IESEG FALL 2016 EXCHANGE Paris, France By Galen Law-Kun Finance, Marketing & Entrepreneurship General Information This exchange report have been specifically prepared for HKUST Students opting to go on exchange at IESEG School of Management in Paris. I found this experience eye-opening and very exciting. Hopefully you do too! Be sure to contact me via SBM Office if you want to know more of the specifics. Applying for Visa Applying for a French Visa is relatively straight forward. All you need to do is go to the French Embassy Home Page and apply for a time slot as well as a interview time slot shortly after. You need to prepare some documents as well as make sure you re decently dressed for the interview. As long as you show your passion on why you want to study in France, you will have no problem passing the interview. Social Security Social Security is mandatory for those staying in France even for 4-5 months. It costs about 250 Euros. From my understanding, if you don t pay on time or they have not confirmed that you paid. You won t be receiving your IESEG Transcript after your exchange. So make sure you d o u b l e c h e c k w i t h t h e administration! Activity Logs August: I arrived in Paris on the 23rd of August, a few days before the International Orientation. Paris was in the midst of one of the hottest heatwaves in the decade, which meant that temperatures ranged from 35-41 degrees celsius without air-con It was terrible! But besides that, temperatures over August - September ranged about 20-30ish degrees celsius with clear blue sky. As a part of the orientation activities, The International Club organised many activities for us to participate. Some included going to restaurants, public parks or to bars! Interestingly, most of the students who participated in these events were from the Master Program! So I got to meet a lot of people from different parts of the world. 1
Accommodation There are many types of accommodations in Paris some offered by the school which are generally pricier than market options. My honest opinion is that y o u s h o u l d fi n d y o u r o w n accommodation near La Defence as you can stay at a room at nearly half the price with a bigger space. I stayed at Résidence Pythagore Grande Arche in Courbevoie which is roughly 15 minutes away from Campus. It s super convenient and very safe as it s situated in the central business district. The accommodation was roughly 1050 EUR a month not including the housing deposit. September: After spending everyday of my first week in Paris exploring, it was time to start school! Unlike HKUST, course registration was done on paper and you ll have to arrange classes with your academic advisor. All in all, I took 10 intensive classes, which meant that I had Morning Classes Monday - Thursday. Depending on the course, I had my final exam on the same exact week. Due to this intensive class selections, I was able to plan out my trips around Europe from day one. I went to so many places! Nightlight was surprisingly very popular in Paris, I went karaoking, museums as well as iconic landmarks! Oh a good place to visit would be the Health And Safety Shakespeare and Company Book Store near Notre- I was pleasantly surprised to find that Paris was safe. While I had some close encounters outside of Mini-Paris, as long as you are aware of your surroundings, you are perfectly fine! There are a lot of troops guarding major tourists spots anyways For English speaking doctors, be sure to ask IESEG for up-to date information! September was a Dame! Although relatively quiet month for me as I was settling in. I visited Normandy (Omaha beach, Utah Beach), St.Mont Michel, Monet Garden in Giverny! 2
Did I get a culture shock? No. Long story short, I loved it! What made it even better was the fact that I was the only exchange student from Hong Kong at IESEG. This meant that I got to really push myself and meet new people. The only obvious downside was traveling alone for most of the time as most of my classmates were master students! It was definitely a fascinating experience as you really get to find out who you are and what I am truly passionate about. Sim Card & 4G Data Having a Sim Card up and running is super important when you arrive. So be sure to go to 3HK to buy a 4 week plan for about 1000 HKD so that you can have unlimited internet when you arrive. For the remaining duration in Paris, I got a sim in Free Mobile, for 20 EURS a month, you get 50GB of 4G data. All the pictures on this page were taken in the month of September! 3
October: After completing 4 intensive courses. It was time to travel! This month was particularly busy as I booked a tour with Exodus Travel (10 Days) to complete the Tour of Mont Blanc, went to Paris Disney Land as well as represent HKUST in a weekend getaway at London s QS Word Fair! In-term of my trip to Mont Blanc, I went to the area of Chamonix, France. Mont Blanc actually borders three countries, France, Italy and Switzerland. We had the opportunity to visit all three points via our hiking trail. I even ate 8 scoops of Gelatos! YUM! All in all, in 6 days, I completed roughly 150km+ of trail walking. The scenery was outstanding. Albeit that I injured my knee on the third day as it gets quite strenuous. On most days we had a minimum of 7 hours of nonstop hiking. It normally takes us 3 hours to hike up if we start up from the river bed. The total vertical ascent was roughly 1.64 km, equivalent to climbing the IFC Two 3.54 times! Contrary to popular belief, I felt very safe. The local Shepard was very knowledgable so you don t need to worry too much about avalanches or landslides. As an added precaution, my jacket & pants had tracking beacons, so that I can be found quickly if I was somehow buried. 4
Winter Tips in Europe! Europe does get cold during the winter. For example in Paris, it could range from in 0 C to 15 C in December with the daily sunshine hours at 6-7. The wettest month is May with an average of 26mm of rain. I don t think you need an umbrella as it normally drizzles. Temperatures in higher altitude such as Mont Blanc could be -25 degrees celsius at any given point. COLD! Booking Tours! I tended to be rather risk adverse during my time in Europe, so I decided to book tours rather than traveling all alone by myself. This could be a different case if you were traveling with another buddy on the trip. I would suggest going onto Rick Steves to check out some of the travel tips and advice on the different types of location. My recommendation is not to skimp on the tours as you get for what you pay. Rather be safe than sorry! I only used Tour Radar to book my trips as it allows you to refine your selection and compare prices of different tours. This is my referral code if you want a discount on your tour. https://www.tourradar.com/invite/ galenlk 5
Thanks URAO! Also a big shoutout to the URAO team. For sponsoring me to London, to represent HKUST in the QS World University Fair! I am very grateful for the opportunity. November: After completing another 2 intensive courses. I went on a 4 week tour with Contiki! (*Seen above) I went to over 10 different countries during that duration and it was an eye opening experience! I LOVED IT. I got to meet lots and lots of people from all over the world and got to experience different local cuisines in Europe. 6
Learning Experience I think the key for going onto an exchange program is not to only play. but also to experience and learn a different culture. Though my 4 weeks of traveling with a group of people with a similar age as me, I learnt that there is more to life than focusing on career, something which Hong Kong universities and atmosphere imposes onto you. I think that realising your health, family, friendship is perhaps more important than solely focus on monetary items. OQTAGON Limited As a part of my travels, I also met up with entrepreneurs around Europe to meet and discuss opportunities about 3D Printing and VR Technologies. I made some progress which I was rather happy about. One interesting thing that I noticed was that the startup scene in Europe is much more vibrant and optimistic! People were generally more adventurous and willing to take risk than compared to Hong Kong. This is something that I really appreciate as it gave me conviction that my idea could work! 7
December: After coming back on a 4 week holiday. I went back to study my remaining courses and went on my final trip on exchange! This trip was organised by the international club and we went to the region of Loire. We toured around several Vineyards and did lots of sample tasting of different wines. It was wonderful, the price of the wines were also significantly cheaper and in-expensive compared to Hong Kong I bought bottles of wine to bring back to Hong Kong. Surprisingly it was very inexpensive compared to buying them in HK! Winter Tips in Europe! Europe does get cold during the winter. For example in Paris, it could range from in 0 C to 15 C in December with the daily sunshine hours at 6-7. The wettest month is May with an average of 26mm of rain. I don t think you need an umbrella as it normally drizzles. Temperatures in higher altitude such as Mont Blanc could be -25 degrees celsius at any given point. COLD! Booking Tours! I tended to be rather risk adverse during my time in Europe, so I decided to book tours rather than traveling all alone by myself. This could be a different case if you were traveling with another buddy on the trip. I only used Tour Radar to book my trips as it allows you to refine your selection and compare prices of different tours. This is my referral code if you want a discount on your tour. https://www.tourradar.com/ invite/galenlk Checklist 1. Passport and passport photos 2. Laptop, USB and Adaptors 3. ATM & Credit Card 4. PDF Travel Guides 5. Important documents & Duplicate Copies 6. Decoy Wallets (*Diversify Risk, I brought three wallets with 100 Euros in each of the wallet as a precaution) 7. Cameras (Go-Pro, Canon etc) 8. Medicine 9. Umbrella 10. Slippers 11. Jackets (You can always buy more in Paris) Restaurant Recommendations (PARIS) Epicure - 112 Rue Du Faubourg Saint-Honore Blueberry - 6 rue du Sabot, 75006 Paris Sanukiya - 9 Rue d'argenteuil, 75001 Paris 58 Tour Eiffel - Eiffel Tower, Tour Eiffel, Champ de Mars (*Note that there is a dress code requirement to dine at the 58 Tour Eiffel in the evenings) Chipotle Mexican Grill (La Defence) Vapiano (La Defence) 8
Expense Sheet (Assume 1 EUR to 8.5 HKD) Europe in general is rather expensive, therefore it s important that you budget properly and maintain discipline when you spend. Here is the approximate spending during my 4 and a half months in Europe. Type Amount in Euros Notes Rent 4,500 4 1/2 Months Deposit 400 Housing Deposit Transportation 500 5 Months Return flight tickets 3,500 70KG Allowance Travel 5,000 Tours Living expenses 6,000 Food/Groceries Other 3,000 Shopping Total in EUR 22,900 Total in HKD 194,650 If you require more information from me, do let the SBM Exchange Team know by emailing them at bmugexch@ust.hk 9