My apartment
Finally, last Wednesday, I moved into my own apartment. It’s really nice to be soooo close to uni now. Just 20 mins before class starts I have to leave and still will be in time … and will become even better as soon as I have a bike :) It is usually really quiet and also very bright. Good thing about being on the ground floor is that I’ll have sun only until noon, i.e. in summer it won’t be that warm in my apartment, especially as I don’t have air-condition … I'm sure I will enjoy the Melbournian summer in my own backyard! :)
Sushi & a hilarious evening ...
Had a really great evening yesterday!
As you might remember I wanted to go to the Da Vinci exhibition in Melbourne's docklands. I ended up not going because Robinette has heard bad critics from friends that it’s not worth the entry fee. Never mind, that gave me a bit extra time to work on my new marketing case for tomorrow before I left to visit my friend Elissa for our evening event – sushi!
Originally, Elissa approached me last week: ”You, Nadia & Me, Sushi, Saturday Night, at my Place!” Cool - all set then - we are going to make a nice, small sushi event for the 3 of us! We ended up being 9 people and having heaps of fun.
It took for ages to prepare everything (slice avocado, cucumber, capsicum, onions, cook & cool down rice,…) and roll the sushi. However, at around 10 we were finished and started dinner and it was definitely worth waiting for!! :) Everyone loved the sushi (and the wine, champagne,…) and we had a lot of laughs this evening.
Unfortunately, I had to leave this great party around midnight to catch my last train. But as I’m moving next week this awareness for the train will fade soon …
1st term started
Hi *,
It’s me again. Was already blamed for not writing often enough ;) I know, I know, I should write a bit more and definitely more often as well … I’ll try!
Last week was the second week of our intensive subject “World of Management”. This was all together very interesting, offered a good overview about how the different areas of management (business) are connected and it also gave us a fair share of personal management and personal development modules It finally also started a self-reflection process about where we are now and where we want to go.
We also had a presentation exercise. We were split into groups of 7 and asked to give a 10-min. presentation about a topic of our choice. We were not allowed to use PowerPoint and were supposed to involve the audience. Finally, everyone had to vote for a winner and a runner-up in each group (who, of course, get prices). I spoke about scuba diving – what else? I made some collages of pix from a magazine and brought my regulator to explain and for the others to see in reality. After the voting there was a tie in our group between our team lead Claudio from Switzerland and me. As a team lead he was supposed to make the final decision but he was also not allowed to vote for himself, so, finally, I won! :)
My first real term just started this week. I’m taking five subjects this term: Economics, Accounting, Finance, Managing People, and Marketing. Thanks to my background I don’t have to do the statistics subject Data and Decisions. :)
At the moment the workload looks scary … the first week finished and I’m already stuck with reading … I have to read a couple of chapters for each subject, prepare homework, work in syndicate meetings, and – in addition – have my first exam next week Saturday which I have not yet studied for neither do I have (a lot of) time to do that next week.
Nevertheless, today I will go with Robinette to the Da Vinci exhibition in the Melbourne Docklands and afterwards I’m invited to a friend’s house for making home-made sushi! Looking forward to a nice afternoon and evening.
However, I have to get some work done before …
All the best
B.
My syndicate group
What is a syndicate group?
A lot of the experience and work in my MBA program is based on group learning. Therefore the school sets up groups of 5-7 students, as diverse as possible in regards of professional background, undergraduate degree, nationality, and gender. We have to work in these groups very closely in all subjects and for at least one term.
I was very pleased when I saw the selection when it got released by the beginning of this week.
I’ll work with
- Billy – originally from Indonesia but lived 8 years in the US – IT
- Dennis – from Hong Kong - accountant
- Joe – from Canada – business
- JongJoon – from South Korea – sales (manufacturing)
- Mathias – from Chile – sales (forest industry)
We were supposed to be 7 in our syndicate group though unfortunately we lost Robbie from the US who quit in the first week day 1 because he feels that this is not the right thing for him … Anyway, I’m sure we’ll work together well and have a great time that term!
My first home-made pavlova ...
Do you know PAVLOVA? No, not Czech tennisplayer, also not a Russian football star. Pavlova is one of Australia’s most wanted deserts!
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Of course I do like pavlova … it’s a meringue base with cream and fresh fruit on top. Yumm! I made one last Saturday to give a warm welcome back to Robinette and Bob who returned from their vacation in Echuca. It was really lovely with just the right amount of base, a bit cream and lots of strawberries and passion fruit.
One - ups two - weeks into the program ...
Hi *,
I thought of writing an entry by the end of week one … now week 3 is starting and I still haven’t done it. Time is passing by so fast. I spent the whole day at uni the last weeks. First week was just about registration and orientation. They told us everything we might need to know (library, IT services …) further on. We also did a lot of teambuilding which I really enjoyed. :)
Last week we finally started “the real thing”. My course started with a intense subject called “World of Management” where we’re taught the big picture, how the different disciplines of management are connected and also about crucial soft skills like working in international teams, presenting, team working …
Currently everything is really exciting (because ;). I managed to join a truly international class: I need to do the final count, though we are 55 students from all over the world whereas the biggest groups come from the US and India.
This week is going to be a really sporty one: I’m house and dog sitter (2 mini schnauzer) for a week. :) Kaiser and Simpson are very well behaved though very demanding, say fast, walkers!
And - finally apartment hunt is over - I signed a lease and will move into a nice 1-bed room apartment close to uni on 19 September. Looking very much forward to that ...
Cu
B.
