Experience report Isabelle Galofaro isa.galofaro@gmail.com Organization Studies 7th semester 4th year Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey Mexico I General information about the school My host university was located in Monterrey, Mexico, which is the third biggest city of Mexico with over 4 million inhabitants and is located about four hours from the American border. Monterrey is a very industrial city, with a lot of traffic and long distances between every place you want to go. However, anywhere you look you will see mountains, which is the upside of the city. The university is about 10 minutes by cab from the city center. The campus is huge, really green and immaculate. All around the campus there is a big fence and there are guards at every entrance, so that you never feel unsafe. There are about 5 cafeterias on campus, with different prices and different foods, and next to the campus there is Paseo Tec, which is a passage with many restaurants, some stores, banks, a hotel, cinema etc. There are not many sightseeing points in or around Monterrey, but some things you can do are hiking at Cierro de la Silla, go to Santiago and Cola de Caballo and do canyoning in Matacanes. In Monterrey you can only get around by car or cab, and just crossing the streets can be quite dangerous, as drivers don’t take pedestrians into account. This is quite different than in Tilburg. Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey (ITESM) is a huge university, with about 25.000 students and 300 exchange students. The study year is divided into two semester, and on average students take 6 courses each semester, and a bachelor is 9 semesters. The courses are quite superficial, and a lot of homeworks and projects are due during the semester, but the difficulty level is not very high. II Practical information Information before I left I received my pre­arrival information in may, with the original acceptance letter. However, the courses were only available in mid july, which caused me many difficulties with the approval of my courses, as the review process is very long. Furthermore, upon arrival, one of my approved courses was canceled, and I only had a few days to find a new one, as they host university was going to close the website to make changes. But these changes were not approved by the examination board yet, so it was all a bit stressful. Visa procedure and arrival At ITESM there was an official arrival day, and if you arrived that day, there would be a pick up service from the airport to campus, so that’s what I did. It was quite well organized and the students who picked us up spoke English. As I arrived at 10pm, the official welcome reception at the university had already closed, but there were still three employees from the Organizational Office who welcomed us and gave us a welcome package with all the information we needed. Orientation / introduction activities The first week there was an introduction week, in which every student was part of a group with two mentors. Activities, games and presentations were organized over three days to get to know other students, the campus and the faculties. As exchange student, it was a bit hard, as everything was in Spanish, but the majority of the students speak English. Housing I stayed at on campus residences. There is also the option for off campus residences and independent housing. I handled my housing before arrival with the coordinator of the university residences, and paid an advance in order to reserve my room. The rent included all facilities (airco, internet, cleaning etc.) and there is the option to pay the whole amount at once upon arrival, or monthly. Furthermore, there are several buildings, and the more you pay, the nicer the room and building you get. You can also choose between a double and a single room, mostly, the bathrooms are shared among one floor, and there is one kitchen per building (one building has around 40 students). When you choose the type of housing, decide whether you want to live on campus or outside, and if you want to share an apartment or a residence room. On the university website you can find all the needed information. As a girl, I personally was very happy with living on campus, as I did not need to walk on the street when it was dark. Living costs I financed my exchange period with my ‘aanvullende beurs’ and the ‘ov vergoeding’. With that money I paid my monthly costs of groceries, trips, food etc. Furthermore, I had saved a lot of money before leaving, and with that I paid my rent all at once, which was about 1200 euro for 4 months (plus 400 euros that I had paid in advance). My living expenses were about the same in Monterrey as in Tilburg. The rent was a bit more expensive than what I paid for my room in Tilburg, groceries are about the same price, but eating out is much cheaper than in Tilburg. I spent the most of my money on rent and on travels. As future students I advise you to spend your money on travelling instead of parties, because essentially they are the same as in Tilburg. Outline of my monthly budget ­ Housing: 360 euro ­ Food/groceries: 75­100 euro ­ Transport: 5 euro ­ Books: 0 euro ­ Miscellaneous: 15 euro ­ Travelling (six trips of 3­4 days over the semester): 1500 euro Academic calendar The official arrival date was august 3rd, and the introduction week was from 5 till 7 of august. The first day of the semester was august 10 and the last day of classes november 25th. There was no mid­term break, and exams consisted of two partials and one final and often also projects. The international office ITESM has an international office, where you are always welcome to go, even without appointment. They are all very nice and give good information. However, during my application period, they weren’t always very responsive to my questions. Exchange promotion To promote Tilburg University I took part of a Cafe Lingua, in which I was invited to be a speaker and tell other students about Holland, the lifestyle and culture, and Tilburg University. Furthermore, I talked with many Mexican students who are planning on going on exchange and shared with them how it is to live in Tilburg and the study life attending Tilburg University. Social activities There is no special student organization for international students, and no separate activities are organized. The international office organized a few trips or activities, but they were directed towards all students. I had contact with local and exchange students through my classes and my Mexican roommate. Furthermore, I have traveled a bit within Mexico. Culture and language I only experienced a bit of culture shock. I was very tired the first few weeks due to the heat, and the effort to speak and understand Spanish, and the jet lag. However, I never really missed home of felt sick. The Mexican culture is a very warm and collectivistic culture. You feel welcome right away and everyone is your friend. However, status plays an important role too. I noticed that clothes are very important, as it reflects how much money you have and what kind of status you have. Furthemore, religion is very important and the majority of the families are conservatives. In the Dutch culture you are more free and more open minded. I learned that the Dutch culture is very direct and that not everybody appreciates this. There was nothing that I didn’t like about the Mexican culture. I sometimes had troubles with the fact that Mexicans always want to be together and with big groups, and there are so many things and activities that your friends suggest to undertake. I’m more used to have some more time to myself. I learned a lot about the culture, I understand it more and have more respect for people who are religious and have certain perspectives, as I know now where their ideas come from and the logic behind it. The other cities I visited during my exchange were all smaller than Monterrey. Some were small villages and others were cities, and I loved that the Mexican culture and habits were much more visible there than in the americanized Monterrey. I had followed a whole year of spanish before going to Mexico (Spanish for beginners, and Spanish intermediate course). Furthermore, I speak Italian, so I didn’t experience too many difficulties, as I expect other exchange students did. However, I made sure to speak Spanish with my Mexican roommate, as I really wanted to improve my Spanish, and it is much easier as well during trips, because in the small towns, you won’t find many people who speak English, even at hotels receptions! Personal development My exchange changed me in the way that it made me understand more why people differ so much in their ways of doing, thinking, behaving etc. I’m more open to other people’s perspectives, and I accept it more easily. My exchange will definitely also improve my career possibilities, as I speak an extra language now, and furthermore, an exchange shows that you are able to work and live with another culture, that you can adapt and are open to new things. I especially learned to think twice before giving my direct opinion and to judge other people’s lives. But I also learned to defend my point of view and explain why I think in a certain way. If I could change something, than I would start sooner with speaking Spanish with my Mexican friends. I made the mistake to let the first two months pass without doing much improvement, and only the last 2 months I actively started to speak and practice my Spanish daily. I will never forget the trips I made, the armed police driving around every city you go, the huge differences between rich and poor, the food, and the experience to live for a few days with a Mexican family and share their lives with me. The most important lesson I learned is to not take anything for granted. There are so many unfortunate and poor people in Mexico, and government doesn’t do anything about it. The corruption affect everyone and some people are constantly struggling or afraid of what will happen next. III Academic information Academic level at host university The university offers courses in both Spanish and English, and I only took courses in English. The courses I followed were: ­ Intercultural communication: I’m very interested in cultures and how they can work together, and I thought this course would help me understand better how you can communicate and work best with people from different cultures. I would really recommend this course, also because many exchange students take it, as well as Mexicans, so you are with many nationalities in one class and that makes it really interesting. ­ Organizational behavior and human talent development: I’m interested in how people behave and why. I had already followed the course ‘Organizational Behavior’ at Tilburg University, and I thought this course would go a step further. The course itself is good, but there was more overlap than I expected with the course I had already taken. ­ International organizations and institutions: this course was about the big international organizations like the United Nations, and it is interesting to know how they operate in the international environment and how their work affects lives and organizations. I would not recommend this course, as it was less interesting than expected and the teacher was not really good ­ Leadership for entrepreneurial development: it’s related to my study and I also really like the subject of leadership. The book was very interesting, but the classes were not so challenging. ­
International business and human resources: it sounded really good and the content of the course was interesting and also challenging. However, the teacher was not really good and the lessons had no structure in it. I found the academic level at ITESM much lower than the one of Tilburg University. The material was studied in a very superficial manner, and not in depth as at UvT. Furthermore, of my two of my teacher spoke quite bad English and it was very hard to understand what they said during class. There is a lot of homework and projects (in team and individually, which makes the workload quite high, however, these tasks are not so difficult, but they take a lot of time. Classes are of a maximum of 30 students, so there is a more personal relationship between student and professor, and the teaching style is a balance between theory and homeworks to apply the knowledge. There is a lot of group work, but the lessons are mostly not structured like at UvT with power points and a lecture, but the teachers mostly talk at random without any help of ppts. I am happy with my academic achievements, as I got high grades due to the easy classes, but I also found it a bit disappointing, as I was not motivated enough to do my best due to the low level. Exams Most courses have two partial exams and one final, but teachers can also decide to give projects or papers to write as partial or final exam. The exams are written exams. Other Students have access to the library and can borrow books with no problems. There are great study areas where you can sit in group or individually, however, there is not a big availability of computers on campus, especially that would be enough for the size of the university. Description of courses Course Prerequisites Exam ECTS Comments Intercultural
communication
(CO1001)
None Projects 5 Many tasks and homework led to the final grade Organizational
Behavior and
Human Talent
Development
(RH1000)
None Two partial written exams and one final paper 5 None Paper 5 Two final exams as debates and final paper International
Organizations
and Institutions
(RI2014)
None One final project None Two partial as 5 written exam, one final written exam and one final paper Leadership for
Entrepreneurial
Development (EM3004)
5 international
Business and
human
resources
(NI3017)
Every class a group had to present a chapter of the book, which led to two grades, plus a final project Tips for future students I would definitely recommend an exchange period to anyone who has the chance to go. It is a great opportunity to go away, experience something new and different, make new friends, and learn something about yourself and the world. I would recommend my university if you don’t want to study too much, however, it is also isolated from the rest of Mexico, so travelling takes a long time and with the mandatory classes it is sometimes difficult to do many trips. Don’t forget to learn the language of your host country before going. It makes your life so much easier and it is the only way to experience the country to the fullest.