International Workshop - German newspaper edition

I swear this is the last time I'll post something about it. But the German newspaper "Der Westen" has published an article on our experiences. Only posted on June 4th, one and a half month after the actual experience, but hey at least the Hagen College got  in it!

Probleme gelöst mit Teilnehmern aus sechs Nationen

Nivea Advertising - going viral

Don't you always wonder how they keep coming up with this kind of ideas?! 

International Business Case Competition 2012 - KHLeuven

This week all our Wednesday - Friday were cancelled because all Advanced Business Management - Marketing Communication students had the opportunity to participate to the International Business Case Competition, one of the qualification rounds for the NIBS Business Case Competition 2013. 

Twenty teams, consisting of 4-5 students, who came from The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium (KHLeuven) were devided into four poules had to solve one business case every day. Afterwards they had to present and defend it before a professional jury, consisting of professors, business men and ex-participants of the IBCC. My team, with a student from Germany (Carolin), one studying International Law (Evy) and another one Human Resource Management (Sophie) (KHLeuven), managed to win both on Wednesday and Thursday, and found ourselves in the finals on Friday afternoon. 

I must admit that our performance on Friday was far from the best one we had given, but appareantly we were the least bad of the four finalists and thus, after a brief discussion, the jury awarded our Team 15 as the

 Winner of the International Business Case Competition 2012 - KHLeuven (Belgium).

A selection of Belgian beers - what a gift for the winners !

Statement by KHLeuven University College

Banaba studenten geven beste van zichzelf in IBCC

Van 10 tot 12 oktober gaven de studenten van de Banaba Advanced Business Management het beste van zichzelf tijdens de International Business Case Competition.  In internationale teams, samen met studenten van Hogeschool Rotterdam, Heilbronn University en Zuyd Hogeschool, verdiepten de studenten zich in complexe business cases.  Na drie loodzware rondes werd het team vanSophie Noë, Evy Durwael, Thibault Schroven en Carolin Knödleruitgeroepen tot Champion of the 2012 International Business Case Competition.

Volgende stap is het selecteren van het Belgische team voor de NIBS 2013 Worldwide Case Competition, die van 3 tot 9 maart georganiseerd wordt.  KHLeuven is gastheer voor de 18de editie van dit wereldwijd event.  Meer info over de NIBS competitie vind je hier.

Team 15 

EEET2012 – Day 18 – Salzburg (Austria)

On the 19^th we said goodbye to our Argentinean friends in Tagmersheim and took the train back to Munich. We arrived there around 10P.M. and decided to have a bite near the train station. We bought a kebab, because we could AND because we wanted to try the Munich kebab. Sebastian, my German roommate in France, told us afterwards that kebab was originally invented by a Turkish guy in the seventies. People, be aware, one tip: do not ever eat kebab in Germany. Unlike in Belgium, where you can get around 10 different sauces on your kebab, here you will only get yoghurt sauce. (Dafuq?). Discusting as it was, we ate it anyway and headed to Sebastian’s apartment once more to rest out for the next part of EEET2012.

Where the F are we and what the F are we doing here? 

Day 18 was Austria-day. As we had failed to visit Brno in the Czech Republic we decided to go to Salzburg, Austria, instead as to ensure that we would visit 5 countries during our trip. We got up at 6.15A.M. (see mom,  I can get up way too early as well!) and took the 7.30 train from Munich – Salzburg. Once there, around 9A.M.-ish we put our bags in the lockers near the trains station. –Seriously people: if you have lockers and people can only pay with coins and none of the three closest bars/restaurant ‘have/want’ to change a note for coins, you should do something about it!- and hit the city centre.

Mozart and stuff

Around 11 we met up with Julia, one of my classmates from back in the days of AFS Trimester Program in Steyr, Austria! She had gone on AFS to the US and fell in love with the country. Toon and me were hoping she would show us the city, but she knew as little about Mozart’s birthplace as we did. That’s why at around noon we had figured out that we had seen everything of the city and we went to the park where ‘The Sound Of Music’ was filmed and had lunch. After some more walking around we decided to head back to the train station to maybe take an earlier train to Ljubljana, as this was our next stop on EEET2012. We said goodbye to Julia and headed back to the train station.

Unfortunately we were not able to change our travelling times, so we decided to stay in the McDonald’s next to the train station for 2hrs before we could set off to Ljubljana. To be able to get there we needed to change trains in Villach, Austria. On the way to Villach we were in a train full of Austrian festival-go-ers. Was nice to see that the festivalvibe is so strong in other countries too. But they were not going to a festival! They were all heading to ‘Grand Slam’ or something. Basically they would watch beach volleyball all day and drink while watching it. Not Bad I would say.

Once in Villach, and a few beers (and vodkashots given to us by these Austrians, who were almost forcing us to join them, but we didn’t) later, we got off. We decided to buy some more beers for ‘on the way’ and installed ourselves for another 2hours to Ljubljana. We were joined by a dutch couple and around 9P.M. we arrived at the Slovenian capital. What we did here will be for the next post!

peace out_

Toon&Thibault

EEET2012 – Day 15-17 – Munich and Tagmersheim (Germany)

On the 17th, day 15 of EEET2012, we were forced to get up around 7.30A.M., as our host, Sebastian, had to get to work early. We decided to go to Munich Hauptbahnhof and arrange our trip to Ljubljana right away. Which we did successfully, the seven hour trip would be done on Friday and we decided to do a six hour layover in Salzburg, to ensure that we visit five countries during our EEET2012. That was no problem. Unfortunately our search for free wifi failed there, so I was unable to update my blog before the next day.

Around 11A.M. we took a Free Walking Tour through Munich, hosted by a crazy Texan guy, called Austin (not joking you…). During a 2,5hour tour we got to see most of the historical city centre of Munich and learned a lot about Munich, Bayern and Germany. At noon we met up with Sebastian for a quick lunch on one of the many nice markets which Munich contains.

After lunch, Toon and me, decided to visit as much as was possible in one (short) afternoon. The English Garden, with its Chinese Tower, the Munich soccer stadion, Allianz Arena, the BMW-Museum and last but certainly not least, the Olympic village of the dramatic –remember the terrorist attack- Olympic Games of 1972. All these things were quite far from each other so after the Olympic Village, we decided to head back to the Hauptbahnhof and take our 1,5hr train ride to (train station: Dollnstein and then by car to) Tagmersheim.  

Allianz Arena - Bayern Munich

Chinese Tower - English Garden

Do not look to the back, as the future holds the answers

Why on earth would we go to a 700-people town in the middle of Bayern, you’re asking yourself? Good question! We went there to visit Segundo and Joaquin, two friends from Ameghino, Argentina! They are working there, together with three other Argentineans, as polo horse trainers. During six to eight months, they train the horses daily and play various tournaments, and in European winter they head back to Argentina to enjoy their summer holidays and play polo over there. Amazing place, where they are living at I must say. A completely renovated old Schloss and an amazing 25hectares of land surrounding it. I have to admit it, they have found themselves a good job for the next couple of months, maybe years!

After arriving in the train station of Dollnstein, Segundo came to pick us up and we went straight to a cheap and good Italian (and the only) restaurant in Tagmersheim, where we met up with everyone. Kate, Joaquin’s girlfriend, was also there. We had already briefly met in Ameghino in February last year, so it was nice to see this British Fraulein again as well. We had a good meal and when coming ‘home’ went straight to bed, sleeping until late the next day.

Argentineans, a Brittish and Belgians!

That next day was awesome. We had been travelling a lot the past few weeks, so two days of rest were more than welcome. And where better to rest than in a place, being hosted by Argentineans? At noon we had some delicious sausages with vegetables and potatoes (you see mom, we’re even eating healthy!) and of course the siesta was held as well. Next up was: horse practice. While the ‘big boys’ were playing polo, Toon and I each got a horse and we drove it easily and chill, with the occasional galloping of course, outside. A great day for horse riding actually. In the evening we chilled and enjoyed an evening outside in a pleasant summer temperature.

Next day was more or less the same story, although I would like to mention that we had (sort of) an asado (with hamburgers, so doesn’t really count), made by Segundo. Very nice indeed! Instead of riding a horse, I read a couple of chapters in my Lonely Planet - Eastern Europe during the afternoon, enjoying a mate or two. Around 7.30P.M., we said goodbye to Tagmersheim and my Argentinean friends –hoping to see them again sooner rather than later (except for maybe Joaquin, porque a veces es un poco boludo el pibe, jaja joda amigo!!) and took the train back to Munich, for another chilling night at Sebastian’s. Next stop: Salzburg (Austria) and Ljubljana (Slovenia)!

PS: in the 10 hours we actually walked around in Munich, we noticed not less than 34 Porsches. Those Germans and their cars…

peace out_

Toon&Thibault

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-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 0

This. Is. It.

Now this is not ‘It’, the famous last shows supposed to be presented by Michael Jackson, before he died, this is something way different.

This is the start of the EEET 2012.

What-the-fuck is that, I hear you say?

EEET 2012 stands for: Eastern Europe Eurail Trip 2012.   

Stuff to be packed.

A 27-day trip, on 2 planes, through (at least) 5 countries, (at least) 12 cities, on (at least) 12 trains and without a doubt endless experiences, meetings and stories to be told after this life changing event.  Well, life changing… Will it be? I don’t really know. Let’s be honest here, I’ve already travelled through 21 countries during my 21 years on this planet called Earth. I’ve had plenty of experiences, meetings and story-telling. My goal to visit at least 50 countries before I die is almost in its half. After July 2012, it will actually be over its half. Maybe I should adjust my dream... But let’s just see where we are when we reach 45 countries, right?

Enough said about how fabulous I am, how great my life is and how amazing the people I meet and make friends with are or have been. Let us look at the future... what will tomorrow bring?  No one knows. The only thing I know is that tomorrow, July 3^rd 2012, I’ll be leaving, together with Toon, one of my best friends, and Liesbeth, my girlfriend on a trip to Eastern Europe.  We’ll be going here:

The Trip.

Leaving by Ryanair from Eindhoven (NL) to Gdansk (Poland), heading for the Heineken Open'er Festival, meeting all my Polish Erasmus friends in Warsaw, Poznan –where German Mädchen Anja and Spanish chica  Laura will join us- and Krakow, travelling through the Czech Republic, meeting some of my best Argentinean friends and my German Erasmus roommate in Munich, travelling through Austria and Slovenia before enjoying a last week in Croatia visiting nice cities, beaches and hopefully with the occasional party.

I decided to do this trip after missing a visit to Argentina in January and after failing to find an internship in the United States this semester.  This trip is more or less as well the conclusion of my Bachelor studies of Business management with minor Marketing and Spanish at the Catholic College of Leuven, of which I graduated June 2012.

What’s next? What will the future bring? Where will I end up? Honestly, I don’t really care at the moment. The only thing I am going to do the next few weeks is enjoying my trip, enjoying my companions and trying to discover as many new things as I can: Europe’s biggest wooden pier, the world’s best know concentration camp, Croatia’s most beautiful cities… I’ll enjoy them all in different way.

For my followers or casual readers, I will try to update my blog as often as possible. I don’t know whether I’ll have internet every day, every other day or even once a week. But you may be sure that I’ll write down as much as I can, to keep you updated, to maintain the memories for me and also a bit to make y’all jealous! Haha

Let’s just say it the way it is: IT’S ON! 

                          

I was the best Secret Santa

Just for the record: this is the letter, reworked version of the Ten Commandments, I sent to my Secret Santa child. This is not a love declaration, although that girl is one who deserves all the love in the world. Most of you probably don't care, but I put quiete a lot of effort into it and didn't just want to lose it.

Enjoy: I Am the LORD thy God.

1.           Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Fail: you are a Goddess to your friends, so you are actually preventing them of only adoring the ‘real’ God.  You consider your friends and family as more important. But some people may see this as a good thing. At least I do!

      2.   Thou shalt not use the Lord's name in vain.

Fail: ‘Oh my god’, is a often used quote you use. As in ‘Oh my god’ that is so true!

      

      3.   Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Fail: you work when there’s work to do. Bad thing for God, good thing for your school and work results!

      4.   Honor thy mother and thy father.

Fail: you don’t only honor them, but your grandma as well. I am sure that, although she might not say it often, she loves you a lot and is very very prouf of het grandchild having this intercultural experience!

      5.   Thou shalt not kill.

Fail: you kill people with your adorable smile. Every time you smile the sun starts shining and when people see you walk by they cannot prevent themselves from taking over your smile.

      6.   Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Fail: with those passages at the twin party, the Barbie party and all other going out events -you dressed up nicely true- but you made other people have naughty thoughts. And for Secret Santa this is not a good thing to hear!

7.   Thou shalt not steal.

Fail: as said before, that smile, that perfect attitude of loving all your friends and family… you stole many people’s heart, or at least conquered a place for yourself in it. All the people who met you here in France, and in Germany as well for sure, love you exactly the way you are and are convinced that you will bring it far in your life! They just hope they can somehow, in some way, at some point, stay a part of it!

      8.   Thou shalt not bear false witness.

Fail: you always complain that you have a lot of work to do and that you’re tired. Although this might be true, in some way you always achieve to hang out with your friends. Your letter to me was very explicit over this, but you have to admit it; you make an excellent balance between work and friends, and I think that you are perfectly satisfied with this.

      9.   Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife/man

Fail: all the boys in the street look after you, you hot looking girl! So you make them love you. But maybe it’s not your fault, you simply are fantastic.

      10.               Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's property

Fail: If I remember well, as a child you wanted to live in a big castle, like a real princess. And just a couple of months ago, after wanting to live wherever ladybugs live. A couple of weeks later, you wanted to live in Barbie’s house. And I’m pretty sure that if you would see my house, you’d want to live in Secret Santa’s house!

So as a conclusion I think I can say that you failed at the big Ten Commandments test. But it’s ok Secret Santa still loves you and wants you to simply enjoy your Christmas time.

PS: Secret Santa Anja thinks Anja should be President, Bundeskanzler and of course housewife. As you will be awesome and succesfull at everything you will try in your life!

Miniatur Wunderland

Actually, the world is small...
Miniatur Wunderland *** official video 2012 ***largest model railway

One positive answer for Internship in Berlin - confirmation: unavailable

Dear Schroven,

thank you very much for your application. I would like to invite you for an interview.
We are looking for interns starting as soon as possible. We are a startup and do not know where we are going to be in February. 
There is happening a lot so I would kindly ask you to contact me again in two weeks so I can give you more details for February.
Are you in Berlin sometime soon? If yes let me know and then you can jump in for an interview, otherwise 
we will have a skype interview in December, ok?

Thanks again and all the best,

S.