AA15 - End Lyrics

Leaving Caïro on a Saturday morning was probably a good idea, since there was hardly any traffic when the taxi drove me to the Airport. A mere 100Egyptian Pound (11,5€) I was standing where the Egyptian Adventures started. Caïro Airport. Flying back to Belgium brought me back to reality. And here I am, back at work and everything continuing like nothing ever happened.

SEA2014 - End Lyrics

Being back after #SEA2014, it is not more than normal that I thank the people who have made this experience what it has been: magnificient.

Incredible India - Day 7: Looking for the Old & New in Delhi

 Took us a while to wake up on our seventh day in India. Well, we had to wake up at 4.30AM, maybe that's why... After a short night and another busride, we arrived at the Jalandhar train station to take the 6.30AM train to New Delhi! 

Doors do open while driving

Incredible India - Day 4-5: Sub-Himalayan Temple Monkeys

"Hindhi, Hindhi!", meaning the language Indians speak - but we used it as "Go, Go" or "Yes, Yes" or anything else that didn't make any sense at all saying it, let alone saying it twice... a dozen times a day. 

After a short night, every one was still tired from the previous' day trip, and packing a bag for a one-night stay, the whole group met up in the hotel lobby to leave for a two-day trip to the north. After, yet again, a loss of time due to latecomers, the group got split in to and we each hopped in a van not knowing what we had to expect. I can tell you, Indian roads and Indian drivers... not a joke... Shimla, here we come! 

Liverpool is where The Beatles rule

Next to offering a wide range of sports, business and social engagement opportunities, the International Office of Coventry University offers international students, as myself, the possibility of visiting various cities or landmarks around the UK.

This is how three Belgians -being Hans, Ben and me- ended up, on a casual Saturday, on a bus full of chinese students to Liverpool, home of The Beatles. The program was quite simplistic:

08.30AM Depart from Fairfax Street, Coventry

11.00AM (approx.) Arrive in Liverpool, Free time to explore the city

04.45PM (latest) Meet back at the coach

05.00PM Leave Liverpool
07.30PM (approx.) Arrive in Coventry

One Canadian night in Manchester

I’ve been living in Coventry for about a month now. University work is getting more interesting and more intense every week but also I am planning and trying to arrange to sneek in visits and sightseeing trips into my agenda. You can see where I’m going here… If you want to know more about my student life at Coventry University, I will have to dissappoint you but can reassure you that I am working on a, rather long, manual on The Student Life in Coventry: How to survive the first weeks. There is, however, still a lot of work to be put into that post.  This one is completely dedicated to MANCHESTER.

Why You Should Consider Travelling After University & Why I Am Combining Travelling & Study

The answer to the second part of my Title is easy: because it's cheaper. As for Part I:  As a, for me, great 2013 comes to an end, and everybody starts making lists, reviews, pre-reviews and more about the past 2013 and for the coming 2014, I as well am making big plans for the new year. Realizing that travelling and experiencing life the way I love to is expensive and thus inachievable without a good savings account, I decided to combine my future plans and dreams (of travelling the world, you know...) with my probable future in the marketing & communications sector. As off mid January I will start a Masters in International Marketing at Coventry University. So bring on 2014! 

16th International Workshop - USA: Part 7: Empire State of Mind

Press Play, Start Reading & Get Sucked Into 

my experiences in the Big Apple, also known as

The City That Never Sleeps

Times Square

International Workshop USA: I'm in!

Well hello to you Friday. Just got an e-mail: I'll be going to the USA in April 2013. 
Representing the Leuven University College at a 2-week International Business Game in Washington D.C., New Jersey, New York City... #USA2013!!

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

PSY-Gangnam Style (RaOn acoustic cover)

Sit down, lay back and relax.
[ Psy - Gangnam Style (RaOn acoustic cover) ]

µ

[Psy - Gangam Style (Mitt Romney Remix) ]

And now get up, start dancing and go nuts
[ PSY-Gangnam Style ]

Cuatro años atras cambio mi vida

Escuchalo, que te va gustar!

Mi querido Fl. Ameghino,

Hoy, 24 de agosto 2012, hace cuatro años que empezé la aventura más grande de mi vida. Salí por la mañana muy temprano de mi casa en Mechelen, llendo para el aeropuerto de Bruselas, Belgica. Vía Madrid llegé a Buenos Aires a las 22.00 de la noche. Era las 04.00 en Bélgica y estaba muy cansado.

Después de un campamento muy lindo con AFS Programas Interculturales Argentina, con chicos de todo el mundo, y de siete horas de viaje en colectivo llegé a Florentino Ameghino, mi secunda tierra natal. Ahi me recibio la familia Liébana, la mejor familia del mundo si me lo preguntes, y ahi tamién empezo mi verdadera experiencia de ser un chico de intercambio en un pueblo chiquito en las pampas de América del Sur.

Fue un año inolvidable con muchos encuentros que cambiaron, o por lo menos, influenciaron, mi vida. En la escuela Mariano Moreno nro. 3, en el club atletico, en el gimnasio, en el campo, en conciertos, durante noches que a veces tardaban hasta las nueve de la mañana, en las casas de mis compañeros y sus amigos, en Media Luna Polo Club, en casamientos de personas que ni conocía en esta época, durante muchísimos asados y durante mis viajes hacia el sur, el este, el norte y el oeste de Argentina La Linda, me hice amigas y amigos para la vida que hasta hoy influyen mi manera de ser. Me enseñaron tantas cosas que ni si quiero podría escribirlas todas.

Os quiero agradecer, amigos argentinos, por todo lo que hicieron por mi. Y espero que de alguna manera o la otra, también aprendieron algo de Europa, de Belgica y de mi.

Muchas gracias y hasta pronto espero.

‘Chau che’

El belga barbaro

EEET2012 - Day 25-27 - Zadar (Croatia) & End Lyrics

Put on a sad song to relive a happy memory.

The last few days of EEET2012, we stayed in Zadar as this was the city from wich we would take a Ryanair flight back to Belgium.

We arrived here on Friday night, after the canyooning, and found ourselves surrounded by at least 8 people offering their place or a studio to us. We decided to go along with a women who’s brother in law had a free floor. Yes indeed, for a mere 11€ per person we had a whole floor with 2large bedrooms, a private bathroom, a big living room (with huge flat screen) and a kitchen.  We took it straight away and headed to the supermarket, open until  at least 9PM in Croatia.  After coming back form the supermarket we watched the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics and we all, Liesbeth more than all of us together though, got excited about it.

The next two days, the last days of our stay, we did some sightseeing in the city of Zadar, really nice city –but rather small, and we hit the beach for some chilling and relaxing. Toon took part in the Millenium Jump while I was at the hospital, nothing bad though. I had around 15 splinters in my foot and we didn’t really know if the mussels and sea urchin, who’s parts were in my left foot, would be bad or not. Nothing bad, luckily, and we enjoyed our last days of EEET2012.

On Sunday night we were having our last meal in a restaurant, enjoying the sunset –known as one of the most beautiful ones of Europe, and it really was amazing!- when suddenly a friend of mine from KHLeuven, Maxime, yelled my name. They were having dinner right next to us, in Zadar, Croatia! He and his girlfriend had also made a trip around Eastern Europe through: Hungary, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia and they as well were flying back the next day with Ryanair! How small is this world, really !

So the next day we packed our stuff, left for the airport and flew back home. The end of EEET2012 had come to a beginning and while flying back home, and tacking the train from Charleroi-Sud to Mechelen, thoughts about a next trip were already popping up.

This trip, EEET2012, had been amazing. The friends I travelled with and met up with had been awesome. The people I met had been great. The places we've been to have surprised me in a way I can't explaing properly, although I did try writing about it on my blog. Everything, except for perhaps the budget, had gone more or less as planned, or as not-planned. I must say it was way better than expected. Thank God for that, wouldn’t you agree?

peace out _

Toon&Heike,Liesbeth&Thibault

Zadar, Croatia

Tony Starr, enjoying the sunset 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the end of my blogging on EEET2012. Maybe some more anekdotes will follow, we have some good ones, but they will not be related to the travelling as were the past posts. I hope that in the future, maybe, some travelers will read this and maybe use it for their purpose, enabling them to enjoy this trip as much as I have.  Thank you for reading you all. It really means a lot to me –a bit of commenting now and then wouldn’t hurt though! Haha. All the way down this post you'll find the map of the actual route we followed during EEET2012. Be sure to check it out!

Thank you Pawel, Justyna, Silke, Wojciech, Billie, Sebastian, Segundo, Kate and Joaquin.

And above all thank you: Heike, for finally giving us some peace of Toon who missed you terrible, thank you Liesbeth, for being the kind, cute and amazing support and girlfriend that you are, and thank you Tony Starr, for accompanying me all the bloody 27days from f*ckin’ Day 1 to day 27. I don’t know how you survived me and my bullsh*t but you did and you even smiled during it! So thank you all, because without only one of you, the chain, the line, the whole frame of this trip wouldn't have been the same...

peace out and cheerios_

Thibault

EEET2012 - the final edition map

August 8th

Well, thank you Google!

Today is also the day that Abbey Road by The Beatles was launched, so here's a song!

Road Trip #1: Luxembourg 2012

I should be finishing my thesis right now, but really don't feel like it. So I thought 'let's write about Road Trip #1: Luxembourg!"

Friday May 25th.: second to last week of my internship is done. After some drinks at dancing at the Plug In Festival in Mechelen, I headed to the last monthly meeting of AFS where we, the AFS youth comitee MEC said goodbye, but not farewell to our local chairmen. After some last drinks I headed home. An OD weekend was coming up. Now put on the Placebo-tune and read about my first-ever Road Trip! 

Saturday May 26th: A long night of sleep wasn't enough after a hard working week. PACK ALL THE STUFF ! and, after a quick stop at a restaurant, picking up the tents and chairs, we all met up at Pedro's place. Trying to put all the material in our cars. Liesbeth, co-pilot on duty, and I left fully packed to the pretty Am Aal. We stayed at camping Im Aal and from the moment we got there we knew it was going to be a crazy weekend. A part of the group had already arrived and they had installed themselves on a higher place, all the way in the back of the camping site right in the sun. When the third team got to the camping site we right away started of with a nice dinner, consisting of hot dogs and beer, and we installed ourselves for 48hours of perfect fuck-it-all-attitude. A long night was the start of it, argentinean and belgian flags, dutch and german people, our group and alcohol were the ingredients.

Picture of the 'Friendship'

Sunday May 27th: such a beautiful day to wake up in a tent. After a small breakfast and an amazing lunch we hit the road for a hike. Unfortunately, due to my leg being injured, we weren't able to walk far, but WOW, that region is amazingly pretty. Walking next to a river, over a dam and resting and chilling in an idylic meadow for a couple of hours, enjoying the view, the nature and environment and most importantly the friends. It was amazing indeed. The perfect afternoon for me, after having been locked up behind a desk for about two months in Brussels. At night, we got back to the campingsite but the sun had done its damage. Not only were most of us sunburned, but everyone was very sleepy. So we decided to go to bed early.

Monday May 28: after all the cleaning up, a small arguement with a luxembourg 'sect'-member and paying our stay to the owners -even this was an adventure, with a grumpy old dutch guy- we went to a nice lake for a swim and then headed back home. A long way back after a very nice weekend out.



Having been to Luxembourg makes, after Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Italy, five countries uptill today. Many more to come. Luxembourg 2012, might be the first edition of many, it was definetely the start of Summer 2012. And what a summer it will be...

Easter holidays are just for work.

Blow my ears up to an eargasm. No holidays, only work. #TekTVShopThesis

Triggerfinger's cover of Lykke Li's 'I Follow Rivers'

"Triggerfinger, de snelgroeiende Belgische rockband van frontman Ruben Block, pakte op de Nederlandse radiozender 3FM uit met een straffe cover van de megahit 'I Follow Rivers'. Een nummer van Lykke Li dat vooral in de remix van The Magician al enorm veel succes oogstte. Triggerfinger bracht een rustige cover, wat 3FM-presentator Giel Beelen "de fragiele versie" van de radiohit noemde. Daarbij doen ook de instrumenten die drummer Mario Goossens gebruikte -een mes, een kop en een theeglaasje- hun werk. (odbs)

12/01/12 19u42" (source: http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/946/Muziek/article/detail/1377831/2012/01/12/Triggerfinger-brengt-fragiele-cover-van-Lykke-Li-s-I-Follow-Rivers.dhtml )

Triggerfinger, a belgian rockband, covers Lykke Li's: I Follow Rivers!

Desde Belgica para Argentina

A mis amigos en Fl. Ameghino, y los en Argentina en general, les mando muchos saludos.

Lamento no poder estar ahi con ustedes este verano, pero no siempre se puede hacer lo que uno quiere. Ustedes saben que volveré seguro, pero ni yo se cuando.

Con este mensaje, os mando muchos saludos y os deseo un muy feliz Navidad y un prosper año 2012! Que el proxima siempre sea mejor que el anterior.

Ustedes cambieron mi vida, mi manera de pensar y mi manera de vivir. Ustedes son las personas que hicieron mi experiencia la mas buena de toda mi vida. Es bien y mal esto. Bien porque tuvé la suerte de vivir, trabajar, estudiar, festejar, viajar, reir, hacer deportes, llorar y todo lo demás con ustedes. Mal porque se que ninguna experiencia que viviré en mi vida; que aún no ya vivi -porque mi Erasmus en Francia también fue lo más- va ser tan buena como esta del 2008-2009, el año de mis años!

Muchas gracias por todo amigos ameghinenses, esta cancion se los dedico. Es de Selah Sue, una belga con mucha onda. Se llama Crazy Vibes, por los crazy vibes que me dan ustedes cada vez que voy por alla, o qu recibo alguien de ustedes en casa. Cuándo viene el proximo he?! Y esta cantante, lo linda que es!

Viva Belgica! Viva Florentino Ameghino!

El Mató A Un Policia Motorizado - Chica Rutera

This really is a roadtrip song. That roadtripping... I really want and need to do that someday, a lazy summer or autumn week. Just with some friends, take the car, some good music and off we are.

Cabeza Flotante - band from Fl. Ameghino

Website: < Cabeza Flotante: Ningún Lugar LP (2010) >

El Noroeste de la provincia de Buenos Aires, fue ilustrado , por el primer escritor pop de Argentina Manuel Puig, como una zona donde las nubes y el aire pareciera teñirse de sangre, lágrimas, amor y fiebre, pudiendo tomar por sorpresa a cualquiera que habitase dicha zona para bien y para mal.

Cabeza Flotante es una banda originaria de esos pagos geográficos, (Ameghino), que van a influenciar su música y arte. El campo, el romance, la tragedia de la periferia y su felicidad emífera, al huir para siempre hacia la Ciudad.

Integrada por los hermanos Lamothe, (Manolo en batería, Nacho en guitarras, teclados, programaciones, voz y coros, Antonio en guitarras, bajo, teclados, voz, coros y melódica, y Marcos en guitarra y voz), su música migra por momentos al dream pop de  principios de los 90’, y por otros momentos a la actitud más campestre, del folk rutero de los 70, de bandas como Big Star.

Así, con programaciones y suaves teclados y en sintonía con las influencias antes mencionadas, arranca el disco con “Abro Mi Placard”, y esa suerte de boggie romántico que es “Tus Ojos”, hasta llegar a “Lejos del Sol”.

Dicha canción, comienza con una estructura acústica, que cuaja perfecto con la voz, conjugando una postal de sentimiento eterno, dónde amor, distancia, romance y tristeza, remueve la tradición de que el amor de verdad se construye en transición o movimiento, y no como creemos la mayoría de nosotros en un mismo y solo lugar.

Luego pasan “De Acero”, “Tiempo”, “Cuando estas Acá”, todas en una misma sintonía agradable hasta llegar a “En tu Cabeza”, una pieza musical con tendencia al nuevo rock americano de los 90’, de bandas como Brian Jonestown Massacre, en dónde “el aceite borroso de las noches”, es homenajeado como purgador de todos los males y tristezas acumulados.

Así en el final del disco destacan, temas como “La Dueña”, “Los Ruidos del Mundo” y “Las Canciones”.

Quizá “Ningún Lugar”, más allá de ser el nombre del disco, representa un estado de ánimo, expresado a través doce canciones, que entre la añoranza, (por el romance que no fue), y la esperanza, ( por el amor que vendrá), dan cuenta que lo único que sigue importando más allá de todo y todos, son los sentimientos profundos que conmueven como el amor, y obvio, la buena música.

El disco fue grabado entre el 2009 y 2010, en el home estudio de Cabeza Flotante, ubicado en Parque Centenario.

Tracklist

1. Abro mi Placard (4:42)
2. Tus Ojos (4:06)
3. Lejos del Sol (3:06)
4. De Acero (3:56)
5. Tiempo (2:26)
6. Cuando Estas Acá (4:31)
7. En Tu Cabeza (3:57)
8. La Dueña (4:59)
9. De Noche (5:01)
10. Los Ruidos del Mundo (4:05)
11. Los Chicos (3:13)
12. Las Canciones (3:49)

Duración Total: 47:57