Experience Report Email: jesseyjohnson@hotmail.com Study Program: International Business Administration Exchange semester: Fall Academic year: 2016-2017 Host University: Université Laval, Quebec Coutry: Canada I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL The school and its surroundings I lived in Quebec City, the capital of Quebec. The university campus is located approximately 15 minutes from the city centre of Quebec. The campus of Université Laval is huge. It has over 30 different buildings and those buildings are all linked by 10 km of an underground tunnel system (Great for the winter with temperatures up to -30 degrees, so you still can go to lectures in your skirt instead of an Eskimo outfit). Besides, it has a huge sport facility for all different kind of sports. It has an indoor and outdoor football field, several soccer fields, volleyball fields, gym areas etc. Besides all the sport facilities it has its own pub on campus. The city centre also has enough places to just grab a drink or go to a club. Quebec is a really pretty and jovial city which makes you sometimes feel like going back in time. Horse-drawn carriage all over the streets, the beautiful Chateau-Frontenac castle along the river, The Battlefields Park and small boutiques in small streets makes it a pleasant ambiance. Besides the pretty centre, Quebec is surrounded by stunning nature. It has several national parks where you can go hiking, canoeing etc. The difference with Tilburg is that you will have a nice view on the mountains wherever you are. Also Tilburg is a really busy city centre with traffic everywhere, while in Quebec city there are a lot of spots where you can hear yourself think because of the quietness. Current faculty divisions and special areas, Number of students: graduate and undergraduate; number of exchange students and study structure The university has 19 different faculties. It offers 350 programs to more than 38.000 students including 2500 exchange students. II PRACTICAL INFORMATION Information before you left Before I left everything went smoothly and was well-arranged. I received my pre-departure information a few days after my acceptance. The only obstacle was that a lot of emails you receive will be written in the French language and some in English. Thankfully Google translate exists. Visa procedure and arrival You don t really need a Visa when arriving, but you need to apply for an eta. This you can do online and it is only a few minutes of work and only costs a few Euros. Besides, you need to show your admission letter at the border, so make sure you printed it a few times. Everyone in Canada is very welcoming and gentle. Transportation is well arranged in Canada. I flew
from Amsterdam to Montreal and took a comfortable 3-hours bus to Quebec. There is a bus station near the campus, but my buddy came to pick me up. Also, Uber is an easy way to get from Quebec airport to the university campus. I arrived 4 days in advance of the introduction week. Before my departure I got good directions about which building to go etc. At arrival, I went to the reception and got all the instructions and got to choose my room. I got the hint from a previous exchange student to choose a room in the building Marie-Parent. I was really glad this had been told, because this really is the best building regarding to facilities and its location. Orientation/Introduction activities The international student association Globe FSA organized an introduction week for all the exchange students. Because of this week I really felt at home instantly and I got to meet the people I would hang out with the next four months. It was a great week full of information and fun activities. I learned everything about the campus and university but also we got to know the night life of Quebec city. We did activities as hiking in the mountains, visiting the waterfalls and we went to a football game of the university team. During the semester Globe FSA organises a lot of activities like this. We also went to Cuba for holidays for example. I think it is really important to join the introduction week, because if you won t it is harder to find your way in both making friends and at the university itself. At Université Laval there is a buddy system, which makes it easier for some students but does not make a different for the others. It really depends on the buddy itself. My buddy was very helpful and also always involved in every Globe activity. In contradiction, some students have never met their buddy. Housing The advantage to have a big campus like Université Laval has is that it has a lot of residences. It has enough rooms for exchange students. After your acceptance you need to tell the university whether you want to live on campus or not (they will email you about this). I strongly recommend to do this! This makes you surrounded with the other exchange students all the time and the location of the campus is just really good. The residences has several facilities like game rooms and big kitchens. The rooms of the residences aren t that big but everything you need is in it. There is a bed, table, sink and a big closet. Besides, the only time you will spend in your room is to sleep. Living costs The expenses depend per person. The rooms at the campus are cheap (around 260 Euros) in comparison with rooms in Tilburg. I did not receive a grant, but I did get a monthly compensation ( 90) for not using my student public transportation (OV chipkaart) during the period. Everywhere in Canada, food is really expensive if you compare it with the Netherlands. Most of the money I spent on food and travelling. Globe FSA organizes several trips and I recommend to join them, because it is definitely worth it. Most of the time we were cooking with more persons at a time to split the costs. Insurance: 250 per semester Housing: 270 per month Food: 400 per month
Academic Calendar I arrived four days before the introduction week started This was the last week of August, and the week right after the classes began. After 8 week of lectures we had a reading week, this is a one-week break after the midterms. After the reading week we had another 5 weeks of lectures with the finals exam following. The final exams took place half December. International office For all your question you can go the association Globe FSA. They will help you with anything. There are also services at the main building where you can go. Social activities Globe FSA organises a lot of activities and trips for the exchange students. This makes you having a lot of contact with the other international students. Most of the local student barely speak English beside French, so you won t be in contact with them that much, unless you can speak French. There are some locals who will follow the international courses and then you might do groupwork with them (they are able to speak English). Globe FSA organised a trip to Toronto and Cuba which I joined. Besides, we organised our own trips with small groups. For example, we went to Boston but also one week to the west-coast of Canada. Culture and language The biggest culture shock for me was the French language. I got taught the basics of French in secondary school, but still it was hard to understand because of the accents. The locals barely speak any English but they try their very best to communicate. Besides that, I didn t really have a culture shock. Canada is a very welcoming country with a lot of hospitality. Despite the fact that I wanted to improve my French, it was not possible for me to follow a French language course. To gain enough credits I needed to follow five business subjects, and at Université Laval this was the maximum amount of courses you were allowed to follow. Personal development I think that the exchange experience will definitely have a positive influence on future career possibilities. It shows that you are brave enough and that you are not afraid to get out of your comfort zone. Also it shows that you can adjust easily to different environments. Although you won t always notice, you will learn a lot with studying abroad. I got in contact with cultures from all over the world. I learned a lot about all those cultures but ofcourse also about Canada itself. During my exchange period I travelled a lot and I have seen the most beautiful environments ever. In my eyes, a trip to the West of Canada is a must do. This trip has been an unforgettable journey for me. Sometimes I regret that I did not leave to Canada earlier in summer, before the semester started. This because I would have loved to see the Westcoast in the summer. But this makes it a reason to go back soon! My exchange period in general has been above my expectations. I made a lot of great memories and new friends. I am very grateful for the opportunity I got to study at Université Laval and I would love to do everything over again.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION Academic level at a host university The courses I followed at Université Laval were all English courses. There was not that much choice of English courses, but they were all quit interesting. I followed the next courses: International marketing Doing business in the United states Responsible management Small business and entrepreneurship Human resource management Beside International marketing, Ï think all these courses were easy in comparison with business courses at Tilburg university. We got taught in groups of approximately 40 students and the lecturers were all very interested in us personal. I really liked this concept instead of the big groups at Tilburg University. We had a lot of group assignments, papers and presentations and I think this Is a really good way to learn as much about the subject. For all the subjects, the final grade was a mixture of group assignments, presentations and the final exam. Course Exam ECTS Comments 80931 International marketing Written 6 Company report 83813 Human Resource Management 93550 Small business Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship 93702 Doing Business in the United States 94805 Principles of Responsible Management Written 6 Group assignments Written 6 Presentations Written 6 Film project Written 6 Team work in class every week