TRAVEL REPORT University of Sheffield management school Spring 2015 Student number : 362793 1
Table of contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Sheffield.. 3 3. Preparing for the exchange. 3 4. Arrivals... 4 5. 1 Studying.. 5 5.2 Courses 6 6. Housing. 8 7. Freetime, travelling, other information 8 8. Final comments... 10 2
1. Introduction This report will discuss my exchange study experiences at University of Sheffield management school during spring term 2015. I hope you will find this useful. Why did I choose the UK as my exchange destination? The main reason was that I wanted to be in Europe and improve my English, and I thought living with native speakers offers the best opportunity to do so. I had never even visited the UK before my exchange and I wanted to get to know British culture and meet new people from all over the world. 2. Sheffield The population of Sheffield is about 500 000. The heart of the city still feels a lot smaller than Helsinki. Sheffield is located in South Yorkshire, North England. It is an old steel town but nowadays there are a lot of parks and trees as well. It is one of the safest cities in the UK. Almost everything is within walking distance and I used buses and taxes only when the weather was bad. When it comes to the weather, it is typical English weather, but it wasn t as bad as I expected in advance. It just may change a lot during the day. In March it was already quite warm and we had a lot of sunny spring-like days. People in South Yorkshire are very polite. They were always willing to help me even without asking. The northern accent was usually understandable and it was easy to get used to. There is also one of England s biggest shopping centers, Meadowhall, in Sheffield. It is a huge building and offers various shopping opportunities. 3. Preparing for the exchange Preparation is pretty easy because the UK is a part of Europe. To me University of Sheffield sent e-mail in October and I had to fill in an online application for the university. All the same this was only a formality and a few weeks later they sent acceptance letter via e-mail. I also had to let them know what courses I would like to take but these choices weren t binding at that point. Because this was Erasmus exchange, we had to take a language test before and 3
after the exchange. This was a new rule. The test was done online and the result didn t have impact on whether one was accepted into exchange. The test wasn t bad so there s no need to stress about it. We also had a possibility to apply for university s accommodation, but they didn t guarantee housing for everyone. I ordered European health insurance card from Kela and took travel insurance, just in case. I also bought a one way flight ticket to the Manchester. I preferred straight flights and they cost around 150 euros. 4. Arrivals Getting to Sheffield from Finland is very easy. The nearest big airport is in Manchester. The straight flight usually takes 2.5 hours to Manchester. The price of the flight ticket is 100-300 euros. Usually the earlier you book it the cheaper it is. It might be cheaper to go via London, but the easiest way with the luggage is to fly to Manchester and take a train to Sheffield. The train leaves from Manchester airport and it is easy to find. The train trip takes around one hour. When I arrived to Manchester the train station in the airport was temporarily out of use so I had to go to Manchester city center railway station. Usually the train works well and it is easy and quick to use. In Sheffield I used taxis when arriving with luggage. Taxis are cheaper than In Finland and the public transport is not as practical as in Helsinki. In Sheffield I picked up my room keys and paid my rent. I wanted to get the keys before paying anything. I came to the UK a day before the orientation started and I think it was enough. During the first weeks of studies there was a lot of free time to get to know the places. The orientation started on Thursday February 5th and it wasn t compulsory. Orientation concluded some safety and welcoming lectures and in the evening there was a welcoming event where there was food and dance. On Friday we had a compulsory registration to the courses and we got our student cards. They had some fine machines which made them at once ( Don t have to wait weeks as at home). The first weekend I spent organizing my home and exploring my new home town. The courses began already next Monday. 4
5. Studying The spring term started on Thursday February 5 th when the orientation started. This wasn t compulsory. Spring term ended on June 13th. All my courses were undergraduate courses and at least the ones I took lasted all spring. Thus, all my all exams were as late as in June. Best of all, we had a 3 weeks Easter break. So we had a lot free time during the spring. The registration for the courses was on Friday February 6 th as I mentioned earlier, and the event was compulsory. During the event we met professors and they accepted our course choices. I had to change my courses because they didn t have all the courses available they had informed in advance, and that s why I had to get approval from Aalto again. During the first week of studies we also had a possibility to change courses if we didn t like them for some reason. There weren t a lot of courses to choose from. Mainly because the school is a management school and they had some pre-requisites to the courses, and I read accounting as my major in Aalto. But despite that I managed to find 3 interesting courses, which I will introduce more closely later on. In all the three courses the importance of researches was highlighted and we were required to read and analyze them. I found it very useful and interesting. Exam occasions were organized in big halls, one was in Sheffield Wednesdays football stadium, which is not near to the university. Hence check the exam places in advance! You are allowed to use a dictionary if you are not a native English speaker. 5
5.2 Courses MGT-3003 Work and Employment in Twenty-First Century 10 cr Module Leader: Kirsty Newsome Level: undergraduate Examination: 60 % of total mark Individual essay 40 % of total mark The course considered dimensions of work and employment in the twenty-first century. Some of the central themes were decent job and job quality within the contemporary political economy. There was one lecture a week and one tutorial every other week. The tutorial was a group meeting and there were about 20 students and the professor present. We had to study some research and answer some questions in advance and then in the tutorial we discussed the topic. One part of the course mark was a 2000 word essay, which was written during the course. We were also required to read researches from the reading lists during the course. The final exam consisted of 2 essay style questions. In the exam it was required to reference researches so I recommend reading some already during the course. This course is giving general education and in my opinion it was the easiest of the courses I took. MGT-376 International business 10 cr Module leader: Peter Rodgers Level: undergraduate Examination: 60 % of total mark Individual essay 40 % of total mark 6
The course considered international business theories, examples and environment in which it operates. There was one lecture a week and one tutorial every other week. Tutorials considered international business cases and I found them interesting. I liked this course, the module leader was good and I learned a lot of new things. During the course we had to write one 2000 word essay. This course was very good but there were a lot of readings to do for the exam since it was required to reference researches for this one as well. So don t leave the studying for the last night. MGT-309 Industrial relations 10 cr Module leader: Kirsty Newsome Level: undergraduate Exam 100 % of total mark Concerned with understanding the nature of work, working relationships and the context within which they operate. There was one lecture per week and one tutorial every other week, in which we discussed researches related to the topic. Vocabulary in this course and especially in the researches was sometimes demanding or unfamiliar to me. But I heard that some readings were challenging for the local students as well, so there s no need to worry about it. In the exam we had to answer three essay style questions and again it was required to reference some researches so I recommend memorizing some researches already during the course and only revising during the exam week, unlike I did.. 7
6. Housing When it comes to housing, you should be prepared for some adapting. I applied for university s accommodation in November. In the middle of January they informed me that I didn t get any room. So I had to find accommodation from the private sector. I wanted to find some housing before leaving Finland since I didn t like the idea of going to the UK without knowing if I ever get any apartment there. So I started to search rooms online. I managed to find one that looked nice in the pictures and was located in the city center. I found it from a website called spareroom.com and I had to take it when I was still in Finland. And it was a mistake! If I went there again, I wouldn t take any room from the private sector without seeing it and the flatmates. My flatmates were from quite different cultural backgrounds, and we had quite different opinions about cleanliness and how fine it is to live without heating in the winter and to smoke inside the house. Luckily they understood to stop it when I got asthma attaches. Building quality in the UK is far from what we are used to in Finland and my cold tolerance was put to the test when the temperature was about 12 C inside the house. But people get used to anything :D My room cost about 400 and unlike in Finland, private sector was usually cheaper than the university s rooms. When I moved away I was forced to pay 100 pounds because the house was so dirty and wall-to-wall carpet was spoilt. I wasn t able to prove that it wasn t me who had caused the mess and broken things there and it already looked like it when I moved in. I heard that the university s rooms were nice and I recommend taking one if you have a chance. It is easier to get to know other exchange students in there and the buildings are quite new. There is some kind of heating as well. I heard that some also had good experiences from the private sector, but like I noticed it is not a matter of course. 7. Free time, travelling and other information In Sheffield the cost of living is about the same as in Finland. Certainly it depends on the exchange rate and Sheffield is relatively cheaper than London. Alcohol and food (strawberries, coffees, desserts) are often cheaper but housing is more expensive than in 8
Finland. Aldi is a reasonably priced grocery shop, so I recommend using it. Travelling is cheap in the UK and I used Megabus when going to London and Edinburgh. For example a trip to London by Megabus might be 5 pounds if you buy it in advance. Trains are expensive as in Finland. The student union organized cheap day trips as well and I recommend taking part in them. It is easy to get to know other students and see more England that way. I went to York and Oxford and I really recommend those places. Both were very lovely cities. I visited London many times to meet my friends and relatives during my exchange, London is one of my favorite towns and there is so much to do and see. In the end of my exchange I decided to go to Scotland and it was really worth it. I spent a few days in Edinburgh and the town was so beautiful. Flight tickets may also be cheap or cheaper than we are used to in Finland and so I went to Barcelona to see sun and a friend during the Easter break. There were no school fees and I didn t buy any books either. The university library is very huge and modern. It is open 24/7. I managed to loan course books from there and I only used books when writing the compulsory essays. There a lot of students in Sheffield and especially in the exam weeks the library was full of students and sometimes it was difficult to find a free place. In the free time I used the university s sport center quite a lot. One month s membership was 22 pounds and there were a swimming pool and a British sauna :D, a lot of fitness classes, a two-storey gym and so forth. I also enjoyed running along moors and watching beautiful landscapes. The student union is very big in Sheffield. There are a cinema, a club, restaurants and shops in the building. I didn t like the British food, which was usually quite unhealthy but luckily there was one good salad restaurant in the unioin that I went to many times a week. One salad cost about 3 pounds. Student Union organized different events and clubs as well, but these were for all students, not just for exchange students. I didn t have any culture shock with the British people. I liked their pub culture, politeness, afternoon tea, football and so forth. They still use checks that felt a bit strange for a Northerner. Other information: What to pack with you? At least warm clothes, a cheese slicer ( I didn t manage to find one anywhere), dictionary ( if you are not a native English speaker, you are allowed to use dictionary in the exams if you want to. It may be challenging to find a Finnish-English dictionary in the UK.) 9
8. Final Comments Spending the semester abroad is an experience I will always remember. It taught me a lot of myself, for example how to survive alone in a foreign country. I also learned to appreciate Finland more, especially our living standards and heating. When it comes to language, I achieved my goals. My main reason to choose the UK as my exchange country was the language, and I wanted to live with native speakers and get confidence to communicate in a foreign language. I can say that after the exchange I communicate better with foreign people and understand different people better as well. The university and the professors were good and there was enough free time to travel and get to know the British culture. Local people are very polite and that is what I am going to miss the most in Finland. Exchange is a great opportunity to live abroad, to get out of your comfort zone and to meet students from all over the world and, most importantly, get more confidence and perspective for the future. 10