Hello my faithful readers:
As I sit here listening to the chatter of the crowds in Oude Markt outside my little studio it hits me that I've been here in Belgium for almost a month and a half now. When I made the decision to take a year off from working, the thing I kept telling myself was "It's only a year." Now I realize how little time a year (really) is in the scheme of things. To put this into perspective - in nearly 3.5 weeks of classes, I've already completed 3 courses and started a total of 6. We're starting a new course next week for a total of 7.
I'm invigorated by the pace, the opportunity and most of all my fellow classmates. Each day in class, I'm a part of discussions by some of the most brilliant minds on this earth. I have no doubt that we're all future business leaders. I love the fact that most of all we support each other, while having a good time. Just thinking about all of the adventures we've had so far makes me smile and I can't wait to have even more.
Today, I was impressed by how seriously the school is taking our feedback and responding to it. We expressed some concerns about one of our courses; our main concern was with the way the course was structured. We felt we weren't learning how to apply the concepts in a meaningful way, nor were we really learning anything about the topic we were supposed to be covering. The school took our feedback and in response they added an extra class and we have a final group assignment instead of the exam we initially were supposed to take. I love the fact that they took our feedback and made immediate adjustments, it's a nice feeling and it shows that they truly respect us and care about our education.
This year is speeding by. It's my goal to make sure I enjoy every single minute of my time while I'm here in Belgium. I hope that you remember to do the same, no matter where you are right now!
Mwuah,
Georgia Peach
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
I'm an individualist
Hello my faithful readers:
It's Thursday evening and I'm sitting here in my little studio feeling a whole lot better than I was a couple of days ago. The past few days I've been living at the VLG building and it was making me a tired, grumpy, young(ish), woman. This has also contributed to my lack of blogs in the past week. Hopefully the group work that I've been doing will slow down in the next few weeks, or at least be limited to in-class only; but I have the feeling that the slow down in group work won't happen anytime soon.
Our MBA program focuses a lot of time on getting us to work together in groups. We have all been broken out into different groups for each class based on our nationality, gender and background. I, however, am not a fan of working in groups. Both in my professional and personal life I view myself as a bit of a loner. In our Managing Across Cultures course the term for this is "individualist" and in general that's where most Americans fall in the grand scheme of things. It's all about me, me, me and I, I, I...and I'd say the control freak in me likes this an awful lot. Working in groups requires you to trust the others in the group to do what they say they will do, it also requires you to learn to be open-minded enough to see things from a different perspective (even if you think your way is absolutely right). I've learned a lot about myself this week. Yes - I can be a bit of a pushy 'diva' when things aren't going my way; and I believe I still need to do some serious reflection about my behavior when I'm required to work with others.
This weekend is going to be a much needed re-set and rest for me. I need a weekend to recover and decompress from an intense week. Thankfully I survived without completely breaking down (although I started feeling sick earlier this week). Now my focus is on working smarter, because to be honest this 1 year intensive MBA program is more of a marathon for me and not a sprint. My goal for myself over the next few weeks is to find a nice balanced life here in Leuven.
Mwuah,
Georgia Peach
P.S. - I got word earlier this week that my money won't hit my account until the end of next week.
P.P.S - Good news is my police visit was completed without my knowledge and by the end of day tomorrow I will have my Belgian Residence card! Things are looking up!
P.P.P.S. - Did you catch that my sports analogy was an individual sport? (that was my subconscious taking over - I swear!)
It's Thursday evening and I'm sitting here in my little studio feeling a whole lot better than I was a couple of days ago. The past few days I've been living at the VLG building and it was making me a tired, grumpy, young(ish), woman. This has also contributed to my lack of blogs in the past week. Hopefully the group work that I've been doing will slow down in the next few weeks, or at least be limited to in-class only; but I have the feeling that the slow down in group work won't happen anytime soon.
Our MBA program focuses a lot of time on getting us to work together in groups. We have all been broken out into different groups for each class based on our nationality, gender and background. I, however, am not a fan of working in groups. Both in my professional and personal life I view myself as a bit of a loner. In our Managing Across Cultures course the term for this is "individualist" and in general that's where most Americans fall in the grand scheme of things. It's all about me, me, me and I, I, I...and I'd say the control freak in me likes this an awful lot. Working in groups requires you to trust the others in the group to do what they say they will do, it also requires you to learn to be open-minded enough to see things from a different perspective (even if you think your way is absolutely right). I've learned a lot about myself this week. Yes - I can be a bit of a pushy 'diva' when things aren't going my way; and I believe I still need to do some serious reflection about my behavior when I'm required to work with others.
This weekend is going to be a much needed re-set and rest for me. I need a weekend to recover and decompress from an intense week. Thankfully I survived without completely breaking down (although I started feeling sick earlier this week). Now my focus is on working smarter, because to be honest this 1 year intensive MBA program is more of a marathon for me and not a sprint. My goal for myself over the next few weeks is to find a nice balanced life here in Leuven.
Mwuah,
Georgia Peach
P.S. - I got word earlier this week that my money won't hit my account until the end of next week.
P.P.S - Good news is my police visit was completed without my knowledge and by the end of day tomorrow I will have my Belgian Residence card! Things are looking up!
P.P.P.S. - Did you catch that my sports analogy was an individual sport? (that was my subconscious taking over - I swear!)
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Culture shock?
Hello my faithful readers:
It has been exactly 1 week since I last updated my blog and to be honest I've been too busy to give serious thought about what I could share here on the blog with you all. My classes are Monday - Friday from 9 AM - 17:30 (5:30 PM). I'm in 2 lectures per day, both approximately 3 hours long if you include the breaks we get. This past week we've gone until almost 18:00 in my last class of the day. I've already completed one class (Economics) and will be starting two new classes next week. Typically we get an hour and a half lunch break which never seem long enough. Today for example most of my lunch time was spent sitting through a presentation from the government run health insurance company (more about that in another blog, once I experience the system first hand). After classes are done, I meet with my group to discuss whatever projects we have together; then I get a bite to eat or start studying for the next days classes. There have been a few days where I walked in at 9 AM didn't leave campus until almost midnight. Intense schedule huh? Most of my classmates are experiencing similar situations!
Now that doesn't mean I'm not having a good time here, but I will say that the sheer amount of reading is overwhelming. I've started to become a lot more strategic about how I spend my time so I don't burn out too quickly, but it is tough. It's also a challenge for me to make sure that I'm getting enough quality time in with my new friends (not always as easy as it might seem). Getting things done personally is almost exclusively reserved for the weekends. I went to Ikea last week and only had time/resources to purchase half of what I need here in my new studio. I'll focus on buying the rest of it this weekend if I have the time.
We watched a video yesterday in my "Managing Across Cultures" class; the film highlighted 3 distinct stages of culture shock. Stage 1 is the honeymoon phase, Stage 2 is crisis and Stage 3 is the adjustment phase. I think that I'm somewhere between the honeymoon and crisis stages. I just hope that my crisis stage will be a short one, but so far my biggest frustration is dealing with my banking situation and not knowing how to quickly get things done here without a lot of run around. All of the running around of late has me quite tired, but I hope that I'll build up some endurance to the intense schedule soon.
I'm still waiting for my student loan money to clear the bank here - I deposited over two weeks ago now, but the money still hasn't posted to my account. To add insult to injury, I'm frozen out of my banking software (why I can't just do it online like I did in America mystifies me) and when I called about it they actually told me I would have to call back because I didn't enter the right code. When I tried that (about a week ago), I couldn't get back in touch with them. I haven't had the time to attempt more direct contact with the helpdesk from the bank, but if I don't get some help by tomorrow I'm planning to shift my money to another bank when (and if) it ever appears!
As far as figuring out how to get things done- I think that will come with time for me. I just need to be patient and make an effort to simply learn more of the Dutch language (at least enough to understand all of the bills I'm starting to get in the mail). Making friends who have lived in Leuven for a while would be a good start for me.
That's about all I have to say for now. I like my classes a lot and have to say that I'm impressed by the caliber of students and professors this program has recruited. I learn something new every single day both about business and myself. I'll have a few growing pains, but for now I'm savoring the honeymoon.
Mwuah,
Georgia Peach
It has been exactly 1 week since I last updated my blog and to be honest I've been too busy to give serious thought about what I could share here on the blog with you all. My classes are Monday - Friday from 9 AM - 17:30 (5:30 PM). I'm in 2 lectures per day, both approximately 3 hours long if you include the breaks we get. This past week we've gone until almost 18:00 in my last class of the day. I've already completed one class (Economics) and will be starting two new classes next week. Typically we get an hour and a half lunch break which never seem long enough. Today for example most of my lunch time was spent sitting through a presentation from the government run health insurance company (more about that in another blog, once I experience the system first hand). After classes are done, I meet with my group to discuss whatever projects we have together; then I get a bite to eat or start studying for the next days classes. There have been a few days where I walked in at 9 AM didn't leave campus until almost midnight. Intense schedule huh? Most of my classmates are experiencing similar situations!
Now that doesn't mean I'm not having a good time here, but I will say that the sheer amount of reading is overwhelming. I've started to become a lot more strategic about how I spend my time so I don't burn out too quickly, but it is tough. It's also a challenge for me to make sure that I'm getting enough quality time in with my new friends (not always as easy as it might seem). Getting things done personally is almost exclusively reserved for the weekends. I went to Ikea last week and only had time/resources to purchase half of what I need here in my new studio. I'll focus on buying the rest of it this weekend if I have the time.
We watched a video yesterday in my "Managing Across Cultures" class; the film highlighted 3 distinct stages of culture shock. Stage 1 is the honeymoon phase, Stage 2 is crisis and Stage 3 is the adjustment phase. I think that I'm somewhere between the honeymoon and crisis stages. I just hope that my crisis stage will be a short one, but so far my biggest frustration is dealing with my banking situation and not knowing how to quickly get things done here without a lot of run around. All of the running around of late has me quite tired, but I hope that I'll build up some endurance to the intense schedule soon.
I'm still waiting for my student loan money to clear the bank here - I deposited over two weeks ago now, but the money still hasn't posted to my account. To add insult to injury, I'm frozen out of my banking software (why I can't just do it online like I did in America mystifies me) and when I called about it they actually told me I would have to call back because I didn't enter the right code. When I tried that (about a week ago), I couldn't get back in touch with them. I haven't had the time to attempt more direct contact with the helpdesk from the bank, but if I don't get some help by tomorrow I'm planning to shift my money to another bank when (and if) it ever appears!
As far as figuring out how to get things done- I think that will come with time for me. I just need to be patient and make an effort to simply learn more of the Dutch language (at least enough to understand all of the bills I'm starting to get in the mail). Making friends who have lived in Leuven for a while would be a good start for me.
That's about all I have to say for now. I like my classes a lot and have to say that I'm impressed by the caliber of students and professors this program has recruited. I learn something new every single day both about business and myself. I'll have a few growing pains, but for now I'm savoring the honeymoon.
Mwuah,
Georgia Peach
Thursday, September 3, 2009
First days of class
Hello my faithful readers:
I've been very busy with moving into my studio and starting the first week of classes at Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School. It's currently 7:21 AM here and I should be getting ready for classes soon. We have to be at class by 9 AM daily and thankfully this week most of our sessions have been related to orientation topics. The school has also been kind enough to provide lunches in the school's restaurant for the past couple of days. I'm quite impressed by the effort they are putting into our welcome week considering our Full-Time International MBA program is only a small percentage of their revenue stream.
In general this week will probably be one of the longest that we'll have as far as activities organized by the school. Our classes go from 9:00 AM- 17:30 (5:30PM) daily with a 1 hour lunch break in between. This week in particular we have events after the classes, such as:
We have been required to wear business attire (suits) for the first couple of days of classes, but no one has mentioned what the attire should be today. I'm hoping that the business attire rule will be the exception and not the rule for most days of classes, but so far I can't tell how often we'll have to do it.
My studio so far has been pretty good it's a pretty large sized studio; maybe 30 meters squared. I'm bad at guesstimating size, but I think that's a close approximation of the actual size. I live in the busy area of town near the main square called Grote Markt. At night I can hear talking and music from the bars near my place, but so far it hasn't affected my ability to sleep. I'm not so sure I can get any studying done here, unless it's in the early mornings when it seems to be most quiet around here. I officially moved all of my belongings here yesterday on the first day of classes and now I just need to finish unpacking everything.
I still have a pretty long shopping list for my place and I'm hoping to make a trip to Ikea with a couple of my classmates this weekend. The Ikea is located somewhere between Leuven and the Brussels Airport area, we actually passed by it on our way to Ghent last night. I mainly need storage/organizing units and bedding from Ikea. I'm also considering purchasing another mattress b/c my bed is SUPER low to the ground and I'm way too tall to comfortably get out of the bed each day without another one or somehow lifting the bed off the ground. I also realized that my studio doesn't have an oven so I'll need to purchase a microwave at some point soon. I have two stove top burners, but no oven. From hearing about some of my classmates rooms I think my studio is on par and not too bad, considering the location and rent that I'm paying.
This week has been a whirlwind of activity and I'm just hoping I can hold everything together until this weekend. I'd love to paint my new studio, but I'll have to figure out the best time to get that done - I don't think it will be this weekend with all I need to do, but I'll try to at least buy all the materials I need for now. I'm hoping that the rain we've had over the past couple of days will go away, but I suspect we're going to have a lot more to come. My fingers are crossed that we get at least one more nice weekend here this month.
I hope that you're all well and having a good life! That's one of the biggest lessons I learned yesterday throughout all of my courses they want us to live well and have a good life. I wish that for all of my family, friends and loved ones. I'll try to squeeze in another blog this weekend if I have the time. As always - thanks for reading!
Mwuah,
Georgia Peach
I've been very busy with moving into my studio and starting the first week of classes at Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School. It's currently 7:21 AM here and I should be getting ready for classes soon. We have to be at class by 9 AM daily and thankfully this week most of our sessions have been related to orientation topics. The school has also been kind enough to provide lunches in the school's restaurant for the past couple of days. I'm quite impressed by the effort they are putting into our welcome week considering our Full-Time International MBA program is only a small percentage of their revenue stream.
In general this week will probably be one of the longest that we'll have as far as activities organized by the school. Our classes go from 9:00 AM- 17:30 (5:30PM) daily with a 1 hour lunch break in between. This week in particular we have events after the classes, such as:
- Guided tour of Leuven on Tuesday (I skipped this to move into my new studio)
- Opening Day Ceremonies in Ghent (required last night)
- Cocktail reception with alumni testimonials in Leuven (tonight - another required event)
- Reception at the Dean's house in Brussels (required event on Friday)
We have been required to wear business attire (suits) for the first couple of days of classes, but no one has mentioned what the attire should be today. I'm hoping that the business attire rule will be the exception and not the rule for most days of classes, but so far I can't tell how often we'll have to do it.
My studio so far has been pretty good it's a pretty large sized studio; maybe 30 meters squared. I'm bad at guesstimating size, but I think that's a close approximation of the actual size. I live in the busy area of town near the main square called Grote Markt. At night I can hear talking and music from the bars near my place, but so far it hasn't affected my ability to sleep. I'm not so sure I can get any studying done here, unless it's in the early mornings when it seems to be most quiet around here. I officially moved all of my belongings here yesterday on the first day of classes and now I just need to finish unpacking everything.
I still have a pretty long shopping list for my place and I'm hoping to make a trip to Ikea with a couple of my classmates this weekend. The Ikea is located somewhere between Leuven and the Brussels Airport area, we actually passed by it on our way to Ghent last night. I mainly need storage/organizing units and bedding from Ikea. I'm also considering purchasing another mattress b/c my bed is SUPER low to the ground and I'm way too tall to comfortably get out of the bed each day without another one or somehow lifting the bed off the ground. I also realized that my studio doesn't have an oven so I'll need to purchase a microwave at some point soon. I have two stove top burners, but no oven. From hearing about some of my classmates rooms I think my studio is on par and not too bad, considering the location and rent that I'm paying.
This week has been a whirlwind of activity and I'm just hoping I can hold everything together until this weekend. I'd love to paint my new studio, but I'll have to figure out the best time to get that done - I don't think it will be this weekend with all I need to do, but I'll try to at least buy all the materials I need for now. I'm hoping that the rain we've had over the past couple of days will go away, but I suspect we're going to have a lot more to come. My fingers are crossed that we get at least one more nice weekend here this month.
I hope that you're all well and having a good life! That's one of the biggest lessons I learned yesterday throughout all of my courses they want us to live well and have a good life. I wish that for all of my family, friends and loved ones. I'll try to squeeze in another blog this weekend if I have the time. As always - thanks for reading!
Mwuah,
Georgia Peach
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)