Fall Semester Exchange report: Lund University Chan Ka Chun, Michael (Finance and Economics) Monthly Activity Log AUGUST: On arrival day, the school provided shuttle buses for students to travel from the main building to their respective accommodation halls. There were several welcoming events available for exchange students as well (e.g. pub night, sightseeing tour etc). You could sign-up through email for a 2-week Swedish language course which is graded with a quiz and attendance. It is nice to learn some basic Swedish language. Given that it’s just the introductory language course, instructors are not training student to be native Swedish speaker. In the first week, I sometimes get lost in the city, and the locals were very friendly, they are happy to answer my questions. In late August, we went to the Malmo, Sweden, which takes only 20 mins to travel by train. It was so rewarding when we finally reached Ikea in the countryside of Malmo at the end of the day. SEPTEMBER: I took 2 course: EKHE42 Emerging Asia: Economic Transformation in East and South East Asia and NEKH71 Economic Integration. The former course required students to write 4 essays across the topics of the economic development on the Southeast Asian countries and attain seminars regarding the topics. While the latter course taught about trade barriers and how they are removed by Free Trade Agreement (which is assessed by a final exam and several group assignments). As they are both bachelor courses, the schedule is less packed than back in ust. Therefore, I managed to visit the capital of Sweden, Stockholm and couple cities in Southern part of Norway. For the trip to Norway, couple of exchange student in CBS and I visited Oslo, Stavanger and Bergen. Although the price level in these towns is relatively high, the scenery of the Fjord and mountain make it up for the expensive transportation and living expense. Thing to note: there are 3 famous hiking trails in Norway, which is amazing in both views and the trailing experience. But the transportation services to these mountains would be suspended after September due to the safety reason. (As it isn’t recommended to hike these medium to hard level hiking trail after September.) OCTOBER: Back to the studies, there are several seminars (graded oral presentation of peer’s essay) for the Emerging Asia course, and couple group assignment for the Economic Integration course. It’s also about the end of the 1st period and therefore exam is coming. After the exam, I started my central Europe (Hungary, Austria, Czechia, Berlin) 10 trip with another friend. As most of the places are famous tourist cities (i.e. locals seldom live in Prague but other smaller town). Personally, I think Budapest has its charm among the central Europe cities. Although they got similar architecture and urban planning system, I would recommend staying long in Budapest than Prague (less touristy). In Budapest, my friend there in Budapest accompanied our visit and we tried some of the local dish (goulash and local craft beers) and the famous Danube River. With a 3 hours bus ride, we arrived at the well-known musical city, Vienna. We also had the chance to watch the operas and performance. In Berlin, German people speak moderate English and they were also very nice. Apart from the rich historical background of the place, it’s also a transportation hub for you to get around different country in Europe. NOVEMBER: Period 2 of school starts, I took another two master courses with a much more packed lecture schedule. Thus, I didn’t really plan for travelling trip. Still, some of my friends and I managed to take a weekend break in Helsingborg, Sweden and Helsingor, Denmark. It was a place to relax and visit some of the castle and museum in Denmark. DECEMBER: The real deals of the master course are coming. We have a couple of group assignments and case discussions. With the case study method and diversity among the group, we went through a lot throughout the course. Accommodation halls are only offered until 31st December, so you might have to bring along your entire luggage with you, or leave them in the room of friends you meet in Lund. After all those presentation, spread sheet adjustment and case write-up, I visited the Western Europe (Amsterdam, Paris and London) for 10 days. Couple of my friends and I meet up in Amsterdam. We had a great time in there with the cheese, vibrate night environment and windmill village. After that, I did a solo 4 day trip in Paris. Although everyone keeps saying that it’s dangerous in Paris, I had a great time in there and satisfied for the treat for student/ EU resident (EU resident under 25 enjoy a free admission for most of the museums and sightseeing spot). Then I went to London in UK for 3 days and spent my New Year eve on the firework countdown event in London (ticket must be purchased in advance online). January: As there is still a group case project and the final exam for the BUSN95 master course, I took a good break in Manchester, UK before going back and tackle the case. It’s a nice student city and offers you the chance to pay a visit to the major soccer stadium like the old Trafford stadium, Liverpool stadium…etc. Certainly a wonderland for football fans. Back in Lund, I started to revise and finish up the case project. After taking the exam, I finished off my exchange adventure with a 9 days solo trip to central and southern Europe (Slovenia, Croatia and Italy). I arrived at Ljubliana, the capital of Slovenia, and stayed there for 3 days. I was impressed by the amazing and well-preserved scenery in Bled Lake. No wonder the Slovenian rowing team wins so many medals in the Olympics. It got a nice lake view and a cool church island in the middle of the lake. Besides, Slovenia also has countless of cave that might surprise you. I also visited the skocjan caves in the southern part of Slovenia. They offer you the chance to visit the earliest and largest cave opened for visitor and lesson to the formation of these amazing cave. In this country, the aggregated size of all caves under this land is roughly the same as the country. Thus, they always say that there’s another Slovenia growing under the land. Both of these locations took me a 2-3 hours bus travel distance. Next, I visited the Piltivice national park in Croatia and stayed at Zagreb for accommodation. Although half of the park is closed due to snowing weather, it was amazing to see those partially frozen waterfall. It was an amazing park with well-preserved natural Greenland and river in the autumn, so I suggest visiting there right before the snow come during November. For Italy, I stayed at Venice for 2 days and Florence for 2 days. I would say both of them are touristy places but here are the reasons of going. In Venice, you get the chance to see the water city in Europe. The complex urban city planning, water transport (gondola) and countless amount of bridges reflect the wealthy Roman empire in the old days. It’s also a great place for photography. I took a day trip to Burano Island which is famous for the colorful house there. For Florence, it’s the origination of Italian culture. Although Rome is the capital of Italy, and the dialect of Florence is the basis for the official language of Italy. Besides, you could revisit the trace of Resonance Era with the remaining buildings there. 1) Visa Procedures: You could simply apply for the 6 month resident permit from the website of Consulate General of Sweden. Then bring the required document to their office in Room 25, 25/F, BEA Harbour View Centre, 56 Gloucester Road, Wanchai, HK (Tel: 2521-1212) (Email: [email protected]). 2) Orientation Activities - Orientation lasts for 2 weeks starting from arrival day - Registration day, pub night, BBQ, excursion, Swedish language course, trip to IKEA, etc. During the orientation period, students will also have an option to take the SUSA course (Swedish introductory course). It would be a good opportunity for you to make new friends there. Still, quite a few of the students will skip the course and travel around the Europe before the semester start. 3) International Services & Activities - There are 3 coordinators at the international desk, their offices are in the business building, each of them only goes to work 2 days a week, a few hours a day, so mark their office hours before going by their offices. Sending email to them is also an effective way of getting help 4) Accommodations - Some accommodation halls are studio flats (private kitchen, bathroom and bedroom), some are corridor rooms, like those in HKUST - Palsjoang and Sparta are only 1-minute-walk away from the business school. I would recommend corridor rooms, as they have more dorm life and less costly than studio flat. All the furniture would be included except pillows, blanket and other personal items. (these items could be bought from the school on arrival day at 300 SEK, but you could also visit the ikea in Malmo ( about 30 mins train travel distance away from Lund central station). There will be internet lan cable socket but you would have to bring a router and lan cable for wifi. Keep it in mind that the router should be able to support the 1000mb speed of the internet in the accommodations.