Experience Report Email: thijshesselmans1995@gmail.com Study Program: Economics and Business Exchange Semester: Fall Academic Year: 2016-2017 Host University: Universitas Indonesia Country: Indonesia General Information About Universitas Indonesia Universitas Indonesia is a very green university located in the south of Jakarta (Depok). The university is surrounded by trees, rivers and bridges, which connect the faculties. During my time in Indonesia there were approximately eighty international students spread over the faculties. About fifty percent was Asian (Thailand, Philippines, China, Japan, South Korea) and the rest European (Netherlands, Germany, France, Finland and Poland). My faculty (economics and business) had two major buildings, one international building and one regular building. As you may think, people who are following the regular program study in the regular building and this is the same for the international students/building. I took four of my courses in the international program and one course in the regular program. I experienced significant differences between the international program and regular program. Peers from the regular program are mostly Indonesian and they are not used to international students. Therefore it is hard for them to speak English and communicate with us. Although this differences it was a nice experience for me to follow one course in the regular program. During my exchange period I played soccer at the Universitas Indonesia soccer team and played futsal at the university. It is a wonderful experience to play just a simple game of futsal in front of 150 Indonesians supporting us. Practical Information The time before I went to Indonesia was a little bit frustrating. The International Office at Universitas Indonesia is really slow with responding to your emails, and when they respond they do not answer all your questions most of the time. About 2.5 weeks before I was leaving I received my Acceptance Letter, which I needed for the application of my visa. Also by that time they texted me that I should arrive at Indonesia around the 10 th of August for the introduction days. Since I heard that news for the first time I had to arrange everything (including booking my flights) in 2.5 weeks. On the Internet I searched how to apply for a visa since this was my first time ever. In the Netherlands, you have a lot of companies who wants to arrange this for you in exchange for a financial compensation. When I called these companies they said directly to me: No we cannot arrange it since you are leaving in 2.5 weeks and we cannot arrange a visa in this time period. I decided to travel alone to Den Haag to apply for my visa at the immigration office of Indonesia. Actually, when you prepare yourself well it is
quite easy to apply for a visa on your own. On the website I read the required documents that I needed to bring with me during the application. After the application I had to pay around 40 euros and I could pick up my visa within four working days. So this solution was easy and much cheaper than the companies I called first! In the Netherlands I applied for a social cultural visa, which I had to extend every month at the immigration office in Indonesia. Arranging this monthly extension was horrible since you had to go to the office 3 times each month for applying, paying and picking up your visa. Since the closest immigration office is around 12 kilometres away and they are only open in the morning it is difficult and it will take you much time to arrange it. At the application, Universitas Indonesia asked me if I needed any help with arranging my accommodation. I should highly recommend future students to ask for the help since they will probably arrange a room for you at Margonda Residence 2 nearby the University. The residence is, in comparison with other residences, quite okay and will cost around 160 euros each month. Therefore you will get a furnished 16-squared meter room. But the staff at Margonda Residence including the marketing office is really bad in English, so you have to ask a local friend or your buddy if you want to communicate with the staff. I arrived on the 11 th of August in Indonesia and the administration day was the 12 th. The administration day itself was really easy, it took me around 4 hours and we met our buddy who gave a short university tour. Your buddy and other buddies are really helpful and for yourself really useful in arranging things in Indonesia. So I should recommend you to keep in touch with them and ask them if you need any help. The week after this day, they had a special orientation program, but at the administration day I noticed that this was actually nothing and we were free for the whole week. As you read before, I had a lot of stress for coming to Indonesia that early and actually they did not have any introduction program. This was quite a disappointment but on the other hand, we had a free week for our first travel in Indonesia! As you may know, almost everything in Indonesia is really cheap with an exception of beers. You can have a quite good and healthy local dinner for around 2.5 euros. Also the transport is really cheap, you have to download the applications Uber, Grab and Gojek and you can go wherever you want. These applications determine the transport price by the amount of kilometres that you want to travel and it is really cheap. I did not experience a culture shock when I arrived in Indonesia. Although I faced a whole new culture, it was easy for me to handle it since I was expecting a whole new culture before. The Indonesian culture is totally different from the Dutch culture. Specifically for school, they have an attendance list and you have to attend 80% of all the lessons of that course, otherwise you are not allowed to make the exams. They are quite strict with this attendance list so you should be aware of it. Also the relationship between students and the lecture is different in Indonesia, in my opinion in a bad way. Although they show a lot of respect that don t discuss with the lecturer about the course topics since this is simply not done in Indonesia. If lecturers ask questions to the students they will not reply since they do not have the balls for it even if they know the answer.
For my own personal development, this exchange period was perfect. I had never lived on my own and definitely not lived in such a huge city on the 17 th floor of a residence. I learned some lessons from the Indonesian people and culture. They are very patient (sometimes too patient) and absolutely not stressful. Also despite the fact that most Indonesians are quite poor, they can enjoy live and be so kind and helpful to us. About specific recommendations and advice see the last paragraph. Academic Information The level of education is very different from the Netherlands in Indonesia. The courses I took were really easy in comparison with the courses I had in Tilburg. Also other Dutch students noticed the difference in education level. What is really remarkable is that Indonesians really focus on the layout of a presentation. For example, a group presented a presentation about Emirates in stewards and Arabic clothes. But they do not think that much about the presentation itself. The structure and vocal skills are not a academic level. The courses I followed: Course Code Course Course Form of ECTS Comments Level Exam ECMU605081 Logistics and BA Written 6 - Supply Chain Management ECEU601002 Economic Modelling BA Written 6 Recommended, best teacher I had in Indonesia ECEU603200 International BA Written 6 - ECMU601047 ECMU602045 Economics Strategic Management Portfolio Management BA Written + Case 6 14 weeks intensively case study, which counts only 20% for the final grade. Takes a lot of time since you have to prepare a presentation every week (not recommended) BA Written 6 Recommended, extension on Finance 1 and 2
Tips For Future Students I would definitely recommend an exchange period. It is an amazing experience that you will never forget in your whole life. Also I would recommend Indonesia as a destination. I have to admit that the university itself is not really good. The support from International Office and level of education are not on an academic level. But Indonesia is an amazing country. I had a quite flexible schedule (Monday till Wednesday class), so I had a lot of time for some travels. The travels were absolutely amazing! I saw wild Orang-Utans, Komododragons and snorkelled around Manta-rays and Nemo fishes. And that is just one of the few things I have done in Indonesia. The country has a lot to offer and its nature is amazing. If you are going to Indonesia for an exchange period I would highly recommend you to contact me or one of the other students who studied at Universitas Indonesia. I can help you and give some perfect travel tips!