Odysseys Surf School

Placement organization

Name of organization: Odysseys Surf School
Town/city: Kuta – Bali
Country: Indonesië
Website: http://www.odysseysurfschool.com/

Name of student: Nick Roelfsema

Specialist area: MT
Placement period: 2016-2017

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Surf School
Organization’s activities: Odysseys Surf School main activity is providing people with surfing lessons. They offer everything from beginner classes to advanced classes. Besides the fact they provide surfing lessons, they also provide surfing tours and surfboard rentals.
Target group of the organization: Mostly asian tourists, but can be anyone.
Company culture: The company culture is informal. It is consider normal to work in your shorts and your flip-flops/sandals. The only time you need to dress formal is when you have a meeting with hotels or other companies. The staff consider themselves more as family then as co-workers, this makes Odysseys an amazing place to work at.

The company has different departments, which all have their own responsibilities. All staff and departments answer to the general manager.
Number of employees: 35
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes.

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? The department you will work in is Sales and Marketing.
Brief description of your daily activities: – Assist with creation of content for social media
– Writing articles for the blog
– Film and edit videos for social media purposes
– Answer mail
– Visit hotels for promotional purposes
– Keep the Tripadviser page up to date
– Assist in the surf shop
– Assist during the lessons

Beside your daily activities, you will always have a special assignment from the manager. There is always something you need to find out, brainstorm on or give feedback on. Not one week is the same in Odysseys, which keeps your work interesting.
Brief description of your company assignment: Competitor analyses.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Your supervisor will be the general manager. You can always ask her anything,even if it is not work related. She will always try to help you out in the best way she can.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Team player, Independent, flexible, sociable.
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS office, video editor skills would come in handy.
English: Intermediate
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Friends
How did you go to work every day? Scooter

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, social visa.
Do you need a work permit? No.
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Embassy, but with help of an agency.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? Around one month.
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? 6 weeks.

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? This is not necessary.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € €800,-
Accommodation (monthly): € €300,-
Local transport (monthly): € €45,-
General costs of living (monthly): € €300,-
Costs of visa: € €250,-
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? It is forbidden by Indonesian law to provide interns with any form of financial compensation. Odysseys did offer me an accommodation after my first month of working.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I read a lot of articles about the culture on the internet.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: nickroelfsema@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Just be open minded and have as much fun as possible. Furthermore, try to show respect to the Indonesian people at all times, if you follow this golden rule you will never get into trouble.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: You can do right about anything in Bali. You can relax on the beach, go for a surf, visit some breathtaking scenery, go out for a good night of party, you name and Bali will provide.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link