University of Economics, Prague EXCHANGE REPORT

Kiang Hoi Ling | IS & MGMT | Year 4

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Table of Contents Monthly Log ...................................................................................................... 2

September ................................................................................................................. 2 October ..................................................................................................................... 2 November .................................................................................................................. 3 December .................................................................................................................. 3

Visa Procedures ................................................................................................ 4 Orientation Activities ...................................................................................... 4 International Services & Activities .................................................................. 4 Accommodations .............................................................................................. 4 Course Registration .......................................................................................... 5 Teaching & Assessment Methods ..................................................................... 5 Sports & Recreation Facilities .......................................................................... 6 Finance & Banking ........................................................................................... 6 Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities ...................................................... 6 Health & Safety ................................................................................................. 6 Food ................................................................................................................... 7 Transportation .................................................................................................. 7 Climate ............................................................................................................... 7 Communication ................................................................................................. 7 Cautionary measures ........................................................................................ 7 Items to bring ................................................................................................... 8 Useful links and contacts ................................................................................. 8 Final words ....................................................................................................... 8

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Monthly Log

SEPTEMBER

I arrived Prague on 5th September while the orientation week started on 7th September. The orientation week was consisted of an information session about some general information (e.g. course registration, grading system, buddy system, etc.) and a mass game. It was mandatory because exchange students needed to get some documents from school which allowed us to apply for student transport card. Kicking off the semester, I went to Cesky Krumlov and Karlovy Vary for a 2 day trip, which are both small towns few hours away from Prague. Also, I joined “Walk the dogs” organized by the Buddy Systems. We went to a local dog shelter to visit the rescued stray dogs.

OCTOBER

The trip to London was unforgettable. I missed my flight when I went back to Prague from London due to bus delay. Considered the price of getting a new flight ticket was cheaper than taking taxi to catch the flight, I decided to stay at the airport for a night. I got a stomach flu afterwards. I took a whole month to recover. Lesson of the trip: Don't just save money but always take care of your health.

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NOVEMBER

It was a busy month, I went to Vienna and Paris while having a few midterms. But the midterm exams were much easier than those in UST in general. Besides travelling to other countries, I also visited some places in Czech Republic. Prague Zoo was an amazing zoo I saw a lot of animals that I had never seen; Bohemian Czech Switzerland was a national park which was around two hours away from Prague, the view in autumn was stunning.

DECEMBER

Exchange students were allowed to take all of final exams before 14 Dec. At the beginning of the month, everyone was so busy at revising, but we still tried our best to spend our time together. On Christmas day, I went to a place in Czech Republic called, Bozi Dar, which was right next to the border to Germany. It was like a winter wonderland covered by fresh and soft snow. To students who does not have enough time to visit Nordic European countries like me, I highly recommend you to explore more places in Czech Republic. It always surprised me. Later the month, I travelled to Budapest with my friend. The view and food impressed me a lot.

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Visa Procedures It took 3 months for me to get my VISA, so I recommend to start the application as soon as possible. After getting the letter of acceptance from SBM, I sent an email to the Czech Embassy to request for letter to apply for non-criminal record from Hong Kong Police Station. The embassy will call you once they received it. You can then make an appointment by phone call. Lastly, you will receive an email which requests you to buy health insurance. With the proof of the health insurance, you can get your VISA.

Orientation Activities There are few hundreds exchange student in a semester, so it’s pretty easy to meet new friends. In my semester, there are 8 students including me from Hong Kong. During the orientation week, I bought the buddy system package. It came with a party card, which I could use it to join party for free every Tuesday. Also, buddy system organized different activities, e.g. visiting cat cafe, voluntary work, etc., which allowed me to meet more friends.

International Services & Activities Students will be matched with one local buddy and we were allowed to choose buddy preference, e.g. gender. The Buddy System coordinator informed me about my local buddy in late August. She picked me up from the airport and brought me to do grocery in the first few days. There were some cases the local buddy never have shown up. In such case, you may need to contact your buddy system coordinator.

Accommodations I lived in Jarov III. F, which was a dormitory block for exchange students, about 15 minutes away from the university by tram line 9 and 25 minutes away from the city centre by the same tram. I chose for a double room which I shared the room with a Taiwanese roommate. It costed around 2,100 hkd for a month. 4 people including me shared a living room with a kitchen, a bathroom and a toilet. Blankets, pillows and bed linens were provided. There were laundry room, gym room, study room and activities room in the building.

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Course Registration The course registration was complicated to me. There is a list of courses offered to exchange students with syllabus. The course registration was consisted of 3 stages. (1) Pre-registration You can show your interest in the courses you wish to enroll. If you don’t show your interest in this stage, you might not be enrolled to the course later unless there is a vacancy. It does not serve as a first-come-first-serve basis. (2) Automated Registration This is a process where students are not involved. The system selects students to enroll the course based on the requests from pre-registration. (3) Enrollment In this stage serves as a first-come-first-serve basis. Students can enroll into the course with empty space. Also you can drop the course you don’t like too. We were told that we cannot end up less credits that the system put through the automated registration, but they allowed us to do that eventually. Just write the office an email.

Teaching & Assessment Methods There are regular course and intensive course, which you may tell from the syllabus of the course. Courses are very easy compare to UST courses.

Strategic Management and Business Model Innovation – in English (2OP326)

This is an 3-day intensive course with 1 presentation and 1 final exam. Just some basic corporate strategy basically.

Entrepreneurship (3BE314) Attendance and participation are required. 1 presentation and 1 final exam about setting up a business. Fair teaching.

International Management (3MA645) A master course with 1 midterm, 1 presentation, 2 case studies and 2 final exam. Extremely boring course, but attendance is required. Unclear instructions.

Introduction to law and economics (5IE250)

1 midterm and 1 final exam. Nice and interesting content.

Financial regulation and risk management (1MT363)

3 assignments and 1 final exam. Fair teaching. Light workload.

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Sports & Recreation Facilities There is gym room in the dormitory. Since there is no air-conditioner, I think it’s a bit smelly. But everything else is good.

Finance & Banking Czech crown is the currency in the Czech Republic. Euro is accepted sometimes but usually not with a good exchange rate. I brought cash in euro and changed it to Czech crowns in the city centre. Be careful with the exchange stores!!! You might want to go with a local friend since there is a lot of scams. Also, there are ATMs on campus and near the dormitory which you can take money from.

Item Amount (HKD) Flight (round trip) 5,400 Living expense 15,000 Insurance 700 Data Plan 550 Travelling 30,000 Visa Application 400 Accommodation 10,000 Total 62,050

Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities The buddy systems organized activities once or twice a month, including hiking, voluntary work, visiting cat cafe, movie watching, etc. In my semester, Asians usually got together and have parties, e.g. Mid Autumn festival party, etc.

Health & Safety Prague is very safe in general but you still want to take care of your belongings in the old town (a touristy place). But if you need to go to the police station or see a doctor, it would be better if you bring a local friend, because it would be difficult to communicate in English. I recommend to bring all kinds of medicine you can think of from Hong Kong. My allergy medicine helped me to survive in the 4 months.

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Food Signature Czech food are dumplings, roasted duck, beef tartart, chimney cake, etc. Personally I am not a big fan of it, but there are always a lot of different cuisines. Don’t worry about getting homesick, there are bubble tea, hotpot, egg waffle (not authentic though), fried rice, wontons and any kind of Asian food in the city. The best fried rice I had was only 100czk (around 36hkd)!!!

Transportation Tram and metro are the two most commonly used transportation in the city, and sometimes bus. When you first arrive Prague, I suggest you to call an Uber from the Airport to dormitory (around 400czk) or ask your buddy for a ride as there is a lot of stairs when you transfer from bus to metro then tram. In daily life, I take tram line 9 from dormitory (Chemelnice) to school (Husinecka) or the city centre.

Climate In September and October, it’s usually cooler than in Hong Kong. But the temperature in day and night is right big, sometimes I managed to wear short sleeve at daytime but felt very cold at night. It will get colder by time. I saw the first snow on 1st Dec !!!

Communication Czech is the official language in Czech Republic. Some people speak English but it’s not common. It takes some effort to communicate with people in the stores or on the street. Czech people are helpful. Learning some basic Czech will help to get things done smoothly.

Cautionary measures You are required to get health insurance while applying for VISA. They will get you know what kind of insurance plan you have to get. I got a comprehensive health insurance for foreigner from Slavia.

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Items to bring It’s very easy to get all kinds of necessities in Prague, it might even be cheaper than in Hong Kong, you may just bring the followings, Cash and credit card Passport and ID card ID photo SIM card (around 5 days before you buy a SIM card from school) Flight ticket Lock (for your suitcase and bag) Clothes (summer 30% and winter 70%) Power bank Camera Charger Earphone Adaptor

Useful links and contacts School

VSE – Incoming students

https://exchange.vse.cz/

Travelling Regiojet https://regiojet.com/ Flexbus https://global.flixbus.com/ RyanAir https://www.ryanair.com/

Local Tips Honest Guide https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt7oj318jVQi7vRbc1bNjJA

Final words Going to Prague was one of the best decision I have ever made. The city is lovely. It’s historic, picturesque and relaxing. It was the best 4 months in my life. Thank you for SBM for offering me this opportunity to explore to this vintage and mysterious country, also VSE for providing so much support to exchange students.