree Celsius in November. Many exchange students wanted to escape from the snow during the reading week, and I chose to travel to Toronto, Montreal and Quebec. Other exchange students went to places like Hawaii, New York, Cuba and Mexico. !

! December To celebrate Christmas, my friends and I joined a Christmas dinner organized by International Friendship Group. We went to a church to enjoy a dinner, play games and watch a drama. We also signed up for an event called ‘Share the Cheer’, we were paired up with a local family. We went to their home in Christmas Eve to enjoy a Christmas dinner. I left Edmonton on Boxing day and stayed in Vancouver for 4 days before going back to Hong Kong. !

! ! General Information Visa Procedures For exchange to Canada, students who hold BNO or HKSAR passport are not required to obtain a study permit if the duration of the exchange is less than 6 months. Students, however, need to apply an eTA through the Government of Canada's official website. If you plan to visit the United States or fly to Edmonton via the United States, you need apply for a U.S. Visa. ! Orientation Activities I joined the orientation activities organized by Business School, International Student Services Team, Students’ Union and Residence Service Team. Those activities provide great opportunity for you to make new friends. There may be, however, a time clash between different organizations’ activities. There will also be free bus tour to West Edmonton Mall (the second-largest shopping mall in North America) and IKEA. ! International Services and Activities In U of A, there is a specialized team called ‘International Student Services’ to deal with any problems that International Students have. Please feel free to contact the team whenever you have some trouble and need help or support, even if they cannot solve the problem for you, they will divert your case to the most appropriate unit. The staff are very friendly and helpful, so don’t hesitate to find them if you really need to.

Accommodation HUB, Lister Centre, Pinecrest House and International House are the popular on-campus residence choices. I chose to live in HUB because it is connected to the business school building, which means I could attend the lectures without meeting the cold air outside in winter. HUB is also connected to the LRT station, so I can get on the trains without going to the outside as well. HUB is sometimes called ‘HUB Mall’ because there are a variety of shops, mainly restaurants, on the ground floor. The residential area is on the second and third floor. The living environment in HUB might be noisy to some people, because students can stay on the ground floor until late night. To me, the noise level was acceptable. (Note: Always remember to bring the key with you. Room door is locked automatically once it is closed, the fee to re-open the door is CAD 50 !) ! Course Registration U of A adopts a system called ‘Bear Tracks’, a system which is very similar to HKUST’s Student Centre, for course registration. You can enroll, swap and drop courses in Bear Tracks. The only difference between the two systems is that there is no wait list in Bear Tracks. When a course is full, student can add that course to ‘Watch List’. Then, an email will be sent automatically to notify student when there is a vacancy in that course. Only the student who act the fastest (log-in to Bear Tracks -> enroll) can take the spot. So you need to check emails frequently if you want to successfully enroll into a very full class. ! Teaching and Assessment Methods I took 4 courses in total: MIS418 Introduction to E-commerce MIS415 Data Base Design and Administration ACCTG418 Advanced Financial Accounting ACCTG456 Assurance on Financial Information All courses have 1 midterm and 1 final exam. There was no project for the accounting courses. For MIS 418, there is a project that we need to make a website from scratch. For MIS 415, the project is about maintaining a database. The project teammates were assigned by the professors. The teaching styles of the courses were similar to HKUST’s teaching style, except there may be more discussion opportunities in U of A ’s lectures. ! Sports and Recreation Facilities ! There is a 2-floor gym, swimming pools and a climbing centre in U of A. Student can access into the gym centre for free with OneCard. There is also a small gym room in HUB for HUB residence only. There is a wide variety of sports skills classes organized by the Campus & Community Recreation. There would be free classes offered to students at the beginning of the semester. There are some free drop-in yoga class available throughout the semester. ! ! Finance and Banking For the whole semester, I spent around HKD 60,000 (including trips to Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Yellowknife and Quebec). Credit cards and debit cards are widely accepted in most shops in Canada. I had applied for a debit card in RBC because it is much more convenient to use debit card than using cash in Canada. (The exchange rate was around CAD 1= HKD 6.2) ! Social Clubs and Networking Opportunities There are around 400 student clubs and associations in U of A, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find a club that suits your interest. The student clubs would set up booth in the main quad during the orientation week. I joined the Cantonese Christian Fellowship as I am a Christian. Besides the social clubs, there were other networking opportunities, like the weekly English Conversation Club organized by International Students Service. Students can improve and practice English by having discussion with other participants from other parts of the world. ! Health and Safety Exchange students were required by the university to join the ‘University of Alberta Health Insurance Plan’ (UAHIP), which costs CAD 32. It covers Ambulance Services, Doctors’ Services in Alberta, Hospital Services in Alberta, Emergency Services outside Alberta or Canada, etc. Details can be referred to the UAHIP brochure in the useful link. ! Food Cooking costs much less than dining out in Canada. A meal usually costs around CAD 10. Cooking ingredients are relatively cheap compared to Hong Kong’s price, so I cooked quite a lot in Canada. The closest supermarket to school campus is Sobeys. The cheaper options would be No Frills and supermarkets in Chinatown. If you are a coffee lover, you would love Canada, because a price of a cup of coffee is much cheaper in Canada (costs around CAD 3.5 - 4). ! Transportation Exchange students were required to buy U-Pass (which costs CAD 145) , which would be sticked on OneCard. With the U-Pass, you can travel by bus and LRT for free (within Edmonton). You need to show the pass to the bus driver when you get on the bus. Don’t lost your OneCard! Because losing OneCard means your U-Pass is lost as well. Lost card replacement would cost CAD 25, while U-Pass replacement could cost CAD 145.

Climate Edmonton could be very cold in the winter. The snow season starts at late October to early November. The temperature can drop to as low as -30 degree Celsius. Always remember to take windchill factor into account when checking the outside temperature, because the wind can make a huge difference on how cold your feel. You should dress like an onion (layer by layer), instead of wearing a super warm bottom shirt because most indoor area are equipped with heater. ! Communications I joined the 7-11 Speakout plan (data was not included in that plan). I didn’t purchased any data because I could enjoy free wiﬁ in the campus, coffee shops and some supermarkets. So I just needed a registered phone number to ensure that I could dial the emergency call in urgent case. If you need a data plan, you can choose Fido, Bell, Rogers or Telus. ! Things to Bring

Personal Identiﬁcation Documents (Passport, HKID, eTA proof) Ofﬁcial documents (Acceptance letter from U of A) Cash, Credit Card Laptop, Mobile Phones, Chargers, Adaptors Stationery, Calculator Winter Clothing (including hat, cloves, scarf) Flip Flops Medicines ! ! ! ! ! Useful Links 1. eTA Online Application: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada/eta/ apply.html ! 2. International Student Services: https://www.ualberta.ca/international-student-services ! 3. Sports Skills Classes offered by Campus Community Recreation https://www.ualberta.ca/kinesiology-sport-recreation/campus-community-recreation/drop- in ! 4. UAHIP Coverage Area https://cloudfront.ualberta.ca/-/media/ualberta/faculties-and-programs/international/iss/ docs/uahip-2017-web.pdf !