TAIWAN
SINGAPORE
SOUTH KOREA
CHINA
From Exchange to Internship
The Haze is Back
Finding friends in one of the world's largets cities
Shanghai - The city of Brave Visions
BY CHALMERS STUDENTS IN ASIA
ISSUE 28  FALL 2016
WELCOME! In your hand you are holding the latest issue of Asia Magazine, a joint effort carried out by Chalmers students in Asia. The magazine is meant to be informative and entertaining regarding current topics of Asia as well as a source of inspiration for students curious about exchange studies. With this dynamic region in focus, it features articles on cultural, political, economical and social subjects. The magazine is coordinated and compiled by students at the Chalmers International Taiwan Office.
CITO WHO?
CITO WHAT? Chalmers International Taiwan
Office, CITO, was opened in March 2003 and is the result of a bilateral Tom Diedrichs
Josephine Risberg
HEAD OF OFFICE
DEPUTY HEAD OF OFFICE
Management and Economics of Innovation tom.diedrichs@chalmers.se
Supply Chain Management josephine.risberg@chalmers.se
exchange agreement between
National Chiao Tung University,
NCTU, and Chalmers University of Technology. CITO is strategically located at NCTU, near the Hsinchu Science Park.
Isabella Bondesson
Fanny Wikman
EDITOR IN CHIEF
ART DIRECTOR
Biotechnology isabella.bondesson@chalmers.se
Industrial Design Engineering fanny.wikman@chalmers.se
CITO WHY? The main purposes of CITO are: • To increase awareness about the development of East Asia, with focus on Taiwan, at Chalmers
Ida Björhagen
ACADEMIC EXCHANGE
Design and Construction Project Management ida.bjorhagen@chalmers.se
Olof Wireklint
ACADEMIC EXCHANGE
Supply Chain Management olof.wireklint@chalmers.se
• To support mobility of students and staff between NCTU and Chalmers • To enhance the visibility of Chalmers in Taiwan and in the neighbouring region • To act as a hub at NCTU for Chalmers students in East Asia
Anton Ottosson IT RESPONSIBLE
Supply Chain Management anton.ottosson@chalmers.se
Anders Johansson
CORPORATE RELATIONS AND ALUMNI CONTACTS
Management and Economics of Innovation anders.s.johansson@chalmers.se
• To further develop Chalmers’ cooperation with Swedish companies in Taiwan and Asia
CITO CONTACT! Linnéa Johansson CORPORATE RELATIONS AND ALUMNI CONTACTS
Quality and Operations Management linnea.johansson@chalmers.se
Linus Schönbeck
CORPORATE RELATIONS AND ALUMNI CONTACTS
Management and Economics of Innovation linus.schonbeck@chalmers.se
Looking for internship, master's thesis or other co-operations in Asia? Or
do you just want to say hello? Don't hesitate to contact us!
www.asia.chalmers.se National Chiao Tung University Cover photo by Fanny Wikman
1001 Daxue Road, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan R.O.C
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CHALMERS IN ASIA Studying at Chalmers does not limit you to Gothenburg, Sweden. Through many exchange programmes Chalmers students are given the opportunity to study at a range of Asian universities. Likewise, students from many different countries are invited to study at Chalmers in Sweden.
Delhi, India
Indian Institute of Technology
Singapore
Nanyang Technological University
National University of Singapore
Beijing, China
Tsinghua University
Shanghai, China Tongji University
Seoul, South Korea
Seoul National University
Konkuk University
Chung-Ang University
Sendai, Japan Tohoku University
Tokyo, Japan
The University of Tokyo
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Hsinchu, Taiwan
National Chiao Tung University
Hong Kong, China
City University of Hong Kong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
CONTENTS 5 6 8 10 13 16 18 21 24 26 28
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Editor’s Letter
Isabella Bondesson
Dehli
India - a country under constant development Anna Werner
Hong Kong
Contactless Payment in Hong Kong Gabriel Alpsten
Tokyo
The worlds most expencive fruit parlour Jacob Söderström
Sendai
Life for a swede in Beijing and Sendai
Johan Moisander
Singapore
From average to star Anton Gustafsson
Taiwan
An eventful time in Taiwan
Ida Björhagen, Anton Ottosson
Shanghai
The city of brave visions Henrik Forsting
Taiwan
From exchange to internship Josephine Risberg
Singapore
The Haze is back Fredrik Schyum
Taiwan
The Student’s year of luxury Anders Johansson
32 34 37 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54
Hong Kong
Sports in my new country? Sebastian Valenzuela
Seoul
Finding friends in one of the world’s largest cities David Reckermann
Shanghai
A deep dive in Shanghai’s start up scene Helena Stening
Taiwan
CITO moving forward
Seoul
Training in Korea Tobias Laving
Hong Kong
Doing good by gambling in Happy Valley Emil Ejbyfeldt
Singapore
Singapore’s approach to renewable energy and the campus EcoInitiative Lucas Thomée
Taiwan
As an exchange student, what do you... Linnéa Johansson
Seoul
Hiking in Korea Nikolai Dahlberg
Tokyo
What happend to my favourite italian? Carl Johan Ekströmer
Singapore
Buy a ticket to Singpore and you’ll get at ticket to Asia Sebastian Persson
S
Editor’s Letter
2016/10/26
What do you think of when someone mention Asia? One year ago, I could not really think of anything. So when I sat with my application to World Wide, thinking of whether to turn it in or not, the choice of Southeast Asia and Taiwan was far from obvious. Chalmers has a great number of partner universities around the world, of which many, but far from all, are located in East Asia. After countless hours of Googleing, self deliberation and out canceling of places, I decided that if I went for an exchange year - it would be to Asia. Why? Mainly because I realised that still, even after all the research, I hardly knew anything about Asia and I saw an excellent opportunity to get in contact with this, for me, big blind spot of the world. Although, I were not sure if I were to apply at all. The question running back and forth in my head was; why should I go for exchange studies? Especially when staying in Sweden would mean that I got my education, surrounded by amazing friends, without any extra effort to find suitable master courses, understand my email inbox or generally survive at all since I did not know any chinese. The obvious answers are the usual ones - to get out of comfort zone, get experience, explore, make new friends etc. But, is this reason enough? I bet I am not the first one to consider that. This year almost 50 Chalmers students will go abroad to Asia, and I am more than certain that they as well thought at least twice, before they decided to apply , if they should take the opportunity or not. The deadline for those of you thinking of applying to World Wide or Terzio is soon due to date, and I guess some of you are thinking as the most of us did; why should I go for exchange studies? I am not entirely sure why I finally decided, the very last day, to turn in my application, but so far I am more than happy that I did. During these two months since I arrived I have made more new friends than in years, overcome obstacles I never imagined existed and learnt more about myself than I thought was possible. As students we get the opportunity to emerge into the society, experience the exciting development of Asia and learn the everyday life of various cultures in a way I doubt you ever will get in contact with as a tourist. This magazine is a work of all exchange students in Asia. It is a reflection of our thoughts as newcomers in a part of the world that, in many ways, differ from what we are used to. With articles, interviews and pictures we will try to share our experiences and everyday life with you. If you are in your bachelor studies and thinking of applying to World Wide or Terzio, I hope, as editor, that this magazine will be a source of inspiration and a help in deciding if, and where, to go for your exchange studies. If you’re not; take it, read it and let the eyes, ears and minds of the Chalmers students abroad guide you through Asia. Isabella Bondesson Editor in Chief
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India – A Developing Country under Constant Development Incredible India! Everywhere you look in this remarkable country there are colours, wildlife and smiles on people’s faces. There are so many things going on around you that you almost forget that you actually are in a developing country, and things do not necessarily work the way you are used to. The living conditions of the billions of people living in India are, for example, far from good all the time. Nor is the construction of new buildings always top-notch and functioning as well as intended. At the campus of Indian Institute of 6
Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) there actually is such an inadequate building. The construction of this lecture hall complex was finished a little over a year ago, but unfortunately you can already see cracks in both the ceilings and the walls. This makes you wonder about what happened between the creation of the beautiful heritage buildings that every Indian seems so proud of, and the construction of the necessary buildings in today’s society. Of course there are cracks and rifts in the heritage buildings as well, but since they often are many centuries old that is un-
derstandable. What is incomprehensible though is that with some restorations of these heritage buildings they probably would be functioning better than the newer constructions. However, the need for adequate buildings in the society can probably only be satisfied if the problems with creating sustainable constructions are solved. According to India’s Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC) there are approximately 41 million people employed in the construction sector in the country, but it is merely six percent of these that have had the benefit of structured training and have gained the necessary skills for construction. Furthermore, it seems like the technologies used during the construction, as well as the ones for the manufacturing of the construction materials, are far from the most efficient technologies in the field. Especially since the report made by the CIDC concludes that most of the construction materials are manufactured in the informal sector, which makes it difficult to implement modern technology. On the campus of IIT Delhi there can be seen an example of this regarding another area than construction, when the installation of necessary lamps on a new street commenced. Lamps were set up directly in trees with free-hanging wires connecting them, instead of installing ordinary lampposts that are protected from the weather. This is possibly a short-term solution that arose from the urgent need for light during evenings, or perhaps this is the most efficient solution that is possible at the moment. Either way, this kind of installation is not what you would expect to find in a sustainable society. With these factors in mind there is no wonder that reparations have to be made on new buildings after just a couple of years. The odds of having skilled workers in combination with good quality construction materials are not particularly high. So it seems like the worst problem in construction for a developing country such as India, is that the need for development is higher than what the country is currently capable of. Hopefully though, the process of becoming a sustain-
able, industrialized society is not that far into the future for India. Perhaps it does not have to be more than a couple of years until more efficient buildings are being constructed and the problems with good living conditions are resolved. Then, hopefully, India can truly get the admiration it deserves for all the vibrant colours, exotic wildlife, fascinating people and beautiful buildings, both old and new.
WORDS AND PHOTO Anna Werner
Indian Institute of Technology, Dehli Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Infrastructure and Environmental Engineering. weranna@student.chalmers.se
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Contactless Payment in Hong Kong The Octopus card is a contactless payment card that mainly exist in Hong Kong. The card is used to pay for public transportation, fast food restaurants, grocery stores, vending machines, etc. In order to pay with the card, the holder put it close to the reader and the money is deducted instantaneously. During my stay so far I have found the Octopus card very convenient. It appears almost everywhere and unfortunately for services that often are free in Sweden. For example, it is used in campus dormitories in order to pay for laundry service and AC-machine active time. But, altogether I appreciate that it is a single card system for all of these uses. On the other hand, cash is needed more often than in Sweden. For example, cash is the only alternative on street markets and in some stores. The Octopus card was launched as early as 1997. It was the second contactless smart card payment system in the world, after Korean Upass that launched in 1996. The operating company was initially formed as a joint venture by the public transportation companies and the card was initially used to pay for transportation. The city is incredibly populated, around seven million, and it is desirable to have an efficient payment system. The subway system alone takes on average five million passengers a day. Initially, it was only possible to pay with the Octopus card at some fast food restaurants and vending machines. As the years went by, the number of vendors increased a lot. Regulatory limitations that limited the area of usage eased up and the operating company transformed to be profit-driven. Since then it has expanded and
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it manages roughly 12 million transactions a day worth of 15 million USD. As convenient as contactless cards are to use, one might ask why not a similar system has made the same success in Sweden? Contactless cards have been adopted for transportation systems, but some years later still not as a general payment platform. As a recent resident of Hong Kong I can think of a couple of reasons that likely play a part. First of all, Hong Kong and Sweden have roughly the same population but in Hong Kong it is concentrated to a single city. The transporta-
As convenient as contactless cards are to use, one might ask why not a similar system has made the same success in Sweden?
tion companies in Hong Kong had maybe more to gain from cooperating, whereas the transportation companies in Sweden are spread out over several regions. The development costs of a new
system might therefore be more manageable in a place like Hong Kong. Secondary, Sweden has for a long time been relatively far progressed in using debit cards. A strong electronic payment system was already in place, possibly making the market more saturated. Countries do not develop the same way at the same time which makes the starting point for further development vary. The culture and business opportunities are different and that may allow for variations in how technology is adopted. I doubt that a similar card will be introduced today in Sweden as the technology of the Octopus cards are rather old today. But I look forward to contactless payment methods based on smartphones like Android Pay. Interestingly, that already exist in Hong Kong. The NFC technology of most modern smartphones are able to function as an Octopus card. In conclusion, it is rather complex to understand the details and timing to which a society adopt certain technologies. Innovation, often referred to as the whole process to bring a technology to the market, is a difficult topic. As a software engineer I want to have some understanding of
what aspects are relevant for the process, to help me provide the most value with my effort. I believe that going abroad is an excellent opportunity to gain perspective by observing a different society. It is something else than being a tourist or study theoretically. As a resident in a foreign country, I can learn as the normal life goes on, taking notice of situations that otherwise would be only imaginable, and talk to people that live their lives in a society that is different from my own.
WORDS AND PHOTO Gabriel Alpsten
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Information Technology. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Computer Science - Algorithms, Language and Logic. gabalp@student.chalmers.se
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The World’s Most Expensive Fruit Parlour Would you pay 150 euro for one muskmelon or for half a kilo of cherries? If you ask that question most people would assume that you are trying to be funny, but this is the reality at Sembikiya fruit parlour. -We want to let the world know that Sembikiya has the tastiest and most delicious fruits in the world, Ryoji Seki from sales division at Sembikiya claims. Just entering the Sembikiya fruit parlor at Nohomashi in Tokyo, Japan, makes you feel like you entered a luxurious jewellery store. Which is true in one way, but instead of diamonds you will find a range of the most expensive and luxurious fruits in the world.
According to Mr. Seki, Sembikiya is the oldest fruit shop in Japan and it all started in 1834 when the founder, Benzo Ohshima, put up a sign which read Mizugashi Yasuuri Dokoro (meaning “fruits discount store”) and began selling fruits and vegetables. However, this changed when the third generation of the Ohsima family focused their efforts on improving the quality of the imported fruits. Today Sembikiya is a well-known brand and they are famous for their high quality products. The main reason why Sembikiya has man-
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aged to become a well-known and successful company is according to Ryoji, the fact that they in the beginning of the 20-th century started to expand their business area. They began selling their exclusive fruits in form of sweets, cakes and jams at more affordable prices. Later, to provide customers with their products and offerings through other types of services, they also opened restaurants and cafes. -The typical customer we have at Sembikiya is a so called repeater, since once you shop at Sembikiya you always come back for more, Ryoji
Seki jokes and laughs. He also describes that most of the repeaters are businessmen buying these fruits as gifts for different occasions. In Japan there is a custom of giving fruits as gifts and Mr Seki believes that the reason fruits have become an important way of showing gratitude to someone is because everyone can eat fruit, and it is healthy and good for you. Giving someone a fruit as a gift is a way of saying I want you to feel joy of the season. It is also an ancient tradition and fruits have always had a special meaning in Japan. For them it is not only about the taste but also about how the fruit looks. -The good looks of the fruits matter a lot to our customers, Ryoji Seki states. According to him this might also be one of the reasons why alcohol is not as popular as a gift. -Our fruits are beautiful, tasty and for everyone, but a bottle of wine is not very beautiful and not everyone can drink it, Mr Seki claims. And he has a point, giving new parents a bottle of wine or bringing some whiskey to a hospital visit doesn’t sound as suitable as giving a package with twelve perfectly red and delicious strawberries or a box of big and juicy grapes. Mr. Seki explains further that their most popular product in the summer season is the Musk melon, which is said to be the king of fruits,
and in the winter season it is grapes and strawberries. During one summer Sembikiya sells about 2000-3000 melons, for the juicy price of about 150 euros each. The reason various products are selling better during different seasons is according to Ryoji Seki as simple as the fruits are more delicious during specific times. -In the winter, the peel of the grapes is so soft that you do not have to remove it, and they have a fresh sweet flavour, Mr Seki describes with a dreaming look in his eyes. When it comes to picking the best product in the parlour Mr Seki disagrees with the customers. His favourite is the fruit jelly, which is a fruit flavoured jelly with one large or several smaller pieces of fruit inside , which comes in five different flavours; pear, cherry, grapes, golden- and white peach. In summertime this is also a popular product and Ryoji Seki claims that they sell between 8000 and 9000 packages of fruit jelly in one season. Sembikiya provides undoubtedly Japan with some amazing fruits, but Mr Seki confess that the company does not grow the fruits on their own. -We have intermediators who provides us with fruits of the best quality in the world. Almost all our fruits are from japan. It is only mangos and avocados that are imported from Mexico, since the climate doesn’t allow them to grow in
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Japan. Ryoji Seki is also proud over that all their products are fully organic, except for the oranges. However, this is known to the customers since on the price tag Sembikiya provides information on where and during which circumstances the fruits have been grown. Sembikiya is indeed another great example of how Japan is a country with similarities to the western culture but to say in their own way. If you are ever blessed with the fortune to go to Japan, a visit to one of Sembikiya’s amazingly luxuries shops or maybe a dessert at one of their cafes or restaurants is strongly recommended. However, don’t forget to bring your fat wallet, cause these delicious things does not come for free.
WORDS AND PHOTO Jacob Söderström
Tokyo Institute Of Technology, Tokyo Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Physics. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Engeneering Mathematics and Computational Science. sojacob@student.chalmers.se
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SWEDEN TO ASIA Life for a Swede in Beijing and Sendai Hello!
My name is Johan Moisander. I am 24 years old and since high school I have moved from Sweden to south-east Asia, twice. I have lived as an exchange student in Beijing, China, for a year and recently I moved to Sendai, Japan, to start my masters. Moving to a different country can be a fairly disconcerting, and to some a downright daunting, prospect. However, I will endeavour to convince you that the potential rewards far outweigh any risks of such an experience, and hopefully give you a bit of insight into two very different countries and two very different cultures.
Culture Shock
This might be someone’s biggest deterrent from moving abroad, and understandably so. Something most europeans will notice when liv-
ing in asian cities is that you don’t ever blend in. Sometimes this can be really irritating, bad hair days get worse and it does happen that you get quite a lot of unwanted attention. Then again, you tend to almost always be an interesting person by default. Personally I have had far more positive experiences being a foreigner, than negative. More often than not, having a polite demeanour and a smile will get you very far when dealing with strangers, and you’ll probably make a lot of unexpected friends along the way. The language however can be tricky, in neither country English can be entirely relied on, and it can be very annoying not being able to properly communicate all the time, yet, it is entirely possible to work around this. Having studied Chinese myself before arriving in China, finding out I was
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absolutely useless at it and learning more in days in Beijing than I did in months in Sweden, I can honestly say that not knowing the language beforehand isn’t a huge issue. Learning the language on location is not only much more efficient, but also way more rewarding. When you start to understand more and more of the life around you like menus, signs and, most importantly, people.
The People
The Japanese people are extremely orderly, almost religiously so. Documents, registration and information is repeatedly reviewed and submitted ensuring no mistakes can be made. This is both very comforting and safe, but can also be extremely tedious at times. People are also generally shy, courteous and very amiable when you get to know them. The Japanese are sometimes even too polite, letting courteous ambiguity prevent them from telling you things you actually would benefit from
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knowing. For example, if you are actively or repeatedly doing something wrong or rude, they might be too polite to tell you and rather gently indicate that you might prefer not to completely embarrass yourself. Summarily, as long as you follow the rules life will be smooth, albeit paperwork intensive, in Japan. The crime rate is very low in Japan, generally the worst that happens is that someone steals your bike or takes your umbrella, the latter barely even constituting a crime during rain season. Even at traffic lights, with no cars around, people stop at the crossings when the light is red, just because it’s the right thing to do. As a person who have lived in the polar opposite, survival of the fittest style, traffic of Beijing this is quite a readjustment. Where it might be a long tedious process, to make sure everything is done properly in Japan, in China you can, for example, take eight medical tests in less than thirty minutes, pay almost
nothing and be back before the end of lunch. Or, which I’ll return to later, go from looking at an apartment to moving into it for a years stay, in about twelve hours. However, you can also end up missing paperwork, getting your salary three months late or worst of all have a your grandmother’s gingerbread cake spoil when sitting in your, lovable but non-english speaking, landlord’s office after he fails to tell you that it arrived. Sometimes this lack of assurance, or control even, can be quite stressful and frustrating. But eventually you realise that everything ends up sorting itself out. This is something that is true for both countries, or both peoples. There’s this wonderful mix of sometimes blatant inefficiency coupled with great flexibility and problem solving ability when it actually matters. People are hardworking, even though that person’s job might be moving a cone three times a day.
The Decision
Starting chronologically, the main reason for me to move to Beijing was frankly that I did not really have anything else to do. After high school I was very unsure of where I wanted to go in life, but I wanted some change, and if possible maybe a bit of an adventure. So, me and a couple of friends applied to Beijing Foreign Studies University, got our visas, packed our bags and were off to China. To be perfectly honest with you, at this point, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. This naivety was especially showcased when we arrived only to find that we had somehow failed to properly arrange dormitories. With the mandatory registration of residence at the police office looming over our heads, we had three days to frantically search for housing, whilst knowing little to no Chinese. Beating the deadline with barely two hours we moved into our apartment, that came to be our home for the next year. This meant that we, to each of ours surprise, had officially started our lives in Beijing. I don’t know how much more of a claim to
maturity can be made for five years’ difference, but going to Japan was in many ways a much more studied approach to moving one’s whole life; the entire process spanning almost a year instead of a single summer and resulting in a much more controlled, but far less adventurous, experience. The staff at both Chalmers and Tohoku University ensuring that everything was in order and that the transition went about as smoothly as is possible. What drove me to return to south-east Asia was much of the same factors as before but this time also knowing what an opportunity this was. Not only towards improving my credentials or growing academically, but more personally. For as much of an amazing experience traveling can be, actually living somewhere else, for extended periods of time, allows you to immerse yourself in the daily life of other countries, and peoples. This will help you to not only understand them better but also give you a new perspective on yourself and even your home country.
In Retrospect
For me there is one thing that I am absolutely sure about moving abroad; the me that arrived home from Beijing was not the same person that left from Landvetter Airport some ten months earlier, but seemingly a lifetime ago. And I wasn’t sure but everything felt so much smaller but, if you pardon the accurate but cheesy expression, it might just have been that I had grown. So if you do feel like you have a need for change or just want to broaden your horizons, Asia might just be the place to look.
WORDS AND PHOTO Johan Moisander Tohoku University, Sendai
Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering and Management. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Management and Economics of Innovation. mojohan@student.chalmers.se
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From Average To Star
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Gothenburg May 23rd 2016, 14:13; I cross the finish line of Göteborgsvarvet in 58th place. It is a good result, but it is not a level where anyone but my family and friends care about it and it is nothing strange with that since I am more than 13 minutes behind the winner. Even if my results are good for being a jogger, I am far from being a podium finisher in the bigger races and the best thing I have ever won is a cookbook and a sponsored bag from Nordea. Running is an important part of my everyday life so when I was thinking about if and where I should go for an exchange year the possibility to run was an important thing. I was looking for both good training possibilities all year around as well as for the possibility to take part in a lot of competitions in various cities. This would allow me to explore my new surroundings at the same time as I exercised my hobby. When I compared the pros and cons, I finally ended up in choosing Singapore for my exchange year and I started to look for races around Southeast Asia. Let us fast forward almost 3 months to Singapore the 7th August, 07:33; after a tough 10km run I cross the finish line of my first race in Singapore. Surprised I realise that I have crossed the line in second place. Everyone is congratulating me and after receiving my prize at the prize ceremony, other runners are asking for selfies with me. I really enjoy the difference from my post race time in Sweden, where I go home and celebrate alone with a pizza if I have made a good race. After this I have taken part in a bunch of races in Singapore, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. So far I have finished at the podium in all my races in Southeast Asia and I have won everything from a shaver to socks and, not to mention, a decent amount of money. To take selfies with spectators and runners have been an usual happening after every race as well as interviews with both the race organizations, newspapers and different websites. A common question after the competitions is “Are you a professional runner?”. In Sweden the answer
is given to me, of course I am not a professional runner. I am a student and just an average runner that run for fun. But I cannot ignore that I often feel like a running star here in Singapore. I am not the only student who is coming from abroad and is a sports star here in Singapore, the sport teams in the schools are full of exchange students from all around the world. For instance, another student from Chalmers recently had the best result from the Nanyang Technological University, NTU, aquathlon team that finished in second place in the Singapore University Championships. Both NTU and National University of Singapore, NUS, where students from Chalmers have the possibility to go for exchange studies, have great conditions for students that would like to be physically active during their exchange year with sport teams and activities in all kinds of sports. They have teams in everything from climbing to cheerleading and yachting, and you are always welcome regardless if you are a beginner or professional. In opposite to Chalmers, the schools here make it possible for the students to activate in sport activities. For instance, NTU have 2 swimming pools, 3 indoor sport halls, 8 tennis courts among other sports facilities. The opportunities, provided by the school and race organisers, that allow me to devote my spare time to running have played an important part in why I have enjoyed these three months in Singapore. I really look forward to remaining a star here until the spring, before going home to Sweden and once again just being another face in a crowd of talented, yet not elite, runners.
WORDS Anton Gustafsson
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering and Management. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Supply Chain Management. antongu@student.chalmers.se
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An eventful time in Taiwan Have you ever organized an event in Sweden? It could be anything from a simple dinner celebration with your friends or a festive student happening to a systematically planned date. If you have arranged anything similar to those things you probably planned and prepared ahead of time, made an effort during the event to ensure your guests were satisfied with the food, and perhaps also practiced your brush- and mop-action (read: cleaned up after everyone). As exchange students in Taiwan, we have the opportunity to arrange events for the students and staff at National Chiao Tung University (NCTU). Furthermore, we have identified three steps that apply to most event-organizing: invitations, intake of food and cleaning up. These steps will be used to try to compare our experiences of organizing events in the well-known Swedish forum with organizing events in the (for us) uncharted ground of Taiwan.
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Invitations:
There is probably no more important thing when it comes to organizing something than to get people to show up. More specifically, to succeed with the invitations. In Sweden we have always had some type of easily accessible channel to use when inviting people to an event, be it a class group for students on Facebook or a walkie-talkie connecting the best childhood friends who used to live on the same street. When coming to a new country, the familiar channels were of course no longer available and to reach the right people with the invitations became a challenge. We used the information handed over from previous CITO staff and came to the conclusion that the more channels you use, the greater the chances are that people show up (wow, we must really be smart, right?). Said and done, we used all the ways we could think of to reach out with the invitations. Other than the obvious Facebook posts and webpage* updates, we also tried the more unconventional method to dress up in our best clothes and hand out carefully produced personal invitations to people that are important for the cooperation between Chalmers and NCTU. Some uncomfort came with this though, as these people are mostly spread out across the entire campus and even though suits make you look awesome, they are quite warm to wear in 32°C with a humidity level of about 75%. In the end, a lot of people attended the events and thus we determined this “more is more�-tactic as a success. *Shameless promotion: visit our webpage asia.chalmers.se for more information about what CITO is, what we are up to right now, and what it is like to study in Taiwan.
Intake of food:
When going to an student event in Sweden, there is an interesting pattern to observe. If there is free food everyone will eat with good appetite, as long as they do not break the unspoken rule to never take the last piece on the tray. Sometimes people go as far as attending the events with only one intention: to eat the free food. In our experience here, the students are more hesitant to help themselves to a big portion of the food. Please note that this might be because we failed to understand what kind of food people here enjoy. As the Swedish people we are, we probably ended up offering food which was a bit too Swedish. But we were mildly chocked (and happy) by the fact that the guests seemed to have no problem with grabbing the last piece on the tray. Thumbs up for cultural differences! 19
Cleaning up:
After an event the organizer needs to do the, according to us, not very fun activity of cleaning up. A part of cleaning up is getting rid of the garbage that has been produced during the event. As a local in Sweden you know where the closest recycling station is located, and the categorization of different types of waste is familiar. There are even pictures to make sure you throw the right thing into the right bin. The garbage disposal system in Taiwan works a bit differently from anything we have experienced elsewhere. Through some kind of miraculous phenomenon, Taiwan has succeeded with the combination of barely having any public trash bins outside, and at the same time being an extremely clean country. We have yet to witness someone throw something away on the street. Furthermore, the garbage trucks play a tune of similar sound, and purpose, as a Swedish ice cream truck. People scurry from their homes when they hear the tune to toss their well-sorted garbage into the truck. For a non-local this system is a bit confusing, especially when the existing waste disposal stations close to our office are marked with Chinese characters only. We tried to solve this problem by using our trusty Google translate application to translate the characters in order to throw our garbage in the right bin. For some reason, the day after our first event, signs were put up in English on the trash bins. We used our engineering skills to deduce that the reason for this may have been that our first attempt at Taiwanese garbage sorting was quite unsuccessful. We are sorry, Taiwan. We tried our best and will keep trying in the future.
WORDS Ida Björhagen
National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Design and Construction Project Management . idabj@student.chalmers.se
WORDS Anton Ottosson
National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering and Management. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Supply Chain Management. antonot@student.chalmers.se
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The city of brave visions
Imagine the most populous city in the world. You should be thinking of something really huge, and you should be thinking of Shanghai. Imagine the population of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland all living together in one city. It is not so easy, but the total amount of people in these countries are equal to the population of Shanghai: 24 million. A city this huge has a lot of advantages that ordinary sized European cities lack. The easiest advantages to spot are the city’s amazing architecture and its epic infrastructure. The newly built Shanghai Tower shoots 632 metres up in the sky (twice as high as the Eiffel Tower) and the sight of it is impressive. It is a great symbol of Shanghai’s greatness. China is in on the rise. China is the fastest growing major economy and the world’s second largest economy by nominal GDP. The explosion like growth is not surprising given the fact that it was a pure communist country just a few decades ago. The implementation of market economy has come a long way and the economy is opening up to the rest of the world. When GDP per capita is considered, China is still a poor country (one place under Algeria), but there is no doubt that China’s ambition is to catch up with the West. One way to catch up is to reform the economy even more. To evaluate different policies, China has started the China Pilot Free-Trade Zone in Shanghai. It launched 2013 and is the only freetrade zone in mainland China. In just the first year 10 000 businesses had registered within the zone. Although Shanghai is a huge city which
would be able to have a strong economy on its own, it is no doubt that the government is putting a lot of effort to make it even greater. Shanghai’s wealth, combine with the great population, made Shanghai Tower possible. It also made their metro system possible. When Shanghai was awarded to host the Expo 2010, the metro system was quickly expanded and even though the Expo 2010 has already taken place, the expansion has not yet stopped. The metro system is now the world’s largest metro system by route length. The system is huge, effective, modern and cheap. The first thing you should buy when coming to Shanghai is a metro card! Sure, the tram I am used to in Gothenburg is charming, but when I compare the pricing and the average speed to Shanghai’s metro, the tram does not really stand a chance. A comparison between the Swedish state 21
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railway to the railways connected to Shanghai will also give an easy win to Shanghai. The route Shanghai-Beijing, a distance of 1300 km (close to the length of Sweden), takes only 4 hours and 48 minutes. It is not even worth flying there, despite the long distance. If you however were to fly, getting to the airports is also super easy. Both airports are connected to the metro system, and the bigger of the two airports has a direct connection to the city centre with the world’s first maglev train, which also happens to be the world’s fastest train. 30 km in just 8 minutes. Epic infrastructure is good and all, but how about the things that really matter? Yes, they have the world’s biggest Disney land. Brand new, it opened this very summer. Shanghai also has one of the largest artificial freshwater lake. It has a diameter of 2.5 km and is perfectly circular. A great place for recreation when you want to escape the city centre for a while. Shanghai has loads of cool stuff, so what is their secret? Brave visions is my best guess.
WORDS AND PHOTO Henrik Forsting Tongji University, Shanghai
Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Automotive Engineering. henfor@student.chalmers.se
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From Exchange to Internship
There is no doubt that doing an exchange year can change your life, and most certainly help you gain work experience. For some, the exchange can help you in the quest of finding a job sooner than you think. I have met with a student who has started doing an internship which probably wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for his exchange year.
Who are you? My name is Johan Rebner and I’m 24 years old. I’m a student of Industrial Engineering and Management at Chalmers University of Technology. Last year I did an exchange year at National Chiao Tung University and I am currently doing an internship in Taiwan at Scandinavian Health Ltd. (SHL). Why did you choose to do your exchange in Taiwan? I knew I wanted to take the opportunity to study the first year of my master abroad, and that I wanted to go to the eastern part of Asia. Partly because I had never been there before and partly because I was interested in learning Chinese. I had heard a lot of good things about Taiwan from the students that were here last year, so Taiwan seemed like a great choice. What was the most memorable thing during your exchange? Without doubt participating in the Taiwan’s National University Championship for swimming. During my year in Taiwan I was part of the university’s swim team and through this I had the
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opportunity to spend a week competing against all the other universities. We swam really great and ended up being the second best university in Taiwan - crazy. If you are considering going on an exchange I can strongly recommend joining a sports team. What is the best thing about Taiwan? Stinking tofu! No just kidding… Not yet at least, hopefully I’ll like it soon. Taiwan has a lot of great food and the culture is very intriguing. However, I think the best thing about Taiwan is that, practically regardless of your location, you can almost always see the majestic mountains that’s occupying most of the island. Leaving the apartment in the mornings, I usually linger a few moments before entering the elevator just enjoying the view over the mountain range. How come you came back to do an internship here? How did you get in contact with the company? During my exchange in Taiwan I realized that I wanted to stay here longer than one year. I thought living in Taiwan was very exciting. Besides, I had really enjoyed learning Chinese and I wanted to continue to learn it so I could achieve
fluency. My first contact with SHL was at an annual crayfish party held for Swedish companies and students in Taiwan. There I met some representatives for the company and later, as CITO, I made a visit at one of the company’s facilities. How many of the students from Chalmers last year have done internships or worked in Taiwan? In total we are five persons that has stayed in Taiwan after our exchange year. Four of my friends from CITO last year stayed in Taiwan during last summer doing an internship for a tech company in Taipei. What is your job assignment and how long will you be here for? I’m intern in the Supply Chain Intelligence de-
partment where I’m part of a big project. My internship is for six months so I’ll be here until March. So far I have had a lot of fun and learned a lot. I think the people I’m working together with are great. They are really helpful and we have a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to my remaining time here at SHL.
WORDS Josephine Risberg
National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering and Management. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Supply Chain Management. josris@student.chalmers.se
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The Haze is Back
It was a new day in late August and once again I woke up too early. The morning sun was shining through the curtains and lit up the entire room. Better get up and seize the day. When I left my room into the outside corridor I faced a very odd smell. It isn’t supposed to smell burned wood in a building made of concrete on the 7th floor. The next morning the smell still remained. Maybe there was maintenance going on somewhere. When traveling through campus I noticed an increase of the number of people wearing a face mask. It isn’t unusual to see people wearing face masks even though it’s hardly needed in one of the world’s purest metropolises, but the increase was noticeable. Perhaps it was just a coincidence. During the lunch I accidentally eavesdropped on a couple at the next table; the haze is back.
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Indonesian farmers are clearing land for agricultural uses through open burning. This is an existing issue in several parts of South-East Asia, but Singapore is mainly affected by burnings at Sumatra. The Southwest Monsoon season causes a dry climate during early June to late September, and many farmers “accidentally” start additional fires resulting in even larger areas for their agricultural use. Prevailing winds sometimes carry smoke haze overseas to other countries. The haze conflict between Singapore and Indonesia has long existed, but a solution has been difficult to find. Mainly because Indonesia is ambivalent to whether to combat the start of fires, which gives their farmers better prerequisites, or not. Singapore continuously offer assistance but usually Indonesia declines. The Indonesian farmers think Singapore should be grateful they don’t burn down the entire rainforest in the same year. When the cause is difficult to combat the government of Singapore focus on equipping the population to deal with the haze when it occurs. Early warnings and constant measurements of air quality are published and informed. This is the Singaporean way of reacting to a potential risk. The situation is quite unpleasant for a country where safety is a foundation stone in the society, and the actions taken might seem to be exaggerated as a foreigner. Even when attending events held by student organizations or training at a gym, the participants must sign that the organizer of the event has no obligations to provide compensation if an injury or death would occur. The haze isn’t only affecting the safety, one of Singapore’s core values, but also the pureness and the city environment. Laws to prevent littering and tough regulations on the amount of cars and their quality retain a satisfying climate even in the city centre. Few industrial factories and an ambition to be completely self-sufficient of electricity, water and resources puts Singapore on the pedestal as being a country to admire. And they do it with surprising success. For a country in the leading edge of environmental change and public safety, an occurrence of something unaffectable affecting both the safety and the environment of the city is almost appalling. This year, I could only notice a change of the air quality during three days. I had a minor cough and the eyes of a friend of mine were watering. Sometimes the haze is visible as a fog, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the air quality is worse during these days. Even though the haze is affecting Singapore during a period each year I’m still very sure that it’s the purest, safest and most well organized metropolis in the entire South-East Asia. The country is definitely competing with the very best of the western metropolises if it isn’t already the best. WORDS AND PHOTO Fredrik Schyum
National University of Singapore, Singapore Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Automation and Mechatronics. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Systems Control and Mechatronics. schyumf@student.chalmers.se
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Taiwan - The Student’s year of Luxury Study allowance, extra job, student loan, residence allowance, daddy funding or online poker gambling – the means from which Swedish students comes around financially varies between each individual. Even though several efforts have been initiated to favor the students, living conditions is still on a basic level. Generous student loans and student discounts are rapidly eaten up by expensive apartments, transportation and food. As a result, the Student is forced to adapt “student life hacks” including weekly lunchboxes brought from home, search for free lunch events and living far from campus. Some might argue that the Student is doing just fine and should stop moaning since “you’ve chosen it yourself ” or “you better endure this now since it will pay off in the long term perspective – like in 50 years or so!”. All these statements obviously carries some amount of truth but it’s the author’s very personal and non-researched estimation that these kind of statements take place in circuits outside the school system and therefore without full insight to the reality. Of course, same kind of reasoning can be found in overcrowded study rooms during heavy exam periods from students desperately trying to convince themselves there still exists a meaning of life. The attribution from this group of people is however to be overseen since these individuals preferably is to be regarded as paranoid and overstressed animals rather than a human being with a soul in peace. However, the large crowd in society seems to perceive students’ budget as highly tight with restricted space for any kind of convenience or extraordinary luxury. Students are therefore gen-
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erally considered one of the more economic restricted groups in the Swedish society. Common courses of events such as taking your girlfriend to a restaurant, substitute worn out clothes, attend sport and music events or having a beer in a sunny open-air café are all rare in the student’s life. Nightclubs and bars, which may be considered the main core in the student community, often holds a price list with such a strong fainting effect for the poor student, making an overcrowded and oxygen free basement-nightclub at school campus the only alternative for an affordable night out. In short, the perception of the Student could be a person putting life on hold for a while, choosing a simplified lifestyle without frequent luxury-expenses including restaurants, travels, shopping or convenient living. But after three years of studies at Chalmers the Student receives the opportunity to go abroad. The selection of universities and countries to choose from is wide and spread all around the globe. Choosing Taiwan as the place to study will however not only give the Student an incredible experience but also an early taste of the luxurious life in the terms of how “luxury” was defined above. The first luxury the Student will experience in the small Pacific Sea-country is the journey to his new home from the airport. Finding out how to get there after half an hour in a foreign country where the western alphabet has been replaced by an infinite number of symbols is unfortunately more or less impossible. In addition, English-speakers are most rare and the Student will soon realize that a taxi is the only option to get anywhere.
Common courses of events such as taking your girlfriend to a restaurant, substitute worn out clothes, attend sport and music events or having a beer in a sunny open-air cafÊ are all rare in the student’s life. Nightclubs and bars, which may be considered the main core in the student community, often holds a price list with such a strong fainting effect for the poor student, making an overcrowded and oxygen free basement-nightclub at school campus the only alternative for an affordable night out.
After spending 20 minutes trying to communicate the desired address using English, gestures and some homemade Chinese, the trip begins. Being used to hold taxi as one of the most expensive means of transportation the Student nervously keeps both eyes on the taximeter as the kilometers passes by. After a one-hour drive, the yellow car stops and the driver indicates that the destination is reached and points at the taximeter. With a shaky hand the Student pays the amount and once left at the sidewalk he immediately fishes up the phone to calculate the cost and comes up with the conclusion that the one-hour taxi trip only cost 400 SEK – around one-fourth of the Swedish price level. Feeling as a winner, the Student enters the gate to the 20 floors high building complex called home, where a porter politely salutes him in a way reminding more of a luxurious Ritz hotel than a regular apartment building. The luxurious touch continues inside with an enormous and lavished entrance. The whole first floor consists of several common spaces containing facilities such as training equipment, swimming pool, pool tables, ping-pong tables and numbers of conference rooms. The apartments themselves are much comparable to the Swedish standard except from a heavily simplified kitchen containing nothing more than a sink, refrigerator and two gas burners. The total monthly rent for an apartment containing 3-4 bedrooms, a living room and two bathrooms is approximately 7000-9000 SEK including Wi-Fi. In addition, the Student gets access to all the facilities mentioned above. In comparison to Sweden, this kind of living is not to be found anywhere and definitely not to the same cost. The next luxurious reality the heavily jetlagged Student is about to experience is probably the most appreciated one – food! Due to the apartment’s very restricted cooking opportunities, the Student is more or less forced to go out to buy his meals. However, the choices are almost unlimited. The campus houses several dining halls serving all kinds of food from breakfast to din30
ner, making it possible to buy all the daily calories and never have to set foot in the kitchen. The meals at these dining halls, where the food is fully comparable to the low cost alternative (“Xpress”) at Chalmers, is probably among the cheapest the Student will find during his stay in Taiwan, and varies between 12-25 SEK. After a while, the Student might feel a bit tired of the dishes offered at the dining halls and decides to visit a restaurant off-campus. Even though the price level slightly increases the food is still very affordable. A decent restaurant will charge the Student around 30-40 SEK for an average meal while a fancier restaurant charges 75-130 SEK. As a guideline, a Swedish restaurant would approximately charge 90 respectively 250 SEK for the same meals. In the whole the Student will be able to feed himself for a daily cost of 50-70 SEK, including the luxury of buying every meal and never have to bring lunch boxes to school. In fact, it is even economic defendable to eat at restaurants since the grocery prices at the supermarkets is higher than the average restaurant bill. Another thing the Student probably will find luxurious in comparison to the Swedish society is the transportation. Public transportations with bus to Hsinchu City costs 4 SEK while the subway in Taipei most often won’t exceed 10 SEK. Despite the cheap public transportation, the Student will probably become more and more convenient and rather often end up choosing taxi whenever he wants to go somewhere. Luckily, as stated before, the prices for taxi in Taiwan is completely different from Sweden, and the Student can expect a cost of 45-60 SEK for a 15 minutes trip to split with friends. A third important aspect to mention is the luxury to do some travelling. For travels within Taiwan, the Student can go by both bus or train as the cheaper alternatives. In this case, a cheap bus refers to a four-hour long bus ride where the Student, for the cost of 165 SEK, obtain a ridiculously large armchair with belonging TV-screen, charger and massage function. Together with the
stewardess who serves coffee, cookies and blankets, the bus trip reminds more of an upper business class flight than the one-hour highway trip to a rainy Borås that would be what the Student gets for the same price in Sweden. Also travelling outside of Taiwan is very much possible seen from the economic perspective. Since the living-expenses is almost the same in the neighboring countries, the Student holds good prerequisite to experience more countries than Taiwan. As a final addition to this article, it appears necessary to present and reflect upon the Taiwanese students’ own opinion in this topic. These people, who is born and raised in this society, seems to disregard the kind of luxury that amaze the Swedish student. Instead, when the Student mentions his impressions of Taiwan, the Taiwanese student may argue that she rather prefers the very same homemade budget-lasagna for lunch that the Student flew 8400 km to flee from. Neither seems the Taiwanese citizens make use of the
cheap taxis and prefers going by scooter. And if the Student puts on his two years old sneakers and a washed out Adidas sweater, he will most likely be regarded as one in the crowd in class, seen from a fashionable point of view. Whether these facts have to do with the Taiwanese students’ own economic situation or the society in general is being left for further investigation. However, the conclusion remains; when going to study in Taiwan, the Student will definitely find himself in a luxurious subsistence - whether or not it’s considered as luxury or just everyday life here in Taiwan.
WORDS Anders Johansson
National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering and Management. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Management and Economics of Innovation. andjohd@student.chalmers.se
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Sports in my new Country?
Most of us is, or have sometime in our life been, active in a sport or some other physical activity. It might be football, tennis, lifting weights at the gym or maybe running. Whatever it is it becomes a part of who we are, and it does not really matter what we prefer or whether we are elite athletes or just Sunday league players. But when we decide to study abroad we all have to ask us the same question: Can I practice my sport in my new country? Of course, the answer to this question depends on what sport you are interested in and how committed you are willing to be. Things like cost and travel distance might make it more or less possible to perform. If you really want to continue with your sport, these are things you should check up beforehand and you might even choose a different university for your exchange period if it does not look promising. Luckily, many universities have excellent sport facilities which can be used to no or low cost. What I have noticed in Hong Kong, or at least at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), is that there seems to be a big investment in of-
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fering as many sport facilities as possible for the students. At the introduction lecture of the school for all the exchange students there was a whole part describing all the facilities and the university teams. You only have to be at the campus to find almost everything you need. This is quite different from how I think it is at Swedish universities where you usually need to leave the campus and find a third party to practice your sport. But this is not the case at CUHK. Some examples of the sport facilities you can find here are; two football pitches, running tracks, tennis courts, volleyball courts, basketball courts, a swimming pool, indoor halls, climbing wall, gym and there is even a group that practices archery every Wednesday next to one of the football pitches. I almost feel bad and lazy for not using all that is available. So at least at CUHK you have a big chance at finding whatever you might seek. However, one should know that in Hong Kong they really like their bureaucracy, and I think this goes for many Asian countries. This means that things will take time. But sometimes you can speed things up and I will shortly share my own experience:
For exchange students it was fairly easy to obtain a gym card at CUHK. You only needed to sign a list and wait three weeks. Of course, three weeks is a very long time if you are used to work out regularly. Since I had also been travelling around for a while before I came to Hong Kong I was quite devastated. However, before I got these bad news I had already set in motion the regular process for getting a gym card by emailing the gym manager. He told me I could get it in only two days so of course I was excited for this opportunity. This process required ID, passport photo, a completed application, and proof that I had gym experience, unless I would have to take an introductory gym class. So I sent an email and actually got a letter of recommendation from my gym. When I had all the required documents I went to the university sports centre to apply. Since I was an exchange student the staff told me to apply like all the other exchange students. But I showed them the email from the gym manager (their boss) and pretended I did not know I was doing something I was not supposed to do. A few calls later they approved my application and two days later I had my card, almost three weeks before everyone else. So if you are prepared and determined, you might be able to save a lot of time. Of course, sometimes the school cannot offer what you seek. But because of the big number of students, there are probably at least one other person with the same sport interest as you. You only need to find each other and together you can figure out how to best practice your sport. So can you practice your sport in your new country? Yes, it is all up to you. WORDS AND PHOTO Sebastian Valenzuela
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biotechnology. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Biotechnology. sebvale@student.chalmers.se
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Finding Friends, and maybe Love, in one of the World’s largest Cities For most people going abroad, part of it means saying goodbye to friends and family for a while and going to a new place where you don’t know anyone. This can be very stressful and scary, since it means meeting new people in a country where you don’t know the social rules and maybe don’t even speak the native language. This was the case for me. Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is one of the largest cities in the world, with a population of about 10 million people, so there is no shortage of people to meet. It’s however not always as easy as just walking up to random people on the streets, especially not if you’re as shy as I am. Besides, most Koreans don’t speak English very well, especially not the older generations. Children in South Korea start learning English in the third year of elementary school, and I’ve noticed that when talking to Koreans from my generation, mid-twenties, they understand me most of the time even though they don’t feel comfortable speaking English. I think it’s because they don’t have so many opportunities to practice their English and are therefore not used to using it in conversations. Don’t let that get in the way of meeting new people and potentially new friends, because most Koreans I’ve met have been very friendly, helpful and patient. There are several things you can do to make meeting new people in Seoul easier. The first thing you can do is to ask friends and family back home if they know anyone living there. Surprisingly, there often is someone who knows someone, maybe directly or through another contact. If so, you may have someone you can meet right away in Seoul, and also ask all the questions you
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have that are not related to studies. If you don’t find anyone that way, don’t worry, there are other ways. A good place to meet new people is at the university, in my case Konkuk University. The classes I chose were all in English, meaning all my classmates speak English. Both Korean and foreign students take the English taught classes and the time before and after lectures is a great opportunity to talk to them. There are also clubs with different activities on campus. During the second week of the first semester, many of them have stalls where you can go, ask questions and apply for entering clubs. Most of them are happy to have foreign students join their club, although I got rejected from one because I didn’t speak Korean, but that’s rather unusual. I personally think that joining a club on campus is the best way to make new friends, because you will meet them on a regular basis and have at least one interest in common. When I first arrived at Konkuk University there were no activities planned for exchange students on graduate level, only for undergraduates. A tip from me is to try to make contact with the ones arranging the activities for undergraduates and see if they’ll allow you to attend too. If you don’t know who arranges it, try to find undergraduate exchange students and ask if they can help you. During these early activities social groups are formed, and it is a good idea to try to be there in an early stage when everybody is still looking for new friends. Worth mentioning is that there aren’t many foreign graduate exchange students at Konkuk University, most are undergraduates. One way I have made new friends is by hik-
ing in different parts of Seoul and other parts of South Korea. Even if you can’t always communicate with the people you meet while out in nature, you will find yourself walking alongside them and enjoying their company, and maybe sharing some food with each other. Another way one can usually meet people is out in the evening. It may however be difficult when you go to a bar, because most people arrive in groups to eat food and you get the feeling that they’re quite reserved. This is however not the case at, for example, dance clubs. A lot of people around the world use the dating app Tinder, and they do in Seoul too. Of course I can’t give any guarantees that another
person will get the same results as I, but I connected with Koreans and foreign people currently living in Seoul with whom it was no problem to communicate in English. If you’re using Tinder or something similar, or want to try it, I would definitely recommend to give it a shot. If you find someone you like, there are a lot of things you can do together. However, there are some things you can’t do. Chances are that the person you’ve met either stays at the dormitory at the university or at their parent’s house. It is very common that people live with their parents until they get married, and the parents are usually strict with who gets to visit. If you stay at the dor-
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mitory you’re not allowed to bring any guests, except parents. The point I’m trying to make is that you probably can’t be at each other’s place. There is, however, something called bang-culture in South Korea. The word bang simply means room and refers to a private room you can rent, which can be equipped with various things like a couch, TV, consoles for gaming, etc. There are also so called love hotels, where you can rent a room for only a few hours instead of a whole night. Finding new friends in new places can be challenging sometimes but I believe that everyone can do it. During the brief time I’ve spent in Seoul
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I’ve met many interesting and friendly people, and some of them I call my friends. If you stay open, don’t worry too much, and do the things you like, you will have a great time with great people in one of the world’s largest cities.
WORDS AND PHOTO David Reckermann Konkuk University, Seoul
Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Industrial Ecology. davidre@student.chalmers.se
A Deep Dive in Shanghai’s Startup Scene At the September’s Startup Grind event at The Naked HUB in central Shanghai there was not only the usual spirit of listening to Startups, sharing ideas and getting inspired, but there was something more in the air. Even though it is hard to name the exact feeling there was an atmosphere filled with more empathy, genuineness and excitement that I have not yet experienced in the same extent at other startup events. If you look to numbers of the Chinese startup sector, it gives a good explanation to the many excited and optimistic entrepreneurs walking the streets of Shanghai. Last years record of $69 billion in venture-backed deals is an increase with 56% from 2014 (Bain & Co, 2016). China’s, and especially Shanghai’s, startup scene is blooming. The country now has 36 unicorn startups, which means a company with a valuation of $1 billion or above (CB Insights, 2015). This makes China second in the world after the home to all the Silicon Valley fairytale stories, the U.S. The fact that Facebook, Google applications and others services as Twitter Inc., New York Times web page and Instagram are unreachable in mainland China, as long as you not are making your way there through VPN, makes room for a lot of internal services for the population. Hence, it is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to build new digital services without the dominating tech giants as main competitors. Many tech analysts actually argue that China’s three internet giants Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, has their billions of dollars in market value to thank the firewall for,
which speaks for the great opportunity to build digital firms here in China (The Wall Street Journal, 2015).
”The startup scene in Shanghai is young in age, mature in its depth and holds a sharing and welcoming culture”
- Eva Yoo, Tech reporter at TechNode. Curious about the strengths and challenges Shanghai startups face, I talked to Eva Yoo who is a tech reporter from TechNode, a leading tech media covering news from startup entrepreneurs, investors and large tech companies in China. She explains that the Shanghai startup industry has a very welcoming and sharing culture that is dominated by young people lucky to be backed by a lot of funding. She also sees a great governmental support for this industry, which makes it easier for entrepreneurs to both found and developing their businesses. 37
May Shi is currently the Community Manager for Chinaccelerator, one of the biggest startup accelerators here in Asia, and I asked her to describe the differences she sees in how startups in Shanghai are operating. Compared to the US and Europe, she experiences a more agile environment in China, where startups are using lean methodology in a bigger extent and hence are focusing more on numbers of followers, clicks and views rather than retention rate. When asked about the difference between Shanghai startups and other startups in China, she sees a trend of Shanghai startups being more international in terms of background, founders, funding and market focus. With previous experience from Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv and Seoul, Eva Yoo emphasises the importance of really understanding China’s market as a key factor for succeeding in Shanghai’s startup jungle, especially as a foreigner. Her top advices are to have previous experience of Chinese markets and having at least one Chinese co-founder. The reason behind that is the two big barriers for foreigners: the Chinese culture and the language. Besides the many difficulties to manage, there are also many strengths of choosing Shanghai as the place to run your startup business. Eva Yoo experience is that the entry barrier to Shanghai’s 38
startup scene is lower compared to Silicon Valley, which is dominated by high profile people. Also, it is more competitive and challenging to differentiate your business there. Compared to the industry in Seoul, which is very culture driven and dominated by top university alumni and ex-employees from big corporations, the Shanghai scene is welcoming to everyone and has a broad set of areas for its startups. If you can manage to base your social media strategy on their huge platform WeChat, will say. Wanting to dive more into the other areas of which Shanghai startups are in the forefront of, I asked May Shi what areas she sees trending. She pinpointed the many virtual reality tech startups working with VR in different ways, including one company Chinaccelerator recently invested in. A quick search on Dian Ping, China’s correspondence to Yelp, shows 47 virtual reality arcades only in Shanghai. Eva Yoo mentions the finance sector also is huge, where many Shanghai based startups are working with bitcoin and blockchain. One example is BitMEX that are describing themselves as The next generation of bitcoin derivatives. Especially big in Shanghai are its many O2O startup services, which means Online to Offline. Since China’s food culture keep flourishing, it attracts tonnes of entrepreneurs eager to build companies for meal delivery, restaurant recommenda-
tion services and fresh food e-commerce stores. Some big players within this market is BonApp, Dmall.com and Chishen.ma. The O2O industry does not only include meal ordering, but the online ordering for home delivery is on the rise in several other fields. As examples, there are companies that will get your car fixed, give you a back massage or fix your laundry on demand. The successful startup company Edaixi is doing just that, they promise you to pick up, wash, dry and deliver your laundry in just 72 hours for a few RMB. Another example of the O2O on-demand services is the car maintenance company Bopai. Unfortunately it got bankrupted along with hundreds of O2O companies after funding started to decrease from Q4 last year (Forbes, 2016). Many tech analysts speculate that this crash could spread to the whole startup scene later this year when investors becomes more aware of unsustainable business models. At the same time, many tech influencers speculate a bright future for Shanghai based startups. I asked May Shi which startups she is most excited about and she mentions Robin8, a smart platform that is analysing which journalists, influencers and key opinion leaders (KOLs) that will be the best fit for your campaign. Also, she mentions SnapAsk which is an on demand learning companion where tutors answers school related questions on demand. Another interesting startup she mentions is TrainersVault, a platform for finding personal trainers and training programs nearby. Eva Yoo pointed out Mobike, which is like UBER but for bikes, Pricax VR who develops a PC-based VR headset with low price and high quality. Last, she also mentions mei.com, which is a company working in the intersection of VR and fashion, as startups she looks forward to follow. The sparkling eyes and the exciting conversations I experienced at the Startup Grind event are clearly based in a young, promising startup era. I think that the world, with its feature mega cities and different demands in terms of behaviour and resources, will have a lot to learn from both the innovation excitement, service spirit and the including and warm startup atmosphere here in Shanghai.
Bain and Company. “Asia Pacific Private Equity Report 2016” Bain and Company. Bain.com, Web. 13 Oct. 2016 CB Insights. “The Complete List of Unicorn Companies.” CB Insights. 13 Oct. 2016. Web. 13 Oct. 2016 Chen, Te-Ping. “China Owns “Great Firewall’ ; Credits Censorship With Tech Success.” The Wall Street Journal. Wsj.com, 28 Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Oct. 2016
WORDS Helena Stening
Wang, Yue. “O2O Leads Chinese Startups’ Boom And Bust Cycle.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 21 Apr. 2016. Web. 13 Oct. 2016
Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design Engineering.
Tongji University, Shanghai
Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Interaction Design and Technologies. stening@student.chalmers.se
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TAIWAN
CITO Moving Forward For thirteen years, the Chalmers International Taiwan Office (CITO) has been located in the library building of National Chiao Tung University (NCTU). “We have been very happy in this space and are thankful for the years we spent there”, says Viktor Wåhlberg. The original purpose of the space was to serve as a memorial hall for the founder of the library, Mr. Ing, Zhu-Hao. During the Autumn semester of 2015, CITO received a notification stating that Mr. Ing’s family once again would like to use the space as a memorial hall. As a result, the CITO office was relocated to another space on campus, Administration Building 1. At first, the new office space in the Administration Building 1 was in a pretty bad shape, and in great need of renovation. NCTU stated that CI40
TO’s requests and opinions concerning the interior design of the new office space would be of utmost importance and that it would be appreciated if CITO assisted in the design process. Therefore, the decision was made to establish a design team within CITO. When the design team formulated their vision for the new office space, they envisioned a light and open space with a Scandinavian feel. Since the new space is significantly smaller than the previous, it was of great importance that the space would be multi-functional and well planned as well as consist of sufficient storage space. With this vision in mind, the natural way for the design team was to contact IKEA, since this company has a long history of making functional, affordable and well-designed furniture.
CITO MOVING FORWARD
CITO formed a great relationship with IKEA Taiwan as they were able to understand the needs of the office and customize their services. CITO primarily worked with their service IKEA Business that offers solutions for all kind of businesses, but especially suites Small and Medium sized Enterprises. CITO received professional support with layout, choice of furniture and colors from an IKEA designer who visited the premises. A layout proposal with furniture and colors that well suited the vision and purpose of CITO was suggested. Viktor Wåhlberg, Head of Office 15-16, describes the process of working with IKEA as “CITO has been very satisfied with all the help and support IKEA Taiwan has given us throughout the entire process. We are really satisfied and proud of
our new office space. We have a great deal to thank IKEA for!” The office has become a natural meeting spot for interactions between Taiwanese and Swedish students and a great place for showcasing Chalmers, Sweden as well as Swedish design and culture. The office is used as a venue for CITO events, as an office space for the CITO representatives, and students are always welcome to stop by and chat or ask questions. If you are interesting in engaging IKEA BUSINESS to help furnish your business space, please visit www.IKEA.com.tw/BUSINESS or e-mail to business@ikea.com.tw for further details
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Training in Korea
I have been going to the gym weightlifting for years, and I’d like to think I’m pretty good at it. I did try a lot of sports when I was younger, but I never really sticked to any of them. Mainly I think it was because they were on a fixed schedule. One of the perks of having a gym membership is the freedom to go whenever you feel like it. For me there is an enormous difference between training when I want to or training because I have to. Either way, training has become a big part of my life, and even if my interest is waning with age (God does that make me sound old), chances are I’m going to keep training years to come. Which begs the question; how do I keep training in another country? When I got the offer to study abroad in South Korea and I thought about training; the first thing to spring to my mind was martial arts. I doubt I’m alone in that regard. Apart from martial arts I remembered some article I read a long time ago about how popular outdoor gyms are in east Asia. Martial arts and outdoor gyms are pretty good and all, but my passion lies more in power-lifting. The heavier the weights the better. Hence I wondered how the ordinary weight lifting gyms were in South Korea. While reading about Korean gyms on Google one thing became clear pretty fast; there should be plenty of gyms to choose from, but usually they were to be ill-equipped and generally expensive compared to the ones in Sweden. Knowing this I was somewhat nervous whether or not I were to find the best gym in the area. Training some place, and then realizing that you could’ve gone to a closer and cheaper gym, is a harsh realization. Luckily, it turned out that the dormitory
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I’m staying in has its own gym, free for all its residents. Having a free gym in the same building solved two problems; finding and overpaying, leaving only the concern about lack of equipment. Before trying out the dormitory gym another guy told me that it was pretty small and disappointing; saying it was “sad”, so I was prepared for anything. Even with low expectations I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed when I saw it myself. The gym has dumbbells ranging from 3 to 30kg and free weights worth around 300 kg. That might sound a lot, but if three moderate strong people are going to squat or bench at the same time it’s not going to be enough. I use up half of it dead lifting every other day. The equipment is also weirdly prioritized, they have a fat vibrator and four different abs “machines” but no proper squat rack. However the saddest thing of all is probably how empty the gym is. Despite it being free I rarely see anyone use it, except for some exchange students and the occasional girl running on the machines. When living with 1000 neighbors you think at least some are going to use the gym. I started to think weightlifting sports, such as powerlifting and bodybuilding, might not be a thing here. After all the body ideal is quite different from Sweden, generally favoring boyish looks for men over typical manly and strong bodies. Then one day my dorm mate showed me a bodybuilding event right here on the campus. It turns out Chung-Ang university, where I’m studying, appoint a so called Mr. CAU every year, a title going to the best bodybuilder on campus. I’m not sure what I was expecting when going, but I was surprised by how big the participating guys were.
Since I never see anyone work out at the dormitory gym, I first thought they probably go outside the campus to work out. It turned out however that there is a gym club on campus for the truly dedicated, which has it’s own gym. I haven’t been there yet, but what I’m hoping for is better equipment. Although, what I most of all hope for is to meet some enthusiastic Koreans who share my interest in lifting heavy weights. If you’re planning on going for exchange studies and, like me, get a sad result when you research the possibility to keep on practicing your interest: don’t worry too much. Even though the overall interest seems to be smaller in your new country than at home, it’s unlikely that you are alone. I can only speak for weightlifting, but there’s definitely those who appreciate it here, even though they were hard to find. Given there are more than 10 million people living in Seoul,
it would be pretty weird otherwise. Besides, I get the impression that the few people who are interested are very dedicated as well. Maybe this is the Asian lifestyle; it’s either go hard or go home. Even if I’m no longer the go hard type, I do think I will enjoy my gym experience for the remainder of my time here. So even if the pre-research don’t look so promising, I still recommend you to give it a shot.
WORDS AND PHOTO Tobias Laving
Chung-Ang University. Seoul Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering. laving@student.chalmers.se
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Doing good by Gambling in Happy Valley 44
Walking around Hong Kong it is hard to not come across The Hong Kong Jockey Club. You see its emblem at seemingly totally unrelated places: schools, hospitals, gambling halls and much more. Trying to find the connection between all these places and a club that seems to be for jockeys might have you baffled. Happy Valley is one of Hong Kong’s horse racing courses, located in the middle of the city on Hong Kong island. The racecourse is located on one of the few flat parts of the island and is surrounded by skyscrapers. Entering on a Wednesday night you are met with a lively and joyful atmosphere. The stands are six stories high and include restaurants, exclusive terraces and private boxes. In the general stand there are people almost everywhere enjoying live music and drinking beer. The time between races is just enough to forget the real reason why everyone are there; the racing and, even more important, the betting. When there is an ongoing race the atmosphere changes to silent concentration and transitions into chanting as the horses are closing in on the finish line. The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) is described by themselves as an elite club that is reserved for only a select few. Basically it is a rich peoples club that was founded in the eighteen hundreds by the British for administration of the horse racing at Happy Valley. The HKJC have later received a government issued monopoly for betting in Hong Kong. The HKJC have had their licence extended to cover betting on football and lotteries in order to combat illegal betting. In Hong Kong this monopoly is strict and all other types of betting are considered illegal. It is not like in Sweden where you can just move your betting company to Malta and enjoy legal betting over the internet. The HKJC is famous for being one of the biggest community benefactors. The club donates about 70% of its annual surplus to a charities trust, which resulted in a donation of HK$3.87 billion last year. The HKJC also contributed HK$20 billion of the special administrative re-
gion’s taxes last year. Since Hong Kong has overall low tax rates for most things other than gambling this ended up being 6.5% of the total taxes last year. The money contributed by HKJC in taxes and charities make a substantial difference in the lives of a lot of people. It is very interesting how Hong Kong uses people’s desire to gamble to create something good, but at the same time it is worrisome that this kind of power is provided to the privately run HKJC. The HKJC was part of the founding of my host university, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and they are not shy for taking credit for it. Many of the university resources are named after them, for example there is the HKJC Biotechnology Research institute and Jockey Club Tower. Even the main entrance of the school is through the Hong Kong Jockey Club Atrium. Even though HKJC does a lot of good they also end up doing advertising for gambling. The morality of this can be questioned and it might have the adverse effect than desired with the monopoly in the first place. Also letting the HKJC, a club for rich people, taking credit for charity work that was financed by money from the people is also misleading. But all these complications seems to be far from people’s mind when they are at Happy Valley, a place where people seem either focused on gambling and winning the big bucks or just having a good time.
WORDS AND PHOTO Emil Ejbyfeldt
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Physics. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Complex Adaptive Systems. emilej@student.chalmers.se
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Singapore’s Approach to Renewable Energy and the EcoCampus Initiative Singapore is one of the most developed countries in the world and enjoys one of the world’s highest standards of living. In Singapore’s most recent history the focus has been on their highly trade oriented market economy and economic growth. Unfortunately the environmental impact of this rapid economic growth has more or less been neglected. 96% of the current power generation is from fossil fuel and the country has a very high energy consumption. In many ways Singapore is a role model for many countries in Asia, however it still has great potential when it comes to renewable energy and sustainability. The island of Singapore is small and it has very limited opportunities regarding renewable energy. There are no fast flowing rivers or elevation that could support hydroelectric power. It is ill fitted for wind power generation as the average wind speed in Singapore is insufficient. The calm seas and low tidal activity suppress the opportunity for tidal power. The densely populated country consequently leads to little available land for biomass and there are no accessible geothermal energy sources. The hope seems to lie in photovoltaic power generation, other up-and-coming renewable energy sources and different energy management systems. With the occurring climate change the Singaporean government has finally realized the need to step up its game and is now investing in a clean energy sector. Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a major part of this investment and vital to the development of a more environmentally friendly society in Singapore. The layout of the campus makes it a great model for a micro grid and a perfect test bed for green energy solutions.
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This initiative is called EcoCampus. As an Electric Power Engineering student at the school of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, I believe this environmental venture NTU is currently ensuing is very exciting and inspirational. The mission of EcoCampus at NTU is “to be a leading example of high impact energy efficiency and sustainability accentuating innovation and green growth.” The goal is to achieve a 35% reduction in energy, water use and carbon footprint by 2020 and the long-term vision is to become the greenest campus in the world. NTU is an internationally recognised leader for sustainability research and has close contact with the industry, which is vital in Singapore’s ambition to become a world leader in sustainability. The EcoCampus initiative is well on its way and several exciting projects are already in place. The most discernible project is the 5 mega-watt photovoltaic panel installation covering several main buildings on campus and is currently the single largest solar installation in Singapore. The solar panels produce 3-5% of the current electricity consumption and reduce the electricity cost by approximately 10 million SEK a year. Other projects include a solar powered charging station for electrical devices placed at one of the schools bus stops and a platform that generates electricity when walked upon. Other projects within EcoCampus involve research and development concerning green buildings, low-carbon-emission transportation, intelligent energy systems, smart wireless energy monitoring and control system, and user aspects of energy conservation.
At NTU there is an undergraduate student club called Earthlink and together with the EcoCampus initiative they work to educate students about environmental issues in a fun and exciting way. This is done through activities, seminars, coordinating school visits and providing information regarding the technologies and research within EcoCampus. As a power-engineering student at NTU the projects on campus are used as great examples in my courses, such as the course Renewable Energy Systems in Smart Grids. I am pleased that Singapore has finally realised the importance of investing in renewable energy. Perhaps in the future Singapore can be viewed as a role model in renewable energy and sustainability, but there is still a long way to go.
WORDS AND PHOTO Lucas Thomé e
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Electric Power Engineering. lucast@student.chalmers.se
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AS AN EXCHANGE STUDENT, WHAT DO YOU...
1 2 3
...EAT?
Finding food in another country can be a funny and delicious challenge. Asian food culture differs a lot from the western style. In Taiwan, for example, cooking at home is more expensive than eating out, which leads to most meals being eaten in dining halls, restaurants or at night markets. Singaporean food culture offers a mix from all of Asia. Eventually you will get new favourites, like Tempeh (Indonesian fermented soy), Ramen (Japanese noodle soup), Uni (Japanese sea urchin) or Korean Barbeque, but also try some dishes that was more weird than expected, such as Taiwanese pig ears, the smelly Durian fruit and fried larvae. “Fish head soup is kind of different from the Swedish food but still taste quite good.” – Anton, Singapore
...MISS FROM HOME? When planning what to pack for a year you try to think of everything, but no matter how hard you think there will always be a couple of things you did not bring which you will regret later. On top of that, some things turn out to be either almost impossible to find, or so expensive that it is not worth buying. A few examples are cheese, protein supplements, allergy pills, Swedish candy, stain removers and sports equipment. Also bigger stuff can be found on the wanted list, like skies, bikes and soft beds – but these might be harder to bring. “Vanish in spray tube for specifically hard dirt spots. The only sauce you got here is soy and the only tools for eating are sticks...!” – Isabella, Hsinchu, Taiwan
...DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? After a few weeks your new country starts to feel like home, and the things that were overwhelming in the beginning feels more natural. But what does exchange students do when not studying? A common factor is exploration – to explore cultural life, the new home town, countries nearby or to go for hikes. Many universities have clubs which offer everything from sports and exercise to jazz dancing, culture meetings and coffee societies. Another common activity is to do what most students do; to drink beer, go to parties and explore nightlife. “Going shopping or having beer or a drink in town. Alcohol are as expensive as in Sweden, but on Wednesdays if you are a girl, it’s free even at the fancy rooftop bars.” – Anna, Singapore
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4
...FIND DIFFERENT?
A new culture brings many new experiences. Asia is different from Sweden in many ways. What people notes range from different environment with hot and humid climate and different building styles, to behaviour such as always eating out due to low prices and course scheduling such as focus many smaller courses at the same time, instead of just a few bigger. The way society is organized also differs with a lot of bureaucracy and, in general, a lower level of digitalization than Sweden. “Going shopping or having beer or a drink in town. Alco-
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hol are as expensive as in Sweden, but on Wednesdays if you are a girl, it’s free even at the fancy rooftop bars.” – Anna, Singapore
....GET SURPRISED BY? Some things surprise more than others. As an exchange student you will encounter things and situations you really did not expect, like the fact that the Moomins are popular in India or that Singapore is so safe that one can leave a laptop open at Starbucks and expect it to still be there hours later. To live abroad also gives you a perspective on your own life. I, for example, did not realize I was picky with food until I saw menus in Taiwan and found more dishes than expected unappetizing (although most food is very tasty). “Thought I had to live without Swish [system to transfer money through telephone numbers]. Got WeChat Pay instead. With which I can pay for my cab rides, sodas in machines, in stores and street food merchants. Awesome!” – Calle, Beijing, China
WHY AN ASIAN COUNTRY? GOOD EDUCATION GET MORE INSIGHTS ABOUT ASIA LONG WINTER BREAK GOOD FOR TRAVELLING
MY BEST WORD:
“‘NE’. IT MEANS YES” – LARS, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
TRAVEL HUB - EASY TO ACCESS OTHER CONTRIES INTERESTING CULTURE NICE CLIMATE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CULTURE FROM SWEDEN LEARN LANGUAGES SPOKEN BY MANY PEOPLE NO SPECIAL REASON, IT’S AN AVAILABLE COUNTRY
WORDS Linnéa Johansson
National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design Engineering. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Quality and Operations Management. linnjoh@student.chalmers.se
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Hiking in Korea
Foreigners might get a surprise when going to a mountain in Seoul because of the big amount of hiking Koreans and the energy of the elders. So what is it that draws so many Koreans to hike? In Korea there are many mountains, not only in the countryside but also in the cities, so hikers never have to go far in order to hike. The tallest mountain in Seoul (Bukhansan) is ca 836 meters high and is one of the most popular mountains to visit. The city of Seoul have many mountains in it, not only visible mountains in the nature; the whole city itself is built upon mountains and hills. Mountains in Korea are viewed as sacred and have strong religious ties. In some of the mountains hikers can visit beautiful temples that were built hundreds of years ago. The temples are still
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inhabited by monks; hikers can sometimes go there at lunch time to eat with the monks and watch their routines. The nature in the mountains is well preserved due to their sacred meaning which makes the hiking experience a really calm and great experience. The view from the peaks are beautiful, from the bukhansan peak you can see most of the city of Seoul and many valleys. According to the Washington post, the older population of Korea are the most dedicated to the hiking, buying hiking gear for up to $1000 per year. Many foreigners get surprised, if not shocked, when they see the elders walk up the mountains without any problems while they are struggling with the same task. When hiking in Korea foreigners might end up in a cultural clash;
Koreans in general are not very open towards foreigners in their daily life, often just walking past in the street, not greeting and almost seem to avoid them. However, it’s different in the mountains. Older Koreans are very friendly while hiking, often smiling and greeting hikers passing them on the trails. When hiking it’s quite common for Koreans to bring food and have a picnic with rice wine at the side of the trail. If a person walks past the Koreans when they are having a
picnic it’s not uncommon for them to invite the person to taste the rice wine or share some food. In contrast to the elder Koreans hiking habits, the young people are not hiking much at all. Young Koreans prefer to go to the gym to train. It’s much more convenient for them and does not require much time. In Korea, young people have to study a lot and don’t have much spare time, this might be why they prefer the gym instead of hiking.
Amanda Dobson is an exchange student who, among other things, like to hike in Korea. She have been hiking several times since coming to Korea in August. What mountains have you climbed in Korea? Bukhansan and Inwangsan. What is your best experience when hiking in Korea? The views when you get to the top of the mountain. What is your worst experience when hiking in Korea? Going up the stairs in the Bukhansan mountain, they were tough. Do you see many old/young Koreans when hiking? There were only old Koreans on Bukhansan, because that is a more difficult path. There were more families and foreigners at Inwangsan since that hiking trail is easier. Did you talk to the Koreans/were they friendly? At Bukhansan some Koreans talked to us and gave us Makgeolli (Rice wine) and whiskey. In general, what do you think about hiking in Korea? I like it in general.
Do Hyeong is a Chung-Ang graduate who have some knowledge about the hiking culture in Korea. How often do you hike? I don’t actually go hiking a lot. Twice a year maybe? How often does young Koreans hike in general? Young Korean also don’t like to go hiking in general. I have seen that many older Koreans like to go hiking, why do you think that is? Yes that’s true. My mother goes hiking every day. Because it’s better for health than other exercises. What is your best hiking experience in Korea? Soerak mountain is the best in Gangwon province. If you were to recommend a mountain to hike at to foreigners, which would you recommend? Soerak and Hanra mountain. Why don’t the young people hike? Because actually they prefer to go to to the gym.
WORDS AND PHOTO Nikolai Dahlberg
Chung-Ang University, Seoul Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering. nikdah@student.chalmers.se
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What Happend to my Favourite Italian? Shibuya, one of the main districts of Tokyo, is famous for three things: For being a fashion centre of Japan, for having the largest and most complex railroad station in Tokyo and for one particular intersection, the Shibuya Crossing. The Lonely Planet describes the Shibuya Crossing as “A giant beating heart that sends hundreds and sometimes thousands of people in all direction with every pulsing light change�. This is an accurate image, since the intersection has pedestrian crossings between all sidewalks and the lights turn green at the same time for both directions. I knew the very instant I walked onto the crossing, that I had seen it before. It is actually not that strange, since it is commonly used in movies and commercials. One campaign that came to mind at that time was a scene from the closing ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympics, where Japan got the chance to announce and promote the Tokyo Olympics 2020. In this particularly scene, which was shown on a huge screen inside the Olympic stadium, Japan’s prime minister Abe Shinzo was on his way to Rio to announce the Tokyo Olympic games. Still in Tokyo, the prime minister put on a red cap and transformed himself into Super Mario. With his newfound powers he ran to the Shibuya crossing where he planted a green pipe, in which he transported himself through the centre of the earth to another pipe at the Olympic stadium in Rio. It seemed like a fun spectacle and the audience loved it. The point of the story is that Super Mario is almost like the icon of Japan. He is so big that they use him as the main character in promoting the Olympic games in Tokyo 2020. But for me it is different. For me, Super Mario is almost forgotten. What happened
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to Super Mario, or even Nintendo (the creator of Super Mario) for that matter? Did I outgrow them? Or have the franchise slowly vanished?
Back in the early 90s, when I was growing up, Nintendo was the biggest player on the market. Being the largest supplier of both consoles and handheld gaming devices also known as Game Boys, Nintendo had a firm grip around the gaming market. If you look at the market share of Nintendo on the video game market during the year of 2001, you can see that they had more than 20 percentage of the entire global market. If you add the three other major Japanese corporations in the video game industry at that time, you get a market share of almost 70 percentages. By 2015, the market shares of same companies were only about 16 percentages.
One of the main reasons for this loss of market dominance is the emergence of smartphones and tablets, and the shift towards PC gaming. This is especially true for Nintendo, who historically have been refusing to produce games for this market segment, as it would ‘decrease the quality of the gaming experience’. Nintendo is also, in difference to the other major console companies Microsoft and Sony, who produces Xbox and PlayStation respectively, aiming for the family market segment. This is problematic in two ways: It is problematic in the way that the average age of video game player is not below 18, as it was in the 90s, instead it is nearly as high as 30 years old, which reduces the portion of players for Nintendo to target. It is also problematic in the way that many kids today use their parent’s smartphones or tablets to play games. This behaviour leads to a substitution of consoles in favour of smartphones and tablets, even though the players might be too young to have these devices themselves. In the end, this leads to horrific financial results for Nintendo. However, the future for Nintendo is not necessarily dark. For instance, China lifted their
15-year long ban on consoles one year ago. This enables Nintendo to access the largest video game market in the world; a market that, for obvious reasons, have been historically impossible by Nintendo to attend. Moreover, Nintendo has just recently released a new Super Mario game to the App Store and is trying to enter the smartphone and tablet market segment. The future will have to tell whether this will fail and make Nintendo fade deeper into the darkness or work and make them emerge from it. But if you ask me, I will tell you that we still haven’t seen the last from the little Italian plumber we all love. The one who once used green pipes to travel in the fictional world, and now dives into pipes to travel between Rio de Janeiro and the greatest intersection of Tokyo — the Shibuya Crossing.
WORDS Carl Johan Ekströmer
The University of Tokyo, Tokyo Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering and Management. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Management and Economics of Innovation. jekcarl@student.chalmers.se
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Buy a Ticket to Singapore and you’ll get a Ticket to Asia Before I came to Singapore I knew very little about the country. Everyone has heard about this hyper-modern city with its beautiful skyline, its many companies and opportunities of work, the rich and widespread food culture and of course how clean everything is. The rumor about the strict laws that punish littering and jaywalking with huge fines or imprisonment is also something widespread, which seems to be among the first things people think of as soon as Singapore’s mentioned. I was no different, this was basically all I knew. That, and a mental image of how interesting Singapore is as a country in general, made me want to go there. All of the above is true, but it’s not something I appreciate as much anymore. Don’t get me wrong now. Singapore’s a great country but the reasons are not limited to what’s stated above. Let me explain why! Coming to Singapore from Sweden is not the biggest change in terms of adapting to the city and the way of living. The streets are tidy, most of the public services are very well functioning, there’s proper roads everywhere, most things are as expensive as at home and the majority of the citizens are shy and avoid talking to strangers. The big readjustment was getting used to the very hot climate and how crowded it is, but that didn’t take very long time either. So what’s the first thing you do when you’ve settled in a country? You go sightseeing and explore it! With the marvelous downtown skyline; several national parks with beautiful surroundings and hiking opportunities; close access to tiny, charming islands and with a vast range of delicious street food, there’s lots of things to do in Singapore. For one month, at least. Since the country is so small and so strict and
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well-structured, you’ll run out of things to do that are fun or within your price limit rather quickly. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since it makes you broaden your view and realize how close you are to almost every other country in Asia and Oceania. This gives you a lot of opportunities and is a great asset if you want to travel a lot during your year abroad. Something that was hard to know in advance, which I’ve learnt by now, is how far ahead we are in Sweden, compared to Singapore at least, regarding the level of education. Although you learn new things all the time, it seems like less effort is required in order to perform well in each course. With that being said, we’re not on vacation whatsoever while we’re here, but you can indeed notice the differences in level. This might not be true for all fields of education, but regarding user centered design, product development and associated matters this seems to be the case, even though I study at masters level here. These observations are also applicable to some other fields, I discovered while talking to other exchange students, but that shouldn’t be treated as facts as our opinions on the matter are highly subjective. This made me feel both proud and lucky over how good my home university is and that I get to pursue my degree there. Since we’re able to manage the majority of our studies during the weekdays, the weekends are open for whatever you have in mind and this is yet another reason to go travel a lot. At three different occasions I’ve met some random foreigners, mainly from the UK or Australia, who came to Singapore around 15 years ago to explore Asia. They all shared similar sto-
ries. They came, young and unknowing, and quickly realized how easy it was to travel anywhere from here. Big companies fancy Singapore for the same reasons travellers do; they have close access to anywhere in the east, which is very beneficial since the economy is based heavily on import and export. This has been the case ever since the East India Company started using Singapore as one of its major ports during the 1800s and has resulted in more and more job opportunities with every year. The foreigners I’d talked to all got mediocre jobs in Singapore at first, to be able to afford travelling more. It apparently didn’t take long before all three of them had got good jobs in Singapore and they all stayed longer than they expected; they’ve been here since the late 90s. Nowadays they all have their respective families here and they all told me about how great of a country this is to live and work in. Especially
when you have a family with children to take care of, considering the high salary and the safe environment which Singapore offers. Though, they also did mention how mediocre and routine life can get at times since Singapore itself doesn’t offer more than a beautiful, well-functioning city. But then again, they could always go travel with the whole family and that’s what makes Singapore so great - the fact that it is, and always has been, a great base for people who want quick access to all of Asia. WORDS AND PHOTO Sebastian Persson
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design Engineering. Currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Industrial Design Engineering. sebper@student.chalmers.se
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Want to study in Asia? CHALMERS INTERNATIONAL TAIWAN OFFICE Part of the Chalmers’ World Wide Programme
Over the recent decades the economies of East Asia have shown a remarkable development. China and Japan are two of the world’s largest econo-
mies and many more show great promise. The region is vibrant, interesting, dynamic and somewhat challenging. Among those with a background in technical education professional contacts and co-operations with this region will continue to increase. Considering this, Chalmers has developed a
unique exchange programme, based in Taiwan, giving students an opportunity to study in and gain experience from these economies.
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The programme is called The Asia Programme and is located at the National
Chiao Tung University (NCTU). The university is among the foremost technical universities in Taiwan and is especially profiled towards electrical engineering and information technology. However, in collaboration with the neighbouring
National Tsing Hua University, the exchange programme covers all engineer-
ing programmes at Chalmers. Courses held in both English and Mandarin Chinese can be chosen.
Contents of The Asia Programme • Intensive course in Mandarin, 4 weeks in July to August at NCTU in Hsinchu, Taiwan • Full academic year of engineering or architectural studies at NCTU • Maintenance of the Chalmers International Taiwan Office at NCTU • Company visits throughout East Asia Students of Chalmers operate the Chalmers International Taiwan Office
(CITO). The operations of CITO include arranging events of representation for Taiwanese students at NCTU as well as visiting companies and representing Chalmers throughout East Asia.
HOW TO APPLY FOR WORLD WIDE You apply for nomination to NCTU and all of the other universities in Asia through the MoveOn-portal before the 1:st of December 2016. Attach a motivational
cover letter in Swedish with your application. If you are student of Architecture or Architecture and Technology you also need to submit an additional portfolio.
Choose two universities but do not forget to find courses that match you master programme and check these with the coordinator of your master programme.
Main Requirements for World Wide • You have reached your third year of studies at an engineering or architecture programme. • You have the minimum grade point average of 3.7 credits. • You have finished at least 60 hp by the first of December. The selection of students to be nominated for the universities within the World
Wide programme is based on the grade point average and study pace of the
applying students. The motivational cover letter is used to distinguish between students with the same average grade. In February you are informed
whether or not you have been nominated for a university. If you are not nominated you still have a chance to study abroad by applying to the second selection for the universities that still have vacancies to fill.
Asia Magazine aims to be entertaining and informative regarding current topics of Asia as well as a source of inspiration for students curious about exchange studies. The magazine is a joint effort of Chalmers students in Asia. Chalmers International Taiwan Office is the result of a bilateral exchange between Chalmers University of Technology and National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. The office is operated by Chalmers students and acts as a hub between Chalmers and East Asia.