Aalto University School of Business Travel report - The University of Queensland Spring 2015 362667 7.12.2015
Travel Report I did my bachelor s level student exchange at the University of Queensland, Australia in the spring period of 2015. In this travel report I will discuss my exchange period in Brisbane, Australia. 1. Preparing for the exchange I was accepted into the exchange program at the University of Queensland in March 2014. The actual preparation for the exchange began a half a year later in August 2014. Our international coordinators contacted me and asked me to fill in an application form. I also had to provide some attachments with the form, including an up- to- date academic transcript, a letter from Aalto University nominating me for exchange and a proof of English proficiency. Having completed an A- level English in high school with at least the grade eight 8, was enough to prove my English proficiency. I therefore had my high school diploma translated into English and attached it to my application. At this point I also had to choose my courses but that should not be worried about because they could be easily changed later on. After sending the application with the required documents, I got the incoming exchange offer from the University of Queensland. I signed the form and sent it to the university. I also had to send a receipt of paying the compulsory Overseas Student Health Coverage (OSHC). After this I got the electronic Confirmation of Enrolment (ecoe) form. However, it took a while before I got the ecoe because my confirmation letter had gotten lost. After getting the ecoe I applied for a visa. The process was easy and it took me only 45 minutes to get the visa. I departed from Helsinki on the 9 th of February. I had a stopover in Singapore and flew to Brisbane from there. It took about 24 hours to get from Helsinki to Singapore. I arrived in Brisbane on the 11 th of February, which was about two weeks before the orientation week started. The orientation week started on the 23 rd of February and the classes started a week after that. When I arrived, I had booked a free pick- up offered by the university from the airport to my accommodation. I had arranged myself temporary accommodation for a couple of days and started immediately to look for permanent accommodation when I got to Brisbane. I thought it was quite hard to try to find a suitable place to stay and got a bit
frustrated with looking for an apartment. In the end, I decided to stay at Urbanest, which a student accommodation provider located in South Bank. I had my own room and bathroom and shared the kitchen and living room with four other students. The rent was pretty high ($255 per week), especially for a shared apartment, but the location was really good and there was a gym and a studying room in the building. However, I would say that Urbanest is somewhat overpriced, so if you do not want to spend a lot of money on your accommodation, I would not necessarily recommend it. You can quite get easily find a room for $150 per week in Brisbane. I was nevertheless quite pleased with my choice, especially because of the location. Urbanest is located in South Bank, which is a really nice district with a lot of nice restaurants and bars. Also the South Bank Lagoon is right next to Urbanest. Also the city centre is in walking distance. It took about 10 minutes by bus to UQ. During my first few days in Brisbane, I also attended some mandatory information sessions at the UQ. In addition, I opened an Australian bank account at the Commonwealth Bank and bought an Australian prepaid SIM card at OPTUS. The South Bank Lagoon at night
2. Exchange studies As I did a bachelor s level exchange, I had to choose four courses. Each of them was worth 2 units, which translated into 30 ECTS in Finland. All of the courses started on the first week of March (2 nd - 8 th of March). Before that (23 rd - 29 th of February) we had an orientation week, which consisted of information sessions, campus tours and parties. There were a lot of courses offered and there was quite a lot of freedom in choosing the courses. Some of them, however, had to be pre- approved first. I ended up choosing courses that did not need pre- approval, excluding one, which was International Business Management. The exam period was at the end of June, from 15 th to 27 th of June. I had my last exam on the 23 rd of June. AUST1000 Contemporary Australia (undergraduate, 2 units) One of the first courses I chose was Contemporary Australia. It was a course that introduced Australia and Australian culture. Most of the students in this course were international. The course examined topics like history, multiculturalism, Indigenous issues and culture. I found the course interesting and it provided me with information about Australia I would not have gotten otherwise. The lecturer of the course was Dr. Robert Hogg. He was a good lecturer and the lectures were quite interactive and involved a lot of discussion. Attendance was mandatory. The evaluation was based on lecture attendance and weekly answers on the course page on questions from the book (20%), quiz (15%), an essay (25%) and a final take- home exam (40%). ECON1120 Economics of Social Issues (undergraduate, 2 units) This course provided an introduction to the economics of social issues. The topics discussed included health sector, welfare state and education policy. The topics were discussed from two different viewpoints. Therefore the purpose of this course was not to learn every detail of the economics of social issues bur rather to learn to form your opinion on some important matters. I found this course very interesting and useful. It was also my favourite of all of my courses at UQ. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested about contemporary political issues and economics. The lecturer was Alan Duhs. The attendance in the lectures
was not mandatory but they were often quite interesting. The course evaluation consisted of a mid- semester exam (25%), an essay (25%) and a final exam (50%). IBUS2301 International Business Management (undergraduate, 2 units) The purpose of this course was to give the students an overview of the most important theories and current issues in international business. The topics discussed included globalisation, economic trade theories and entry modes to new country markets. The course was pretty easy and did not require too much work. I found the topics discussed quite interesting and useful. The lecturer was Paul Brewer. Lecture attendance was not mandatory and the lectures were not really inspiring. However, the lecture material was very good. The course evaluation consisted of a group case and its presentation (15%), a mid- term exam (25%) and a final exam (60%). MGTS2604 Introduction to Human Resource Management (undergraduate, 2 units) This course was an introduction to human resource management. The course content included theories and approaches to HRM. This course would be useful for anyone who is interested in human resource management. The lecturer was Yiqiong Li. Lecture attendance was not mandatory and I do not think that they were too useful. There were, however, tutorials every week where there was mandatory attendance. 20% of the grade was also based on these tutorials and on the learning units you had to prepare for each tutorial. The course evaluation consisted of the tutorials and learning units (20%), an essay (30%) and a final exam (50%). 3. Free time and other information Brisbane is Australia s third biggest city but it does not actually feel that big. The city centre is quite small. However, I found the city really nice and compact. It did not feel too big but not too small either. The weather is also really nice in Brisbane all year round. When I got there in February, it was about 30 degrees every day and when I left in the beginning of July it was about 17-20 degrees. The nights can, however, get quite cold during the winter. The temperature can drop down to 5 degrees. Also there can occasionally be heavy rains and storms. There were also a couple of cyclones during my time in Brisbane. It was easy to settle
in in Australia and there are not any big cultural differences as compared to Finland. Australians are really laid- back and easy to get to know. The cost of living in Australia is generally quite high. As said, I paid 255 per week for rent. Also food was more expensive than in Finland. Especially eating lunch at the university was a lot more expensive as compared to Finland and therefore many brought a lunch from home with them. A medium portion of rice and chicken was $8.50, for example. I also had to buy a book for most of my courses and each of them cost about $100. At UQ, printing is not free and you had to pay for each page you printed. Getting to know other students was quite easy at events and parties. I would recommend joining QUEST. Through QUEST, you can especially get to know to other exchange students from all over the world. QUEST is a club for international students that arranges many different parties and trips to nearby places. For example, I went to a weekend trip to Byron Bay that was arranged by QUEST. It was a really nice weekend and I got to know a lot of new people. Australia is a huge country and there is therefore a lot places you can visit during your exchange. The distances are, however, quite long and therefore it can get quite expensive. During my exchange, I did road trip on the East Coast and visited Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsunday Islands and Magnet Island, for example. I also went to Sydney and visited many places near Brisbane, such as Byron Bay, Gold Coast and Noosa. I would recommend going to at least the Whitsunday Islands and Sydney. Also Byron Bay, Gold Coast and Noosa are worth a visit. They are also only a short drive away from Brisbane. In Brisbane I would recommend visiting Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where you can cuddle a koala and also take a picture with one. Also Mount Coot- tha is worth a visit. It is a mountain in Brisbane and from the top of it you can see all of Brisbane. The South Bank Lagoon is also nice, especially during hot and sunny days. It is practically a fake beach in the middle of Brisbane.
4. Final comments I would definitely recommend going to Australia for an exchange semester. The weather is great and the nature is beautiful. Also Australian people are really nice and helpful and easy to get to know. I would also definitely recommend UQ as an exchange university. It is a prestigious university and belongs to the Group of Eight, which is the coalition of leading Australian universities. The campus is also really beautiful and has many nice cafes and restaurants. In addition, the climate is nicer in Brisbane than in Melbourne, for example, because it is a lot warmer in Brisbane and it does not get that cold even during the winter. Brisbane is also located quite nicely next to many of the most famous Australian holiday destinations, for example Gold Coast, Noosa and Byron Bay. During my exchange I learnt a lot about myself and about the surrounding world. I gained more confidence and got to know people from all over the world. I learnt to understand cultural differences and how people from different countries act. I also, of course, improved my English skills. The only thing that I would do differently if I now were going to UQ for another exchange is that I probably would travel a bit more in Australia. Therefore I recommend you to travel as much as you can during your exchange. And I also definitely recommend you to go for an exchange, because my exchange was one of the best experiences in my life.
The Sydney Opera House Byron Bay