Experience Report

Email: jesseyjohnson@hotmail.com
Study Program: International Business Administration
Exchange semester: Fall
Academic year: 2016-2017
Host University: Université Laval, Quebec
Coutry: Canada

I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The school and its surroundings

I lived in Quebec City, the capital of Quebec. The university campus is located approximately
15 minutes from the city centre of Quebec. The campus of Université Laval is huge. It has
over 30 different buildings and those buildings are all linked by 10 km of an underground
tunnel system (Great for the winter with temperatures up to -30 degrees, so you still can go
to lectures in your skirt instead of an Eskimo outfit) . Besides, it has a huge sport facility for
all different kind of sports. It has an indoor and outdoor football field, several soccer fields,
volleyball fields, gym areas etc. Besides all the sport facilities it has its own pub on campus.
The city centre also has enough places to just grab a drink or go to a club. Quebec is a really
pretty and jovial city which makes you sometimes feel like going back in time. Horse-drawn
carriage all over the streets, the beautiful Chateau-Frontenac castle along the river, The
Battlefields Park and small boutiques in small streets makes it a pleasant ambiance. Besides
the pretty centre, Quebec is surrounded by stunning nature. It has several national parks
where you can go hiking, canoeing etc. The difference with Tilburg is that you will have a
nice view on the mountains wherever you are. Also Tilburg is a really busy city centre with
traffic everywhere, while in Quebec city there are a lot of spots where you can hear yourself
think because of the quietness.

Current faculty divisions and special areas, Number of students: graduate and
undergraduate; number of exchange students and study structure
The university has 19 different faculties. It offers 350 programs to more than 38.000
students including 2500 exchange students.

II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
Before I left everything went smoothly and was well-arranged. I received my pre-departure
information a few days after my acceptance. The only obstacle was that a lot of emails you
receive will be written in the French language and some in English. Thankfully Google
translate exists.

Visa procedure and arrival

You don’t really need a Visa when arriving, but you need to apply for an eTA. This you can do
online and it is only a few minutes of work and only costs a few Euros. Besides, you need to
show your admission letter at the border, so make sure you printed it a few times. Everyone
in Canada is very welcoming and gentle. Transportation is well arranged in Canada. I flew
from Amsterdam to Montreal and took a comfortable 3-hours bus to Quebec. There is a bus
station near the campus, but my buddy came to pick me up. Also, Uber is an easy way to get
from Quebec airport to the university campus. I arrived 4 days in advance of the introduction
week. Before my departure I got good directions about which building to go etc. At arrival, I
went to the reception and got all the instructions and got to choose my room. I got the hint
from a previous exchange student to choose a room in the building Marie-Parent. I was
really glad this had been told, because this really is the best building regarding to facilities
and its location.

Orientation/Introduction activities
The international student association Globe FSA organized an introduction week for all the
exchange students. Because of this week I really felt at home instantly and I got to meet the
people I would hang out with the next four months. It was a great week full of information
and fun activities. I learned everything about the campus and university but also we got to
know the night life of Quebec city. We did activities as hiking in the mountains, visiting the
waterfalls and we went to a football game of the university team. During the semester Globe
FSA organises a lot of activities like this. We also went to Cuba for holidays for example. I
think it is really important to join the introduction week, because if you won’t it is harder to
find your way in both making friends and at the university itself. At Université Laval there is a
buddy system, which makes it easier for some students but does not make a different for the
others. It really depends on the buddy itself. My buddy was very helpful and also always
involved in every Globe activity. In contradiction, some students have never met their
buddy.

Housing
The advantage to have a big campus like Université Laval has is that it has a lot of residences.
It has enough rooms for exchange students. After your acceptance you need to tell the
university whether you want to live on campus or not (they will email you about this). I
strongly recommend to do this! This makes you surrounded with the other exchange
students all the time and the location of the campus is just really good. The residences has
several facilities like game rooms and big kitchens. The rooms of the residences aren’t that
big but everything you need is in it. There is a bed, table, sink and a big closet. Besides, the
only time you will spend in your room is to sleep.

Living costs
The expenses depend per person. The rooms at the campus are cheap (around 260 Euros) in
comparison with rooms in Tilburg. I did not receive a grant, but I did get a monthly
compensation (€90) for not using my student public transportation (OV chipkaart) during the
period. Everywhere in Canada, food is really expensive if you compare it with the
Netherlands. Most of the money I spent on food and travelling. Globe FSA organizes several
trips and I recommend to join them, because it is definitely worth it. Most of the time we
were cooking with more persons at a time to split the costs.
Insurance: €250 per semester
Housing: €270 per month
Food: € 400 per month
Academic Calendar
I arrived four days before the introduction week started This was the last week of August,
and the week right after the classes began. After 8 week of lectures we had a ‘reading
week’, this is a one-week break after the midterms. After the reading week we had another
5 weeks of lectures with the finals exam following. The final exams took place half
December.

International office
For all your question you can go the association Globe FSA. They will help you with anything.
There are also services at the main building where you can go.

Social activities
Globe FSA organises a lot of activities and trips for the exchange students. This makes you
having a lot of contact with the other international students. Most of the local student
barely speak English beside French, so you won’t be in contact with them that much, unless
you can speak French. There are some locals who will follow the international courses and
then you might do groupwork with them (they are able to speak English). Globe FSA
organised a trip to Toronto and Cuba which I joined. Besides, we organised our own trips
with small groups. For example, we went to Boston but also one week to the west-coast of
Canada.

Culture and language

The biggest culture shock for me was the French language. I got taught the basics of French
in secondary school, but still it was hard to understand because of the accents. The locals
barely speak any English but they try their very best to communicate. Besides that, I didn’t
really have a culture shock. Canada is a very welcoming country with a lot of hospitality.
Despite the fact that I wanted to improve my French, it was not possible for me to follow a
French language course. To gain enough credits I needed to follow five business subjects,
and at Université Laval this was the maximum amount of courses you were allowed to
follow.

Personal development
I think that the exchange experience will definitely have a positive influence on future career
possibilities. It shows that you are brave enough and that you are not afraid to get out of
your comfort zone. Also it shows that you can adjust easily to different environments.
Although you won’t always notice, you will learn a lot with studying abroad. I got in contact
with cultures from all over the world. I learned a lot about all those cultures but ofcourse
also about Canada itself.
During my exchange period I travelled a lot and I have seen the most beautiful environments
ever. In my eyes, a trip to the West of Canada is a must do. This trip has been an
unforgettable journey for me. Sometimes I regret that I did not leave to Canada earlier in
summer, before the semester started. This because I would have loved to see the West-
coast in the summer. But this makes it a reason to go back soon! My exchange period in
general has been above my expectations. I made a lot of great memories and new friends. I
am very grateful for the opportunity I got to study at Université Laval and I would love to do
everything over again.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION

Academic level at a host university

The courses I followed at Université Laval were all English courses. There was not that much choice of
English courses, but they were all quit interesting. I followed the next courses:
International marketing
Doing business in the United states
Responsible management
Small business and entrepreneurship
Human resource management
Beside International marketing, Ï think all these courses were easy in comparison with business
courses at Tilburg university. We got taught in groups of approximately 40 students and the lecturers
were all very interested in us personal. I really liked this concept instead of the big groups at Tilburg
University. We had a lot of group assignments, papers and presentations and I think this Is a really
good way to learn as much about the subject. For all the subjects, the final grade was a mixture of
group assignments, presentations and the final exam.

Course Exam ECTS Comments

80931 Written 6 Company
International report
marketing
83813 Written 6 Group
Human Resource assignments
Management
93550 Written 6 Presentations
Small business
Strategic
Management
and
Entrepreneurship
93702 Written 6 Film project
Doing Business
in the United
States
94805 Written 6 Team work in
Principles of class every
Responsible week
Management