Mijn Vakantie

A little late, but....

I had two weeks off from school between terms 1 and 2. Many students went on a ski trip to the French Alps (and most of them had never skied before!), but I opted to stay around Rotterdam for the most part and relax. However, after two days at home on my own, I was thoroughly bored (big surprise!). My parents were arriving on the Friday, but my Dad was spending a week in England before coming to Rotterdam. So I decided to go to England for a few days as well. I booked the Eurostar train, which was about the same price as flying, but didn't involve flying a cheap airline, and I'd end up right in London, not at some far away city airport.  The Eurostar takes me right to London St. Pancreas for about 70 euros, with only one change in Brussels, and I arrive in less than 5 hours. Definitely more comfortable than being on a crappy cheap airline.

So I went to visit my cousin Helen just outside London for 3 days, mostly helping her take care of her twin 4 month old girls. They were super cure, but certainly a lot of work. I basically spent most of the time holding a baby, feeding, singing or otherwise distracting. But it was fun and a good experience too (as I learned to feed babies quite quickly!). I also had the chance to visit my aunt and uncle as well (and my Dad as he was staying with them). It was a nice break and beautiful weather in England. I'm glad I got to see them.
I came back to Rotterdam on the Friday as my parents were arriving that evening. I actually beat my Dad to Rotterdam (he was flying) by a long shot, because all the trains from Schiphol airport to Rotterdam were cancelled. Their flight landed just after 6pm, but they didn't make it to our place until close to 11pm because they had to backtrack through Amsterdam and then take a slow train to Rotterdam. I felt particularly bad from my Mum as she has been travelling for something like 26 hours from Victoria (car > ferry > car > plane > airport > plane > train > train > train > tram). Anyway, they arrived eventually and spent the next two weeks in Rotterdam.
It was so nice to have them here, and my Aunt actually arrived on the Sunday as well. We explored Rotterdam and area...

• Rotterdam Saturday & Tuesday markets
• den Haag for the Escher Museum
• Amsterdam
• Delft (my Mum & Aunt went)
• cycling and walking around Rotterdam

I was glad that we stayed around Rotterdam and I had a chance to explore more of this city. I quite like it and there is lots of great architecture, cute pubs, nice parks/gardens and places to see. Very different than the energy in Amsterdam, but still a nice city. 

Now, I'm back in the full swing of things of classes in Term 2, and I'm missing the break, but I'm trying not to work so hard this term and spend more time enjoying myself here. 

Term 1 Over! Vacation time...

Well, this is slightly late, but Term 1 is now over and it is vacation time. Unfortunately, at this point, I only have a couple of days left before Term 2 starts up again, but I thought I should post before the craziness begins ones again.
Term 1 was a great experience and I felt like I was learning many new things every day. The subjects were for the most part very interesting, and I learned something for sure in every class. The team work took up much of the spare time, as all assignments were team assignments, rather than individual ones. We struggled as a team, but managed to be very efficient and did enjoy ourselves. It was interesting to learn about different ways of working and thinking but I do wish we had spent some more time reflecting and working on the team building, rather than just getting the work done. I think this is something that many teams would struggle with in real life too.
I spent a LOT of time doing most of our readings for classes and thus didn't spend as much time as I would have liked getting to know other people or doing things around Rotterdam or travelling. It was actually impossible to keep up with all the reading, even with spending almost all of one weekend day pre-reading. By the end of the term I was better at determining what I should actually read and what to leave out, but I definitely felt that reading helped when it came to exams. The exam week was hectic, but wasn't actually that bad for me. There was only one evening where I came home from my 1:30-4:30 exam, sat down and studied until 1:30am...which is late for me (I usually can't study or read much past 10:30pm). But overall, the exam week wasn't too draining and was actually a nice break from classes and constant work.
When I finished my last exam on the Friday evening, the invigilator who took my paper told me that there was a suitcase of beer waiting for me outside the exam room. Strangest thing I've ever heard, but it was true. A few students had their birthdays during exam week and had brought a suitcase full of beer for all of us after our last exam. That evening we partied and went out dancing...it was a nice end to it.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the end, as we had another whole week of classes the week after exams. This was our Personal Leadership Development week and it was difficult to get through. Almost everyone was in vacation mode, and it seemed even the teachers weren't into it. We were also finishing up two last assignments at the same time. However, we did get our new teams at the beginning of the week and got shifted around in our sections. I'm now in section A, team 8, so with many new people that I haven't had classes with before. I am also the only one from my previous team (B8) that left section B, so it did feel a little lonely and strange. However, once we get back into the full swing of it in Term 2 again, I'm sure we'll all become new friends.
I can't believe that Term 1 is already done. It makes me sad to realise how incredibly fast this year is actually going and how crucial it is to only focus on the most important things to me: learning, making connections and developing relationships with people, and developing the Net Impact activities (well, and of course, getting a job). I need to be mindful of my BHAG and ensure to not get bogged down in the unimportant stuff...grades are not altogether that important to me. I'm hoping to get some more travelling done in Term 2 as well. Our class will be travelling to Paris in May for MBAT (sports tournament of European MBA schools). Also, a friend is hoping to visit in late May to go to the Belgium Trappist Monasteries that brew beer...we are looking forward to that trip ;) Looking forward to the spring and all the new and exciting things ahead...