Massey University University of New Zealand - 2018 SPRING EXCHANGE - Tsoi Ka Man, Edward Bsc ECOF

Massey University
University of New Zealand

2018 SPRING EXCHANGE

Tsoi Ka Man, Edward
Bsc ECOF

Part I. Monthly Activity Log
2017 December
I bought my flight ticket in December. There is discounted ticket for HKUST
exchange students offered by Cathay Pacific. Detailed guidelines and
procedures are available in the SBM exchange portal. Personally, I bought my
flight ticket from Virgin Australia at around $8500, which was cheaper than the
discounted ticket.

February
I arrived in Auckland on February 18th and was busy settling down. The
compulsory orientation started on February 19th and lasted for about two weeks.
Semester one commenced in early March. Before that, there will be a series of
accommodation orientation and school orientation for newcomers to get to meet
new friends and hall mates.

March
School days began in March. Similar to UST, the first week was all about course
introductions and some administration stuff. I was still exploring the campus in
March. I joined different activities and programs to discover more about New
Zealand. I was also planning a trip to South Island with friends I met from
orientation activities.

April
Easter break starts from mid-March to early April, I traveled to South Island with
a batch of friends from different countries. We met each other in some orientation
activities and planned a half month driving tour to South Island, starting from
Christchurch to Queenstown and back. It wasn’t a smooth trip as planned, but it
was definitely an unforgettable trip for me and my friends. We took hundreds of
thousands of photos of the magnificent landscapes of New Zealand. Followed by
the break was a stream of midterms and assignments.

May
May was the toughest month when I had different midterms, together with
assignments due and a group project that I had to read lots of research papers
and bank annual reports. With everything piled up in 2 weeks’ time. I only went
out to visit some places nearby with friends and classmates.

June
The exam period was from June 5th to June 24th. Most students will take 4
papers, a total of 60 credits each semester. I had a plenty of time to do revision
for the final exams given the 2 weeks’ study break. But I went out quite a lot

during the study break, leaving a few days for revision. Approaching the end of
June, I was busy getting all the things done before leaving New Zealand, writing
postcards, buying souvenirs etc. On the last day, my friends I met at church
organized a farewell dinner for me and the next day I went back to Hong Kong.

Part II. General Exchange Information
Visa
Duration: Roughly 2 weeks (if no return due to missing information or mistakes)
Cost: NZD 270
It is quite troublesome applying for an exchange student visa to New Zealand as
you need to fill in quite a lot of information and there is a minimum amount of
fund with proof required to show that you have sufficient amount of money to
fund your stay during the study.
The process will not take long. Mine took about two weeks to get approval from
the NZ immigration office. If you are holding Hong Kong passport.

Orientation Activities
There are several rounds of orientation activities for newcomers. The first round
of orientation was held by the accommodation unit. It began in late February and
basically involved all international students living on campus. Residential
assistants from each hall would jointly hold some funny activities worth going, for
instances, hot pools, horse riding, city tour and party night to name but a few. It
was a chance to get to meet new friends whom you would be seeing them often
in the residential areas.
I met some friends during the orientation week and we later traveled to South
Island together. Massey University and the business school also had their own
orientation as well, even though they were similar in terms of helping newcomers
to integrate into a new environment. It is highly recommended to attend the
school orientation as some important information such as international student
services, student insurance, and course enrollment talks will be introduced.

Food and Meal Plan
If you choose to live on campus you will have to pay a meal plan either upfront or
on per week basis, each gives you a daily credit of NZD 15, 26 and 35
respectively. The remaining balance will be cleared by day end and will not be
carried to the next day, so try to come up with different combinations of food to
utilize every credit.

For me myself, I bought the bronze plan which provides me with NZD 15 credits
per day to spend on my meals. I can get a decent hot meal either for lunch or for
dinner, a bottle of drink and a piece of fruit. Eating out is quite expensive so I
brought a mini rice cooker and sometimes cook my own lunch.
You may also want to try out other restaurants like Kebab, sushi shops in the
campus. There are also a huge number and variety of restaurants within walking
distance.

For breakfast and snacks or if you just want something fresh, you can go to
ParknSave, a huge supermarket which takes about 15 mins' walk from the hall
area. I went there to get some daily necessities and breakfast once a week and
every time was pretty tiring as I have to carry quite a lot of stuff and went a long
way back to my hall.

International Services and Activities
To help international students in general, Massey has established a help desk
located on the ground floor of QA building. International and migrant student
office will be assisting you throughout the whole semester with all kinds of affairs
about admission, insurance or visa.

Accommodation
If you would like to save on budget, I would suggest not to live on campus but to
rent a unit in the nearby village. There are two types of on-campus
accommodation, Hall, and apartment. The only difference is that, in apartment,
you and your floormates will have to clean the kitchen and toilet by yourselves.
Purchase of meal plan is not necessarily for apartment occupants, but it also
means that you have to cook your own food. Basically, apartment costs NZD 240
per week and If you want access to Wifi, you need to pay additional NZD 40 per
month. I lived in the hall of accommodation which cost me NZD 319 per week
with 15 credits for my meal plan. It was rather expensive given a unit is renting
out at an average of NZD 170 per week. One good thing about living in hall is
that it is so convenient and quite comfortable, in winter. One drawback of living in
hall despite expensiveness is that there is no kitchen, if you want to cook by
yourself, either apply for an apartment or bring a rice cooker for yourself. For
more details, refer http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/student-
life/accommodation/accommodation_home.cfm

Course enrollment

Information of courses available in each campus can be found at
http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/learning/programme-
course/course.cfm?course_code=125320
You can choose which campus to study according to your own preference. I went
to the Auckland campus which is rather convenient and better transportation.

There are 3 types of courses namely, internal, block and distance courses. As an
exchange student, you only have to take internal courses, some courses may be
available in the form of block. Try to enroll only internal courses as they provide
you with more academic supports.

Before going on exchange to Massey, you need to fill out a form indicating the
courses you would like to take. Staff would then help you to register. In a bid to
enroll successfully you will have to submit separately your course enrollment
requests directly to professors through Massy student portal to exempt from
enrollment prerequisites. This process can take a long time depending on the
class size and how responsive are the professors.

Normally, students at Massey will take a maximum of 4 papers, 60 credits in
total. 13 HKUST credit approximately can be transferred to fulfill your graduation
requirement. If you find a course that you are interested in but is not yet mapped
on course equivalent database, you can submit a G22 assess form to request for
a new mapping. For more details, go to https://crtran.ust.hk.

Teaching & Assessment Methods
As previously mentioned, lectures at HKUST and MU are quite similar in terms of
teaching format, but lectures at MU are usually 2 to 3 hours with 5 mins breaks
per an hour. For most of the courses there will be midterms and essay type
assignments, some will have additional projects, be it group projects or individual
work. Some may have regular online quizzes that you have to pay attention to as
the scores will be directly counted toward your final grade. Before the midterm
and final exam period, there will be 2 weeks’ break and you will have plenty of
time to do revision.

Sports & Recreation Facilities
There is a huge recreation center at MU. It has all the necessary equipment and
facilities. There will also be some fitness advisors and coaches for your help and
sports classes available, such as yoga, boxing, jump dance. The cost is NZD 120
for one semester and NZD12 per visit and you don’t have to pay extra fees for
any services including sports classes.

Other than paying for the recreation center, you can also join student clubs to try
out different sports at a much lower cost. I personally joined the Frisbee and
table tennis club, it was quite fun.If you are a beer lover, you can also go to the
Ferg Bar near to the gym room. Drinking night is on Thursday, days other than
that, drinking is forbidden everywhere in the campus.

Finance & Banking (including currency / expenses)
There is only one ATM in the campus and it accepts cards of all the major banks
including BNZ, ANZ, Westpac and ASB etc. I would recommend to open a bank
account at ANZ, which is nearer and provide all the fancy services like you can
customize the outlook of your card.
Before heading to MU, you will have to settle all the payments including hall fee,
admission, and insurance fee. As there will be several payments, I suggest
paying by transmitting fund via bank service counter instead of credit card so that
you can save on the expensive charge.

 Items                                  Cost
 Air ticket                             HKD 8500
 Accommodation                          NZD 6400
 Airport Pickup                         NZD 75
 VISA                                   NZD 270
 Hall Wifi                              NZD 40 per month
 Laundry (each)                         NZD 3 (washing) +3 (drying)
 Print Budget                           NZD 20
 Travel                                 HKD 8000
 Transportation                         NZD 80
 Food (weekly)                          NZD 40
 Gym membership                         NZD 120

Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities
There are various student clubs which are very active and well managed. They
have extensive support from the school and hold different activities regularly. I
adhered to the investment club and Massey University Chinese Christian
Fellowship throughout the semester. MUIC organizes regular talks on Monday,
training on Bloomberg on Thursday and sometimes internal trading competitions.
Professors are also regular visitors who often come to share some financial and
economic reviews. It was a great place to meet people who also share an
interest in trading. I also joined MUCCF gatherings. There were lots of great
people with great passions. Committees will prepare dinner for you every Friday
night. They will have different topics every time, such as time management

workshop and personality test. Besides, I joined several of their outings such as
sand skiing and hiking.

Health & Safety
International students will automatically be enrolled in Studentsafe University
Insurance plan at NZD 310 per semester. There is a clinic inside the campus, it
also provides wellbeing consulting services. All the associated costs are covered
by insurance. Be noted that you need to make an appointment to see the doctors
at least 1 day in advance. Failure to attend without at least 2 hours’ notice will
incur a penalty charge. If you plan to travel, it is necessary to buy additional
insurances for your own safety.

Transportation
In New Zealand, it will be a great idea to rent a car. If you are holding an
international license, you can rent a decent car at an affordable price. This can
save lots of your time waiting for the bus and allow you to go to some places that
are barely covered by the bus service. There is free shuttle bus service
circulating between the two adjacent campuses in Auckland. It will pass Albany
bus station where you transfer for another bus to go to your destination.
To save on bus fare, it is recommended to buy an AT Hop card, which is
basically Octopus card in New Zealand. You need to go to the admission office to
apply for student discounts on public transportation. You will be given a yellow
sticker as a proof of student identity and you have to go to the nearest bus
station to load the discount to your card.

Climate
It was summer when I first arrived in Auckland and started getting cooler in late
March. The lowest temperature in Northshore is about 8-10 degree Celsius.
Because of the geographic nature of New Zealand, it is pretty windy so you won’t
feel so hot and sweaty walking under sunlight.
Be attentive to the strong UV in NZ. Both Australia and New Zealand are just
right under the ozone layer, UV level is way higher than places in the northern
hemisphere. Sunscreen is definitely a must for everyone.
Starting from autumn, raindrops become very common but it would not last long.
The temperature in South Island is way lower than in North Island. Our trip to
South Island was in mid-April, as we went south, the temperature kept dropping.
The day we arrived in Slope Point, the temperature was freezing cold, I just
couldn’t feel the blood flowing through my ears.

Communication
All lectures are conducted in English with all teaching material written in English
as well. All the staff there speak perfect English. There are also some staff and
teaching faculty members from Australia whose accent will be a bit hard for us to
understand. Yet, they are just so nice that you can stop and ask for clarification
at any time even during lectures.
A majority of finance and economics courses, as well as tutorials, are taught by
Chinese professors and TA, they will be willing to offer you help and support.
There are also doctors who can speak Chinese as well, but you need to specify
your preference before confirming the booking.

Cautionary measures
Try not to go out at night and avoid some places like bars and quiet walkways.
You don’t need to worry too much, after all, New Zealand is safer than Hong
Kong.
If you would like to rent a car during your exchange, be sure that you strictly
follow the traffic rules such as T2 lane rules, otherwise, you will be charged a
heavy penalty.

Part III. Items to bring
1.    Laptop
2.    Adaptors
3.    Camera
4.    Sunglasses and sunscreen
5.    Mosquito repellent
6.    Hat
7.    Personal medicine
8.    Powerbanks
9.    Umbrella and raincoat
10.    Padlocks
11.    Several Reusable bags
12.    Hairdryer
13.    Scarf

Part IV. Useful links and contacts
1.    Visa: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa.
2.    AT HOP card: https://at.govt.nz/bus-train-ferry/at-hop-card/

3. Stream ( Similar to Canvas) https://stream.massey.ac.nz/login/index.php
4. ASA clubs: https://www.asa.ac.nz/clubs/?cat=clubs
5. Course search engine:
https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/learning/programme-course/course.cfm

Part V. Best Practices of Host
University
Be open-minded to different cultures. Join more clubs and get to make more new
friends regardless of their nationalities. There are a lot of Christian groups in
Massey University. They are all good, whether you are a Christian or not, you are
still welcome to join such MUCCF or Student Life. The former one is a Chinese
Christian fellowship. They will provide you free dinner every Friday night and will
always be there for your help.