AA15 - Day 10-12: RennesUnion #2 in Adorable Alexandria

It took us a full day of driving from Hurghada back to Caïro. The beautiful sight of the Red Sea on our right side and the desert on our left, made up for most of it though! Blows your mind how so much water cannot change desert into one single tree. Oh sorry, not true. There was one three. During the whole day we actually saw one (not man-planted) tree. I was too surprised to take a picture.  At the end of the day, we were but capable of finding a Spot to eat and hang out at the hotel before I gave up and went to bed. Unfortunately our airconditioning wasn’t working in our room. Luckily we could change to another one where…. it did not work either… Small tip for everyone going to the Middle East: be sure to have a room with working airconditioning, because you’ll miss it most when it’s not there!

A mere four hours of proper sleep later, our alarm clock rang and at 7.30AM we had breakfast at our hotel, Caroline Crillon, which was the same as Day 1’s. Back to our bus for a 3,5hrs ride to Alexandria!

North-African Adventures 2015: #AA15: Day 0

every day is a journey

and the journey itself

we call home


Finally. After over six months since my last proper trip outside of Belgium, the next one has arrived! 


Finishing the biggest project SmartSpotter Belgium ever had, not accidentally lead to me leaving on a two week holidays to Egypt! We aced the project, and I hope that our customers think the same of our services! 


Took me a while to figure out which country would be next on my Travelmap, but Egypt won this times' competition! Moreover, I'll meet up with a long lost friend in Egypt's second city, Alexandria, concluding in a Erasmus Rennesunion#3 for me!


Some people where quite ancious when I told them I'd be travelling to Egypt, part of them being the parents (but hey, you'd expect them to say that) but even some of my colleagues made the remark... I promise to be careful guys! Well... at least when I sleep! To put these people at ease, I dedice to do a fully guided tour around the country. This means that all transport and hotels are booked in advance and we have a proper schedule to hang on to, altough you always get to have proper time to chill out on your own or in smaller groups. I'll be travelling with : Joker, a belgian organisation for adventurous trips, in cooperation with Intrepid, offering the Explore Egypt Trip. As shown on the picture, we will be travelling throughout the centre and west of the country, hopefully without meeting too many tourists, as I always prefer discovering new places with natives, rather than with the regular tour busses around you.


#NAA15

Beneath you can see the, by now, traditional picture of my backpack for yet another trip. I finally managed to get the flags of countries I've visited over the years on my backpack. There are still some missing though... Egypt will be country nr. 31! I will try to blog as often as I can, but need to go now. My plane's about to take off! 


_safe travels!


Traditional picture of all that comes along the trip All necessary info about Egyptian diplomacy etc., can be found here: Belgian Diplomacy for Egypt
Oh, and by the way: #NAA15 stands for North-African Adventures 2015.

Life as an exchange student

Exchange year is not an easy thing, 

but through those different experiences, 

you learn how to stand on your feet. 

Every year, around summer time, I am remined of how excited I was to be able to leave to another country, another culture and another family. "This is a movie about exchange students in Denmark, from all over the world they are telling their experiences about their lives as an exchange student." Watching this video, reminds my of my experience(s) in Austria, Argentina and France, reminds me of how crazy those times were and reminds me of how much I have learned from it. Still every day I remind myself that I should thank my parents and family to have given me the chance(s) do to basically whatever I have wanted to do. I am not living in the past, but I do realize that all the things that happened to me made me the person I am today. 

Life as an exchange student from Wilma Rönkä on Vimeo.

And while you're at it, read (and share) the following text as well.

Erasmus 24_7 - Promo Indiegogo

I'm supporting this, are you? Like their page!

Erasmus 24_7 - Promo Indiegogo

from Stefano De Marco on Vimeo.

International Workshop – USA 2013

USA 2013 - International Workshop

Two weeks of intense intercultural branding, experiencing and business gaming. 

That's what I'm going for.

More than 30 people from KHLeuven University College applied with a motiviation letter. Mine, which you can read down here, enabled me to end up within the last ten. Unfortunately only six people are allowed to go. Therefore I will have an interview with the responsible professor somewhere this week. #USA2013!

MOTIVATION LETTER : THIBAULT SCHROVEN - INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP

After seeing the presentation concerning the business game and exchange in the United States of America, I knew right away I was going to apply for the program. It just sounds so great and instructive that I can’t imagine someone not wanting to experience a two-week exchange with students from across the globe!  I would be honored if I would be given the chance to represent our country and college abroad. Also, I am convinced that I will learn a lot during these two weeks. Not only about business and management but also about the United States, the American culture and lifestyle and the ideas, habits and experiences of students from other nationalities competing with us during this International Workshop.

Thibault Schroven: who am I?

I am a 22-year old student of Advanced Business Management, majoring in Marketing Communication (BABM). Last year, I graduated as a Bachelor in Marketing, also at the KHLeuven. During my previous years here, I have already represented our college in Finland, during the International Marketing Week in Lahti (2011), in the Netherlands, where our team was one of the finalists of the HBO Talentenprijs in Groningen (2012) and in France, during my Erasmus semester at the ESC Rennes in Brittany (2011). All these times I had the pleasure to represent our college and meet new people from all over the world. I think these experiences might qualify myself as an ‘Experienced (International) Business Game Participant’.

But it is not only thanks to the KHLeuven that I am internationally oriented. When I was only 16, I spent a semester as an exchange student with AFS Intercultural Programs in Austria and after my high school I went on another exchange to Argentina, where I lived for 10 months and learned Spanish.

Why I believe I deserve a place in the KHLeuven – USA team

I can be clear about the fact that for me, there is no issue to start talking with total strangers and to learn to live and work together with them. I enjoy facing the unknown, taking on new challenges and hoping for the best, which usually means living and feeling an extraordinary experience which enriches me as a student and as a person.

Whenever I am around a group of people, I easily adapt myself to their culture and way of living, without forgetting where I am from or who I am. I will easily connect to them and I am convinced that if I would be on board of the plane which is going to bring the KHLeuven students to the USA, all the participants won’t easily forget about “the Belgians”. I will ensure that by the end of our two-week trip, they will know all about our chocolate, beer, governmental system and our importance, as capital of Europe, for the European Union and the world itself.

Thanks to my previous experiences with (international) business games, I am already aware of how these work and where I need to pay attention. I am not only willing to go to the USA to represent our college, I want to go and perform the best I can in order to win this competition!

3 Positive points of myself

As stated before I am an active, motivated an life enjoying young man from Sint-Katelijne-Waver during the beginning of my years of maturity. My greatest motivation is my will to absorb (intercultural) business experiences and meeting new, interesting, open and broadminded people with different backgrounds than my own. In order to reach my goal, I enjoy using different languages and ways of living that I don’t always, but every day a bit more, master well. As stated before, I am very proud of being a Belgian and I am super motivated to perform well in a multi-cultural environment. We are living in a globalizing world but it is my opinion that we must never forget, nor neglect, where we are from.

Secondly I am very well at performing in groups. I have been active in the boy scouts and now I am a volunteer for AFS, which implicates organizing weekends for youngsters and work together with others to make these events the best. Another of my positive points is my multilingualism. Broadly taken I speak five languages:  Dutch, French, Spanish, English and German. This means that I’ll be able to speak to a lot of the students in their own language which will facilitate our communication and enable us to get to know each other faster in order to work better during the group work.

2 Negative points of myself

One of my negative points is that sometimes I can be very impatient. When I work, I want to work effectively and efficiently and for me there’s no time to fool around. I want to finish the job as soon and as good as possible.

Secondly I find it hard to critically evaluate myself. I have no problem with judging and evaluating the performances of other people, but sometimes I catch myself on critically evaluating co-students for doing things I do as well.

Ideas for a Belgian evening

One of my ideas would be to teach one verse of our Belgian national anthem (both in Flemish and French) to our fellow students. I would hand them out the lyrics and teach it to them. This will probably lead to funny and weird expressions on the faces of co-students, but will be very entertaining for  us all.

A second idea would be to present Belgian specialties, like our fries, chocolate, beer, the Atomium, Bruges, Manneken Pis,.., etc. by playing the world famous game of Pictionary.

I would be very delighted if I would be allowed to travel to the USA, a country I don’t know yet, and participate to this International Workshop. It would be the perfect opportunity to see if, after four years of KHLeuven, I am able to work professionally with a team of people whom I’ve never met and ensure that my knowledge helps to improve the final result of our team. Obviously I hope that this letter was able to convince you of my motivation to be a part of this trip to represent KHLeuven and Belgium in a foreign country. I sincerely hope to get to know the USA in a different way in 2012 because I am sure that this unique experience will certainly help me in my future career. As I state on my weblog (thibaultintheworld.blogspot.com):Experiences are the key to success.

Yours faithfully

Thibault Schroven

Marketing Communication (BABM)

Advanced Business Management

The Life and Musings of Oliver R Lloyd III: My Erasmus Story

Check out this link and read the following post:
The Life and Musings of Oliver R Lloyd III: My Erasmus Story

This post was written by Ollie R. Lloyd, a Welshman and one of my friends during my Erasmus exchange at the ESC Rennes, last year. He entered a competition on his Erasmus experience and I must say that I totally get how he feels and share his opinions on this. Read it. & be convinced: Erasmus is the sh*t.

ESC Rennes - Sans Frontières

Motivatiebrief MICA (Lessius Mechelen)

So... last week I decided I might be interested into following the MICA-studies at Lessius Mechelen (Manager in Interactive Communication), a one year postgraduate.
Today, on the last day of the deadline, I sent in my CV and Motivation Letter and I thought I'd share it with the world. (Sorry, it's in Dutch)

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Motivatiebrief Postgraduaat MICA Lessius Mechelen 20 Augustus 2012 Thibault Schroven

Motivatiebrief MICA – Thibault Schroven

Als er iets is wat ik ongelooflijk moeilijk vind, is het wel het schrijven van een motivatiebrief. Uiteraard is het belangrijk dat iemand zijn sterke punten kan neerschrijven, en dat ga ik in deze brief ook doen, maar toch vind ik het ergens moeilijk om mijn kwaliteiten neer te schrijven. Mijn ijdelheid wat extra boosten is niet waar ik op uit ben. Ik wil namelijk straight to the point komen: zeggen waarom ik vind dat ik een plaats bij de 15 MICA-studenten van 2012-2013 verdien. In deze tekst ga ik uitleggen waarom ik, Thibault Schroven, graag aan de Lessius hogeschool zou komen studeren.

Deze brief is dan ook opgedeeld in twee delen: een deel waarin ik schrijf wat ik te bieden heb, waarin ik mijzelf voorstel en uitleg waarom ik denk dat ik beter ben dan andere kandidaten, en een deel waarin ik opsom wat mijn verwachtingen van deze studie zijn. Want uiteraard wil ik op het einde van deze rit, op het einde van het schooljaar, het gevoel hebben dat dit jaar een meerwaarde was voor mij en mijn toekomstige carrière.

Wat ik MICA te bieden heb

Als afgestudeerde Marketing-student van de KHLeuven, ben ik vertrouwd met alles wat met marketing en bedrijfsmanagement te maken heeft. Kotler kent voor mij geen geheimen meer en ook Microsoft Office en efficiënte bedrijfscommunicatie zijn zaken waar ik een meer dan gemiddelde kennis van heb. Het is de echte toegepaste praktijk van al die theorie die ik nu zoek.

Tijdens mijn deelnames aan het AFS-uitwisselingsprogramma, een trimester in Oostenrijk in 2006 en een jaar in Argentinië in 2008-2009, en het Erasmusprogramma, in Frankrijk in de herfst van 2011, heb ik laten zien dat ik mijzelf snel kan aanpassen aan andere talen, culturen en leer- en werkwijzen.

Ik ben niet alleen zeer internationaal gericht, maar heb ook verschillende malen succesvol deelgenomen aan verschillende marketing- en businessgames zoals: KHLeuven Business Game Award (finalist 2010), International Marketing Week: Environmental Marketing (Finland, 2011), HBO Talentenprijs (finalist, Nederland, 2012) etc. waardoor mijn kennis en capaciteiten van de marketingwereld drastisch uitgebreid zijn.

Tijdens mijn studies aan de KHLeuven heb ik ook de kans gekregen om aan een bedrijfsstage deel te nemen. Tijdens mijn twaalf weken durende stage bij het teleshoppingbedrijf XXXXXXXXXX, bekend van XXXXXXXX op televisie, heb ik de echte praktische kneepjes van het marketingjargon in de bedrijfswereld leren toepassen.

Mijn sterke punten zijn dat ik een sociaal persoon die verschillende talen, Nederlands, Frans, Engels, Duits en Spaans, vloeiend spreekt en deze ook actief gebruikt. Ik ben een goed planner en neem vaak het initiatief in de organisatie van kleine en grote projecten zoals weekends, evenementen, etc. Ik ben een vrijwilliger bij AFS interculturele programma’s vzw en help daarbij jongeren om zich voor te bereiden op hun uitwisselingsjaar in het buitenland. Verder ben ik actief bij een studentenclub waar ik al quaestor voor was. Dit bewijst mijn drang naar correctheid en perfect, de clubkassa is immers datgene wat al de rest beïnvloedt. Volgens mij blijkt hieruit dat ik een creatief en nauwkeurig werker ben die regelmatig en graag leidinggevende taken op zich neemt. Toen ik nog bij de Franstalige scouts zat, was mijn totem adjectief niet voor niets ‘zélé’, wat zoveel betekent als ijverig.

Mijn zwakke punten zijn wellicht uitgebreider in aantel dan mijn sterke. Maar ik denk dat het normaal is dat iemand zijn sterktes makkelijker en beter in de schijnwerpers kan zetten dan zijn zwaktes. Ik ben een ongeduldig en onrustig persoon die snel afgeleid is als het niet vooruitgaat. Ik kan andere personen wel snel en kritische evalueren, om bij mezelf hetzelfde te doen ontbreekt mij echter nog wat kritische analysedrang.

Deze zwakkere punten nemen echter niet weg dat ik enorm gemotiveerd ben om van mijn MICA-studies een uitstekende en leerrijke ervaring te maken. Ik ben bereid om te werken en te studeren om op het einde van het jaar een mooi rapport te kunnen voorleggen. Niet alleen voor mijn ouders, de school of het bedrijf waar ik stage zal lopen, maar ook, en vooral, voor mezelf. Want ik vind het nog altijd het belangrijkst dat ikzelf het gevoel zal hebben, na een jaar werken en studeren, dat ik iets bijgeleerd heb dat mij later in mijn carrière ten goede zal komen.

Wat ik van MICA verwacht

Meerwaarde

Het is logisch dat ik verwacht een meerwaarde te zijn voor een bedrijf na mijn studies aan de Lessius hogeschool. Ik ben ervan overtuigd dat ik dankzij MICA mijzelf zal onderscheiden van andere sollicitanten in een bedrijf.

De gedoceerde vakken interesseren me en ik ben ervan overtuigd dat de lectoren uit de bedrijfswereld, stuk voor stuk kenners van hun vak, hun kennis op een intrigerende manier zullen overbrengen. Het hoofdvak voor MICA is Project Management. Volgens mij is management één van de pijlers van een bedrijf. Het is essentieel dat het een team vormt met werknemers om op een efficiënte wijze een bedrijf goed te laten functioneren.

Ook sociale en interactieve aspecten komen aan bod. Beide onderwerpen zijn interessant en zullen in de toekomst een grote invloed hebben op de manier waarop bedrijven zullen communiceren met de consument.

Intens

Zeven weken les en maar liefst twintig weken stage. Het is duidelijk dat mij een intense en leerrijke ervaring te wachten staat. Hoewel ik aan de KHLeuven ook een stage van twaalf weken heb doorlopen, vond ik dat ik op het einde nog dat beetje meer ervaring miste om mij op te arbeidsmarkt te kunnen onderscheiden. Ik hoop dan ook tijdens deze opleiding een functionele en passende stage te lopen die mijn carrière een boost zal geven. Ik ben bereid om mij hier helemaal voor in te zetten en zal mijn uiterste best doen om een positief eindresultaat te kunnen neerzetten.

Concurrentie

Alleen de beste sollicitanten, de uitverkorenen, mogen deelnemen aan de MICA-opleiding. De eis van Lessius om een motivatiebrief en CV door te sturen en een sollicitatiegesprek te doorlopen voordat ik nog maar aan de opleiding kan beginnen, is een duidelijk voorbeeld van deze competitie. Het is voor mij een eer dat ik deel kan uitmaken van deze voorselectie, maar ik hoop uiteraard dat ik uitgenodigd zal worden voor een sollicitatiegesprek. Tijdens dit sollicitatiegesprek zal blijken dat ik over capaciteiten beschik die een voor bedrijf zeker positief zullen uitdraaien.

Ambitie

Hoewel MICA nog maar vier jaar bestaat, is het duidelijk dat Lessius, samen met de betrokken stagebedrijven, een duidelijk doel voor ogen heeft: jongeren een kans geven om in de toekomst een duidelijk verschil te maken als Young Manager in Interactieve Communicatie. Ik deel deze ambitie en wil graag deel uitmaken van dit project. Ik wil graag dankzij MICA nog meer ervaring opdoen, want dat is waar bedrijven vandaag de dag naar op zoek zijn: gemotiveerde jongeren met ervaring.

Zoals mijn eigen levensleuze luidt: Experiences are the key to success.

EEET2012 – Day 13-14 – End of Poland and trip to Munich (Germany)

I’ve written several blog posts in the past few days, so if you’ve missed out on checking my blog, be sure to scroll down and click on the titles of every post you might’ve missed. I can assure you that the Krakow and most of all the Auschwitz–post are sure worth reading…

When we returned from our trip to the concentration camp, we were all a bit depressed. We finished some administrative work (like checking bills, sharing costs, etc.) and decided that each of us needed some time to rearrange his mind. Everyone got into his own world, some read, others went out for a walk in the city, others slept and of course Facebook was checked by all of us.

We had bought a bottle of wodka and this bottle was actively going around, occasionally being mixed with fake Fanta (0,6€ for 3liter!). Around midnight we all decided we needed to leave the apartment to get some fresh air and we found ourselves in a ‘shotbar’. No, this was not a bar where people were shot (I think), but you could buy ridiculously cheap vodkashots, and cocktails-based-on-vodka-shots there. For €12,5 we got 24 (not kidding you!) shots and the five of us put them down one by one. After some more chatting there, we went back to the apartment and hit the bed. The next day was a big chill-day. The original plan was to go to the Tatra-mountains, but the weather was not good enough for this, so we decided to go to a big hill, next to Krakow and chill out for the afternoon. That’s where I started writing both previous posts.

The view from the afternoon @Krakow - Poland

In the evening, just before midnight, something unexpected happened! All of a sudden Thijs, my ginger buddy from Holland whom I had met in Argentina on the AFS Trip To The North (halfway the post) back in 2009 and whom I had seen only a couple of times since, was in Krakow at the same time as we were! He could stay over as well and he told us all about his roadtrip (Holland-Gdansk-Torun-Krakow-Holland) and we told him all about our EEET2012… Extremely weird but so awesome to meet up with him again in the far south of Poland.

On Monday 16^th of July, day 14 of our EEET2012, the next phase of our trip began. On to Munich, Germany! I know, I know, we were supposed to pass by Brno (Czech Republic) first, but trains don’t always work the way we want them to, so we had to cancel that idea. We went straight to Munich. The train would’ve taken us from Krakow-Berlin and Berlin–Munich, in seventeen hours for +180euros pp. We decided to check the planes: we found one for 137,6€ pp. But wait, don’t you think “Wow nice, by plane from Krakow to Munich, that’s easy! Not so adventurous, but convenient nonetheless.” I can say you: this was probably the most adventurous travelling day, concerning flights, in my life. We did not have a direct flight, neither did we have to change once in some airport. No, dear readers, we had to change TWO (!) times to get to fu*kin’ Munich! And all this in a total of less than 7 hours! Thanks LOT – Polish airlines, even the hostesses at the airports declared us crazy (Katowice is only 81km from Krakow), but hey it’s not my fault that eDreams came up with that as the cheapest option!  Check the map.

We got to Munich around 21hr and, after Toon declared the loss of the rain protector of his backpack, it took us about 1,5hr to get to the centre of Munich, where we were perfectly (read: with a beer) received by my other awesome roommate from Rennes: Sebastian! Munich it is!

PS: pics will follow.

peace out_


Toon&Thibault

Someday we will.

EEET2012 – Day 12 – Auschwitz-Birkenau (Poland)

“Kto nie pamieta historii skazany jest na jej ponowne przezycie” / “The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again” – George Santavana

(Imagine a sinister sound like ‘Jaws’ or something) 

Everybody thinks this is the entrance to Auschwitz,
while it's actually the view for the Exit of Birkenau 

It is a black page in (German) history, but after all still a well-organized extermination, an example of what mankind is capable of doing, a nightmare to many, it is: Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Everyone has heard about it, few people I know have actually been there. I would say it’s a must do. THE AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU CONCENTRATION CAMPS.  A sinister place where millions of people found death and despair, many more lost relatives or friends, and world history was influenced heavily by their existence. I can say you this after our visit:  it’s worth every zloty you pay.     

Basically Justyna, Billia, Laura, Toon and me took a bus on Saturday morning from Krakow to Auschwitz, which took about 1,5hr –we wanted to take the train to Auschwitz but this was not possible at that time, normally you can do this though-. Once arrived, we noticed we weren’t the only people here.  I am pretty sure that several thousand people per day visit one of the biggest graveyards in the world. Yes, the concentration camps are seen as one big graveyard, as the victims were not buried but burned to ashes.

Note to myself (& to the world:) I was there as a tourist

For about 30 zloty -7,5euros at the time- per person, we got into a group of visitors with an English-speaking guide. We started at the famous ‘ARBEIT MACHT FREI’-sign and went into the actual concentration camp of Auschwitz, which at the time was a prison for about 10 000 people, mostly Jews, Soviet Prisoners Of War, delinquents, etc. Thanks to the Polish government, the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau are almost perfectly preserved and in some of the old buildings, exhibitions take place all year long. We got to see how people ‘lived’, what they did and even the ovens were shown to us. It was so surreal to see all this and I didn’t always take pictures because I just couldn’t bear the idea of making pictures of places where thousands, even millions of people had suffered so hard. –That’s also why the pictures you see here are quite ‘censored’.

After a 2,5hr tour we got back to the main entrance and were given some time to buy souvenirs (Who the F* wants to buy postcards from Auschwitz???). Toon and me both bought a book with pictures etc.  After that we took the shuttle bus to Auschwitz II, also known as Birkenau, 3km from Auschwitz I and way bigger. There was room for 100 000 prisoners (!!!) on the 150hectares wide terrain. 14km of barbed wire was preventing them from escaping. Four ovens could murder over 5000 people at once when used at the same time. At its highest point, more than 10 000 people arrived a day per train (up to 100 people in one wagon), making it impossible to organize the camp in any way –good or bad. 10 people had to sleep on 2m², ending up with +700 people in one barracks.

I know, these numbers are hard to understand. I didn’t get them either before. But now I’ve been there. I’ve seen the pictures of victims. I’ve seen their possessions, taken away from them brutally by the Nazis. I’ve seen their clothes, shoes, jewelry and things I’d prefer not sharing with you online. I’ve seen it all. And I’ve learned a lot. It got Toon and me quiet (And everyone who knows either of us, knows that we do not easily become silent). The brutal truth hit us. It is true.

A couple of days ago, the leader of the Greek extreme right nazi-party, said in the Greek parliament that the concentration camps were a lie. I would recommend him to go there and see for himself, at least he would see it, hopefully it would change his mind and definitely he will lose some weight while walking along the hundreds of meters of barracks and kilometers of barbed wire. 

peace out_

Toon&Thibault 

Auschwitz' streets and barracks

Map showing the origin of prisonors of Auschwitz

Zyklon Gas B - used capsules

Hallways full of profiles/pictures of (mostly Jewish) victims

EEET2012 – Day 11 – Krakow (Poland)

View from the train to Krakow

On the 12^th we all left Poznan and the eight (Wojciech, Justyna, her boyfriend Billie, Laura, Silke, Liesbeth, Toon and me) of us took the train to Krakow. A seven hour train ride and several games later we arrived around 11.30 P.M.

On Friday we did a Free Walking Tour with a guide so active, he must’ve been on drugs… haha. During a 2,5hr tour we saw most of the historical city centre of Krakow and the Wawel castle, just outside the centre. It was a very nice tour, teaching us the history of the city and its people. I had a very good time walking around with my friends and looking at the buildings and monuments. But… I must say: my expectations of this city were higher. Don’t misunderstand me, I liked the city and the people I was with during the tour. But after hearing so many people and tourists talk about Krakow, I just thought this city would be as ‘amazing’ and ‘astonishing’ as they had told me. Too bad I didn’t feel what so many other visitors of this fine city felt. Maybe it’s because I’m used to old and beautiful cities, like Bruges (How-I-Go-Through-Bruges), but the city did not meet my expectations. Pitty, because it was actually the first city on EEET2012 for which I literally had expectations at all. I must repeat: it’s a nice city yes, but not as awesome as many people say, in my opinion. [See pictures down]

"Liesbeth is coming out of the closet"

After the tour we had another Zapiekanka, half a baguette with melted cheese and different ingredients on top. Sort of like with a pizza, where you can choose the toppings as well. We had a coffee in a bar which looked like the entrance to Narnia (see picture) and next some free time was used to buy some souvenirs, post cards, write these postcards, etc. before we had to head back to Justyna’s and Billie’s apartment, where we all stayed for the weekend (Thanks again for that you two, was amazing!), to pack up. Yes indeed, this was the end for two of our group already. Sad but true. Liesbeth and Silke were heading back to Belgium already. Silke had been in Poland for a week I think. Liesbeth had been with us since the very beginning of EEET2012. It was a hard goodbye but sometimes people need to say goodbye in order to be able to say hello again. Yessir, this means that we are already expecting Liesbeth’s reappearance at Pula in Croatia on the 23th. Can’t wait…

That evening we didn’t do much, we tried planning the weekend and our trip to Munich, which took us several hours (more on that in a later post). But it all arranged itself. My next text will be about Auschwitz. I felt the necessity to accord this daytrip its own post, you’ll see why when you read it.

peace out_

Toon,Liesbeth&Thibault

The main square of Krakow, biggest one in Europe, with the bar
where Lenin used to meet up with fellow future-sovjet-leaders 

Toon, just chilling near some fountain

Posing in Wawel Castle (I think that's the name at least)

EEET2012 – Day 9-10 – Poznan (Poland)

Picture of sunglasses?

On the 10^th we said goodbye to Pawel and Warsaw, a three hour train ride and some catch-up sleeping later, we all arrived to Poznan on our 8^th day of travelling. Wojciech’s mother was so nice to make us dinner, after which him and me drove to the airport to pick up Laura! Yes, yet another Erasmus friend had joined us.  Some nice drinking games with vodka later we hit the bed. A busy day was ahead of us.

 We all got up and had breakfast, takes some time when there are eight people willing to shower and eat…  Wojciech had arranged an awesome visit to the Lech brewery, a typical beer from Poland, like Jupiler in Belgium. At the end of the tour we got a free 0,5l beer. A nice gift after a two hour tour through a brewery. PS: All this for only 1,5euros… 

Group picture in a  huge LECH beer can

A quick KFC visit later, four of us, Liesbeth, Wojciech, Toon and me, went to an awesome water park. Slides and everything included. Note to myself: I love water parks. After some walking through the city, a small restaurant visit and a quick visit to Tesco’s (supermarket) which was interrupted by an employee of Tesco’s dropping a whole crate of chocolat boxes, causing an area of three m² to be full of chocolat, we hit the bed again. I was so happy after that day. I do love water parks 

The next day was dedicated to the actual visit of the city of Poznan, the economic centre of Poland and a fine city. I must note: Wojciech is a fine guide indeed! Thank you for that dude!

peace out_

Toon,Liesbeth&Thibault 

Walk on water

Belgian style

Group picture in front of the statue remembering the Polish risings against the Soviets

PS: I know I'm a bit behind on schedule. We've already finished Krakow, the next step on EEET2012, as well. I'll try to update that one tomorrow!

EEET2012-inbetween

EEET 2012-update: Auschwitz: I am not usually speechless, but I really have no idea what to say about this... Hitting the pub now to forget the WWII-madness - vodkashots please ..

Anyway, Poland is coming to its end, flying to Munich (Krakow-Warsaw, Warsaw-Katowice, Katowice-Munich) on monday, meeting up with Erasmus & argentinean friends.

Biergarten here comes Belgium.

EEET2012 – Day 6-8 – Warsaw (Poland)

Writing you the next part of EEET 2012 in Krakow.

After washing the first load of muddy clothes at Pawel’s place, we met up with Justyna and Silke who came over from Krakow. Next, Pawel’s mother made us some excellent typical Polish dinner. We then made a late-night walk through the ancient city centre of Warsaw, before being hit by a thunderstorm right above our heads. First time ever, that I actually remember, lightning struck right above my head. Crazy experiences indeed.

Citytripping at 11 PM

 The next morning, we met up with Wojciech and made a long trip through the city of Warsaw. From the city centre, with its National Museum of Science and Art – erected by the soviets, the national library, city hall, etc.  In the afternoon we had lunch and chilled on a beach, next to the river Wisla, which floats from the Tatra Mountains in the south, through Krakow and Warsaw to Gdansk in the north, and next to the new soccer stadium built for Euro2012. 

Colossal building, built by the Soviets - now the Mueseum for Art and Science

View from that same building

Group picture - Belgium and Poland

In the evening we went out to a so-called dodgy neighborhood in Warsaw where we drank some beers and met some random crazy Polish people. Intercultural experiences as they say.

On Tuesday we chilled out, packed our bags, bought a couple of postcards and went for a real ‘kalasjnikov’ (Mitraillette in Belgium, is called kalasjnikov in Poland…). At three we took a three-hour train ride to Poznan, first capital and economical centre of Poland and home city of Wojciech. That’s for a next post. It’s almost 1.30AM and tomorrow we’re going to discover Krakow! I’m off.

peace out_

Toon,Liesbeth&Thibault

EEET2012 – Day 2-5 – Festival Edition

After a good night of sleep in the River Side (motherfucker) hostel, we packed our stuff to head for the Heineken Open'er Festival in Gdynia. In the pouring rain, and after a quick stop at a monument which remembers the beginning of the end of communism and a picture next to a piece of the Berlin Wall, we took the train to Sopot, where we walked around for a while and enjoyed a nice hot chocolate. We met up with Pawel, my Polish Erasmus friend from Warsaw, who gave us tents for the festival and we hit the train again for Gdynia!

Piece of the Berlin Wall

Barely inside the camping site, we met up with three West-Vlamingen (Flemish guys with an accent we barely understood) and we decided to put up our tents next to each other.  I’m not going to write too much about the festival itself, most of you who know me, know how we roll: sleeping until the heat of the sun chases you out of your tent, having a beer for breakfast and chilling on the camping site until we want to see the first group. Not this time! Basically it was raining every morning when we woke up, and then 30°C for the rest of the day…  Beer, except for Heineken (but since when is that beer), and other alcohol is not allowed on the camping site. You’re not allowed to cook on the camping site either. Bands only start playing around 17hr, so except for a theater, a museum and a movie theater, there’s nothing to do around the festival until 17hr.  A festival site so big, that it takes literally 30minutes (without crowd traffic or whatsoever) to get from the main stage to the second biggest stage. And the worst is yet to come: on the festival site you cannot drink alcohol in front of a stage, you have to stay behind ‘Heras’-fences  until you finish your glass. Who invented that sh*t?

One thing they couldn’t help: rain, so much rain…: Mud was the bummer of the weekend

Anyone needs mud?

You need to wash?

Festival, belgian style

Good things are: International and local top artists for only 95euros for a four days festival, camping included. 1,5euros per 0,4liter of Heineken/ Desperados. A festival on a airfield, so plenty of space. Little crowd for all the gigs and big screens at all major stages, so you can easily be in the front to see your favorite artist or band. Two stages which are located INSIDE an old bunker where airplanes used to be put, camouflaged from radars and satellites: epic moments indeed. [And yes, they do know the Tetris dubstep remix here, as well as Gotye’s Somebody I Used To Know].

After realizing there was nothing to do around the festival during the day, we decided to do some sightseeing in the cities located around the festival site every day, before heading for the concerts at night. Our first stop was, yet again, SOPOT, known for its 513m long pier, it’s a quiet holiday town in the north of Poland. We chilled on the pier for a couple of hours before taking the boat to …. HEL! Yes, ladies and gentlemen this trio went on a boat to Hel and back! It was a 1,5hr trip to get there and unfortunately we only had 30mins to be in Hel –yes, it even was kind of hot there- -I even went for a quick swim in Hel, and then 1,5hr back. A successive excursion if you ask us. 

We went to Hel and came back alive.

Biggest pier of Poland - official start of EEET 2012

Port Hel - " we went by boat to Hel and back!! "

The next day, we just stayed at the camping site. We were going to sleep for a bit in the afternoon as we were still tired of the travelling etc., and Liesbeth and me were still exhausted from Rock Werchter festival in Belgium. But then again, we were on a festival… We met a nice Canadian (so nice Canadians do exist!) and chatted for like two hours about a lot of stuff. He and his brother have this pact with each other that they do one different festival every year. They’ve been going to a different festival every year for 13 years now. After all that chitchat, it was already time to hit the festival again, so no napping for us…

The last day of the festival we went to GDYNIA and mainly visited the beach, the port etc. Nice to see that in so little time, since the fall of the Berlin Wall, some cities have become so touristic and pretty – not that they weren’t pretty before of course-.

Sunday morning, we got up at 6.45 (!!), packed up our bags and tents and dragged ourselves to the train station of Gdynia where we took the train to Warsaw, together with Pawel. In Warsaw we then met up with Justyna, Silke (BE) and Wojciech, but that’s for the next post!

 peace out_

Toon,Liesbeth&Thibault

Off to the next city w. Tony Starr