Exchange Report

National University of Ireland,

Galway

2018 Spring

Cheung Yi Hang

1

Table of Contact

Monthly Activity Log P.2-P.4

General Exchange Information P.5-P.7

Items to Bring P.7

Useful Links and Contacts P.8

2

Monthly Activity Log January

I arrived Ireland on 5th January and met with other two students from HKUST. We

stayed in an Airbnb for a week and moved into an apartment in the student village

near NUIG. Orientation was held on 12th January which students would receive

information about course registration and visa application. We joined some societies

and clubs during the societies day. After settling down, we visited Cliff of Moher, Cork

and Cobh to explore Ireland.

February

After staying Galway for a month, I have get

used to the environment, including the rainy

and windy weather. We met other Hong Kong

people studying as full time students in NUIG

and gathered a couple of times. We travelled to

Connemara, Belfast and Prague during

weekends.

3

March

It was a busy month with midterm, assignment and essay to be done. Ireland was

affected by a cold wave in the beginning of March and the campus was close for a day

due to the heavy snow. It was fun to play the snow and make snowmen in front of our

apartment! We travelled to Dublin during the St. Patrick’s Day, which is the largest

festival in Ireland, to join the celebrations. I also travelled to Iceland, Scotland,

England and Copenhagen during the Easter holiday.

April

The semester finished one

week after the Easter

holiday. Since all my final

examinations were

scheduled at the last two

weeks of the exam period, I

got quite a lot of time to

revise. I travelled to Colmar

and Basel before preparing

the exam.

4

May

All my examinations finished in mid-May and we started our last trip right after that.

We visited Hamburg, Cologne, Brussels, Bruges and Amsterdam. I returned to Hong

Kong on 30th June.

5

General Exchange Information Visa Procedures

Visa is not required entering to Ireland, however we need to register one within 30

days of arrival if we stay longer than 90 days. NUIG will arrange a timeslot for each

exchange student to register the visa. Make sure you check the email often so you will

not miss the scheduled time. You have to bring passport, student ID, proof of address

in Galway, proof of medical insurance and letter of offer with you to the office. The visa

costs 300 euros which can be paid by credit card or debit card (no cash is accepted!).

the visa will be ready after two weeks. You will be notified by an email to pick it up at

NUIG.

Orientation Activities

Student ID and booklets about courses will be distributed during the orientation. They

will also give you information about course registration, visa application and opening a

bank account. You can enjoy some food and beverage like muffins, bread, coffee and

tea. There are also campus tours which student can sign up for.

International Services & Activities

If you want to meet other international student, you should consider joining the

International Student Society. It organizes activities for members such as parties,

movie nights and trips.

Accommodation

We could not find any accommodation before arriving Ireland. We stayed in an

Airbnb for the first week and sought help from Student Accommodation Office. They

offered us an apartment in Dunaras Village, which is an off-campus student village.

Dunaras provides free shuttle bus service for students to travel among the campus and

the village in weekdays.

Course and Registration

You can access NUIG online platform to register the courses on your assigned date. It

provides enough quotas for visiting students so you do not need to worry about the

enrollment. There are 3-4 weeks of add-drop period which students can attend

different lectures before deciding register the course or not.

6

Teaching & Assessment Methods

The lectures last for one hour and twice a week. Only one course I took have tutorial.

You can access to Blackboard, which is an online platform similar to Canvas, to

download all the learning materials and check your grade. The Assessments of the

courses are mostly essays, assignments and examinations. You can download past

exam papers from NUIG website. It is very useful for your revision.

Sports and Recreation Facilities

There is a sports center with swimming pool and gym room on the campus.

Membership fee is required if you want to use those facilities. You can also join the

sports club and use the facilities when training.

Banking and Finance

It will be more convenient if you open a bank account in Ireland. I opened an account

with Bank of Ireland which has a branch on the campus. You will need your passport,

student ID, address proof and registration letter (you can get it from the Student Info

Desk) to open one. They will send you the debit card by post after 1-2 weeks. I strongly

recommend you to activate the online banking as you can pay the ticket and hotel fees

online with your local account.

Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities

NUIG provides various choices of clubs and societies to students. You can find out all

of them during the Societies Day. The Society will organize activities and hold

meetings for the members regularly. You should check your email for the details.

Health & Safety

Galway is a safe place compared to other European countries. There are security

guards in the student village I lived in. People are nice and helpful as well. You don’t

have to worry about the safety issues.

Food

We usually cook for our dinner and prepare our own lunch boxes. It is expensive to

dine out in Europe, which costs at least 7-8 euros per meal. The canteen is affordable

with around 6-7 euros per meal. There are different restaurants in Galway including

Chinese, Japanese and Indian.

7

Transportation

There is no metro in Galway. We usually take shuttle bus or walk to the campus. But

we will take bus when going to city center since we live quite far away. The bus fare is

expensive, which costs 1.61 per journey (with student leap card). Galway is a small city

so if you live near city center you don’t have to take buses normally. It saves you quite

a lot.

Climate

It is very windy and rainy during winter in Galway. I recommend you to bring water

proof jacket as well as scarf and gloves to keep warm. The weather will become warmer

starting from March and April.

Communication

English and Irish are common languages in Ireland so there is no problem

communicating with the locals.

Items to Bring Passport

Offer letter

Insurance Proof

Financial Proof

Water proof jacket

Boots

Winter and summer clothes

Scarf

Gloves

Laptop

Credit cards

Cash

Medicines

Converter

8

Useful Links Official Site of NUIG

https://www.nuigalway.ie

NUIG Past Exam Papers

https://www.mis.nuigalway.ie/regexam/paper_index_search_main_menu.asp

Blackboard

https://nuigalway.blackboard.com/

TripAdvisor

https://www.tripadvisor.com/

Skyscanner

https://www.skyscanner.com/