ERASMUS - the bitter end

Atomium, Brussels.

BLOCUS

The Belgian exam period, so-called blocus, is now over (at least for me). It's been difficult to study all my courses together. I felt my head was a big pot where I threw in all different kinda theoretical concepts. The thing is, I ended up with a big mixed soup!

Most of my exams were multiple-choice-questions, based on books, often written by the class professors themselves. Of course, it was highly specific. But they made it even harder! For instance, I was asked to choose the right statement among four propositions and to justify my choice for each statement. Quite confusing!




All in all, it's been a quite stressful period. I'm glad it's over! Obviously, I "enjoy" more the Swedish examination system: one course at a time. The exams themselves are harder (open questions and discussions) but there is less confusion. At least my schedule was clearer! Anyway, my exchange semester as an Erasmus student ended with my last exam.

UGENT

Among the six Belgian universities ranked in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking, I spent my semester at Universiteit Gent (World rank: 93rd). 

Course code   -   Course name                                      -   ECTS credits

I was following 6 courses: Marketing Communication, Managing Service Organizations, Innovation & Technology Management, Financing High-Tech Entrepreneurial companies and Business-to-Business Marketing at the UGent and Strategic Human Resource Management at HogeSchool Gent.

If everything goes smoothly, I'll collect 32 ects credits which will be integrated in my master program at Linköping University (thanks to my Learning Agreement). Additionally, I had a Dutch class (4 ects credits) at UCT, but that was just "for fun"!

But all these data don't say much about my proper experience. Overall, I liked my exchange! Even though I've already studied some concepts before, the courses' content was interesting and for some, stimulating. However, I had trouble with Dutch. Meaning, a lack of English translation. Finding information on their online platform (Minerva) or from their emails was rather messy! During an exam, the teacher even gave the instructions in Dutch. No English! 

More critics? I found the professors inaccessible (I had two appointments with a teacher who didn't show up! On the third one, he was busy on the phone for 20mn. I gave up.); I missed feedback from them: 3 months after an assignment, still no grades (counting for 40% of the final grade); and I found bizarre that most of them ask the students to buy their own published books (e.g. I'd have to pay 70€ for a book!).

Nevertheless, I had the chance to meet great people outside the classrooms. That's what matters!

MASTER THESIS

Game on! While I was studying for my exams at UGent, my SMIO classmates at Linköping University were attending the introductory seminars on the Master Thesis, since January 21st. The thesis kick-off is based on a book: Tricks of the Trade - how to think about your research while you're doing it (H.S. Becker, 1998) which gives us lots of examples about what to (not) write and most importantly, through the author's experience in social sciences.

The fourth and last semester of my SMIO program is fully dedicated to the master thesis. In pair of two students, we have to hand in our pre-final version by the end of April, and the final version by the end of May. Each group has a supervisor to provide some guidelines along the process. Our 50-70 pages document will then be evaluated on its problem consideration, structure and logic, theoretical support, frame of reference, research method, empirical data report, analysis, and conclusions. We'll also have to defend our final thesis in public seminars upon the final version.

Waffle bus, Brussels.

The last month has been quite overwhelming with exams and thesis work. Although I loved Belgium with the beers, the chocolate, the fries and the waffles. But, to live in Brussels, you gotta like grey. Then it's perfect for you. So many different nuances of grey that you'll never be bored. But I was!

I'm looking forward being back in Linköping, Sweden. I missed mother Nature, the coziness of the city center and the university facilities. I'll enjoy my final semester at LiU! I'll keep you updated under the thesis writing process ;)

Now, it's time to pack. It's a few hours drive to get to the ferry bringing us back to Sweden...



Tot ziens België!

Xmas 2012 - NYE 2013

Xmas3

Unless you've been strictly living inside your flat for two and half months, without access to the radio, TV, or the Internet (which I doubt so) you probably noticed that Christmas was in town. This year in Brussels, there was no traditional christmas tree. With respect to the Muslim community (25,5% of the local population in 2008), they decided to try something new: a 24 meter-high electronic christmas tree made of steel, covered with wood and a screen. Its French designers (1024Architecture.net) called it the "Xmas3". During the day, visitors could climb up and enjoy a 360° view of the Grand Place for 4€. A music and light show sponsored by Electrabel (energy corporation) was taking place every-night in december, as part of the Winter Wonders (ending on January 6th).

- What about the 25.655 people who signed the online petition saying that forgoing the traditional tree is another example of the city making too many religious accommodations? (source)  

- What about the Nativity scene with the Baby Jesus in a manger that remains at the bottom of the structure, is it still allowed? (source) 

- What about the 8.130 € (benefits) donated to the Samusocial? (source) 

- What about the 4% more hotel-rooms booked by tourists in Brussels, with a Xmas3 costing two-third less than a real tree? (source) 

>> WHAT'S IT GONNA BE IN 2013?

That's how I left Brussels, before going home in Brittany, France to spend Christmas holidays in family. No luck with the weather. Clouds and rain almost everyday for 10 days. Lovely. At least I was used to it!

Sunrise in Île-Tudy (hometown).

Everyday was split between seeing friends and spending time with family. With lots of great food (oysters, foie-gras, chocolate, etc.), champagne and old red wines! It was rather intense. Finally I drove back to Brussels with friends, where we spent a few (crazy) days sightseeing around (Ghent & Brugge) and celebrating New Year's Eve 2013 (partly there).

However, everything has an end. Since before Christmas, the blocus (Belgium revision break) makes everything studious! All class-rooms, libraries, computer-rooms and others have been requisitioned as exam-rooms. No lectures/seminars anymore in January. It's time to pass my 6 exams (one per class) — plus orals. Quite some work to do then!

Strategic Human Resource Management - Seminar on Competency Management: STARR interview & Quinn's model

Hogeschool Gent organized a 3 days-long seminar as a collaboration of 3 courses from the Faculty of Business and Public Administration: Performance Management, Strategic Business Game and Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM). Besides enhancing personal skills, knowledge and abilities regarding these courses, the seminar aimed at enhancing group dynamics and atmosphere. Of course, participation is compulsory for each student following either one (as me: SHRM), two or three courses. 

Hotel Cosmopolite

However, the tricky part is that it doesn't take place in Ghent, but Nieuwpoort, on the Belgian coast. Students have to get there by themselves (50mn of train to Ostende + 45mn tram to Nieuwpoort). The Hotel Cosmopolite*** was chosen to host the seminar, probably due to its 10 equipped working rooms, its restaurants (brasserie and gastronomy cuisine) and the capacity for students to check-in a room for a night or two. In other words, yesterday I paid 20€ for lunch and dinner (mandatory fee) and 16€ for transportation. My seminar (9am-7pm) was oriented towards Competency Management, divided in two parts: the STARR interview and the Quinn's model.

STARR

Situational interviewing or STARR (Situation-Task-Action-Result-Reflection) is a semi-structured interview conducted by line managers and Human Resource (HR) managers in the course of multiple HR processes (recruitment, development, appraisal, etc). The goal of this type of interviewing (for the interviewer) is to deduct the applicant's competencies, based on his/her past work or hobby experiences. The difficulty of this interview is to ask the right follow-up questions. But it surely comes with the routine.

The seminar lasted 3h and was managed by Mieke Audenaert and Annelies De Vuyst. About 40 students participated. We conducted such STARR interviews among ourselves, based on one real past experience. We gave feedback to each others on our performance as interviewers. The main output is to be able to fulfill the STARR table (see example below) while interviewing a job applicant. 

"MY STARR"
Example of situations where my behavior allows to deduct competencies.

I understood the STARR interview type and I feel confortable using it from now on. I guess that was the seminar's goal so it was successful.

QUINN

- What am I good at? 

This question is useful for people that often change jobs (every 5-6 years before getting bored?) because when they know that they're good at something, they'd enjoy doing it, hence, they'd enjoy a job that fits their competencies (and maybe they'd stay longer in the same position?).

"Quinn's Competing Values Framework"
Source: Quinn R.E. et al. (1996). Becoming a Master Manager: A Competing Values Approach.

Quinn's model is one of the most popular management and leadership models in management literature. Based on his role model theory (see role framework below), there is also a small test to find out which roles fits best one's personality. In the seminar, directed by prof Alex Vanderstraeten in the afternoon (3h), we (only 15 students) started by positioning ourselves in one of the four quadrant of the model. I felt that the Open systems model fits my personality because I'm interested in innovations and technological development, I like evolving in unpredictable situations and I quickly adapt to these situations thanks to previous experiences — continuous learning.

"Quinn's Managerial Leadership's Roles"
Source: Quinn R.E. et al. (1996). Becoming a Master Manager: A Competing Values Approach.

Then we had to go through the different roles and their descriptions to figure out whether it really fits our personality. For me: yes, I like to think that I'm creative. And I like change, trying new stuff and combining existing solutions for a better one that suits me. I could be an inventor. I also like to talk about stuff I recently read and discovered so I guess I present ideas. I could also be a bit of a broker. 

Based on a competency dictionary  we pointed out in group that an innovator would master the following competences: (1) Adaptability (2) Communication (3) Problem solving and Judgement (4) Innovation & (5) Impact and Influence. This enlightened our personal competency profile and gave us more information in case we go to selection interviews or assessments.

Of course, one doesn't have to fit in one single category for the whole career; there are rooms for change! However, it is possible to develop competencies (e.g. through trainings), but can you develop your personal characteristics? Young people believe that yes, everything can be changed. Older people tend to think it's genetically embedded.

--

This day-long seminar was good. But the organization wasn't (it was confusing). I simply don't understand why we had to pay pay almost 40€ to go to a hotel 2h away from Ghent, since there was no added-value from this. Everything could have been organized at Hogeschool! Eventually, as there was a strike from the Belgian railwaymen for 24h from 10pm that same day, most of the Erasmus people (the only students enrolled in only one course, thus only one day of seminar) left during dinner — which we still had to pay for (no discussions possible).

Moving out of my student room at UGent

Voilà, my girlfriend got an internship in the European district in Brussels for the next 3 months. This is exactly the time I've left at UGent until I go back to Linköping University in Sweden and work my ass-off on my Master Thesis. I figured out I'd move to Brussels for the time left and commute to Ghent (1h approx.) for classes and group meetings. The only thing was to leave my student room in the University Residence; in other words, cancel my contract with the UGent Housing Department.

This contract has a minimum rental period of 3 months. Before signing it, I made sure it was possible to shorten this rental period with the Housing Department's person in charge (Myriam Van den Branden). That's why I signed a contract to rent my student room from September 1st until November 30th, planning to move in a bit later (September 20th) and shorten the contract shortly after arrival. However, Myriam informed me that the only possibility to move out of my student room would be to:

- find another Erasmus student (not free-movers, PhD or Belgian students) at UGent (not Hogeschool) 

- willing to rent a student room in the University Residence

- hence, signing a new contract (with a minimum rental period of 3 months) with the Housing Department

- from my departure date: October 31st — when I move in Brussels and after 2 months of contract (even though I didn't even used the room for 1,5 month).

Finding this key person was difficult. Well, impossible. I looked where Erasmus students hanged out most of the time: Facebook. Even though I found similar students desperately looking to move out of their student room, and others not even considering living in the University residence; I couldn't find anyone interested. Neither did the Housing Department: the waiting list was empty!

My last shot should have been to sub-rent my room on the private market for only 1 month. But that's stated as forbidden in my contract. In the best case: I'd get expelled of my room and that's what I want, right? In the worst case: I'd get expelled of my room, I'd still pay for the last month due and they'd keep my deposit of 135€. Screwed!

Eventually, I didn't even have to take any risks because no one wants a student room in the University Residence. Why then? First of all, it's expensive compared to the private market where a furnished studio can be found from 300€/month (contracts with minimum rental periods as well). Then, the kitchen facilities aren't suitable for students: they have to bring or buy everything (pans, cutlery, etc.), usually only for a short stay and it's not enough equipped for everybody (approx. 20 rooms) using the kitchen at the same time (no oven, a single microwave). There are only 3 washing machines (3,5€ without the powder) for everybody and the 2 driers, well, they don't dry (once, I waited 2h without results)! Also, some rooms aren't practical, they are all different so you just gotta be lucky! Eventually, the monthly Internet usage restrictions of 12GB bandwidth is too limited.

Anyway. I'll pay my November's rent of 391€ even though I don't live in my student room anymore. I'm deeply sorry for the students having trouble finding a room for a short stay in Ghent, but the administrative paperworks from the UGent Housing Department made it impossible.

391€. The price to be able to live with my girlfriend in the capitale of Europe?

Hogeschool Gent - Faculty of Public and Business Administration

Even though I already selected my courses and the modification period was over; my request to change one more course has be accepted. I decided to quit the class on Analytical Customer Relationship Management. Instead, I enrolled at Hogeschool Gent a partnered university of UGent.

Founded in 1995 when 14 institutions merged together, Hogeschool Gent is now the largest University College Institution (kinda Business School) in Flanders, Belgium. There are 18.000 students divided in eight faculties. The faculty of Public and Business Administration provides one of the five English-taught Master programmes at Hogeschool, the International Management Programme (IMP). 

My schedule (updated)

Part of the IMP, the course I follow is Strategic Human Resource Management (HRM). It takes place once a week (Tuesday morning) and is worth 6 ECTS credits. That's why I still keep a total of 34 ECTS credits for my Erasmus semester. The course shifts from operational HRM to strategic HRM by looking at it through a four dimensions framework:

- Instrumental dimension: rules, procedures, work systems, administration, paperwork

- People dimension: motivation, working conditions, leadership, internal communication

- Strategic dimension: strategy, goals and objectives, measurement, added value

- Organizational dimension: structure and culture, organizational design, organizational development

We're quite a number of students in the classroom, but most of them are Belgian and I didn't meet so much Erasmus. Sometime in November, I'll come back on this class because of a 1 day-seminar in Nieuwpoort on the Belgium coast, at the Hotel Cosmopolite.

Student Opening of Ghent University

Yesterday, the UGent Communication department organized the Student Opening of Ghent University at the student house De Therminal. They invited all students of UGent for this free event, so I went along with some Erasmus friends.

UGent rector: Paul Van Cauwenberge

We waited 45mn outside with a lot of other students (mostly Belgian), but it was worth the champagne we received at the entrance. The evening started with speeches from, among others, rector Paul Van Cauwenberge and Ghent mayor Daniel Termont, unfortunately, everything was held in Dutch. So I didn't get anything of what was going on. Instead, I was looking for the sexy girls with the food trays! The usual tasty snacks and small portions served at formal receptions.

Stand-up comedian: Koen Dewulf

The other good thing was the free drinks: six beers and one cocktail for each of us. Of course, everybody was suit up, there was a nice work on the lights and students staff were handling the evening. That's when the stand-up comedian Koen Dewulf started his show...in Dutch. When I asked him about an English version, he said that it was very Flemish jokes so it won't be funny anymore. Well, I still gave some hypocrite applause with the rest of the room!

Acoustic band: Trio Bluf

Around 23 p.m. it was time for the acoustic cover band Trio Bluf to start playing. It actually turned the evening into a real party! The three guys were motivating the crowd by moving among us the whole time! This gave enough incentive to the bartender for some bottle jugglery (see video below)! Later on, we left the reception and we continued the party elsewhere, let's say, less formal.

                   Kasim from Bartenders on the road.

Business Administration courses at UGent

Yes, that's my schedule. It shouldn't change so much from now on, as the deadline to change my courses was 2 days ago. From my initial Learning Agreement, I only changed one course: Market Research Methods became Business to Business Marketing; and I also have the Dutch class. All the classes started, some sounded very interesting, others not... 

The UGent Rector, alias me.

Marketing Communication (6 ECTS credits) - Based on the book Marketing Communications (written by the teacher), the course is evaluated on group-work / case studies (50%) and on a final exam (50%). We will talk about integrated communications, branding, communication models, the instruments of marketing communication and the measurement of marketing communications effectiveness.

Analytical Customer Relationship Management (CRM) (6 ECTS credits) - Representing the last part of the supply chain (contact with final customers), this course introduces us to the analytical tools to carry out projects in CRM. These tools are part of the analytical software SAS, which we will be evaluated on (twice). I'm a novice with SAS, so I'm still struggling a lot with it! 

Financing High-Tech Entrepreneurial Companies (4 ECTS credits) - Understanding, analyzing and making financial decisions in entrepreneurial, unquoted companies. Given the large information asymmetries, uncertainty and potential agency problems, traditional financing methods are often inappropriate. The class is based on the book Financing Entrepreneurial Companies (written by the teacher) and 80% of the grade is on the final exam, while the remaining 20% are given on a case study.

Managing Service Organizations (4 ECTS credits) - We'll learn how to perform an in-depth analysis of a service organisation in terms of strategic as well as operational management issues: it is important to acquire a good feeling of the specificity of service delivery processes. Based on the book Services Management (written by the teacher), there is a final exam (60% of the final grade) and a business game called ServiceSim (40%) which is a business simulation where we'll have to take strategic/operational decisions in group over two months. Finally, each of us has to make a case study report, only once:

Innovation and Technology Management (4 ECTS credits) - Based on the book Strategic Management of Technological Innovations, this course tries to integrate different views into one concept in which innovation is represented as a strategic process. The course deals with three different components: the industrial dynamics of innovation; the strategic choices which have to be made by organisations in this environment and the implementation of these choices. We'll be evaluated in a final exam (50%) and by group on case studies and class discussions (50%).

Business to Business (B2B) Marketing (6 ECTS credits) - Based on the book Business Market Management, the course is organized around three core business market processes: understanding, creating, and delivering value. More specifically, we'll learn about: market segmentation, customer value management, building customer value models, understanding customer firms, constructing flexible market offerings, pricing, business channel management, and E-business. Divided in groups of 6 students, we'll have to report on 3 case studies (30% of final grade). Of course, there'll be a final exam (70% of the grade) as usual!

These courses are either part of the Master in Business Engineering or the Master in Business Economics. All in all, this should give me 30 ECTS credits (+ 4 with the Dutch course) at the end of the semester! From my Swedish Master program, there are quite some organizational changes, mostly due to the fact that at UGent, all the courses are taking place over the whole semester, whereas I had one course after another at Linköping University. But I'll get used to it I guess :)

PS to my French friends in Brittany: the first crêpes session took place! 

We cooked about 3 kilos for the International Dinner of ESN, everything was gone quite quickly :p

Student Kick-Off

In the largest student city of Belgium, the academic year usually starts with a big event: the Student Kick-Off. This year, it was last wednesday, on September 26th 2012, at St-Pietersplein. This welcome party for students by students is already in its 7th edition and has become the biggest student event in Flanders. This Student Kick-Off is the result of an intense cooperation between the students of UGent (and their unions), the City of Ghent and all the higher education institutions in Ghent.

Last year, 36.000 people attended the party hosting The Vengaboys under a great sun. By the way, since 2011, the entrance is set to 1€ which is entirely given to humanitarian funds. Every year numerous activities are organized on site. Students can also visit a huge info village with interactive and original stands of the Ghent Student Unions, the higher education institutions, the City of Ghent and associations of Ghent...

Before the event, I helped building the stage and other handyworks with other students. All in all, there were 900 students involved in the Student Kick-Off! I thought it was a good opportunity to meet some locals, outside of the ESN bubble. In exchange of our good work, we got lunch & drinks; as well as two beer-vouchers per hour worked, to be exchanged during the event.

The crowded entrance!

The party opened around noon and the first concert started a bit later. People were getting in by only one entrance, which was overwhelmed quite fast, making us queueing for some time! We enjoyed a few beers, listening to the pop folk of Absynthe Minded and getting all crazy on the Balkan Hip-Hop tracks by Merdan Taplak. Unfortunately, the DJ tent (sponsored by Monster) was full so no one could get in. In the meantime, it started to rain :/

 <<  Live video of Merdan Taplak.

>> Some pics of the night: link.

First steps at UGent

During the Welcome Days (September 21-22), we were about 850 incoming exchange students to gather in a big amphitheater, to receive general information about Ghent, the university facilities, the housing services, the student organizations, and so on... We all got a free lunch! I guess it was worth to attend then. We received a lot of paperworks to deal with in the upcoming days, some documents to send back to our home university and all this kinda annoying things which takes so much time!

As I said earlier, I got my student room in one of the 10 university halls of residence (Canterburry). For 31.200 students at UGent only (with 2600 international students), there is only 700 rooms available for foreign students. That makes it hard to get an accommodation for Erasmus students! At first I liked the room: not too small, quite recent and well-arranged with a small fridge. Unfortunately the rest isn't so great: it was pretty dusty; I didn't have warm water to shower; there is no oven, no pans or pots, no plates or cutlery in the kitchen; the laundry is expensive and there isn't much wash-machines for all the rooms. All of that for 391€/month! That's why I'm looking for something else from November 1st, but the university housing department doesn't want to cancel my contract for shorter than 3 months!

About my courses, a few of them already start this week. Unfortunately, I will have to make some changes in the courses chosen in my Learning Agreement. Actually, one class has an entrance test requiring an advanced level in statistics and using SPSS, which I never studied before so I better take another class! I'll make a separate post about that when I know more about it I guess.

Otherwise, I also registered for a Dutch course every Monday evening! As exchange student at UGent, I received a voucher (value: 169€) to take this class at the University Language Center (UCT), reducing the fee to 50€: for books and administrative costs. This class is 3 hours per week and gives 4 additional ECTS credits.

With studentENmobiliteit, I should get a bike for 30€ when I rent it for 6 months, repairs and 2 locks included. I think it's necessary to go downtown or groceries without wasting too much time walking up and down the hills! I just hope it doesn't rain that much (sigh).

That's all for now. Laters!

Hallo Gent

Here I am. Backpack closed and train tickets printed. Ready to go. I'm leaving tomorrow for Ghent, Belgium. In the mean time, I checked things out on Universiteit Gent and I also received some general information about it.

Rijksuniversiteit Gent (State University of Ghent in Dutch) is one of the larger Flemish universities, with 32.000 students and 7.100 staff members. It was established in 1817 and French was the academic language until 1930 when it became the first Dutch-speaking university in Belgium. In 1991, the university was granted major autonomy and changed its name to Universiteit Gent.

Ghent University consists of 11 faculties - Arts and Philosophy; Law; Sciences; Medicine and Health Sciences; Engineering and Architecture; Economics and Business Administration; Veterinary Medicine; Psychology and Educational Sciences; Bio-science Engineering; Pharmaceutical Sciences; & Political and Social Sciences - , composed of more than 130 departments. In 2012, 143 new exchange students are going to study at my faculty, while 74 go abroad. Finally, the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), ranked Ghent University at the 1st position in Belgium only, and at the 89th spot worldwide (whereas Linköping University is 8-11th in Sweden and 301-400th worldwide!).

That's all I can say for now. But I'm really looking forward the Welcome Days (and the following week) organized by ESN (Erasmus Student Network). I hope to get a full taste of Belgian's delights: wafle, beer, chocolate and fries! Maybe there'll be another Chocolate tasting fair soon at the uni! :)

Sweet transition

Sweden

It's been two weeks since the semester started again, back in Sweden. My classmates welcomed the first year students in Linköping with a bunch of events as barbecues, sightseeing tours, get-together-parties and so on; thanks to Kristina and the rest of her team of SMIO Big Brothers and Sisters (follow their blog here). 

Unfortunately, I didn't get back to Sweden and I actually don't plan to within the next 2 months. Instead, when my friends were enjoying the student fair Kallas downtown Linköping, I was visiting friends in Berlin, Paris, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Angers. I decided to take it (really) easy for a few more weeks!

Belgium

As I didn't take part in the summer Dutch course in Ghent University, my Erasmus semester officially starts on September 21th, with two kick-off days. Moreover, I got a student room in a corridor of the university! That was good news as it seems super hard to find an accommodation there. Now that I just bought  my bus tickets, I'm all set for my stay in Belgium! 

A new experience is soon to begin: one Erasmus semester in Ghent University!

UGent, le semestre Erasmus approche...

Me voilà officiellement invité à étudier pendant un semestre à UGent, l'université de Gand, 7ème ville au monde à visiter absolument. Avec cette d'invitation, j'ai trouvé une pile de paperasse signée comprenant mon formulaire d'application et mon Learning Agreement. Avant ça, j'ai aussi reçu les documents me garantissant une bourse Erasmus de l'université de Linköping en Suède.

Niveau logement, j'ai été accepté dans une chambre de la résidence universitaire pour 3 mois à partir du 1er Septembre. Une bonne chose puisqu'il y a seulement 2.000 logements pour 65.000 étudiants ! Par contre le loyer est de 391€/ mois (caution de 160€), ce qui me semble beaucoup trop élevé. Je dois donc continuer mes recherches fastidieuses au beau milieu des fausses annonces, d'étudiants concurrents acharnés et des arnaques bidons. Dans l'idéal, j'aimerais trouver une chambre dans une coloc étudiante, avec un loyer 250-300€ et pour seulement 2 mois (déménagement sur Bruxelles début novembre)...mais on ne peut pas tout avoir !

Traduction néerlandais / français du vocabulaire de la couture (toujours utile pour débuter une conversation).

N'ayant pas encore arrêté ma décision concernant des cours intensifs de Néerlandais (enseigné par EILC), j'ai quand même déposé ma candidature et mon dossier fût accepté. Les cours commencent fin Août et durent 1 mois. J'ai pensé que c'était l'occasion de découvrir Gand, y repérer les bonnes adresses pour manger du jambon Ganda de Destelbergen, s'assurer de la qualité de la bière traditionnelle Max au Dulle Griet, rencontrer du monde et si besoin, rechercher un logement. D'un autre côté, je rentre des vacances aux États-Unis seulement 3 jours avant le début des cours; et au vu du mois de juillet pourri en Bretagne (et de mon boulot de nuit), j'aurai aimé profiter de quelques semaines de libre pour voir des amis. J'y continue d'y réfléchir...

Dans tous les cas je continue de me renseigner sur Gand, et j'ai de plus en plus hâte d'y être !! Rien que pour vous tentez, En Voyage (RTBF) en a fait l'éloge... Bref, je me prépare.

Première année à LiU terminée - 90 Crédit ECTS accumulés !

Le deuxième semestre de mon Master SMIO s'est terminé par le dernier module sur la Gestion des Resources Humaines. Ce qui signifie que nous sommes tous en vacances pour l'été. Certains sont rentrés chez eux, certains sont restés à Linköping, et certains sont partis ailleurs...ce qui fût mon cas en allant faire du Wwoofing au Portugal (expérience très réussie !). Du reste, le troisième semestre recommence fin Août, avec l'arrivée des étudiants en première année, quelques jours avant le début des cours. Mais pas pour moi ! Comme prévu : je vais faire un semestre d'échange Erasmus à Gand, en Belgique.

Un an à Linköping qui s'achève avec un bilan très positif ! J'ai rencontré des gens très ouverts et cultivés, des collègues de classe très sympas et des colocataires géniaux. J'ai visité quelques nouveaux endroits suédois et aussi fais visiter ma Suède à des amis. Pour couronner le tout, c'est aussi une réussite scolaire avec une tripotée de bonnes et très bonnes notes tout au long de l'année, tout en accumulant 90 crédits ECTS (au lieu de 60 crédits seulement)...

Msc Business Administration - SMIO :

• Introduction to Academic Studies, Advanced level (3 crédits ECTS)
• Leadership & Organisation (9 crédits ECTS) - A (90/100 points)
• Contemporary Business Processes (9 crédits ECTS) - C (74/100 points)
• Project Management in International Settings (9 crédits ECTS) - A (95/100 points)
• Advanced Consumer Marketing (10 crédits ECTS) - A (94/100 points)
• Management Control Systems (10 crédits ECTS) - B (60,1/70 points)
• Perspectives on Human Resource Management (10 crédits ECTS) - B (49/60 points)

Autres cours :

• Suédois niveau 2 (7,5 crédits ECTS) - C
• Suédois niveau 3 (7,5 crédits ECTS) - C
• Sustainable Development in the Global Context (15 crédits ECTS) - A

Après avoir pris deux semaines et demi de vacances au Portugal (WWOOF Experience...), je passe mon mois de juillet à travailler de nuit dans un camping. C'est censé me laisser le temps d'organiser les vacances du mois d'Août : direction la côte Ouest des États-Unis en famille !!!

Place aux vacances donc...! Au fait, mes prochaines expériences seront à suivre en Anglais ;)

CHEERS!

Erasmus à Gand : choix des cours

- What's up?

Depuis mon acceptation pour partir un semestre en échange Erasmus à Gand, j'ai commencé une guerre contre la paperasse. Après un mois et demi de tranchées et de lente progression, j'ai l'impression d'entrevoir la fin...ou ne serait-ce qu'une trêve ?

• Marketing Communication (6 crédits ECTS)
• Financing High Tech Entrepreneurial Companies (4 crédits ECTS)
• Analytical customer relationship management (6 crédits ECTS)
• Innovation-and-Technology management (4 crédits ECTS)
• Market Research Methods (6 crédits ECTS)
• Managing Service Organization (4 crédits ECTS)

Voilà les cours sélectionnés dans mon Learning Agreement. Ce sont les matières que je vais probablement étudier lors de mon échange universitaire à Gand. Parmi les quelques cours enseignés en anglais à UGent, ce sont ceux que j'ai choisi et qui ont ensuite été validé par mon directeur de programme de Linköping. 

Ça a été beaucoup plus facile que je ne l'avais pensé puisque ce dernier a rapidement accepté mes choix, qui ne collent pas forcément avec ce que mes collègues SMIO vont étudier pendant mon absence (rappel : Gestion des Ressources Humaines et Stratégie). Mais le principal est que je suis maintenant assuré de voir les crédits ECTS obtenu à UGent pendant mon séjour Erasmus, s'ajouter à ceux obtenu à LiU, et je pourrais ainsi obtenir mon Msc SMIO - Business Administration. Enfin à condition que je valide ma thèse pendant le quatrième et dernier semestre à LiU.

Le reste du paperwork consiste à fournir mes relevés de notes universitaires (4 dernières années), une preuve académique de mes connaissances linguistiques, le formulaire d'application signé et mes motivations par écrit concernant ma volonté d'étudier à UGent. Cet affreux amas de papier devrait partir dans les jours qui viennent...à condition que tout rentre dans une enveloppe !

Mes cours commenceront vers la mi-septembre (en comptant les quelques jours d'introduction). Entre temps, on m'a proposé de suivre des cours intensifs de Néerlandais pendant un mois, avant le début officiel des cours. Une sorte de Dutch Summer Camp. Je suis plutôt tenté par l'idée...il me reste jusqu'à la fin du mois de mai pour me décider.

Dois-je profiter d'un été qui dure 3 mois où 

dois-je commencer plus tôt à Gand pour en profiter au max ?

En fait, ça dépend aussi du logement. Vivre à Gand ou à Bruxelles ? Dans tous les cas, je suis déjà en repérages de chambres/studios/apart meublés à des prix abordables...à voir !

Ce sera Gand !

Il y a un mois et demi, je vous parlais de mes projets d'Erasmus. J'ai postulé pour un peu tout ce que je pouvais, non pas que j'en ai ma claque de Linköping, mais ayant l'opportunité de voyager et étudier en même temps, je ne vois pas pourquoi je ne devrais pas en profiter !

Mes choix d'universités par ordre de préférence :

1. Gent Universiteit (Université de Gand, Belgique)
2. Grenoble School of Business (École de Management Grenoble, France)
3. Philipps-Universität Marburg ( Université de Marburg, Allemagne)
4. Univerza v Ljubljani (Université de Ljubljana, Slovénie)
5. Handelshøjskolen i København (École de Commerce de Copenhague, Danemark)
6. Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie (École de Commerce de Varsovie, Pologne)
7. University of Surrey (Université de Surrey, Angleterre)
8. Otto-von-Guericke-Universität (Magdeburg, Allemagne)

Les résultats viennent de sortir : je suis accepté dans l'Université de Gand en Belgique ! Très bonne nouvelle puisque c'était mon premier choix et que nous sommes seulement deux étudiants à y être accepté. SUCCESS! Maintenant je suis en pleine recherche d'informations sur le pays, la région flamande, la ville de Gand, l'université, et la vie étudiante en générale...

La ville de Gand, est la plus grosse ville étudiante et fait partie de la deuxième région la plus peuplée (230 000 habitants) de Belgique. Le Traité de Gand mit formellement un terme à la guerre de 1812 entre le Royaume-Uni et les États-Unis. Pendant les 100 jours, le roi Louis XVIII de France se réfugia à Gand, ce qui le fit surnommer 'Notre Père de Gand'. Après la bataille de Waterloo, Gand fut intégrée au Royaume des Pays-Bas et c'est au cours de ces 15 années de monarchie néerlandaise que la ville ouvrit sa propre université en 1817.

L'université de Gand (UGent) accueille plus de 33 000 étudiants dont près de 3 000 étudiants internationaux. Avec plus de 130 départements réparti dans 11 facultés (philosophie et lettres, droit, sciences, et médecine et sciences de la santé depuis 1817 ; polytechnique ou des sciences de l’ingénieur depuis 1957 ; sciences économiques et de gestion, et médecine vétérinaire depuis 1968 ; sciences psychologiques et pédagogiques, et bio-ingénierie  depuis 1969 ; pharmacie ; et sciences politiques et sociales depuis 1992), UGent est une des universités les plus importantes de Flandre.

J'ai déjà hâte d'y être. C'est simple, je n'ai pu lire que des bonnes expériences ! En voiture, Gand est situé à 45mn de Bruxelles (où Caro passera 3 mois en stage au prochain semestre) et Bruges, 1h de Lille et 3h de Paris. Bref, je dois désormais me pencher sur les cours en anglais dispensés par UGent, qui est avant tout une université en néerlandais, donc le choix n'est pas très varié. En gros : Marketing, Finance et Économie. Malgré tout, je dois choisir l'équivalent de 30 crédits ECTS avec un accent sur la Gestion des Ressources Humaines et la Stratégie, puisque ce sont les cours enseignés dans mon programme  SMIO pendant mon semestre d'échange. Ensuite, le directeur du SMIO approuvera (ou non) mon choix...

En attendant je commence à rassembler la paperasse nécessaire pour mon application et je continue tranquillement les 2 derniers mois qu'il me reste à Linköping avant de rentrer en France pour l'été et de faire ma rentrée à Gand vers la fin septembre !

Erasmus ?

En tant qu'étudiant en Master dans une université suédoise, j'ai la possibilité de partir un semestre en échange dans une université partenaire de Linköping University. Une opportunité que je ne peux pas vraiment refuser ! Non pas que j'ai fait le tour de la Suède, non. Mais après plus d'un an et demi, je commence à avoir envie de voir autre chose...

Un des avantages d'avoir été en École Supérieure de Commerce (ESC) est d'avoir pu partir un an en échange universitaire à Växjö. Par contre, ça ne faisait pas parti du programme Erasmus, c'était seulement un partenariat entre l'ESC Bretagne Brest et Linnaeus Universitet. Du coup, je n'ai pas encore profité de ce merveilleux programme donc je peux maintenant postuler pour bénéficier de ses avantages et (re)partir étudier dans un pays différent.

En gros, si vous n'avez pas vu l'Auberge Espagnole de Cédric Klapisch, il s'agit de partir étudier dans une université européenne avec laquelle votre propre université a établit un programme d'échange d'étudiants. De mon point de vue, c'est une superbe opportunité pour découvrir une nouvelle culture, de faire de belles rencontres, de perfectionner ou d'apprendre une langue, d'ouvrir son esprit, etc.

Le 1er février était la date butoir de Linköping University pour déposer son dossier et ses motivations au départ. Mes choix ne reflètent pas les universités avec lesquelles LiU a déjà un partenariat (par exemple la liste des universités partenaires avec la faculté d'économie), hélas, ce n'est pas si simple ! Il me fallait trouver une université européenne proposant les cours de niveau Master similaires à ceux de mon 3ème semestre dans le programme SMIO. Tout ça doit être validé par le directeur et coordinateur du programme, qui n'est pas du tout disponible pour s'occuper de ça. Enfin, rien n'est envisageable pour les étudiants n'ayant pas acquis un minimum de 45 crédits ECTS lors de leur éducation en Suède. Pour ma part, j'ai seulement acquis 37,5 crédits ECTS au premier semestre à Linköping University, mais je dispose déjà des 67,5 crédits ECTS obtenu lors de mon année à Linnaeus University ! Le compte est bon.

Bref, je voulais aller à Berlin ou Bruxelles. Évidemment, les cours que je devais avoir (Stratégie et Gestion des Ressources Humaines) ne collaient pas avec les cours proposés par ces universités pendant le semestre d'automne 2012. Du coup je me suis rabattu sur une liste de 8 établissements avec lesquels LiU a déjà établi un partenariat et qui proposaient les cours dont j'avais besoin. Je les ai ensuite listé par ordre de préférence :

1. Gent Universiteit (Université de Gand, Belgique)
2. Grenoble School of Business (École de Management Grenoble, France)
3. Philipps-Universität Marburg ( Université de Marburg, Allemagne)
4. Univerza v Ljubljani (Université de Ljubljana, Slovénie)
5. Handelshøjskolen i København (École de Commerce de Copenhague, Danemark)
6. Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie (École de Commerce de Varsovie, Pologne)
7. University of Surrey (Université de Surrey, Angleterre)
8. Otto-von-Guericke-Universität (Magdeburg, Allemagne)

Tous les étudiants ayant postulé pour Erasmus seront classé en fonction de leur notes, motivations, et tout ce qui suit... Ensuite, l'étudiant se verra valider son premier choix tant qu'il reste des places disponibles dans l'université. Par exemple, le 15ème type obtiendra son 3ème choix parce que les 2 premières universités étaient déjà complètes. Maintenant, j'ai plus qu'à attendre jusqu'à la mi-mars pour savoir où est-ce que je peux aller et ensuite l'accepter...ou non.