MonthlyActivityLog

February

Isettleddownhalfweekbeforetheschoolstartedduetoworkreason.BythetimeI

reached,mostoftheexchangestudentsarealreadysettleddownandhaveparticipatedina

feworientationevents.Iwasnotifiedthattherewereeventsgoingoneverydayduringthe

twoweeksbeforeschoolstarted.Itcouldhavebeenagoodtimingtoknowmorepeople

beforehand.However,IstilljoinedeventshostedbytheBuddySystemsuchasCampusTour,

CityTour,andPubCrawl.Theseeventsaregoodchancesforyoutomeetotherexchange

studentsandtounderstandthecitybetter.ThefriendsImadeduringtheseeventshavelater

becomemytravelcompanionaroundEurope.

Ontheotherhand,somethinginterestingtomentionisthat,Ineverhadachancetomeet

myExchangeBuddy.HereturnedtoSt.Gallenafterschoolstartedtwoweeks,andIcouldn’t

reachhiminanyways.Thankfully,theexchangebuddywhoImetinHongKongone

semesterpriortomyexchange,isfromUniversityofSt.Gallen.Sincewealreadykneweach

otherbeforecoming,hehelpedmealotonsettlingdown.

March

DuringMarch,myschoolstartedandIalsotraveledtwicewiththeBuddySystemandmy

friendfromHKUST.Ioriginallytookfivecoursesbutduringthesemester,oneofthecourses

wasbeyondmylevelsoIdroppedfromit.Theschoolsystemallowsyoutodropthecourses

tillthemiddleofthesemester,whichisdifferentfromUST’sadd/dropperiod.

Meanwhile,IalsotravelledwiththeBuddySystemtoskiinginDavos.Thiswasafun

experiencewhereIwouldencouragebeginnerstotry,sinceyoucouldenjoyahigh-quality

skiingexperienceinadecentprice.AroundthemidofMarch,Iwentontravellingto

NetherlandswithmyfriendfromUSTwhowasexchanginginFrance.

April

DuringthefirsttwoweeksofAprilwasSpringBreakfromtheUniversityofSt.Gallen.

Planningafewweeksearlierwasveryimportantsincetheaccommodationandticketsprices

couldbecomeveryhighforthisperiod.Mymomvisitedmeduringthistime,soIdidallmy

travellingwithheraroundSwitzerland,includingZurich,Luzerne,Interlaken,Bern,

Grindelwald,Zermatt,Lugano,andKonstanz(Germany.)Itwasaveryexcitingwholetwo-

weektravel,andwemanagedtoseealmosteverypartofSwitzerland(itwasapitywe

couldn’tgototheFrenchzoneofSwitzerlandbecauseoftimeissue.)Ithinkitwasarare

experience,sincealotofstudentsexchangedtothisschoolbuttheydidmostoftheir

travellingtoothercountriesofEurope.Ifyoudidnothaveatightbudget,Iwouldsuggest

youtravelaroundSwitzerlandsinceithassuchmagnificentnaturalscenery.

May

Finally,itwasthemostintensivemonthofthewholeexchangeperiod.Otherthanallthe

studying,essays,presentationsandexams,Ialsospentalotoftimeonmyinternship

application.DuringthefirstweekofMay,IcamebacktoHongKongforaweekofinterviews.

ThereasonwhyIdidn’ttraveltoomuchinthepreviousmonthswasalsotosavesome

expensestocomebacktoHongKong.AfterreturningtoSwitzerland,Imanagedtowrapup

allthestudiesandsaygoodbyetomyfellowfriends.IalsoplannedonelasttriptoBudapest

withmyexchangefriendsafterwefinishedalltheexams.Thisexchangeexperiencewasvery

precioustome.IamalreadyaTaiwanesestudentstudyingoutsideofmycountryinHong

Kong,butcomingtoEuropewasanotherlevelofbecomingindependent.Youlookdifferent

fromlocalsandyouspeaktotallydifferentlanguage.Sometimesyoumightfeellonelyand

homesick,butIbelieveitwouldbecomeaveryvaluablememorywhenyouthinkbacklater.I

believethattheexchangehastaughtmetotakeresponsibilitiesformyselfandtobecome

moreopentoculturaldiversity.

GeneralExchangeInformation

1. Visa

AftertheexchangestudentstatusconfirmationfrombothHKUSTandthe

UniversityofSt.Gallen(HSG),youwillreceiveandemailfromHSGOffice

regardingtheVisaprocedure.Theuniversitywillhavealreadyappliedforyour

visaonyourbehalfandyouwillhavetoreimbursetheschoolwhenyouarrive

inSwitzerland.Therefore,youwillonlyhavetobookanappointmentwiththe

SwissConsulateGeneralinHongKongandsubmitthevisagrantwithyour

passportandotherrelevantIDs/documents.Thevisaprocesswilltakeupto

around1week.

2. OrientationActivities

TheorientationactivitiesforexchangestudentsareorganizedbytheBuddySystem

inSt.Gallen.Beforethesemesterstarts,theywouldsendoutaninvitationtoyou

regardingtheenrollmentofBuddySystemactivities,sobesuretojoin!TheBuddy

Systemalsoprovidedaverynicewelcominggift(onlyforthosewhoattendedthe

officialorientationheldbyschool.)ItincludedaSIMcardwith10francsofcredit,

travelessentials,chocolatesandothersouvenirs.

3. Accommodation

Therearetwooptionsforstudenthousinginthecity:housingofficeor“Sharingis

Caring”FBGroup.Firstoneistogothroughthehousingofficeandtheywillarrange

housingforyou.Dependingontheavailablehousingoptionsatthetime,youcantell

thehousingofficeyourrentalpricepreferenceandhowcloseyouwouldliketobeto

schoolortrainstation.Ididn’thaveotheroptionatthetime,soIwasallocatedto

Stückelbergstrasse5,St.Gallen.Iwouldn’trecommendthishousetofuture

exchangestudents,sinceitisquitefarfromschool(around20mins’busdrive+

walking/or45minsplainwalking)Itmightsoundlikeashorttime,butconsidering

thatSt.Gallenisasmallcitywhereeverymainlocationiswithinwalkingdistance,I

believethiswouldnotbethebestoptionforyou.

Theotherwaytoapplyforhousinginthroughthe“SharingisCaring”FBgroup.You

firstneedsomeoneinsidethegroup(maybealocalstudent)toaddyouintothe

group.Whentheschoolisabouttostart,therewouldbealotofstudentsposting

housesforrental.Youcouldseethelocation,price,contracttermineachpost.

Sometimesyoucouldfindbetterdealherebutitalsodependsontheavailability.

4. CourseRegistration

IbelieveeveryexchangestudentshouldpaymoreattentiontoHSG’scourse

registration.HSGadoptsacoursebiddingsystemwhereyouwouldhaveto“bid”for

yourclass.Everyexchangestudentwillbegiven1000basepointsandyoucan

allocateanynumberofpointstoeachcourseineachround.Askyourbuddyorother

exchangestudentsforsomeadviceonwhichcoursesaremorepopularandtoknow

moreaboutthebiddingstrategy.

5. TeachingandAssessmentMethods

Iregisteredforatotalof4classes.Theydidnothaveanymidtermorquizzes

duringthesemester,butexchangestudentswouldhavetotakedecentral

examsaftertheclasseshaveended.Itispossiblethattheseexamshavetime

conflict,somakesuretoplanaheadwithyourcourseinstructors.

6. Sports&RecreationFacilities

OneofbestthingIlikeaboutHSGisthatallstudentscantakethefreePE

coursesarrangedbyschool.ThiswillbementionedduringtheofficialWelcome

&InformationSessionbyStudentMobility.Therearealotofclassestochoose

from,e.g.,Basketball,badminton,soccer,dances,yoga,andPilatesetc.They

areusuallyinGermanbutitwouldn’tbeabigproblem.Mostimportantly,they

areallfree.

7. Finance

IexchangedallmoneyfromUSDtoSwissFrancandsomeEurosintheZurich

Airport.SomeofmyfriendssetupafreebankaccountinPostFinance,the

bankserviceoflocalSwissPostOffice.Idon’tthinkitwouldbeverynecessary

sinceyoumightbetravellingalotandyouwouldalwaysexchangeyourmoney

intheairport.

8. Food

FoodinSwitzerlandisgenerallyquiteexpensivecomparedtoHongKong.I

usuallycookwiththeexchangestudentsormyflatmates.Onlyafewtimes

thatIdinedoutwithfriends.Theschoolalsohasacanteenandtwocafés

whereyoucanbuythingstoeatinbetweenclasses.Forgroceryshopping,the

mainsupermarketsintheareaisMigros,DennerandCOOP.Denneristhe

cheapestoneamongthethree,anditisusuallysoldinbulk.Theygenerally

closearound6pm,andtheywillcloseevenearlierorbeclosedonholidays.

Forcheaperoptions,exchangestudentswillalsotakea1hourtrainride(could

be25minsifit’saexpresstrain)toKonstanz,Germanytobuygroceries.Its

pricedifferencecouldbequitebigsoIusuallygotherewithmyfriendsoncein

one/twoweeks.IfyouhaveaGleis7,youcaneventravelbytrainthereafter7

pmforfree.

9. Transportation

LikeIsaidearlier,almosteverylocationinSt.Galleniswithinwalkingdistance.

Butifyouarefeelinglazy,busisalsogoodoption.Whenyoufirstarrived,make

suretobuyHalf-FareCard(Youcanbuyalmostanykindoftransportation

ticketforwithhalfpriceordiscounts)andabusticket.Trytobuyitassoonas

possibleandmakethebestuseoutofit.Youneedtoprovideyourpassport,

passportsizedphotoandaddress.Thecardwillbesenttoyourmailboxlater,

andbesuretocarryitwithyouallthetime.Therewouldbepenaltyifyoudo

nothaveticketorthecardwhentakingpublictransportation.Iwouldsuggest

younottotrytakingtheriskoffree-riding.

10. Climate

TheoverallweatherinSt.Gallenwasdryandcold,whereitrainedfromtime

totime.FebruaryandMarchwerestillwinterinSwitzerland(-1~12C).I

suggestyouwearthickdownjackettillaroundlateMarch.Thetemperature

fromAprilwouldsuddenlybecomequitewarm(12~15)andinMayitis

basicallyaverycomfortablesummer.St.Gallenisalsoveryfamousforits

changingweather,whereitmightlooksunnyinthemorningbutitsuddenly

rain/snowintheafternoon.Sobesuretobringalonganumbrella!

11. Communication(Carrier)

Throughoutmyexchange,Ihaveboughttwo1-GB-dataSIMcardsonTaobao.It

allowedmetouseupto1GBofdatafor30daysinanypartofEurope,not

includingphonecalls.AfterIfinishedthe2GB,IusedtheSIMcardwith10

francsbudgetthattheBuddySystemprovidedinthewelcominggift.

ItemstoBring

ü Passport

ü Atleast2PassportSizedPhotos

ü Necessarydocuments(withextracopies,ifyouneedtoprintinemergency,

schoollibrarycouldhelpyoutoprintbypayingcash)

ü WinterDownJacketsBoots

ü Umbrella

ü Cash(SwissFrancandEuro)+CreditCard

ü Stationary

ü Travelsizebackpackorsuitcase(carry-onluggageavailable)

ü Personalmedicine

ü Towels

ü Hairdryer(Notprovided.Iboughtitthere)

ü Laptop

ü Adapters