Exchange report

University College Dublin, Ireland

Wong Tak Po

BBA (Professional Accounting and Information System) 2019 Spring

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Activity Log January I took 12 hours of direct flight to London and spent 14 days in the United Kingdom with friends before going to Ireland. We went to London, Oxford, Bath and Bristol. It is the first time for me to visit Europe, but I did not experience any jetlag, which was really nice for me. I arrived in Dublin on the 14th of January and I took the Aircoach (a coach connecting the Dublin airport and my school) to UCD. There were a lot of orientation activities for students to join in January, for example, a tour to IKEA for us to buy some utensils, a city tour for us to explore the city. It will be good to you if you can join the orientation activities because you can make many new friends there (especially other exchange students from Hong Kong). I also spent some time walking around in the city center, which allowed me to find out places for shopping, cutting hair, buying a souvenir, having Chinese food. It is important for you to explore the shops and restaurants in the city.

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February Lessons started in February and I took 6 courses in total. The learning environment of UCD was quite different compared to HKUST. There were only two to three components that counting to the final grade of a subject. The workload of subjects in HKUST is comparatively heavier. I visited the United Kingdom again with other students from Hong Kong. We went to London and Cambridge for around five days. It was really cheap travelling to the United Kingdom from Dublin. It may take you two hundred HKD only. We watched a musical in London, which was really impressing. We also went to Copenhagen in February. It was the first time for me to visit Northern Europe.

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March The 17th of March was a public holiday of Ireland and many citizens wore in green and celebrated in the city. As there was two weeks break in March, we travelled to Belgium, Italy and Greece. Visiting other countries was simple if you are studying in Dublin because Dublin is the headquarter of a low-cost airline, Ryanair.

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April It was the busiest month among my exchange period. Most of the presentations and projects were due in April. Besides, I finished two final exams in April. You have to get prepared for the tight schedule this month. There was a week of the study period for students to get ready for the final exams in May. I travelled to Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland with two friends from HKUST because I got only two exams in May.

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May It was the final exam period of UCD and the exam venue was quite far away from UCD. Since I was living in astudent hall, I could take the free shuttle bus to the exam venue. You have to make sure that you have cleaned up the whole apartment before you check out. Otherwise, a part of your deposit will be deducted. After I left Dublin, I travelled to Morocco, Hungary and Slovakia with friends.

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June I visited a lot of countries and cities in June. After visiting Zagreb, the Plitvice Lakes National Park, Split, Dubrovnik in Croatia and Ljubljana in Slovenia with my friend, I started to travel on my own for one week. I went to Austria and the Czech Republic. Then I left Europe and flew back to Hong Kong in the mid-June.

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General Exchange Information Visa Procedures If you are holding the Hong Kong Passport, you do not have to apply for the visa. Instead, you have to apply for Irish Residence Permit (IRP) in Ireland if you are going to stay for more than 90 days. It costs €300. Appointments made available at 10am and 2.30 pm every weekday. Since the bookings are always full, you have to apply it earlier. It took me 3 to 4 hours for finishing the whole application in the office. UCD will provide you more information in the orientation session, but you are advised to apply for it before you go to Ireland. Orientation Activities UCD provides a lot of orientation activities for exchange students to join, for example, city tour, shopping tour, IKEA tour, buddy program. You are highly recommended to join those activities to meet friends and to explore the city.

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International Services & Activities There are two large student societies named International Student Society (ISS) and Erasmus Student Network (ESN) that you can join. They will hold a lot of different activities for the exchange students and the locals to join, such as trip to the Czech Republic, tour to the Cliff of Moher and Language Exchange. Accommodations Most of the exchange students will choose to live in a student hall in UCD, but it is really expensive. You have to spend around HKD 37,000 for a single semester. Merville, Glenomena, Belgrove and Ashfield are quite popular among exchange students but the fee varies a lot, depending on the facilities in the hall. Merville is the hall that near the school’s bus stop and supermarket. Please be aware that you have to check really carefully when you move into the hall and fill in the house audit form. Otherwise, a part of your deposit will be deducted when you move out. The residence hall office is also near the Merville. Course Registration The course registration procedure of UCD is simple (maybe easier than UST). You can find out all the course description and grading distribution online before you the course registration starts. You can register up to 30 ECTS (which is 6 courses). Please do the course assessment in HKUST as early as possible to make sure the credit can be transferred back. Sports & Recreation Facilities The student gym room is free of charge. Once you finished the induction session online, you can go to the gym directly with your student card. There are many free courses for students and staff to join. If you will go to the gym frequently, you can join the program provided by the school. A staff will monitor your working progress and draft a plan for you to follow. It is also free of charge. There is also a swimming pool near the gym. You can choose to pay per visit or to buy a semester pass. Social Clubs and Networking Opportunities As mentioned before, you can join the ISS or ESN to meet more people from other countries or locals.

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Teaching & Assessment Methods I have registered for six courses and most of them contained a group project. For the final exams, you can find many past exam papers in the UCD website. Therefore, it is not difficult for you to pass the courses.

UCD Courses HKUST Courses Grading methods BMGT20130 Managing Business Ethics (6 ECTS)

MGMT2130 Business Ethics and Social Responsibility (2 Cre)

End of semester exam: 80% Group work assignment: 20%

HRM30060 Managing Diversity (6 ECTS)

SOSC-2000 level (3 Cre)

3 Portfolio: 60% Essay: 40%

BMGT30320 European Union Policy in Business (6 ECTS)

SOSC-2000 level (3 Cre)

Group Advisory Note: 30% Individual research report and reflection: 70%

MIS30010 Decision Analytics (6 ECTS)

ISOM-3000 level (3 Cre)

Group presentation 1: 15% Two MCQs: 25% Group presentation 2: 25% Final Exam: 35%

MIS20040 Digital Business and Social Media Strategy (6 ECTS)

ISOM-3000 level (3 Cre)

Essay: 20% Group project: 35% Microsoft Bing Professional Accreditation: 5% Final Exam: 40%

MIS10040 Web Design and Analytics (6 ECTS)

Free elective (3 Cre)

Group project: 40% Final Exam: 60% *At first, it is approved to map as a ISOM elective, but the mapping was declined in the middle of the semester due to some error.

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Finance and Banking You have to use Euro in Ireland. There is a bank called AIB in UCD campus and you can open an account there. Only a few of ATMs in Dublin can allow you can withdraw money with UnionPay (��) debit card. Therefore, you can bring more Euro from Hong Kong or withdraw Euro in ATMS located at other countries. Health and Safety There is a clinic in the student center. You are not recommended to stay in the city till the midnight. Although Dublin is a safe city and people are nice, they really love alcohol. You can find a drunk people in the street easily in the midnight. Food It is expensive to dine in the city. Therefore, I usually prepare the meal by myself. You can buy some basic food in the school’s supermarket called Centra, but the price there is a bit more expensive. You can do the grocery in other supermarkets like Tesco and Lidl. There is a Chinese supermarket called ���. You can get some Chinese food there and free delivery service is provided if you spend more than 50 euros. Transportation You have to apply for a Leap Card. It is similar to Octopus Card in Hong Kong and the daily cap is 5 euros, which means if you spent more than 5 euros for travelling in the same day, they will still charge you 5 euros only. If you do not have the Leap card, you have to pay 6 euros for a round trip to the city centre. Climate Dublin is cold and windy in the spring semester but the lowest temperature I have experienced in Dublin is 7~8 Degree Celsius. It was not as cold as I expected. Communication You can buy a SIM card from “Three” and they will set up a booth in UCD for student to buy. It costs 20 euros. Therefore, I recommend you to buy a SIM card in Hong Kong (maybe Sham Shui Po).

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Other Notes 1. The easiest way going to UCD from the airport is taking the Aircoach

(10 euros for a single trip and 15 euros for a round trip).

2. You are highly recommended to apply for a ESN card as early as possible if you will go to travel. It saved me a lot of money.

3. For the laundry, it costs 3 euros for washing and 1.5 euros for drying.

4. You can download an application called Dublin Bus.

5. Ryanair is one of the cheapest airlines in Europe and it is based in

Dublin.

6. Feel free to contact me for further questions

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Items to Bring - Acceptance letter from UCD - Confirmation letter from HKUST - Passport - Passport photo (one photo is needed for applying the ESN card) - Cash - Credit card - Debit card - Laptop - Mobile phone - Adapter (for travelling) - Insurance proof - Medicine - Stationery - Food (like instant noodle) - Winter clothes (for January to April) - Summer clothes (for May to June, and travelling) - Proof of address in Dublin (hall offer)

Useful links and contact

- Esther Sanz, UCD International Affairs Officer esther.sanz@ucd.ie

- UCD residences residences@ucd.ie

- ESN https://www.facebook.com/pg/ucdesn/photos/?ref=page_internal

- ISS https://www.facebook.com/ISS.UCD/

- UCD residence hall introduction https://www.ucd.ie/residences/residences/

*You can search for “UCD New International Students 20xx/20xx” on Facebook, you can get a lot of information in this Facebook group.