TravelReport

– Springsemesterof2017inSingapore– NanyangTechnologicalUniversity

TimoSyväniemi424136JoniKuparinen422662

PreparingfortheexchangeGetting ready for the exchange semester was surprisingly easy. We got clearinstructions from Aalto as well as from our Host University, NanyangTechnological University (NTU). Having said that, there is still quite a lot ofthingsthatyouhavetodobeforeyouarereadytoleavetoSingapore.Therearedifferentkindofapplicationsandinformationthatyouhavetofill.Themostimportantthingyouareobligatedtodoistoapplyforastudentpass.TheapplicationprocessisdonetroughthewebsitesofSingapore’simmigrationfacilities. It isnotthemostsimpleoftaskstocompletebutourHostUniversitygave us really good instructions on how to do it. Thus there were no majorproblems.Onceyouhavecompletedtheapplicationittakescoupleofweeksforthe Singapore immigration to approve your application. Thus it is good not toleave it tothe lastsecond.Studentpassallowsyoutostay inSingapore fortherequiredtimebutalsomakesthelivingeasier.Forexample,youcantravelinandoutfromthecountryconveniently.ThereisalsosomeinformationthatyouhavetofillforyourHostUniversity.LuckilyourHostUniversitygivescleardatesthatthesehavetobedonesothereisnoambiguityofhowtoproceed.TravellingtoSingaporeisquiteexpensivesoitisgoodtobooktheflightsearly.The best way to book the flights is trough websites such as Skyscanner andMomondo.AlsoitisgoodtochecktheFinnairyouthdiscountsthatareavailablefor people between 18 and 25 years. Arriving to Singapore is easy becauseChangiAirportisoneofthebestinthewholeworld.Aslongasyouhavealltheneeded travelling documentswith you there should be no problems. It is alsoeasy to continue to your final destination in Singapore from the airport as thetaxisystemandUberworkverywell.The reception at our Host University was also clear. There was couple oforientationclassesthatmadeiteasiertogetyourselfreadyfortheschoolworkthatliedaheadofyou.EventhoughitmightfeellikewasteoftimewewouldsaythatitisgoodtoattendtheseclassestogetthefeelforthelifeattheUniversityandthecampus.Itisalsogoodtomeetotherexchangestudentsforthefirsttimeandtogettoknowthem.There were nomajor problems when it comes to preparing for the exchangesemester.Although,wethinkthatagoodpieceofadviceistofollowyouremailconstantly so you don’t miss the crucial information that is sent to you. Forinstance, ifyouforgettofillyourstudentpassapplicationtheremightbesomeproblemscomingyourway.

ExchangestudiesThelengthofthesemesterisfromthebeginningofJanuaryuntilthelateAprilorthe beginning/mid of May depending of your examination period. We leftFinland already in December to spend new years in Thailand and arrived inSingaporethirdofJanuaryjustcoupledaysbeforeourorientationstartedattheUniversity.ThecourseselectionforexchangestudentsatNanyangTechnologicalUniversityissurprisinglybroad.Theonlyproblemthatwehadwasthedifficultyofgettinginformation about the courses before selecting them.We recommend that youtakesometimetogettoknowtothecoursesandifpossibleaskpeoplethathaveearlierbeenattheUniversityasanexchangestudent.Wedidthelatterandwerereallyhappywithourcourses.Before travelling to Singapore you are given the opportunity to apply for 10differentcourses.Thegoalistogathercoursesworthof18AU.Thecoursesareusuallyworthof3AUor4AU,whichmeansthatintheendyouneedtogetintofivecourses.OnceyouhavedoneyourselectionstheHostUniversityinformsyouthatwhichof these they can approve. There is no clear instructions thatwhatcoursesyoucantakeandwhatyoucannot.Havingsaidthat, it isquiteobviousthatasbusinessstudentswemainlyappliedforbusinesscoursesthatourHostUniversityhadtooffer.Weareaccountingandbusinesstechnologystudentssowerelookingforcoursesthatsoundedinterestingandfunbutthatwerenotthesamethatwehadalreadystudied inFinland.After theapprovalof thecoursestheyletyouknowthatwhatcoursesyoumanagedtogetinto.Itisgoodtoknowthathereisnoreasonforpanicevenifyoudonotmanagetogetalltherequired18AU’s.Oncetheschoolstartsthereisatwo-week“addanddrop”periodwhenyouaregiventheopportunitytomanageyourcourses.Forinstance,someofourfriendgrouphadonlythreecoursesapprovedbeforethe“addanddrop”periodbutallofusmanagedtogetthecoursesneeded.OnceyouhavemanagedtogetintothecoursesthefinalthingyouhavetodoistoapprovethembyAaltoalso.Thisisgoodtodoasearlyaspossiblesoyouwillavoidanyunpleasantsurprises.The courses atNanyangTechnological University aremainly in English. TherearealsosomeinterestinglanguagesofferedsuchasChinese.Becausewehaddonetheprocessofgettingknowtheavailablecoursestogetherwehadalmostthesamecoursesintheend.Fouroutofthefivecourseswerethesame.WebothstudiedCulturalintelligenceatwork(4AU),Marketbehavior(4AU),Revenuemanagement(4AU)andChineselanguagelevel1(3AU).TimohadalsoLeadershipinthe21stcentury(3AU)whereasJonihadDigitalMarketing(4AU).Inthefollowingchapterwebrieflytellaboutthecourses.

BH3603CulturalIntelligenceAtWork(Undergraduate-4AU)On this coursewehada lecturerCatherineWuwhowasnot local.Herwayofteachingwasreallyinteractivewhichmadethelecturesquitelively.Eventhoughthe lectures were sometimes interesting we feel like we spent way toomuchtimeonthingsthatweresimple.Itwasfrustratingattimestositonthefourhourlectureswhen you felt like that the same things could have been taught in 30minutes.The ideaof thecoursewas to teachus thingsaboutdifferentculturesand prepare us to encounter with people from different countries. We haddifferentkindofcasesduringthecourseandweweretoldtoposteveryweekonourFacebookgrouppostsaboutculturalencountersandwhatwehad learned.Overallthecoursewasoneoftheeasiestthatwehadduringourexchange.Wefeel that the group projectswere fun and helpful aswewere forced to spendtimewithpeoplefromdifferentcultures.However,likesaidearlierwealsofeelthat this coursewas one of themost frustrating ones thatwe had during ourexchangeduetotheobligatorylecturesandineffectivewayofteaching.Nofinalexamonthiscourseduringtheexaminationperiod.BM2501MarketBehavior(Undergraduate–4AU)OnthiscoursewehadChinesemaleteacherwhowasinhislate20s.ThiswasagoodthingbecauseheunderstoodourdesiretotravelSouthEastAsiaandthushewasnotthatinterestedaboutourattendancetothelectures.Thecontentofthe course mainly focused on the different ways that people behave in themodern consumption culture. Therewere very little amount of different tasksbut theones thatwehadwerequitedifficult and timeconsuming.ThebiggesttaskofthecoursewasacaseaboutL'Oréalwhereweweresupposedtoplanthelaunchof theirnewhairproduct line.We feel like thiscoursewasmoreof thesamemodel thatweareused to inFinlandaswehadmore freedomtodecidehowwedoourstudyingforthecourse.Nofinalexamonthiscourseduringtheexaminationperiod.BT2503RevenueManagement(Undergraduate–4AU)Verysimilar coursestructurewithMarketBehavioreven though thesubject iscompletelydifferent.Ourteacherwasveryunderstandingwithusifwewantedtoskiptheclasses.Thecoursefocusedontherevenuemanagementofhotelsandamusement parks etc. So in away the name of the course is a bitmisleadingbecauseweonlyfocusedonthesekindsofaccommodationservices.Welikedthecoursebecausetheteachergaveusa lotof freedomtodoourprojectsandthecasesthatwehadwereinstructive.Intotaltherewerecoupleofgroupprojects

andtwosmallexams.Oneoftheexamswasaboutthetheorysideofthingsandthe other about calculations. These exams were not part of the examinationperiodthatwasaplusforus.LC9001ChineseLanguageLevel1(Undergraduate–3AU)Oneofthefunniestcourseswehaveeverhadmostlybecauseofthelecturer.Shewasamiddle-agedwomanfullofenergywhoworkedasaparttimeactressandasinger.Havingsaid that, thiscoursewasalsooneof themostdemandingones.The things thatwestudiedweresurprisinglydifficult.Even though therewerenoexamsduringtheexaminationperiodwethinkthatoutofallthecourseswestudiedthemost fortheexamsthatwehadduringthiscourse.Also,whenyouweretiredthelecturesweresometimestoomuch.Theteacherwasalwayssofullofenergy.Inadditiontotheexamsthatwehadduringthecoursewealsohadtodoamini-moviespokeninChineseandoneoralpresentationinChinese.Thesemightsoundlikealotofworkbutaslongasyoudidthemwithasmileonyourface and tried you best the teacher was happy. In the end we think that thiscoursewasreallyhelpfulasalotofpeopleinSingaporespeakChinese.BU8642LeadershipInThe21stCentury(Undergraduate–3AU)Oneofthemostwantedcoursesinthewholeschoolamongexchangestudents.Thecourseisaimingtopreparethestudentsforthefuturebyteachingthebasicsofleadingothersbutalsobylettingusknowhowtobeagoodsubordinate.TheteacheronthiscourseisanAustralianmanwhoisverylikedbythestudents.Heis one of thosewhounderstands the student’s point of view.He alsodoesnotkeep book of your attendance at all. There is still a good reason to attend theclassesifyouareaimingforgoodgrades.Almosteverylecturestartswithasmallquiz that affectsyour final grade.Even though the subject isnot that scientificthe lectureswere really nice and I did not feel the same frustration that I didduringtheCulturalIntelligenceAtWorklectures.Themainreasonbehindthisistheteacher’sabilitytokeepthe lectures interesting.All thegroupprojectsthatwe did were enjoyable. No final exam on this course during the examinationperiod.BM2506DigitalMarketing(Undergraduate–4AU)This course focused on the possibilities of digital technologies inmarketing. Italsogave thebasics that youneed if youareplanningonentering thiskindofmarketinginthefuture.Thecoursewassplitintotwodifferenttypesoflectures.

Wehadthenormalclassesaswellas lab-type lectures.Duringthe labsessionswefocusedonthepracticalsideofthingsanduseddifferentkindofapplicationson the computer. For instance, we created our own websites etc. During thiscoursewehadaexamduringtheexaminationperiodwhichwasasmallminus.However,thiswasnottoobadintheendastheexamwasanopenbookexamsoyoucouldnotspendthatmuchtimepreparingforit.FreetimeandotherinformationIfyouareplanningtocometoSingaporeduringyourexchangewethinkthatthisisthemostimportantparttoreadfromourtravelreport.WethinkthatthebestthingthatSingaporehastoofferisthepossibilitytotravel.Thuswethinkthatitisreallyimportanttomakeyourcourseselectionssothatyouhaveschoolonlyontwoorthreedaysduringtheweek.CostoflivinginSingaporeisquitesimilartoFinland.Thefoodisabitcheaperasitcostsfrom2to4eurostoeatoutsideatthefoodcourtsthatofferyoudifferentkindsof foodfromchickenandricetoIndianfood. Inthebeginningwemainlyateatthesefoodcourtsbutintheendwegotfedupwiththefoodandstartedtoorder food from more common western places. The alcohol is a bit moreexpensive compared toFinland thatmight concerna lot of students.However,whenyougettoknowtherightplaces(theIdleandtheairporttaxfree)itisnotthatbad.Fromtheschooltherearenotthatmanyexpensesbecauseyoumanagetodoallthecourseswithoutbooks.Outofourfivecoursesweboughtabookforonethatweshared.When you think about the cost of youraccommodation there are two options.You can apply for the campus housingwhich is a bit cheaper or look for aapartmenttorentwithyourfriends.Wedecided togowith the latter and couldnot be happier with the decision. Intotal we had six people living in ourthree-bedroomapartmentthatalsohadliving room, three showers, kitchen,terrace etc. The cost was about 550eeachpermonth.Ontherightisaphotoofourcondo’syard.

Livinginacondolikewedidcanmakeitabitmoredifficulttogettoknowotherexchangestudentscomparedtolivingoncampus.However,thedifferenceisnotthatbigbecausetherearealsootherexchangestudentslivingincondos.Inthesame complex with us lived about 20 other exchange students from differentcountries.AlmostalltheFinnsthatwemetduringourexchangehaddecidedtoliveinacondo.Oneofthenegativethingsthatwecansayaboutlivinginacondoisthebehaviorofthelocals.Theytrytocomplainaboutallofthethingsthatyoudowrongorevenaboutthethingsthatyouhadnopartin.Sometimeswewereaccusedofkeepingtoomuchnoiseevenifhaven’tbeenhomeindays.Inawaythis is understandable since there has been some problems with exchangestudentskeepingtoomuchnoiseetc.inthepast.TheweatherinSingaporecanbeabitofshockinthebeginningbecauseitissohumid. It feels humid even if you compare it to some other South East Asiancountries. So if you arrive to Singapore straight fromFinland itmight be a bitdifficult at first. Luckily we think that you get used to the weather quite fast.Travelling insideSingapore iseasybecausethepublictransportationsysteminthereisreallydeveloped.Theculturaldifferencesarenotasbigasyoucouldthink.Yes, thepeopleareabit different compared to what we have used to in Finland but Singapore isnowadaysquitewesternized.Themaindifferencescanbeseenintheirstudyingandworkinglifeastheyseemtospendalotmoretimeonthingsthatfeelreallysimple. However, it feels weird to try to categorize the culture that we metduring our exchange sincewe think that themost important thing to do is totravel. Thus youwill experiencemany different cultures that differ from eachotherinmanyways.Agoodhintistodoalittleresearchaboutthecultureofthecountrythatyouaretravellingtosoyouavoidthebiggestculturalmistakesthatyoucando.FinalcommentsWe would recommend Nanyang Technological University as an exchangeUniversity and Singapore as a country for anyone who is looking foropportunitiestotravelaroundAsia.Wethinkthatthereisnobetterdestinationto this than Singapore.The flights are cheap and the airportworks reallywellespeciallywhenyoumanage toget thestudentpass. Ifwecoulddosomethingdifferently during our exchangewe think thatwe could travel evenmore.Wemanagedtovisit10differentcountriesbutthereisalwaysmuchmoretosee!

DuringourtimeinAsiawelearnedalotaboutthedifferentculturesaswellasalot about ourselves. We feel like even though people around the world lookdifferent,haveculturaldifferencesetc. that in theendweallarereallysimilar.Everyone is lookingtobehappy. Alsowethinkthat theculturalobstaclesandadversitythatwefacedwasnotalwaysnegative.Welearnedtolookatourownbehavior critically and to consider if there is room for change in the way wethinkorbehave.Thefinaladvicethatwewanttogivepeopleis justtokeepanopenmindandtrytolearnandexperienceasmuchasyoucan!