So Wai Lam

BBA (Accounting & Operations Management)

Year 3, Spring 2020

,

,

Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo,

Ontario, Canada Lazaridis School of Business and Economics

1

January 2020

I arrived Toronto Pearson International Airport in 1st January,it was still the Christmas

holidays in Canada and the campus did not open on that day. I stayed in the airport until next

day, then I took Airway Transit to campus and picked up my residence key. Before the

orientation day, I spent time to tidy up my personal stuffs and got to know my three

roommates, they are from U.K and France. The first challenge was to overcome jet lag, I spent

near two weeks to recover from it. For the orientation activities, it was a good chance to

know other exchange and international students. More than 50% exchange students are

from France, they described themselves as “France Army”. The orientation activities included

ice-breaking games, sharing sessions and campus tour. The staff from Laurier also gave me

some instructions on add/drop for courses. Following the orientation day, I went snow-

tubing which was sponsored by Laurier. It was funny, and I could interact with other exchange

students. I joined the badminton club and I had to practice with my badminton partner every

Wednesday, it was another channel to make new friends. There was an ice-hockey battle for

Wilfrid Laurier University and University of Waterloo in the late of January, the ticket fee was

$2CAD which included transportation. It impressed me a lot, I have never seen ice-hockey

competition before, it was really worth-watching. I wondered whether I was watching a

combating fight, I could feel how strong and muscular the athletes were. Laurier won the

battle, and the score was like 5:1.

Part I – Monthly Activity Log

2

February 2020

I went Toronto in the first weekend in February, it was different from what I thought.

Transportation was not convenient at all. I did not have Prestro card (like Octopus card in

Hong Kong) and I had to book e-ticket for the TTC bus from WLU to Toronto. I bought one

Prestro card in subway station and it is high suggested to get one. Toronto was a good place

for shopping and food was nice. There were different kinds of foods I could find in Downtown

and St. Lawrence Market. There were more Chinese in Toronto than Waterloo, I could hear

mandarin very often in the surrounding. Mid-term period was from the late of February to

early of March, there was a reading week in between, I travelled to Vancouver and

Yellowknife. Vancouver was quite different from Toronto; it was warmer and even more

Chinese. I went to Stanley Park, Granville Island, Chinese Town and so on. The next

destination was Yellowknife, the aurora tour was booked for 3 days- 2 nights. Yellowknife

was relatively warm upon my arrival; the temperature was -12 °C to -22 °C (Yellowknife could

reach -40 °C in winter). I was lucky that I could see a clear aurora in both nights, I tried to use

my smartphone to take photos, but it was blurred. I could only rely on the professional

camera from my friends to capture the fascinating view. The workload of the courses in WLU

was harder than HKUST, I had an Excel assignment to be submitted during the reading week

and I had to take my laptop for my trip. I got three midterms which were after the reading

week so that I still got time to catch up and review for the materials. The professors gave us

some tips before the mid-terms, it would be fine to follow the tips given by the instructors.

3

March 2020

The first week in March was busy because of the mid-terms. I went ice-skating, skiing, and

singing Karaoke, all the facilities were nearby, and the activities did not cost much. In mid-

March, I went to Niagara Fall, I booked Airbnb and stayed one night there. The transportation

was not convenient, and the location is quite far from WLU. It is suggested that to take shuttle

bus or Uber if one-day tour is preferred. St. Patrick Day was in 17th March. Normally, St.

Patrick Day is the most hilarious day in Waterloo, people celebrate the festival, wear green

and drink in the street. It was unfortune that the celebration of the festival was cancelled

due to the spread of COVID-19. As WLU announced the face-to-face lectures were changed

to online class, I booked the air ticket for returning Hong Kong and started my online learning

in Hong Kong.

April 2020

Not much information can be provided due to COVID-19

4

Visa Procedures

Hong Kong students need an ETA to enter Canada, it is applied online and costs CAD$7. US

Visa is needed if you plan to travel US, it is around HK$1,000 for whole application process

and Visa lasts for 10 years. First, you have to finish the online application (it takes time) and

make an appointment for the interview in The Consulate General of the United States.

Orientation Activities

The orientation activities were separated in two days. The first orientation day consisted

some group games, sharing sessions and campus tour, which you can gain some basic

information for campus and academy. The second orientation day was a half-day outdoor

activity, snow-tubing.

International Services & Activities

The most common place for exchange and international students is Laurier International

Centre, it is specialised for exchange and international students. They organize several

activities, like Lunar New Year lunch, coffee club (hold every week) which you can get to know

other students. If you have any questions, you can walk-in and find the staff for help, they

are helpful and nice.

Accommodations

If you want to live in residence offered by WLU, there are two options: on-campus and off-

campus. On-campus residence is more expensive than off-campus one, and it is compulsory

to buy CAD$1,100 meal plan if you opt for on-campus residence. I lived in 260 Regina St.

Apartment (on-campus residence), the dorm was much better than my expectation, I had my

own room with private toilet, shared kitchen and living room with my roommates. All

exchanges students who lived in 260 Regina St. Apartment, were all arranged in 14/F, it was

easier for me to connect with other exchange students. For off-campus residence, the

residence fee is cheaper, and location is close to the campus. The roommates would probably

be local Canadians as heard from my friends.

Part II – General Exchange Information

5

Course Registration

For winter semester, online course registration usually starts in October, WLU will send

email to you for further instructions. It is reminded once you can get access to Laurier

email, you should check it regularly because some announcements would only send to you

through Laurier email instead of HKUST email. The course registration result will be

released in late of November. You are not able to add or drop any courses online, you have

to go Laurier International Centre to get add/drop form. To add a course, you need to get

the signature and approval of the related departments, but you can directly drop a course

by your own signature. You must enrol in at least 4 courses; maximum 5 courses are

allowed for exchange students.

Teaching & Assessment Methods

The teachers in WLU like interacting with students, they like raising questions and having in-

class discussion which students are responsive to the questions too. Absolute grading is used

in WLU.

BU-397 Intermediate Accounting II (equivalent to ACCT 3020)

• Grade:

➢ In – class Quizzes (5%)

➢ Participation/ Professional Decorum (4%)

➢ Individual assignments (6%)

➢ Group Cases @ 2 cases, 10% each (20%)

➢ Mid-term Examination (30%)

➢ Final Examination (35%)

The course content was more difficult than HKUST accounting courses, but the marking of

examinations and group projects were loose. You can handle the things if you follow the

instructions of the professor.

6

BU435 Supply Chain Management (equivalent to ISOM-3000 level)

• Grade:

➢ 5 Assignments @ 10 marks each (50%)

➢ Mid-term Examination (20%)

➢ Final Examination (20%)

➢ Class Participation (10%)

Mid-term and final examinations were all MC questions and one-page cheat sheet was

allowed. The assignments could be done by 1-3 people (you can finish the assignment by

yourself or with groupmates). Before the submission of every assignment, a meeting had to

be arranged with the professor to ensure the things were in the right track. The course

materials were not hard to follow, but the workload was quite heavy.

BU481 Business Policy 1: Strategic Management (equivalent to MGMT 4210)

• Grade: ➢ Class Contribution (20%)

➢ In-class Quizzes @ 2 quizzes, 10% each (20%)

➢ Case Analysis Group Project (20%)

➢ Final Examination (40%)

Class contribution mainly counted for class attendance and responsiveness in the class.

Quizzes and examinations were straight-forward questions. Bullet-points were allowed for

the quizzes and examinations and spelling mistakes won’t have mark deduction.

ST359 Probability II (equivalent to ISOM 3540)

• Grade:

➢ Tutorial (10%)

➢ Test I (20%)

➢ Test II (25%)

➢ Final Examination (45%)

It is not recommended if you do not have calculus or probability knowledge, it took me lots of

time to catch up with the courses. Remember, do not miss any tutorial or lecture classes

because some test questions were from tutorial worksheets and lectures content.

7

Sports & Recreation Facilities

Most of the sports facilities are in Athletic Complex, like gym room, swimming pool,

basketball, and badminton court. If you join the sports club, most of the events are held in

Athletic Complex. All the exercising time for sports club were held at night, one exercising

session lasted for 45 minutes.

Health & Safety

There is a Health and Wellness Centre located on campus, it is suggested you should make

appointment in prior if you want to see the doctors. I tried to walk-in, but the staff said the

doctors were fully booked and I had to go to nearby pharmacy. The doctors in wellness centre

would only give you the prescription and you have to go the pharmacy to buy the medicines.

I think Waterloo is a safe region, just try to avoid walking on the street alone at night,

especially weekend. People enjoy having party and you will see many alcoholics in the street

at weekend.

Food

As I had meal plan of CAD$1,100, I usually went dining hall (kind of buffet) and food court

which served different kind of dishes, like burger, sushi, etc. There are many restaurants near

the campus, Chinese noodle, Korea fried chicken, Thai food. There is a restaurant which

serves Hong Kong food, called “China Garden Restaurant”. The boss was migrated from Hong

Kong and you can speak Cantonese with him. If you want to cook, there is Walmart and

Sobeys nearby. It takes around 25 minutes to walk from the campus to there. There is also

T&T supermarket, it mainly sells Asian food, but the price is relatively expensive than Hong

Kong.

8

Climate

It was relatively a warm winter comparing with last few years. The temperature from January

to February was around -5°C to -10°C, the coolest day was like -14°C. In March, it was warmer,

somehow reached 7°C to 8°C but there were still snow and ice. Water-proof jacket and boot

is high recommended. Remember to take gloves for hanging out, the wind was super strong

and sometimes I had to use mask to cover my face. Do not overlook the power of wind in

Waterloo.

Communication

Free wifi were provided on-campus and residence. The wifi-connection in my residence and

business school was not that good, I usually connect to upper floor wifi (they have the same

wifi password). For mobile date, I bought 4 data cards in Sham Shui Po, each card could

provide one-month mobile data, it was around HK$100 each and the quality is quite good.

Checklist:

• Wind-water proof jacket

• Humidifier (indoor residence was dry because of the heating machine)

• Body lotion

• Snow boot, slipper, sports shoes

• Scarf

• Gloves

• Mobile phone, Laptop

• Electronic devices adaptors

• Personal Medicines

• HKID, passport, acceptance letter, ETA (hardcopy)

• Thermo bottles

• Credit card

Part III – Items to Bring

9

Useful links for academics:

❖ Loris (Student Centre)

https://idp.wlu.ca/idp/profile/SAML2/Redirect/SSO?execution=e1s1

❖ Campus map

https://wlu.ca/about/campuses-and-locations/index.html?ref=about%2Flocations-

maps-and-parking%2Findex.html

❖ Registration of courses / course information

https://loris.wlu.ca/register/ssb/registration

❖ My Learning Space (Canvas)

https://idp.wlu.ca/idp/profile/SAML2/Redirect/SSO?execution=e2s1

❖ ETA Application

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-

canada/eta.html

Part IV – Useful Links and Contacts