Maastricht is a very uncommon place as compared to Madrid, Paris, Brussels and of course Amsterdam. Even Eindhoven i heard before, but i have never heard of Maastricht. To be honest, i was kind of worried, and these questions came into mind: would i be able to make it safely there, how do i get there, is Unversiteit Maastricht really that nice, etc etc.
When i first arrived, there were someone who came and fetch me. I sat in the van and look around and thought to myself, “chey, nothing much.” Little did i know that we are only passing through the road and there is more than it meets the eye.
The second day, i took a walk myself and went to the city where the university is located. Universiteit Maastricht’s architecture concept is the same at SMU’s. It is located in the city center. the only differences are (1) The difference schools are located far (okie not that far) from each other, at least you wont see the other when you are in one of them. (2) The term city may not be appropriate. If you want me to use a term to describe their city, it would be China town. It is because of the buildings situated all around the city. They are like shophouses. Exterior look like shophouses, but interior is quite modern.
Maastricht is really a very nice place because it is like the embodiment of the europe. haha a bit “overstatement”. But really, when you are here, you feel like you can see what kind of buildings there are in Europe because they were really built in that way. Es ist Shoen!
In maastricht you can find churches and fortress that were built in the 1200s and they are well preserved. My friends from Singapore, Jerry and vincent even went for a service or mass (i dont know the spelling) in one of the catholic churches. They felt that it was really beautiful.
Till now i really never regreted coming here!
Universeteit Maastricht is definitely a good university to come for exchange. Firstly, the level of english usage is comparable to what we have in Singapore. At least for a Taiwanese, i can understand haha. They have the unique way of teaching, which is problem based teaching. Problem based teaching is similar to how Harvard teaches. Harvard teaches theories and then make students apply them to the cases, but Maastricht gives problems and cases first and make us think what solutions then install the theories into us, and we solve the case again. They have a smaller class size as compare to SMU, with 14-16 students to a tutor. They have tutorials with this class size and also expectes students to speak up in class. Damn, i thought that i can skip talking in class!!!!
However, the PBL pedegody is quite difficult as many seniors told me. You really have to prepare for class in order to get a decent grade. For exchange students, unless you are prepared to mug, dont come here. haha. I am a mugger! Anyway they do fail exchange students. The class that i enrolled in, is Financial Analysis and Portfolio Management. The passing rate for exchange students is 46% and the average grade is 5.5/10 (just pass) haha. DIE! Anyway, the dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Adminstration proclaimed that Universiteit Maastricht’s FEBA is the top business School in Europe. Dont know how true is that?
some photos:
(up) My building, The ARC A building. Nice and cosy but not as happening. haha
(up) My cosy room at night
(up) On my way to school: their so called houses (not HDB though)
(up) another shot on the houses
(up) 2 Churches side by side, On the left is a protestant church and on the right is a Catholic church
(up) Door of the Protestant Church
(up) One of the Windows of the Catholic Church
(up) Some shop houses in the city
(up) Another church taken at night
(up) Another church (dont ask me what they are called, cause i dont know)
(up) The entrance to my Faculty, Faculty of Economics and Business
(up) The lecture hall
(up) The number of exchange students who came to the faculty: 500 from worldwide, only 16 students from Singapore, 2 from SMU.
Anyway, all these buildings that i took are what i see when i go to school. I have 2 classes a week, tuesday and fridays! yay!! haha..but i guessed i will have to work harder so that i fall in the range of the 46% who passed.!
i am clever, i am hardworking, i am super, i am good, i am smart, i am strong, i am brainy, i am a financial expert, i dont need financial calculator, i know the formulae of WAcc and can caluculate the present value of a 10 year 5% coupon bond, i know whos the CEO of SGX, and i know that i am not going to fail!
haha, sometimes a bit of self psycho-ing can work!
best from Maastricht, The Netherlands,
Posted by: Fordy Lai
