EXCHANGE REPORT, SPRING 2020

EDHEC BUSINESS SCHOOL,

WONG CHIN WAI, ATHENA

INFORMATION SYSTEMS & MARKETING, YEAR 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Monthly Activity Log………………………………P2-7

General Exchange Information …………………P8-10

Items to Bring ………………………………………P11

Useful Links and Contacts …………………………P11

EDHEC BUSINESS SCHOOL, LILLE EXCHANGE REPORT WONG CHIN1 WAI, ATHENA

Monthly Activity Log

Late December 2019

Since some friends who went for exchange during Fall, 2019 invited me to go to for a trip after their exchange and since we will be in Europe at the same time, I decided to ask my other EDHEC Business School exchange friend who would be studying in to book a plane to fly to London first for a short trip with them before reaching France. We took the cheapest flight which requires 2 hours to Singapore, 9 hours stay at Changi Airport and 13 hours to London.

Since it was during Christmas period, most restaurants and transports are closed. Fortunately, we found activities for us to do nearby at Hyde Park or within cycling distance.

I really enjoyed our time at Winter Wonderland carnival at Hyde Park!

After watching the Buckingham Palace march early in the morning, I hopped onto a previously booked London Heathrow Car to catch a flight to to meet my friend who also ended her Fall semester exchange there. I did not understand how the train ticket system works there at first and was able to enjoy a few free rides. Little did I know how lucky I was for not being caught as Germany is one of the strictest countries concerning fare dodging. One thing special about Germany during this cold season is their magically decorated Christmas market that lasts longer than other countries.

EDHEC BUSINESS SCHOOL, LILLE EXCHANGE REPORT WONG CHIN2 WAI, ATHENA

After my trip in Cologne, I hopped onto a 1st class train to Tallin to Bruxelles Midi. While carrying my 29kg luggage with another heavy bag, I realized how inconvenient it was to travel long trips in Europe via train as they do not have escalators or lifts to platforms usually. The train numbers were also not clearly indicated and may be delayed without prior notice. Everything mainly depends on instincts, i.e. guessing the train according to the scheduled time you were given and reaching out to the locals for confirmation. Luckily, have met Baali from Switzerland and speaks proficient English on my way from Bruxelles Midi to Tournai to Lille. The reason why my train requires so much transfer is because it was a lot cheaper than one-way to Lille. I owed it to Baali to hop on the next train to Lille as it was a long and confusing way down the stairs to another platform and the time provided for transfer was only 5 minutes.

I arrived Lille on New Year eve where most places are closed and EDHEC’s accommodation is only opened two days later. Thus, I had to carry my large luggages on the rocky roads to an Airbnb 14 mins away from city center. I had to buy instant food from convenience stores on New Year’s night as nothing else were opened for business.

My wallet was stolen during the first week at Euraille mall at Pull&Bear. Luckily, concierge contacted me back to notify me that they found it back. However, I have already cut all my cards that time and all 15 euro inside were stolen. Since that day, I realized how important it is for tourists like us to hide our bags/ important belongings in a big jacket or inside out clothes in Europe.

EDHEC BUSINESS SCHOOL, LILLE EXCHANGE REPORT WONG CHIN3 WAI, ATHENA

January

On 2nd January, I called EDHEC Business School to inform them of my arrival at Lille so they can inform my previously applied car pick-up to drive me directly to EDHEC in Roubaix which was really far from city center (40mins from Lille via tram). I quickly settled down and met one of the 7 other mixed-gendered students, Adithya, living at my KOT where we have a shared kitchen that we have to maintain ourselves. Other students were still on break, thus, they will arrive later that week. He was most helpful when it comes to introducing school systems and experience with me to quickly adapt

on my first day. On 3rd January, I attended the orientation and met 40+ of my fellow international exchange students where we engage in mingling sessions and many games were involved to warm us up. We also attended a lecture to learn about the school system and apply for a school calculator if necessary. The student union there also invited all of us to go to a club and bar in Lille city center to feel the night life in France. It was the first time for me to go to a club and bar but it was more fun than purely flirty to what I expected as people there were generally there to enjoy the music and dance around and drinking was a norm in Europe. Four of my newly bonded friends our of 7 of us were drunk and we had to hop onto Uber for 90 Euro back to school that night.

The day after, we decided to go to the supermarket to get some food and living supplies e.g. pillows, shampoo, condiments, as nothing were offered by the campus residence, other than free breakfast from 7.30 am to 10.00 am on weekdays and a red blanket. Everything was in French and it is rare for people in the area to know English, thus, we had to rely on Google Translate entirely. The nearest convenience stores, Casino and Pico were 20 minutes away while the nearest supermarket LIDL was 30 mins away, which was torturous to us as we carry around full paper bags that can break anytime.

The days afterwards, we quickly adjusted to the academic schedules and planned for trips to fill in our weekends since I had day offs on Saturday to Monday. We went to Lille, Belgium and during our first week as a group of 7.

EDHEC BUSINESS SCHOOL, LILLE EXCHANGE REPORT WONG CHIN4 WAI, ATHENA

I was able to fit my trip schedules in my tight academic schedules, with friends who went to winter exchange in Estonia, new friends I met during my orientation day and other Hong Kong students who went for Spring Exchange in France to Estonia, Bruges and Krakow respectively.

February

I continued my journey in early February as I went to Finland and Sweden with a fellow exchange mate from the same school but at a different campus in Nice. We first spend a day in Helsinki where we tried sauna and swimming in the Baltic Sea, as well as Finnish clubbing, which was less exciting that that in France. We also 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 if you have one. We travelled back to Helsinki via train and travelled via cruise to Stockholm as there was no one-way directly to Stockholm from Rovaniemi. There were online lecture videos and quizzes in the middle of our journey and I also skipped 2-3 classes for this 10-days trip, but the absence was not a big concern to my gradings at last.

EDHEC BUSINESS SCHOOL, LILLE EXCHANGE REPORT WONG CHIN5 WAI, ATHENA

Despite my tight academic schedules with many projects and assignments, especially for Legal Environment and Business Decision course that cannot transfer cannot credits at all to HKUST, I was able to travel around Europe e.g. Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Zurich, Interlaken, Blausee, , Rome, and Madrid with my new friends. Living in Lille did provide us perks to travel to the North and then down to the South as it is near Bruxelles which is a common mid-point for Flixbus from and to other European places. Do remember to pay attention when you pay for Switzerland’s transport as they are as strict as Germany in terms of checking fare dodging. One of the bunkmates we met at Zurich was fined with all of her Swiss Franc as she did not know the region the bus would reach was actually another zone to the ticket she bought.

EDHEC BUSINESS SCHOOL, LILLE EXCHANGE REPORT WONG CHIN6 WAI, ATHENA

March

In March, I travelled to to visit some friends exchanging there and visit my long-awaited Paris Disneyland! Protests were rampant this year in Paris especially, thus, it is recommended not to buy any train tickets to Paris as they often cancel most of their trains not long before your departure time which is not reliable at all compared to Flixbus or BlaBlaBus.

Paris Disneyland was not as different to that in Hong Kong but there was a Crush rollercoaster that was unexpectedly thrilling, and I highly recommend it. The staff there were also fun as they photobombed in our photos multiple times. The food there was surprisingly cheap as it was the same price as those restaurants in Paris in general.

As coronavirus was spreading fast in Europe that time, I had no chance but end my exchange trip in Amsterdam. France announced that schools will be changed to online courses and I decided to visit Amsterdam with a friend as planned before returning to France and back to Hong Kong. People in Amsterdam had no sense of health and hygiene as they had no idea where to buy masks or hand sanitizers at all. Everything was closed on 16 March due to lockdown and we can only buy food and ask staff there to help reheat at Albert Heijn supermarket. My friend and I attempted to visit Amsterdam’s Airport on our way back to France, luckily, Boots there offers masks and hand sanitizers which we bought a few for our way back to Hong Kong on the planes.

EDHEC BUSINESS SCHOOL, LILLE EXCHANGE REPORT WONG CHIN7 WAI, ATHENA

General Exchange Information

Visa Procedures

The process of application for French visa was quite lengthy so I recommend applying 1.5 month before your departure. I had to go there for amendments for 4-5 times even after I successfully handed in my application and went for interview at Campus France. Normally, applicants need to apply on the Campus France’s website and interview with them with prior appointment. After the interview, the applicants will visit the consulate of France one floor above to submit documents with a separate appointment time. 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 to you so you must contact them actively for the process. You should also make sure you brought exact cash or credit card to pay for the visa as they do not provide cash exchange. Please make sure you have prepared all requested documents on the website, if not, you will have to book another slot online to start the process again. Do remember to prepare hardcopies of all your transport to your destination.

Orientation Activities

The school will send an email to let you apply for pick-up if necessary. If so, 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. If not, you will have to carry your luggage and hop onto the tram or train at central station in Lille, which takes around 40 minutes to 1hour in day time and 20 mins at night. The orientation day is pretty ordinary. You will meet with other international students, engage in mingling sessions, play some games and attend a lecture on school systems. The student union there would invite you to join their international student group on Whatsapp. If they didn’t ask you, you can approach them during mingling session. Banks and public transportation operators will arrive on the following 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.

EDHEC BUSINESS SCHOOL, LILLE EXCHANGE REPORT WONG CHIN8 WAI, ATHENA

International Services & Activities

There were not many activities organized by EDHEC but you can always organize your own activities and invite international students in the Whatsapp group e.g. parties at KOT, travelling together, going to clubs together. You can always find the office if you have any inquiries.

Accommodations

You can apply for campus residence or Campusea in Lille. You need to inform the ‘Big Brother’ of campus residence before your arrival for check-in. Please check all the things in your accommodation as your deposit will be deducted according to what is damaged or lost by the end of your stay. Campus residence was around 200 euro per month and you will share your utility bills with your KOT mate while studios have to pay their own. During winter, heaters will cost a lot. One of my friends had to pay 90 euro for her first month. Do make sure you have switched off everything before you leave every time. Campus residence also offers free breakfast from 7:30 to 10:00 in the morning during weekdays. You will also receive 2 cards per month after you have paid for your rent for cleaning services. The ‘Big Brother’ is responsible for accommodation on campus was not as responsive and helpful after check-in day.

Course Registration

Everything is done online before your departure via email. 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. You may also be allocated to other choices if the electives you chose were not opened that semester due to lack of students.

Teaching & Assessment Methods

Teachers are very professional and some of them are working in some pro- eminent institutions. They are really interactive and speak proficient English.

Finance and Banking

As I mentioned before, I strongly advise you to apply for a local debit card. It’s really convenient. The process could be a bit lengthy, which can take 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. There’s no transactional fee.

EDHEC BUSINESS SCHOOL, LILLE EXCHANGE REPORT WONG CHIN9 WAI, ATHENA

Health and Safety

EDHEC requires you to have healthcare insurance so remember to buy one before your departure. The Parc Barbieux opposite to school is famous for robbery, thus, it is recommended not to go near or through it at night.

Food

The food in canteen is around 3 – 7 euro, with buffet included. The quality is above average for a campus and you can try out many French cuisins too. However, the campus’ restaurants are only opened for lunch and closed at 14:00 while the convenience shop there is opened to 18:00. Therefore, I mostly cook for myself at my KOT with my roomates. 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, trains and cars in Roubaix, 40 mins from Lille. I strongly recommend applying for a bicycle pass if you are travelling in the non-city area. Bicycles are offered at the main entrance of EDHEC. The waiting time of trams and trains can be very long. You will need to buy a Pass Pass for transport.

Climate

The weather in Lille is very bad. It always rains or snow in winter. The temperature is around 0 to 15 degrees from Jan to March.

EDHEC BUSINESS SCHOOL, LILLE EXCHANGE REPORT WONG CHIN10 WAI, ATHENA

Items to Bring

 Backpack  Small side bag for important personal belongings  Socket converter  Power Bank  Sim Card [require a different one for Switzerland travel]  Camera  Winter Clothing  Pillow  Bed Sheets  Blanket sheet  Utensils  Hong Kong Snacks  Driver’s License

Useful Links and Contacts

Official Website

https://www.edhec.edu/en

Mobile Apps Transportation in Lille: ilévia, Moovit Travel Transportation: Ryan Air, Easyjet, Lufthanser, BlaBlaBus, FlixBus, , SNFC, Skyscanner Accommodation: Hostelworld, Booking.com, Airbnb Tour: Tripadvisor, GetYourGuide Others: Splitwise

EDHEC BUSINESS SCHOOL, LILLE EXCHANGE REPORT WONG CHIN11 WAI, ATHENA