EXCHANGE REPORT MEXICO CITY
PERSONAL INFORMATION
ANR: 835564
Name: Rendal Derksen
E-mail: r.w.j.derksen@gmail.com
Exchange semester: Fall 2014
Academic year: 5
Host University: Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM)
Country: Mexico
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE CITY AND THE SCHOOL
ITAM is located in Mexico City, one of the biggest cities in the world with a population of
approximately 21 million inhabitants. ITAM is located in the biggest delegación of Mexico
City, named Álvaro Obregrón with approximately 727.000 inhabitants. Within Álvaro
Obregrón, ITAM is located in the neighborhood of San Ángel, a relatively safe neighborhood
which is part of the historic center, the oldest part of the city. San Ángel is located next to the
most authentic and cozy neighborhood of Mexico City, called Coyoacán, with numerous of
nice restaurants and bars. Besides that, San Ángel is close to the famous night scenes called
Condesa and Roma, to reach by a 20 minute drive in the evenings without traffic.
In Mexico City you are never bored. Besides going out in the vibrant nightlife, there are
numerous of great museums which are without a doubt worth visiting. The National Museum
of Anthropology is the most visited museum in Mexico City, and not without a reason. The
museum exhibits the total rich culture of Mexico from the start of humanity, with beautiful
replicas of the most important Maya and Aztec temples and numerous archeological findings.
Besides that, Museo Tamayo and Museo Soumaya, the museum of the personal collection of
Carlos Slim - considered the richest man in the world – are definitely worth visiting, with
works worth billions of euros of all famous painters and artists. The best part is that all
museums are free when showing your student card of ITAM.
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When you’re done visiting the museums or hangover from a good evening going out, you can
chill out in one of the biggest parks in the world, called Chapultepec. One of the most fun
things to do in Mexico City is Xochimilco, called “trajineras” amongst the people. You
basically invite a lot of friends and take a lot of booze, and rent a boat to sail over the narrow
channels of Xochimilco while enjoying the Mariachi bands which you can take on board.
As earlier mentioned, ITAM is located in the neighborhood of San Ángel. In San Ángel, there
is not that much to do, but the most important is that it is located closely to neighborhoods
such as Coyoacán, Condesa and Roma, which are the most vivid neighborhoods of the whole
city. ITAM is a really prestigious university which yielded lots of politicians and other
famous people like the former president. It is seen as the best university of Mexico, and
named the best business school of Latin America by Ámerica Economía. ITAM is a private
university, and only available for the top of society. ITAM students pay approximately 75000
pesos per semester dependent on the amount of courses one takes (equal to about 4200 euros)
compared to only 27 pesos a semester at public universities. Therefore, it is a small university
with approximately 5000 students (undergraduates and graduates). This means that there is
also only a small group of exchange students. In my semester, we were with 94 exchange
students which was the highest amount ever. The semester before and after there were
approximately 35 exchange students, but note that the spring semester is less crowded in
general. The good thing of the small group of exchange students is that everybody is really
close.
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Accordingly, the campus is way smaller than Tilburg University, but has a stylish appearance.
The entry hall is made of marble and especially the library looks classic and authentic. During
the exams you will notice that the library is really crowded, and even opened 24 hours a day.
The sports facilities at ITAM are free. You can play football, volleyball, basketball or take
salsa classes. The gym is not that big, however, that’s why I decided to subscribe at another
gym close to our place with some friends. There is one eat facility at the university, but most
students don’t make use of it. I only ate their once at the introduction day. Just outside ITAM
there are a lot of restaurants where you can have a good full dinner for approximately 3 to 4
euros including drink. This is really common as dinner time is between 1 and 4 in the
afternoon. After 7 these restaurants are closed, but you can go to the taco bars near ITAM for
some evening snacks.
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II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before leaving
I don’t remember the exact date when I received the pre-arrival information, but ITAM will
send a folder with all necessary to Tilburg University on time.
Visa procedure and arrival
When staying less than 180 days in Mexico, a visa is not necessary. In general, students get
picked up by their buddies from the airport. Although my buddy was still on holidays, another
student from ITAM which I came through in contact by an earlier exchange student was so
generous to pick me up from the airport. If not, you can take the metro or a taxi to your
residence. A taxi drive takes approximately 30 minutes to 2 hours dependent on the traffic,
but is not that expensive. Make sure you contact your house owner on time when you’ll
arrive.
Orientation/Introduction activities
The last week before classes start an introduction day takes place. During this day you get an
introduction to Mexican history and a tour around ITAM. Besides that, a lunch is organized to
get to know your fellow exchange students. After the introduction day, you can organize an
evening out with your fellow exchange students yourself. At ITAM all exchange students get
assigned a buddy. There is, however, not a lot of supervision on the buddies. How much you
hang out with your buddy is dependent on both yourself and your buddy. A few weeks before
arriving you get assigned a buddy. Some will contact you, others you have to contact yourself.
I would recommend to contact them. In case they don’t respond, contact Ana Lorena Barrera
for help.
Housing
The housing is arranged by ITAM. About two months in advance you receive a mail with all
available options. You have to choose a top 3, but make sure you respond as soon as possible
because its first come first served. I would recommend to live in Hidalgo 92, 92A, 92B, or
Hidalgo 26. These accommodations are great and at walking distance from ITAM. I lived in
Hidalgo 92. I lived with 12 students, mostly exchange. The rooms are big and nice, there are
enough bathrooms, a nice roof terrace, there is a cleaning lady and it is reasonably priced. The
house owner is kind of strict in terms of parties, but in my experience house owners can be
way worse.
Living costs
I financed my exchange period with almost the same expenses as in Tilburg. Only for an
extraordinary trip to Las Vegas and a 3 week long road trip with my friends after the semester
I took money of my savings account. For my room I paid approximately 235 euros (4200
pesos), but I had one of the best rooms in the house. The food is way cheaper in Mexico. You
can go for a full dinner around ITAM for approximately 3 to 4 euros, or to one of the many
taco bars near ITAM for 2 to 5 euros. You can choose to cook yourself, but in my experience
this doesn’t turn out to be much cheaper. Public transport is really cheap. A bus from ITAM
will take you for free to some places in the city. The metro is about 30 cents for a one-way
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ticket everywhere in the city. For going out, the taxis are really affordable. You pay around 8
euros (150 pesos) with 4 persons to go back in the middle of the night from Condesa, but
make sure you don’t let yourself get ripped off. The books depend highly on the courses you
take. I was lucky that I didn’t have to buy any book. One book was made available on
blackboard and another I could find on the internet. When you really need the book, make
sure to ask around a little or post a message on the exchange students Facebook whether there
are books available from former exchange students. In general, it’s great to be relatively rich
.
Academic Calendar
My semester started at the 11th of August and ended the 20th of December. The introduction
day was at the 7th of August but I arrived at the 23rd of July to get to know the city and travel
around. There is no such thing as a Mid-term break. There are, however, such things as
“puentes”, which means a long weekend from about Friday to Monday. Sometimes till
Tuesday, dependent on public celebration days. This happens about 4 times per semester and
gives you the chance to travel. If you discuss with your teachers they’ll be more flexible to
exchange students to give you an extra day of for a trip. Mid-terms and exams are given
during the whole semester, dependent on the courses. Only the last examination period is
fixed, which lasted from the 6th till the 20th of December in my semester.
The International Office
There is an international office at ITAM in which you can walk in at any time. The person
responsible for the exchange students is Ana Lorena Barrera. She is really helpful and you can
always contact her by e-mail and she’ll respond really fast.
Exchange promotion
I spread a good worth of mouth about Tilburg University, and I even managed to get an
ITAM student for a year to Tilburg University next year, while before she didn’t consider it as
an option. Besides that, I made another two students think seriously about going on exchange
to Tilburg University.
Social Activities
Except for an introduction day and a welcome dinner, not a lot of activities are organized
especially for exchange students by the university. The university organizes, however, some
great activities like a back2school party and an end of the semester party. Make sure you
attend those. The lack of activities organized by the university is more than compensated by
the student organizations. Organizations like Mexchange, Mexcal, Hang-out and Integrate
organize trips to everywhere in the country and parties all semester long. They make sure you
come into contact with lots of exchange students as well as local students and don’t miss out
on anything. In my semester we had an amazing group of exchange students. From the 94
exchange students we had a really close group of about 45 students. With help of the
organizations, we had parties every week and we made trips almost every weekend to all parts
of Mexico.
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In my experience there seemed to be a great difference between Tilburg and Mexico in the
relationship of exchange students to local students. In Tilburg I never had the feeling that
local students hang out a lot with exchange students, but in Mexico everybody seemed to be
wanting to hang out with the exchange students. Mexican people are so open and hospitable
that they want to hang out with you all the time and are willing to take you everywhere. They
will invite you to a lot of parties and trips, and even an invitation for Christmas dinner with
their parents is not uncommon. During my exchange semester I travelled literally through the
whole country, with one exception to Las Vegas.
Culture and Language
During my exchange I learned a lot about almost every aspect of the Mexican culture, but also
about my own culture. I was especially amazed by the openness and hospitality of the
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Mexican people. As an exchange student, you gained a lot of attention and people loved to
hang out with you. You got invited to all parties and trips and were able to establish lots of
friendships with the Mexican people to get to know the country the best. For example, it was
rude to not invite someone for a party you were talking about, no matter who is the host.
Everybody is always welcome. This is mainly because of their warm culture. This warm
culture can also be noted by small things, such as the way in which people greet each other.
Everybody gives each other kiss, no matter if it’s a friend, her grandma or someone you meet
for the first time. The boys give each other always two hands and a warm hug.
In social terms, people in Holland could learn a lot from Mexicans. On the other side,
Mexican people could learn a lot from Dutch people in terms of rules. Rules seem to be
guidelines in Mexico. This yields a lot of fun and is part of the relaxed culture and setting of
the people, but is also one of the main causes for the governmental issues and political
problems in the country, which shouldn't be forgotten. Every day in Mexico you come into
contact with the huge contrasts between rich and poor. Compared to Holland, the rich people
are way richer in Mexico, and the poor people are way poorer. For me iconic was the business
man who got his shoes cleaned on the streets by a guy who lived of a few pesos a day. Despite
political issues, during the exchange program I think none of the exchange students ever felt
unsafe. Obviously there were neighborhoods were one shouldn't come, but there is no need
whatsoever to go there. Almost every day you came into situations which are unthinkable in
Europe, but which are one of the many charms of South America.
The exchange made me think a lot about our own culture. What I found especially striking,
was becoming aware of how liberal Holland is. In Mexico all students live with their parents,
unless they’re from outside the city, but that was not that common. Taking someone home
after going out to your parent’s home was just not done, and for some of them drinking
neither. Even sleeping on the same room when having a relationship for a few years is mostly
not done. This doesn’t mean that they obeyed the rules however. As I mentioned earlier, rules
are just guidelines in Mexico. Another thing which I became really aware of, was the
directness of Dutch people. I sometimes noted that I was too direct. But I also had to get used
to them being not that direct. For example, after a party in my place some things got broken.
The house owner told me: “Note that these things are broken”. A few days before giving my
deposit back he told me: “You didn’t replace the things I told you, so I have to get them of
your deposit”. I told him: “You never told me to replace them”. After a small discussion a
Mexican friend jumped in and told me that “Note that these things are broken” is the Mexican
way for asking to replace them. Then I immediately agreed and apologized for the difference
in my culture.
Mexico is such a big culture that there are hundreds of subcultures. When going on a trip
outside the city you got the feeling that you were in a totally different country. A lot of parts
in Mexico seem really undeveloped. In this way we got into a lot of strange adventures,
especially during our own road trip with friends by car through half of the country. For
example in a village of a native tribe which had total authority, taking a photo could lead you
to jail. In these ways, you learn to respect all different cultures and their habits.
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At ITAM, there were not a lot of language issues. Most students at ITAM speak decent
English. Nevertheless, the older people or employees of the university in lower functions like
security guards or cleaners do not speak English. Outside ITAM, in taco bars or all street
shops, it is very unlikely that people speak English. Therefore, you definitely need a basic
level of Spanish. Especially when going on a road trip to undeveloped parts, speaking and
understanding a sufficient level of Spanish is necessary. Taking courses in Spanish turned out
to be really hard. In my experience, passing the basic and the intermediate course Spanish at
Tilburg University was not sufficient, unless you really study hard yourself. Especially
working on your vocabulary yourself is necessary before leaving on exchange in order to
follow courses in Spanish. The fact that you hang out with a lot of exchange students doesn’t
promote your Spanish, as the main language used between exchange students is English.
Personal Development
Going on exchange makes you not only think about differences in culture, but also about your
own interpretation of these social rules. During your exchange you learn to develop your
norms and values by getting in touch with a lot of different people and their cultures. This will
make you more flexible in getting along with other people, and learns you to respect their
norms and values. If you manage to do this, you will gain a lot of new friends. Although it
sounds really cliché and kind of impossible in six months, I really got the feeling that I made
friends for live. Your fellow exchange students are the only ones who really know what
you’ve been through during your exchange. I’m so glad that I had the chance to meet all these
amazing people. Besides that, I have friends all over the world now, which I’m sure of that I
could visit them any time.
Through my exchange, I made so many new connections, that this will obviously increase my
future career possibilities. Besides that, going on exchange confirms that you’re open for new
experiences, which is an important selection criteria for companies. Moreover, getting to
know different cultures is really attractive for companies operating in international business.
And of course your language skills of both English and Spanish improved considerably,
which gives you more future career possibilities. This exchange period was the best time of
my live. I learned so many things, and the country, the food, the weather and the trips were
amazing. But without a doubt, the best thing of all are all the new friends I’ve gained. The
most important lesson I learned about myself is that I should be a little less direct sometimes,
to not unintentionally hurt people. I really think before I’m saying something now what I want
to say, how I’m going to say it, and who I’m talking to.
Academic level at the host university
Courses at ITAM are offered in both English and Spanish. Most of them are only offered in
Spanish though, but nevertheless there is enough choice of courses in English. The course
structure is way different. Courses are given twice a week for the whole semester, and exams
and mid-terms can be given during the whole semester. Attendance is obligatory, although
you can miss a maximum of 20% of the course, which is about 6 classes. The final exam is
mostly a small part of the grade. In my case the final exam counted for two courses for 20%,
one course for 40% and another course for 50% of the final grade. Participation, however, is
really important in every class and covers a considerable percentage of the final grade. This is
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not only important for your grade, but also for your relation with the teacher. Classes are
small with about 30 students per class. Therefore, every teacher knows you personally. The
teachers at ITAM are really good, but will make you work really hard as well. Courses are
way more intensive than at Tilburg University, but the level is more or the less the same,
dependent on the courses you take. It is, however, easier to gain a higher grade when you
work hard, as the final grade consists of different aspects. I followed the following courses:
Comportamiento Humano I (Human Behavior) (ADM-14401) (BA) (Credits:6)
I would really recommend this course, but make sure your teacher is Francisco Gil-White.
This is by far the most awesome teacher and class I’ve ever followed. The teacher will make
you work really hard, but classes are so much fun. The teacher will try to make a real leader
of you by getting you into the most embarrassing situations, but I never had the feeling that I
learned so much from a single course. The course is not hard to pass, but a lot of work. The
final grade consists of a final exam, two mid-terms, two research papers, two simulation
reports and participation in class.
Managerial Skills Development (ADM-14413) (BA) (Credits:6)
This course is really useful for your career and I would definitely recommend it. My teacher
was Maggie Sloan, an American woman. During this course, you learn all the things you need
to master as a manager. The course focuses especially on mastering your presentation skills,
and will make you feel comfortable with giving presentations for big groups. Besides that,
you learn how to make a perfect powerpoint presentation, how to write an academic report,
how to make a perfect CV and how to do a job interview. The final grade consists of a final
exam, three presentations, homework and participation.
International Business (ADM-11013) (BA (Credits:6)
During this course you will learn all the basics of international business, without going into
detail on the mathematics. I would recommend this course if you’re interested in international
business, but for economics students it might be a lot of repeating. The content seems easy,
but the mid-term and the final exam are quite hard. The final grade consists of a final exam, a
mid-term, quizzes and participation.
Eleccion Publica (Public Election) (CSO-15021) (BA) (Credits:6)
The course is about politics, but mainly about game theory. I wouldn’t recommend the course,
unless you’re really interested in game theory. The teacher loves to hear himself talking, and
has a strange system to give participation grades. During the whole class he points at people
for questions, and he will grade students every class. If you don’t come up with a good answer
or example within 10 seconds, he will give you a five. The final grade consists of a final
exam, a mid-term and participation.
Español de immersion (CLE-10512) (Credits:6)
This is the hardest of the two Spanish courses for foreign students. In fact there are three
levels, but the chance that you come into the highest group is very unlikely unless you already
speak almost perfectly Spanish. On the introduction day you will make a test which places
you in one of the three groups. If you passed the basic and the intermediate course Spanish at
Tilburg University it is likely that you will end up in this class. The teacher is very nice, and
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will teach you Spanish in a fun way. She makes sure you will practice your Spanish speaking.
The content, however, is a lot of repeating from the intermediate course. In addition, she will
learn you the differences between Spanish in Spain and Mexican slang, and will also teach
you about Mexican culture. Note that the course takes some time. The classes are three times
2 hours a week. There is not a lot of homework, but consider it before taking the courses
because you will have your hands full on other courses at ITAM. I decided to drop the course
in the end, because of time issues and because the course didn’t count for my degree. The
final grade consists of a final exam, a mid-term and a presentation.
Other
The library is open for all students, though you need a student card to get in. The library is
silent and has a classic and authentic appearance. During the exams it will be really busy in
the library, but the library will be open 24 hours. Computers are available in a different place,
in the computer lab.
Tips for future students
I would definitely recommend an exchange period. No matter where you go, I think you will
have the time of your life if you make the best out of it yourself. Going to ITAM is the perfect
combination of working hard, getting a good reference at your CV, having a lot of parties and
make awesome trips with amazing people. To go to Mexico, you have to be adventurous and
open for new experiences, but this will yield you so much fun. Mexican people are really
amazing, they will embrace you and make sure you have the time of your life. And one thing
is sure, in Mexico you’ll never get bored. I would recommend students going to Mexico to
work on their Spanish. The Spanish in Mexico is really clear without too much dialect, but if
you want to have good conversations, you really need to study yourself besides passing the
basic and intermediate Spanish course at Tilburg University. This is not a prerequisite, but it
will give you something extra. In case you want any tips, feel free to contact me.
Contact details
The university can use this report for whatever they want. I want to thank Tilburg University
for giving me this amazing opportunity and the time of my life. Prospective exchange students
should feel free to contact me on r.w.j.derksen@gmail.com, or via Facebook.
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