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's just getting started

Hello my faithful readers:

I have been a little lax in posting updates here, but it's amazing how quickly the days seem to fly by here. Each day a few more of my classmates arrive and there is a flurry of activity as we all try to set up plans for dinner, drinks or whatever just to get to know each other before classes begin. Last night was a fine example. We ended up having dinner at one of the Japanese restaurants on Munstraat here in Leuven, before grabbing beers at one of the local Oude Markt pizzerias.

The social scene here in Leuven seems to be pretty hopping on nice nights. I wish I had pics, but the battery in my camera died last night. I'll try to give you a (very) brief word picture of the scene. There are rows and rows of tables and chairs (sometimes 15 deep), some underneath over-sized umbrellas. All of the people, tables, chairs and umbrellas are spread out across the Grote and Oude Markt areas of town. There is beautiful architecture surrounding you on all sides. Close your eyes a little more and you'll hear the roar of a thousands of conversations happening at a time. Personally, I find that gentle roar comforting and relaxing, it's reminiscent to the sounds you might hear walking through Grand Central Station in NYC. This is the best location for people watching at its finest- in the heart of Leuven.

I realized yesterday that while I am busy getting into the social activities, I am here for a much better reason than just hanging out in a beautiful country. That reason is to study, learn more about other cultures and obtain my MBA. Leuven has a deceptively bland atmosphere that relaxes you and pulls you into its' spell without you fully realizing it. I know that personally my diet has gone to hell in a hand basket here because I'm eating way too many pasta, beers, and sweets. I'm learning that Leuven has a bit of a reputation as a college party town. The past week and a half has given me a bit of a glimpse of why it is referred to as the city of beer, sports and chocolate.

This week I began the process of studying (again), but I haven't fully given it the attention I should. Currently I have two more pre-course work classes that I need to pass before classes officially start on September 1st. Hanging out with my classmates last night also made me realize, I have more than just the coursework to get done. In addition to what is assigned in classes if I am to get all I hope for out of this program I need to do more research on what it is really like in the rest of the world. I freely admit here that I arrogantly thought I had a solid understanding, but sitting there between my classmates from India, Jordan, Turkey and Mexico I realized at that moment, that I know nothing at all. (I was also shocked to hear that American Idol is HUGE in Jordan). I'm excited, but also more than a little overwhelmed by the thought of the amounts of information that I'll be processing over the next 13 months. Quite simply put, I've got a lot of work to do.

Thanks for reading today's blog. I look forward to sharing more with you over the next year.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

Flight & Day 1 in Belgium

Hello my faithful readers:

I write this from my lovely guesthouse room in Leuven, Belgium. I made it here without too much trouble. I departed JFK airport. My flight was delayed for a couple of hours, but it actually made things easier for me on the back end. I watched Star Trek on the tv screen in the seatback in front of me while waiting so it was a pleasant delay although I was hungry (starving). I didn't sleep nearly as much as I would have liked, but by the time we landed in Brussels it didn't matter so much.

The airport in Brussels was a very easy experience - I breezed through the passport control area (no issues here) and then headed to baggage claim. All of my luggage arrived intact and I was quite relieved (our flight was delayed was because of a HUGE baggage system outtage at JFK). I also was relieved because during check-in the nice woman behind the counter didn't charge me the normal fee of $150 to check my 3rd bag. Instead she checked the bag as a carry-on, but told me if it got lost then the airline wasn't responsible. After loading my luggage onto the FREE baggage cart (take that JFK), I rolled through customs (they didn't stop me at all) and down to the train station. I bought my ticket and was thankful to see that a train was leaving for Leuven in 4 minutes. Thankfully I made the train and the trip to Leuven was very quick. I made it there in roughly 20 minutes.

At the Leuven train station I pulled all of my luggage together as best I could. This was probably the roughest part of the luggage experience because they had no baggage carts on the platform at Leuven and no one offered to help. There weren't all that many people on the platform at Leuven. Once I finally got the luggage straight - I wheeled everything over to the front of the station where there was a row of taxi's waiting. I got in the 1st taxi waiting and he was willing to make two stops which I needed so that I could pick up my keys from the Resident Office at Student Housing. I'm staying in one of the guesthouses offered by the University here and it's a good value for the money. I have my own bathroom and a private room for 25 euros per night. The room is clean and the building is relatively modern looking.

I decided to take a bit of a nap and then shower before getting out and walking around a little bit. Around 14:00 I walked out of my building and headed over to the school because I felt I needed to see the location before searching for places to live. Leuven is a small city, but if I lived too far away I'd need to rent a bike to get around. I still might need to in order to get around anyway, but I'd prefer to live within easy walking distance to our building. The school is in a relatively central part of town so my hope is that I'll find a nice studio not too far away. After seeing the school I was quite surprised to realize that it's really only one building and not too large. Our other building in Gent seemed much larger and more like a college campus.

After viewing the Vlerick Leuven Building, I walked over to the housing office and checked in with them. The Housing Services counseler gave me some advice. One thing I didn't quite fully realize before my arrival here is that most rental contracts don't start until September 1st or September 15th. School begins for me on September 1st so ideally I would like to get situated before then. She mentioned that they have some listings called Summer rentals that I should check out. After speaking to her I went to the computer room that the Housing Office has available. I was able to set up a few viewings yesterday and one guy had 3 spaces that I saw. I liked one of them and I'm considering taking it although it wouldn't be available until September 1st. The price was right and it was located right off Grote Markt which is one of the busier areas in the central part of town. Grote Markt has lots of restaurants and shops.

The one thing that remains on my to-do list is to find a place that sells converter plugs. I finally found a place that sold a Mac travel kit with lots of adapters in it so that I could power up my macbook, but I still need a converter for my blackberry and camera chargers. The one thing that I have to get used to is the lack of convenience that I've become accustomed to by living in NYC. The big stores that sell everything aren't easily found here in Leuven. Most of the little shops and stores here close by 17:00 or 18:00 (even the large grocery stores).

Tonight I am headed out for drinks with some of my new classmates. I have to say that Facebook has been great in making this huge world a lot smaller for me. We connected via our group on Facebook and it's been a huge resource in keeping me sane throughout my move. I can't wait to get back to you with more updates about my adventures here in Leuven.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach