UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
A Place of Mind
SONG, Yang
Economics and Finance
2014 Fall Semester
Part 1- Monthly Activity Log
September
I arrived in the campus in late August, a few days before the semester begins. I went
around the campus to familiarize myself to the facilities in the campus. Something
must done before the semester begins include:
• Getting the UBC Student Card form the UBC bookstore
• Open up a bank account in the campus-based banks (include Scotia bank;
BMO and CIBC)
• Check in with the student residence
• Getting U-pass for public transpiration
• Go to the Go Global Office to make changes to your course choice
In the first month, I spent most of the time to get to know UBC and Vancouver. I
walked through UBC and visited the famous Museum of Anthropology in the campus
and watched the football match in the campus. I also went to the famous sites in
Vancouver with the new friends I made, including the Capliano Suspension Bridge,
Stanley Park, etc. I also travelled to Banff National Park followed a local tourism
group with some exchange friends. The Snow Mountains and great forests were really
unforgettable.
October
All the courses and schedule got settled in the
second month, the workload in UBC tended to be
pretty high during the semester; every course
requires a lot reading or some constant group
work. So in the October, I spent quiet a lot of time
to deal with my school related work.
The most exciting thing in October was that I
went to see the aurora in Yellow Knife, a small
town in the north of Canada. The aurora was
really amazing and the experience to stay in a
place of -20 degree was so unique. We got pretty
good luck that we were able to see the strongest
level of aurora. I would definitely recommend this
event to the students who come to UBC. It was
really a once-in-lifetime thing to experience and
it’s definitely worth it.
Also in October, I went to see the volleyball match in UBC, sports consisted an
important part of Canadian life. The thunderbird sports center it’s a great place to
explore.
November
Most courses get to an end in November, since I took a lot of courses needed to do the
presentation, therefore November was quiet an presentation week. The Finance and
Accounting majors students in UBC was quiet professional in terms of presentation,
so there were a lot of great things to learn from them. Comparing the style of
presentation in different culture was quiet an interesting thing to discover.
In November, I went to Whistler for skiing for
four days. The experience was really unique
cause Whistle is the only place in the world
where beginners can ski from the very top of the
mountain. I have skied in other places before,
but nothing was like this, since the experiences I
had before were all artificial snow mountains
with well maintained trails. However, the Snow
Mountains in Whistler were all natural snow
mountains with limited artificial monitoring.
My best advice to the students was to really
clearly consider their own limit. Cause I first
started with a tough trail that was not so suitable
for me, and I ended up being rescued by the
emergency team. Therefore the experience was
really highly recommended with the condition
of knowing your limit better.
December
All the final exams are scheduled in December. The UBC students are also really
hardworking and you can expect a scene in the UBC library pretty similar to that in
UST. Differently, there are a lot of different libraries in UBC with different style and
closing hours for you to choose from. For example, the Asian Library is far away
from the main campus and has less people and posses a strong academic environment.
The Korner Library is big and has areas for different purpose of usage. The Irving
Learning Common opens all night in the final period. The Law library is quiet and
close to the residence area.
Since I only had 3 courses that need to take final exams, the final period was not so
intense for me. After the finals, I travelled to the East coast of Canada for sightseeing.
The east coast was a lot different from that in Vancouver. The cities were older and
the political center and financial centers were located in the east coast. So if you want
to experience more liberal atmosphere in Canada, east coast cities will be really
attractive to you.
Part 2- General Information for Exchange
1) Visa Procedures
As a mainland student, a visa is required to go to Canada, however for HK local
student, the visa is no need. The stay in Canada within 6 months can apply for the
travel visa directly. There is no need to apply for the student visa unless you are
considering staying in Canada for more than one semester or working in Canada
during your study here.
Another note is about the expiry day on the passport. The expiry date only limit
the last time you enter the border of Canada, it doesn’t limit your maximum
staying in the country. The last day to leave the country is normally one month
after the semester ends.
2) Orientation Activities
UBC held an orientation activity that divided all the exchange students into
different teams and a team leader led the exchange students around the campus.
Through the visit, we can get more familiar with the facilities in the campus and
make new friends through the team building process.
3) International Services & Activities
The majority of the international student related activities were organized by Go
Global Office. The Go Global Office will use email to contact you prior to your
arrival in UBC.
4) Accommodations
The student residence can be selected on
website a few month before your arrival.
However, you need to make the application
fast, cause otherwise there maybe chances that
you can’t get a hall offer. Living outside the
campus can be quiet expensive and
troublesome.
I lived in Walter Gage, the student residence
that is closest to the main campus. The
residence was named after a president of
UBC.The facilities around Walter Gage was
quite convenient. There was bus loop that
connect you different public transportations.
There was also Sub that provides you with
Café, restaurant and travel agencies.
I would consider Walter Gage as a really ideal place for exchange students to live
in, as it also offers privacy as well as easy access to public activities. Walter Gage
has six people live in the same unit and each student have a single room by herself.
Therefore you can easy reach to other people as well as maintaining your own
privacy.
5) Courses Registration
The exchange student need the help of Go Global Office to make the registration
to a lot of major related courses. For business student, there will be another staff
from Sauder business school to help you with the registration. The course I took
include:
• COMM 377 International Financial Market and Financial Institutions
• COMM 459 Financial Statement Analysis
• ECON 345 Money and Banking
• ECON 334 Economics History of Modern Europe
• PSYC 101 Introduction to Biological and Cognitive Psychology
6) Teaching & Assessment Methods
• COMM 377 International Financial Market and Financial Institutions
Instructor: Ali Lazrak
Assessment:
o Assignment: 15%
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Participation: 5%
News Story: 10%
Midterm: 35%/ 15%
Final: 35%/ 55%
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COMM 459 Financial Statement Analysis
Instructor: Joy Begley
Assessment:
o Home work/ Cases: 20%
o Participation: 10%
o Midterm: 20%
o Group Project: 50%
•
ECON 345 Money and Banking
Instructor: G. Newman
o Midterm: 40%
o Final: 60%
•
ECON 334 Economics History of Modern Europe
Instructor: Dr. Catherine Douglas
o Term Paper: 45 %
o Four quizzes (10-15-10-15 percent each): 50 %
o Participation (In-class discussions): 5 %
•
PSYC 101 Introduction to Biological and Cognitive Psychology
Instructor: Dr. Michael Souza
o Midterm 1: 25%
o Midterm 2: 33%
o Final: 40%
o Experiment: 2%
7) Sports & Recreation Facilities
The sports facilities in the campus was very well developed, there is almost gym
in ever student residence. The thunderbird sports center also offers a lot unique
sports activities like American Football, Volleyball and Hokey etc. There are a lot
of opportunities to involve you in different sports.
8) Cost/Expenses
The majority of my expense went to the travelling fees, the daily expense such as
food spending can be easily saved by cooking on your own.
9) Food
The Chinese food is quiet common in Canada or UBC since there are a lot of
Chinese immigrants in Canada. Having meal in Canada or even inside the campus
can be quite expensive. The average cost of an ordinary meal can be 6-10 CAD.
Therefore I cooked a lot by myself and go out to explore different food once a
week. You can enjoy both Western food and Asian food easily in Canada.
10) Transportation
U-pass is a card that issued by UBC for student’s public transportation. By using
the U-pass, you can take the bus and sky train without paying any fess. The key
point is to renew your U-pass in the beginning of each week.
11) Climate
The weather in Canada is obviously colder than that in HK. Therefore, thick cloth
is a must in Vancouver. However, it’s still not that cold, the temperature
maintained at around 2-4 degrees even in the coldest weather, so there wouldn’t
be need to put on the thickest cloth you have.
Besides, Vancouver rains a lot in fall, therefore un umbrella is essential.
12) Communication
There is a lot of telecommunications companies to choose from. Fido is popular
among students and Rogers get the best signal. The average price for a monthly
plan is around 40 CAD with unlimited call, texting and data.
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Part 3- Items to bring
Visa and other identity proof
UBC Acceptance Letter (Required by the Custom)
Enough Canada Dollar before you open up your bank account
Emergency Medicine
Router (since there is no direct wifi connection in the dorm)
Business Suit
Academic Related Tools
Thick Clothes
Part 4- Additional
• Difference between HKUST and UBC
Since HKUST is using the teaching style of North America, the teaching methods of
the two universities are generally the same, so as a student, I can quickly adapt to the
teaching style in the exchange institution. Depending on individual courses, the grade
is normally consists of class participation, homework, midterm exam, presentation
and final exam.
I believe the biggest difference lies in the commitment and class participation of the
students. In UBC, the students there are really committed to the course they were
taking. During the class, you can seldom see students playing with their mobile
phones, sleeping or wondering around. They stayed really focused to the courses, and
keeping raising questions and asked the professor for clarification. They dare to ask
questions and raise their concerns instead of keeping their problems to themselves. I
believe this is really a good habit that is worth learning.
Similar to HKUST, the workload there is also pretty high as there are constant
assignment and presentation to work on. I think the courses in UBC focus more on the
teamwork and encouraged students to communicate with each other during the
process. Whether it’s an assignment or discussion or a group presentation, the
professors would make it a group project that encouraged students’ communication.
Hearings from other students’ idea do allow me to have a better understanding of the
subjects.
• Special Experiences during Exchange
The exchange experience was so unique that there were a lot of things to remember.
Among all the experiences of exchange, there were two things I remembered the most,
one is the friendship I built with my roommates, the other is the student march against
rising tuition fee in UBC.
During the semester, I lived in Water Gage, a student residence inside the campus. I
lived in a single room with five other students sharing the same unit. The structure of
the residence allowed me to enjoy the privacy as well as get adequate interaction with
other students. During the semester, the six of us built up strong friendship with each
other. We went outing together, participated in various activities together and shared
each other our personal stories. Meeting these roommates from different background
really broadened my horizon and made me have a better understanding of the
diversity. The bond that we built among us really surprised me, as I never thought we
could develop such relationship within such short period of time. The Pakistani
Roommate taught us the culture and language of her own country, the Hong Kong girl
made us delicious cookies, the mainland girl helped to share my burden and the full
time students shared us tips to explore Vancouver. I believe the people I met are a
precious gift to me that worth me to treasure for life.
During the semester, I also tried to involve myself in different types of social
activities; among them, participating the student march to stop raising tuition fee was
definitely an unforgettable experience. The cause of the march was that the university
kept raising tuition fees and resulted in a lot of students not able to afford the high
cost of college. The students’ leaders claimed that the university education shouldn’t
be for rich kids only; other students should also enjoy the right to receive proper
education. What I admire the most are the willingness students to voice their opinion
and the well-organized sequence of the march. The experience gave me a taste of the
freedom that Western countries always advertise about, but more importantly, I see
the bravery of people behind. Normally, people consider more of their own selfinterest; it’s really a brave idea to stand up also for others as well. Obviously it’s not
all the students participated in the march cannot afford the tuition fee. It’s the
willingness to sacrifice their own time and energy in order to achieve a better result
for all students that was really admiring.
• Personal Experience and Development
The most important idea that I get through the experience was to be open-minded.
The exchange experience opened up my horizon in a lot of different ways, but
whatever the experience I have, the most vital ideology behind is to be open minded
and willing to accept differences. The culture, the language, the habit of the people
and the value people are holding are all different in a foreign country, the key is to
embrace these with gratefulness. What I like to do the most is talking to strangers,
whether it’s a student siting next to me in class, an ordinary shopkeeper or a Mexican
lady in the same tour with me. The different perspectives give me fresh ideas and help
me to better understand this world.