EEET2013 - End Lyrics

You are probably sick of it by now. Therefore this song. One more time, it is all about EEET2013. 

Eastern Europe Eurail Trip 2013 - End Lyrics

Are you ready to go?

Vive la France, again.

As a conclusion to our summer tripping of 2013, Liesbeth and I had a last week of full, relaxing holidays in Laboule, France. A great week in Mas le Braud, a former Auberge and/or farm with the 'family-in-law' was a perfect way to conclude our experiences of EEET2013.  

The Proof that Paper has a future

Well, the advertising is right. It's just... See for yourself!

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)

qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm

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.

Olliewood is right

" What I really enjoy lies outside the harsh business world. It's about writing, about meeting people with backgrounds completely different from your own, about seeing the world. I cannot be confined to the office. I do not know yet how I will get to do this for a living - but soon enough, once I manage to end my close friendship with Procrastination Jones, I will find a way. "

If you ever find out how, tell me I'll do that same thing but better!

Just to add something else: The Erasmus experience of a pupil from KHLeuven who went to Austria (Vienna) - Fall 2011. PS: dude, if you ever notice this. I must thank you for making it. You speak for all of us Erasmus people.

Eager for Easter: Rennesperience

As Easter was the beginning of my one week off from my Internship And because I was missing my Erasmus friends in Rennes, I decided to go back for Easter. On Friday the 6^th, after a hard day’s work, I took a Covoiturage, from Brussels all the way to Rennes, where I arrived around midnight. I was picked up by my former roommate Sebastian and by Mohamed Shams, both hadn’t changed a bit!

When we got ‘home’ to Avenue Winston Churchill 23, we met Silke and Anja from Germany. Happy reunion it was! We chatted a bit in ‘my old living room’ and then went to the city centre to stretch the legs. In ‘the-place-next-to-La Place’ we met Katie from Ireland and she guided us to La Place to meet up with Caroline, the other Irish Bitch! Some dancing and beers later we went back home to bed. The next day, Sebastian and me went to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for a delicious French brunch: Galettes!

In the afternoon I finally went back to ESC RENNES SCHOOL OF BUSINESS to meet up with all of my other friends whom I hadn’t seen yet: Rob from Cyprus, Ollie from Wales, Matt from England, Jose and Steph from Mexico etc. We played pool, Wii and Fussbal because yes, all these games are available at ESC Rennes. Why do you think I miss it so much?

At night I ended up eating Mexican with the Mexicans (no shit Sherlock) and Katie going to a house party, at which I literally gave beer to all of my friends, well I had found the beer somewhere else, it’s not like I’ve been paying of it !

The next day, Sunday, was a chilling day. Relaxing with friends at home, Macdonald’s etc. Sunday night we went for a small drink in Rue de la Soif. Monda morning I finally got a hold of Arsène, our French Culture teacher, and together with Ollie and Katie we met up at Place Saint-Anne for a hangover coffee. Yes, he’s still as crazy as before. (note to myself: less saying home, more going out for a coffee, meeting with friends or just reading a book!)
Next quotes came up during an extraordinary meeting:

• Mothers are like terrorists: they're all fine and won't hurt you untill you come into their kitchen and stat ordering them what to do. BUT: the world would be totally different without them, we all agree on that!
• I lived and loved and laughed and left

For lunch we had Galettes, yet again, and together with Katie and Ollie, and the others coming in later, we looked at pictures and watched the Erasmus Rennes Fall 2011 - Family video. Remembering good times, almost bursting into tears when realizing these moments are forever gone. 

In the afternoon Ollie, Mohamed Shams, Abdelrahmen (one of the Shams twins (yes finally met up with him!)), Katie, Caroline, Ollie and Sebastian joined me to Gares to say goodbye to me as I went back by Covoiturage; 70euros return from Brussels to Rennes, not to bad is it?

An awesome weekend had come to an end. It was very nice to see the remaining friends again, but it was oh so strange to walk by certain places, such as Kennedy station, and knowing that you won’t see Laura, Chris, Anja, Silke, Cintia, Tjitske, Atli or Katie coming up to join you to the centre. Or being at home and knowing that Pablo won’t come over for brunch. Or being at Saint-Anne, not going into Sunset or Latino Bar… Not waiting for Wojciech, Justyna or Pawel(he was in Poland for the week)…

Strange feelings, but real memories, shared with amazing people from around the globe. Eager for Easter was a crazy weekend, but it will never be able to replace Erasmus Rennes Fall 2011. 

Thank you people who were part of it, I do not need to say all the names because if you’re hesitating if you were part of it, you probably weren’t… 

Thank you for this Rennesperience and I hope to see all of you again very soon!

It's not out of sight out if mind, it's out of sight into the heart !

Eager for Easter!

Rennescity, prepare to be conquered by a belgian once again..

& this counts for AFS Austria, AFS Argentina & Erasmus Rennes

Experiences are the key to succes - Vive la France

Our Erasmus contact person, C. Saelen, from the KHLeuven International Department (ECHO), asked all the Erasmus students to write a review from their Erasmus. Sorry lads, this time it's in Dutch, next time will probably be in English again!

 Experiences are the key to succes.

Of ik geen zin had om op Erasmus te vertrekken? “Dit was zeker een retorische vraag!” dacht ik bij mezelf toen mijn ouders er voor het eerst over begonnen. Uiteraard! Na mijn vorige interculturele uitwisselingen in o.a. Argentinië, Oostenrijk en Finland zag ik een semester in het buitenland zeker zitten.

Waar ik graag naartoe wilde? Dat maakte mij eerlijk gezegd helemaal niets uit. Het is niet de bestemming die telt, maar de reis! Niet de plaats waar je bent, maar de mensen met wie je er bent maken je ervaring. Dat is zeker één van de dingen die ik geleerd heb in de hoofdstad van het Franse Bretagne, Rennes.

Uiteindelijk bleek dat ik toch een stad moest kiezen en dus koos ik voor Rennes omdat ik dacht dat de combinatie van Engelstalige lessen en Franstalige conversaties tussendoor een win-winsituatie zou teweeg brengen. Niet dus. Dat van de Engelstalige lessen klopte wel. Dat van de Franstalige conversaties tussendoor is er nooit echt van gekomen. Zes vakken volgde ik aan de, in Frankrijk, zeer gerenommeerde École Superieure du Commerce de Rennes School Of Business, kortweg ESC Rennes, een economische hogeschool met een kleine 3000 studenten, waarvan maar liefst 1/6 buitenlanders zijn. Vijf van deze vakken werden gegeven in het Engels. Dit waren vakken zoals Strategic Marketing, waarbij we leerden hoe een bedrijf zijn strategie het best kan ontwikkelen, en Entrepreneurship, waarbij we fictief bedrijf moesten uit de grond stampen compleet met boekhouding, marketingcampagne en productieproces en dit project voor een vakkundige jury van mede-Erasmussers moesten komen verdedigen. Het zesde vak dat ik volgde heette French Culture en werd toepasselijk genoeg gegeven in het Frans.

De lessen op zich verschilden niet veel van de KHLeuven-stijl. De lector legt eerst de theorie uit, aan de hand van praktijkgerichte voorbeelden waarna we, vaak in kleine groepen, met verschillende inzichten van studenten uit landen van over heel de wereld, de net opgedane kennis op cases toepasten.

Het grote verschil is dat de lesuren geen uur, maar anderhalf uur, duren. Ook is het niet ongewoon om, in plaats van elke week enkele uren van een les te geven, een vak in twee keer drie dagen compleet te geven, een zogenaamde ‘intensive course’. Het komt er dus op neer dat je van donderdag 13hr tot zaterdag 13hr heel de tijd dezelfde les, van dezelfde lector hebt. Dat was in het begin wel even aanpassen en eerlijk gezegd zie ik het nut er ook niet van in. Ok, je kan je nu langer met één vak aan een stuk bezighouden, maar 16hr of 18hr hetzelfde vak op drie dagen tijd was gewoon van het goede teveel.

Het voordeel van deze manier van lesgeven is dan wel dat ik, omdat ik drie van mijn zes vakken als ‘intensive course’ had en deze allemaal in september en oktober vielen, in november slechts zeven dagen les had. Een zee van tijd dus. En wat doet een mens met oveel tijd in het buitenland? Juist. De lokale cultuur opsnuiven. Uistapjes met Polen, Canadezen, Belgen, Brazilianen, Amerikanen, Chinezen en nog meer bekende en onbekende nationaliteiten naar typische en romantische stadjes als Saint-Malo, Fougères, Dinan en de wereldberoemde (in Frankrijk toch) Mont-Saint-Michel waren een deel van de lokale cultuur. Ook menige passages door de wereldberoemde (in Rennes toch) Rue de la Soif, zowat de miniversie van de Oude Markt is mij, voor zover ik mij kan herinneren, bijgebleven. Als echte organisatorische talenten, en met een knipoog naar de –toen nog in vorming- regering van België vonden een Duitstalige Belg en ik het een uitstekend idee om een Grand Tour de la Rue de la Soif te organiseren. Zowat een tour van de Oude Markt, maar dan wel in een internationaal kleedje. Vlaggen uit België, Frankrijk, Polen, Spanje, Ierland, Argentinië etc. werden bovengehaald en samen genoten, in het begin vijf en op het einde een kleine dertig, internationale studenten van elkaars gezelschap en de plaatselijke Stella Artois.

Cultuurshock in Frankrijk? Niet voor mij! Hoewel je bijna dagelijks geconfronteerd wordt met kleine verschillen tussen de lokale cultuur en je eigen cultuur in je dorp of stad in België, zijn de verschillen niet echt groot. Wat me wel duidelijk opgevallen is en me na een tijd ook begon te irriteren was de kalmte, en bijgevolg traagheid, van menig fransman. Hierdoor zijn, voor Belgen, essentiële zaken zoals administratie, correspondentie, etc., vaak later dan verwacht in orde, hetgeen tot frustratie kan leiden voor de controle- en deadlinefreaks onder ons. Een klein voorbeeld zijn de Franse banken. Wanneer je in België een binnenlandse overschrijving doet, kan je er zeker van zijn dat dit binnen de 24hr in orde is. Niet in Frankrijk. Het is normaal dat een overschrijving zo’n drie tot vier dagen nodig heeft voordat het geld, dat wel al van de afzender zijn rekening gaat op dag één, pas op dag vier effectief in orde is.

Een ander, mee cultuurgericht, verschil met België is het uitgaansleven. De cafés in Rennes sluiten, verplicht, reeds om één uur ’s nachts, hetgeen voor die-hard Leuven studenten in het begin wel moeilijk kan zijn. Gelukkig bieden de verschillende, soms gratis, discotheken soelaas, al moet je hier vaak meer dan het dubbele van op café, zo’n zeven à acht euro neertellen voor een pint.

Wat kan ik nog meer vertellen? Om eerlijk te zijn, ik zou over mijn Erasmus in Rennes een boek kunnen schrijven. Zoveel interessante, en uiteraard soms ook minder interessante lessen, mensen en ervaringen geleerd op zo’n korte tijd. Dat is waar Erasmus om draait. Een Erasmus student gaat niet enkel op Erasmus voor de lessen, hij vertrekt een semester of jaar naar het buitenland om zichzelf en de wereld te ontdekken. Na deze ervaring is geen enkele student nog wie hij ervoor was. Of je nu slimmer, groter, dikker of dunner, op alle vakken slaagt of niet, of platzak terugkomt na een unieke ervaring, maakt niet uit. Daar draait het allemaal niet om. Het is de ervaring zelf die telt: de mensen die je ontmoet, de ervaringen die je opdoet, de levenslessen die je leert, de plaatsen die je bezoekt en je doen beseffen op wat voor een prachtige planeet wij eigenlijk wonen, etc.

 Het is de ervaring van het zelfstandig beginnen leven, zonder je ouders die elk weekend je was doen wanneer je terugkomt van een weekje Leuven. Het is het wakker worden op zaterdag en weten dat je zo snel mogelijk je appartement moet kuisen om daarna met je vrienden te kunnen afspreken. Het is het genieten van elk moment omdat het veel te snel gedaan zal zijn. Het is representeren van België in het buitenland, met of zonder regering. Het is het kunnen uitleggen waarom het 541 dagen duurde voordat we een regering hebben. En geloof me, veel mensen wisten het, maar niemand wist waarom.

Voor mij was Erasmus een volgende etappe in mijn beginjaren van volwassenheid. Het heeft mij veel geleerd en ik ben blij dat ik andere mensen ook wat heb kunnen leren over mezelf, maar ook over mijn land.

Plannen om andere internationale studenten spoedig te bezoeken werden reeds gesmeed en worden zelfs al uitgevoerd! Egypte, Spanje, Polen en Canada hebben België reeds ontdekt en binnen enkele weken zal België de Spaanse hoofdstad Madrid ontdekken. En wie weet zal ik ooit de kans krijgen om al de landen waar mijn medestudenten nu naar zijn teruggekeerd te zien te krijgen. Canada, Noorwegen, Polen, Egypte, Korea, … het doet dromen. Dat is wat Erasmus doet. Het zorgt ervoor dat je bankrekening nooit meer dan vijf cijfers zal tellen omdat je tegen dan wel weer een Facebookvriend uit een ver land vindt die je wel eens zou willen bezoeken.

 

Vive la Belgique!

Vive la France!

Vive Erasmus !

Rennes: closing down session

First I thought, make new friends but keep the old. One's silver other's gold. But now you too are old friends, now you too are gold. 

- that's the quote I would use to describe all the friends and connections I've made these past four months in Rennes. Argentineans, Canadians, Americans, French, Germans, Belgians, Irish, Norwegian, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Egyptian, Brittish, Welsh, and all the other countries I've forgotten, thanks people.

Get started with the tunes I posted as well!

" First of all, for people who still haven't figured it out, if you click on the pictures they will enlarge themselves in a new tab! Secondly, as you might've noticed it's now possible to share/like/forward my posts via the buttons at the end of each post. Please feel free to do so, it's free! Thirdly, comments are very much appreciated and if you log in once, normally your computer should remember your information for next time! Forthly, if you see that words are written like this : Bold and red, it means that there's a link behind it, waiting for you to click on it. Do so, it will only enlargen your knowledge! "

I know, I know, it's been too long. But here you go: the closing down session of Erasmus Rennes Fall 2011.

Fuck, I just realized I haven't written anything at all since I got back from my Ireland trip: The fabulous adventures of chris, maxibaby, mi'hael, t-bone and two random Irish bitches . So prepare for a long post! What did I do since then?

After coming back we had to prepare a paper and presentation for the next day, which ended pretty good actually, thank you very much.

On Friday we went to the Transmusicales de Rennes, an anual festival in the city with bands from literally all over the world. It was sort of Gentse Feesten-ish, with bands performing on different places in the city. Some could be seen for free, others were not. As we were supposed to be studying we, Anja, Esther, Chris and me only went to see two bands: Isbells, a belgian band and Moss, a dutch band. They were performing for free and they were really good I think.

The next day, Max, Pedro (Brasil), Laura and me were invited to Arsène's house. Arsène was our French Culture teacher and he had, appareantly, really liked us as he invited us over for coffee and cake. We spent about 3hours with him and his wife, they live in the absolute city centre of Rennes, discussing exchanges, school differences in our home countries and other intercultural experiences, knowledges and interests. Fascinating how a bond with a teacher can be so loose, and that you feel like you could basically talk about anything with that person. But then again a teacher stays a teacher and you won't talk to him about what happened 20 years ago. Wrong. He showed us his pictures of when he was 'famous' in and around Rennes, the books he wrote etc. To conclude a fine afternoon with whom would probably be our favourite teacher, he gave me a book about French people making fun of Belgians and dedicated it!

Hey! What the Hell?! 6th of December: Saint Nicolas day in Belgium. And we have a government?? No way josé! Re you freakin' kidding me?! Meet our, named by the Independant (UK): "Gay-socialist-and-born-in-a-squatters-camp" new Prime Minister: Elio Di Rupo! Good luck man, you'll need it!

The week of the 5th of December my exams started. I had six exams on following dates 7-8(2exams)-9 and  13 (two again). I'm going to keep this short. The exams weren't as hard as at KHLeuven. For some exams we even already had the questions! Whatthehell,areFrenchESCStudentsstupid? For others we got 5 questions and only had to answer 3 out of 5.. I'm not saying it was easy, not at all, but to be honest: it was. We had no clue of what to study exactly and after every exam I had the feeling I had written even more bullshit than on the previous one, but I'm pretty sure I passed them all. I'll let you know in February, when I get my results. Exactly February. What the f*ck, ESCRennes. How slow can you correct exams? I mean seriously, two months to give us all A's?

Vive la France!

On the Saterday of the exam week, we all got together with the whole group to celebrate our own little Christmas party. We did something called Secret Santa. Everyone got to pick a name and during one week you need to be extra nice to the person whose name you picked. I picked Anja, the german girl, and I think I did pretty good, haha. I was the best Secret Santa.  My Secret Santa was Justyna, from Poland, who was the girl who put all the balloons in my room when I came back from Ireland. As it was also the last night we were all together, it was kind of awkward because none of us was able to fully get that it was the last night. Pawel, Polish, had brought his Brettoon flag and we all got to sign it. Chris' parents where there as well, telling us that they were happy for Chris to have met such amazing people and that now they understood why Chris was having such a good time. Well, they only said that after 8-ish beers, so not too sure if trollin' or not. Nice people those parents, I now know where Chris got his amazing hair!

After my last two exams, and having a huge fallback when hearing of the suicidal attack in Liège (Belgium), we prepared for the last days in Rennes. The last days of all of us together, the last days of Erasmus. We started Tuesday night of with a picture night. All of us had to choose their favourite pictures and then I showed them on a big screen with a projector. Of course this went together with the casuals glasses that were raised during our game. Check the next tune! After our picture game we left for the Rue de la Soif and ended the whole night in style taking pictures with containers, statues and cars. Driving home in a cab with a Canadian and an English lad, waking up without a girl in bed, unfortunately! Haha!

The next day Chris came by to say goodbye, he was leaving on a Eurotrip with his parents. Sad but true, he left and left all of us with more than a memory, he left us with a Canadian friend for life. Thanks for that Chrisso. Your smile, your hair, your laugh, your acting, your soccerskills, your going out nights when you go home early to watch hockey, our casual spaghetti dinners with beer and our going out evenings starting with some beers in the living room of Avenue Winston Churchill 23, etc. Yes, I am in love with you and yes if I were a girl I would want to make love to you!

After that me and Laura, not my roommate, the other one, had a crazy brunch with eggs, tomatoes, onions, cheese, toast and juice! Nextly we hit the city for a last afternoon of wandering around in Rennes. We tried to find some touristic shops, to buy gifts for family back home. Well we nicely failed in that. There are excatly two (of the same owner) souvernir shops which both sell rather stupid stuff.

In the evening I had dinner with Pablo, argentinean gigolo, when the spanish people and our holland friend-from Holland or Poland, or Poland and Holland, I would like to write your name but no freaking idea on how to spell it- and we started of for another night out with more strange happenings!

On Thursday I had to go to school to close my school account, as well as to fetch my paper that I was actually attending classes there. I finished doing all that around 4.30 and with Pablo we decided to stay at school until seven, which meant we played pool for about two and a half hours. At seven the Well'come Team had invited all the exchange students for a last dinner all together. As we are used to it it was: too little, too small, to little alcohol and to much bullshit. But then they started giving out gifts. Some people got an i-pod, a camera or a headphone! 'Yo, that's sick yo!' was Tam's first reaction when he heard he had won a headphone. After that we went to Appart'city, where a lot of Erasmus people lived and where the Belgian girls had organized a Predrink. Around ten thirty we went to the city to get the bus to the last Open Bar. And what an OB it was! People litterally suffocating while trying to get in the bus, French people singing songs in that same bus, electricity and music falling out due to a huge storm, crazy people jumping around in their underwear on the beats of LMFAO, walking home in the pooring rain and waking up after noon.. Johnny la gente esta muy loca. whatthefuck! One for sports:

On Friday it was, let's state it, an epic night which was 50% on my account. Thank you and no, I'm not going to be modest over this. It was an incredible night and I had the best time. I had the idea of organizing a dinner with all the Erasmusfriends, all together. On Facebook, the event I had created had about 50 people attending. But that's not all, another student from Erasmus had had the same idea and had also put a Facebookevent online. So we dediced to team up and expected about 65 people, which would've been crazy and fantastic. But what happened was beyond our expectations. Not less than 82 students showed up at the El Negocian restaurant! It was the perfect opportunity for me to stress completely as we had to make sure everybody would pay his all you can eat 20euros. A total of not less thant 1 640 euros was collected in cash and cheques. But after paying it all to the restaurant keepers and making their day for paying so much, I finally had the time to enjoy it. Being together with all these people with whom we had founded a strong friendship in not less than three months was a great experience. I got to talk to most of the people with whom I wanted to share one last dialogue, got to take pictures with some people I hadn't taken pictures with yet and got to see all those hot bitches who dressed up nicely for one last time all together. Because yes, I hadn't told you yet but we were dressed up. Like a Boss.

Avenue Winston Churchill 23 For the win

Jose, el mexicano, como dicen todos

After this amazing dinner we hit Rue de la Soif again before heading for Pyms, where we weren't allowed in because there was more than five, fifteen to be exact, of us and groups aren't allowed in. Say what? We tried, but they just didn't want our money that we were going to spend there. And we were all suited up, so it couldn't have been of us not being nicely dressed! All of that b*llshit taken care of, we ended up at our place, good old Winston Churchill with a McDonald's midnight snack and a good wine, discussing our past experiences in Rennes and planning future trips to visit each other soon again! As it was already ridiculously late we invited the whole lot to stay over and everybody slept on couches, extra matrasses etc. The next day we all woke up and made a big, I'm talking gigantic, amount of spaghetti and we mixed up all the vegetables that we had left to make a really good and pretty spicy sauce. By five, I realized that my dad was going to arrive in little more than two hours and I hadn't even started packing yet. So I opened my cupboard, got out the cardboard crates and started throwing all my stuff in it. When everyone who was still at our appartment, about 15 people, saw me doing this, the emotional moment came.

We put on what I like to call: 'makesyoucry'music like Coldplay, Adele, Jeff Buckley etc. and people started hugging, saying goodbye very emotionally and promising each other that they'd meet again. The beautiful part of this was that, as we all are close, it's very probably that we will meet again in the future. In one's homecountry or in a completely new environment. One thing's for sure. I want to meet you guys again, better sooner than later!

After the packing and my dad arriving, we had some last shots of Jose's Jose Tequilla and me and my dad went for dinner in the city after which I left him at the appartment and went out, one last time, with my Erasmusfriends, one last time all together, to the Rue de la Soif, for the last time. Amazing how many people you get to know in such a short time, amazing the bond you create with them because you are living the same experience and seeing each other six days ouf ot seven. And yet again we came home too late to be healty.

The next day me and my dad got up, way to early to be healty, and hit the road back to Belgium. With a small stop in Paris, to pick up a carriage, we got home at around eight pm in the storm. I came home with a luggage boot full of stuff, a symbolic backpack full of knowledge and experiences, a head full of great memories, a photoalbum full of pictures of Erasmus Rennes Fall 2011 and a address book (=directory) full of phone numbers and addresses of new made friends and connections to visit in the future.

A perfect end to a perfect experience. Thank you so much people. Thank you so much to all of you.

Vive la France!

PS:

- What did Rennes' bars offer me? 2Amstel beer glasses (no Stella Artois glasses where available), 1guinness glass (well that one's from Dublin), 3shotglasses (one from San Sebastian, thanks girls) and 1 Malibu glass (I don't even drink Malibu..). How and two crazy flags, unwillingly donated to Pablo and Cintia, gimme my flags back!

- Liked my blog and/or the posts? Want to stay updated? Easy shit! Just click on the Google link beneath 'My Fellowship' on the left and/or submit your e-mail in the 'Stay Updated' part on the left as well. - Relax, your address will not be shown anywhere, but every time I post something new, you will get an e-mail about it!

- For the Dutch speaking people:  We missen frietjes meer dan familie en vrienden . Relax, this does not apply to me!

Rennes: it's best quotes

The last blog about Rennes will be posted as soon as possible. I've been very busy. mil scuzi. In the meanwhile, some quotes that hit me these past few weeks during study time.

"Aucune verité est absolute. Première verité.

"Les riches donnent, les pauvres partagent.": sounds like Robin Hood right?

"Trust: make it your guiding principle, nurture it because once you lose it, you will never recover it." that's one that could be applied to anyone anywhere at anytime all over the world

"It's not better, nor is it worse. This city, this country, these people, this experience, it is just different..." AFS-style, but also Erasmus style.

Arsène's class

- Quotation course I: "a sharde experience is more than a bond, it's a joint discovery of unexpected possibilities" (Zéldin Théorode)

- Quotation course X: "la culture, c'est ce qui fait que la vie est plus importante que la culture" (Barrow Robert)

- Quotation course X: "la culture est un système de signification incaées dans des sumboles que nous devons interpreter"(Clofford Geertz)

- "Le monde entier est la patrie de tout le monde" (Erasmus)

- "Trouvez une place et une présence respectées, singuliéres et fraternelles dans le monde" (Arsène)

Culture is indeed something people can talk about for hours, days, weeks or their entire lifetime, without really saying it straight forward. I think you could just state it like "Culture is all of us, it's what we are and what we do. But more than anything it's why we do the things we do, that defines us and our culture" haha, that sounds deep, and to be hones I just made it up.

And an oldie to finish: "Your Christ is a Jew. Your car is Japanese, your pizza is italian and your couscous algérian. Your démocracy is Greek. Your coffee is Brasilian, your watch is Swiss, your shirt is Indian, your radio is Korean, your holidays are Turkish, Tunisian or Marrocan. Your numbers are Arabic, your writing is Latin or Germanic. And... you look at your neighbor as if he was a stranger!"

I know I should write you

I know! I owe you a post on the past few weeks here. About exams, partying, more exams and more partying. But also about secretsanta and the amazing people I meet here, often at parties. Of the last days here in Rennes, of the last days of my Erasmus and of the last parties. Also about the crazy people I'll miss and about tonight. Because tonight I suited up, to have dinner with everyone and then party hard. Like a Boss

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!

Night before last exams

It's 2AM. and I'm going to start my final rehearsal for my last two written exams, before getting my Bachelor degree, tomorrow.  Strategic Management and Organizational Behaviour. A total of 7hours of exam on one day.

Please kill me.

They just promised it would be worth it

Belgian passage through France

Time for some updating on Rennes itself, because I’m sure you all enjoy my posts, but the true reason you come out here is probably to read my stories and experiences. Before I forget, I just want to make sure you people get it: the words in bold are links to pictures, websites, etc. that I want to share with you as well. So be sure to check them out!

Some experiences I had the past couple of weeks since I got back from Belgium:

The 31^st of October, Halloween, we had a small, but nonetheless intense reunion at my place before going out to a way too expensive bar (Pyms) – 9euros for a beer is really inacceptable sorry French economy… It was great opportunity to see everyone again, after two weeks of Belgium/vacation/travelling/… and to hear the travelling/hitchhiking/… stories of the others..

The week after I came back from Belgium, was a holiday week for all schools 

and colleges in Belgium. That was a reason for some of my friends to come over. I had the honor to receive some awesome visitors! My friends from Generation! (mark the exclamation mark! and their groupie Liesbeth, came all the way from Belgium, after some days of intensive recording for their first EP to appear in December 2011. As they were recording until late on Tuesday, they only arrived on at about four in the morning on Wednesday. When they finally got up and after I’d gone to my French Culture class, we went for a walk through the city. I think they liked Rennes a lot, but then again, we only did a small walkabout as it was not so warm and everybody just wanted to get a beer at Rue de la Soif.

After having that beer we want back to my apartment and after some delicious cooking by our private kitchen master, we received delegations from Spain, Ireland, Poland etc to celebrate Stefan’s bday! We even made cake, which everybody enjoyed a lot!

After that we went out in the city and the whole bunch of us did several bars and we all had some intercultural experiences in one way or another before ending safely in our bed. The next day everybody slept long and after some breakfast at one pm, the guys left again. A fast and intense trip it was! Liesbeth stayed one more day until Friday as she was going to take her plane to the UK that day. Be sure to check out The Nights In Rennes.

What else happened? Ow yeah! That same week I had my last(!) intensive course Thursday 13-18, Friday 8-18 & Saterday 8-13hr of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. We had to write a business plan for this course and it ended up being a B (68%), which is one of the highest grades I’ve heard of people getting here so yes we are pretty proud of ourselves, but an A (70%) would’ve been even nicer! Haha College Stuff. 

On Thursday 10th of November it was the 'International Day'. All the international students were asked to cook something special from their home country and then everybody could come and taste it that day. Belgium made chocolate mouse, 'queens' chocolate cake and speculos mouse  and I can tell you that it was delicious. The girls did a good job! There were other dishes from Egypt, Spain, Mexico, USA (chicken nuggets!), Canada, Palestina, Poland, Russia, Estland, Norway, France, Germany, Sweden (Ikea swedish meat balls!), and for sure I forgot some. Let's state it that we ate a lot..
In the afternoon all the international students got together in an aula and every country could present something typical. We had singers, dancers, artists, etc. Belgium, well actually just me and one Masterstudent, whom I met the day before, made an unusual presentation about Belgium, which you can find her: Belgian Input International Day 2011 . Yes, I'm still ashamed for it. yes there's videos and pictures. No, I'm not going to share them with you. and yes we got an applause, although we were the first ones to perform, so the crowd wasn't that active yet when we started, but after that, they went crazy! That was a great day of meeting and experiencing cultures from all around the world! 

On the 11^th of November, Truce 11.11.11, there was a big parade at the Hotel de Ville square. More than 200 soldiers, police men, etc. from France had a parade. They had to stand for almost two hours, without moving, listening to the mayor, some general, etc. Well, it seemed French army isn’t that strong.. Several (as in 5-10 out of 170 = ) of the soldiers actually fainted during these two hours and had to be replaced by spare soldiers. And no, this is not a joke. Vive la grande Armée!

The weekend of the 12^th my mom and aunt came by! Normally my mom was going to come with a friend, but she got sick so my aunt decided to come along.

On saterday we went to the Marché des Lices (French), the third nicest market in France (quote French Culture teacher – R. L. dit Arsène). After that we jumped into the car, not to take literally, and drove to Mont Saint-Michel. A beautiful antique chateau in Normandy! We walked all the way up to the top, where you have a beautiful sight of the whole region, sea etc.

Ow wait, maybe it is..

We did some sightseeing and it’s definitely worth going, but be sure not to go on a Saterday as it was extremely crowded with tourists. I hate tourists .

it's not that big..

After a nice crèpe, we took the car and went to Granville. But when we got there it was already getting dark, so we only had a small stroll along the harbor before having dinner and driving back to Rennes.

The next day, I had do get some serious schoolwork and internship stuff (because I have to start my search etc. all over!!) done, so my visitors went to Saint-Malo and Dinan on their own and we met up for dinner in the evening. 

That afternoon, after my work for school, I had the opportunity to enjoy the delightful Spanish dishes my roommate and her friends made for us: tortilla, paella, toasts and much more! It was such a nice day that after that we even sat outside for about two hours. And it was the 13^th of November!

Wow, this is becoming a really long post. But we're almost to then end of it. only a couple more things and then you can go back to work!

Last Wednesday I got an inbox message from a journalist, working for Het Laatste Nieuws (a flemish newspaper). She was going to write an article about 'Youth going out seeks for experiences' and she had seen my blog, this one, and was interested in doing an interview with me. But as I am in France at the moment (d'oh!) I wasn't able to talk to her in person. She asked me for my Skype (yes sir, a women asked for MY number!) and we ended up talking for  27mins. Probably longest phone call of my life. She asked me about all kinds of things, going out, dress style, experiences, Erasmus, AFS, etc. So in the weekend edition of Het Laatste Nieuws (19-20 November 2011) there's an interview of me. Be sure to check it out, I'll try to upload a better version than the one stated beneath this post, but I haven't been able to properly read it myself neither. So 'mediageil' you say? It gets even better.
Yesterday, Monday, I get a private message from a guy working for Jim TV (belgian MTV). He told me he had read the article and that JIM was going to do a tv-show about it this Wednesday in Leuven, where I study, and that he would've liked me to come and talk about it. But I ask myself, if you read the article properly, you would've read that I'm on an Erasmus right now.. Was he trollin' me, or just ...? So yes, I was asked to be on TV, after the couple of times this summer (Dour Festival 2011, Maanrock 2011, Oude Markt, Leuven 2011), I'm awkwardly getting used to it. But not possible!


This Saterday, after many requests for a sequel, I organized another Grand Tour de la Rue de la Soif. A lot of people said they were going to come, but because of that a lot of these same people didn't want to come early as they thought we were going to be too many. So we ended up starting with only six. Sense? This makes none! But after a while and some more beers, more and more people showed up and in the end we were, just like the first time, more than 20, filling up a whole bar (Bars are small here). Again, none of the other bars in the Rue de la Soif were really partying so all the French people came to party at our bar as well, making the place packed and making it quasi impossible to dance.
After being refused to enter another bar, because the Icelandic fellow, Atli, was wearing shorts (in November, fo real?!), we ended up wandering around next to that last bar, with people from Cyprus, Iceland, Canada, Spain and Russia. Those Russians.. too easy to mess with their minds!

I think that's about if folks, next update will be about a trip to a place I've never been and I already know it'll be awesomely epic because it's going to be with two irish ladies, another belgian and two Canadians!

So yes, I can say that the last few weeks were pretty intense and that my intercultural Erasmus is coming along pretty great, thanks to all the people I've met here.. As of next week: studying big time for the exams coming up in December! But apart from that Vive La France !

PS: it is allowed to leave a comment from time to time, at least I know someone is actually reading this..