I often think about my life a year ago: A year ago, I didn’t know I would be a full-time MBA student. A year ago, I didn’t know I was going to move away from all my family & friends and the only home I’ve ever known. A year ago, I didn’t know I was going to leave my job for a big unknown adventure.
A year ago, I wanted to experience something great that would change my world. I was not thinking about Belgium or Vlerick*, but now that I’m here I can’t imagine being anywhere else but sitting in -1.01 at Vlamingenstraat 83, 3000 Leuven. (*You can read about my crazy adventure to Vlerick in my June post.)
What a difference a year makes. This past year has flown by and I know the 2010-11 school year will go by just as fast.
We’re only 3 weeks into the MBA program and we’ve already finished 4 classes - of which 2 have papers due in mid-Oct and 1 has an essay test due in early Oct. We have 3 more classes in the works, oh and I can’t forget that we have to keep up with our CVs and the career opportunities that come our way. We will have over 20 courses, 1 in-company project, 1 study trip to China, and 1 NGO project all within 12 months. I know what you’re thinking…WOW!
And that’s exactly what I was thinking. But then I stepped back and remembered something in my handy-dandy 2010-11 Ambassadorial Scholarship Handbook from RI:
While your studies are important, they are not the foremost reason you were selected as a Rotary Scholar. Don’t spend all of your time studying. Realize that the greatest education this year will not come from a textbook or coursework. :)
Now it’s shortly after midnight here on September 23. This is a very unforgettable date for me and a group of people. If I was with you last year on this date, I am so grateful for what I learned from each and every one of you. You have impelled me to improve upon my life; my experience here will be richer because of you.
On that note, I’m going to bed.
See you later,
Annie
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
People and places.
I realized I haven’t yet mentioned anything about the people I’m meeting and my new city: Leuven.
My classmates. Day was day 2 of class and I’m so happy to finally meet everyone. Before class started, I only met about 30 of my classmates (out of over 80). I met the first 30 around Leuven before class began - you’ve probably seen them in my pics. It was nice meeting them on a smaller scale; I was able to talk to them individually and I had a chance to get know them. So meeting the remaining 50 was a little overwhelming - I’m so happy we’re wearing name badges! My classmates are from all over the world and I think my class is about 90% international. That’s one of the reasons I chose a European business school, the internationality of the classroom is unlike anywhere else in the world. I’ve met classmates from Singapore, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Kenya, Colombia and so many other places. We all have our reasons why we chose Vlerick, but there’s one underlying theme for all of us: to experience something new, to work with people from all over the world and to learn from them. I usually don’t put a lot of weight in first impressions but after meeting my classmates I think I can safely say that this is going to be one amazing year!
Rotarian and Rotaractors. Leuven has a Rotary Club and is home to the largest Rotaract club in the district. I attended my first Rotary meeting on Tuesday night and was able to meet and talk to many of the Rotarians there. Their meeting was held at 7pm over supper at a restaurant in a nearby town, Kessel-lo. The meeting was in Flemish, which unfortunately I don’t know, but I think I was able to understand some of it. If I listen hard enough I can pick out a few works and know what’s going on. Their presentation for the meeting was by a club member and former Rotaractor, she was talking about the results that came from a joint meeting Rotary-Rotaract brainstorming session about how to connect the 2 clubs. That’s a topic that I’m always interested in. :-) My next Rotary event is on Sunday - a walk through part of town followed by a bbq. I’ve only met 1 Rotaractor so far, he was kind enough to pick me up from my airport hotel and take me to Leuven, hopefully on Sunday I’ll meet more of them.
Leuven. Leuven really is a small city with a big university. I get everywhere by foot. Some of my classmates rented bikes but I’m enjoying the walks. At home, I need a car. Places are far away and there is no mass transportation that takes me from home to work or home to shopping. Here in Leuven, I live near the center of the city and yes it’s a bit loud but I like the city noise. It’s also no more than a 20 minute walk to anywhere I need to go. The town has everything I need, but I need to go to many stores to get my shopping list done - I’m used to Super Target. Here in Belgium I go to the Apotheek (pharmacy), Delhaize (grocery), Hema (household), Kruidivat (drugstore…different than pharmacy), fnac (electronics), and then there’s the numerous clothing and shoe stores. I also need to make sure I get my shopping done before they close. Most stores (including grocery) close at 6pm and are not even open on Sunday. I’m used to 24/7 from the USA so this one is taking me a some time to get used, but I’m really enjoying the lazy Sundays…which I’m sure will become study Sundays as soon as school picks up.
My studio. Ok if you’ve been wondering yes, I’ve moved into my studio but it didn’t go as smoothly as I hoped. I haven’t been able to unpack because I don’t have a wardrobe and they’re finishing the renovation so every day they come in and do something and I get home and clean up after them. I just want to unpack already. They promise me on Saturday I’ll have it, but this will be their 3rd promised day…I’m not optimistic. So it’s not presentable and definitely no pics.
If you have any questions let me know and I’ll try to answer them all.
See you later!
-Annie
My classmates. Day was day 2 of class and I’m so happy to finally meet everyone. Before class started, I only met about 30 of my classmates (out of over 80). I met the first 30 around Leuven before class began - you’ve probably seen them in my pics. It was nice meeting them on a smaller scale; I was able to talk to them individually and I had a chance to get know them. So meeting the remaining 50 was a little overwhelming - I’m so happy we’re wearing name badges! My classmates are from all over the world and I think my class is about 90% international. That’s one of the reasons I chose a European business school, the internationality of the classroom is unlike anywhere else in the world. I’ve met classmates from Singapore, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Kenya, Colombia and so many other places. We all have our reasons why we chose Vlerick, but there’s one underlying theme for all of us: to experience something new, to work with people from all over the world and to learn from them. I usually don’t put a lot of weight in first impressions but after meeting my classmates I think I can safely say that this is going to be one amazing year!
Rotarian and Rotaractors. Leuven has a Rotary Club and is home to the largest Rotaract club in the district. I attended my first Rotary meeting on Tuesday night and was able to meet and talk to many of the Rotarians there. Their meeting was held at 7pm over supper at a restaurant in a nearby town, Kessel-lo. The meeting was in Flemish, which unfortunately I don’t know, but I think I was able to understand some of it. If I listen hard enough I can pick out a few works and know what’s going on. Their presentation for the meeting was by a club member and former Rotaractor, she was talking about the results that came from a joint meeting Rotary-Rotaract brainstorming session about how to connect the 2 clubs. That’s a topic that I’m always interested in. :-) My next Rotary event is on Sunday - a walk through part of town followed by a bbq. I’ve only met 1 Rotaractor so far, he was kind enough to pick me up from my airport hotel and take me to Leuven, hopefully on Sunday I’ll meet more of them.
Leuven. Leuven really is a small city with a big university. I get everywhere by foot. Some of my classmates rented bikes but I’m enjoying the walks. At home, I need a car. Places are far away and there is no mass transportation that takes me from home to work or home to shopping. Here in Leuven, I live near the center of the city and yes it’s a bit loud but I like the city noise. It’s also no more than a 20 minute walk to anywhere I need to go. The town has everything I need, but I need to go to many stores to get my shopping list done - I’m used to Super Target. Here in Belgium I go to the Apotheek (pharmacy), Delhaize (grocery), Hema (household), Kruidivat (drugstore…different than pharmacy), fnac (electronics), and then there’s the numerous clothing and shoe stores. I also need to make sure I get my shopping done before they close. Most stores (including grocery) close at 6pm and are not even open on Sunday. I’m used to 24/7 from the USA so this one is taking me a some time to get used, but I’m really enjoying the lazy Sundays…which I’m sure will become study Sundays as soon as school picks up.
My studio. Ok if you’ve been wondering yes, I’ve moved into my studio but it didn’t go as smoothly as I hoped. I haven’t been able to unpack because I don’t have a wardrobe and they’re finishing the renovation so every day they come in and do something and I get home and clean up after them. I just want to unpack already. They promise me on Saturday I’ll have it, but this will be their 3rd promised day…I’m not optimistic. So it’s not presentable and definitely no pics.
If you have any questions let me know and I’ll try to answer them all.
See you later!
-Annie
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The great search
I’ve been in Leuven only 5 days now, but it feels like a lot longer…in a good way. I’ve been walking in the city each every day and learning my way around city center and slowly learning how to pronounce the name of the streets like Bondgenotenlaan and Vesaliusstraat.
My mission the first few days has been my housing for the year. You see my school, Vlerick, is only a grad school and doesn’t have student housing. But the Katholieke University (KU is the oldest Catholic Univ in the world) is also in Leuven and has temporary accommodations available. My temp housing is about a 15-20 minute walk away from city center (which is a nice walk except when it’s raining). I’m safe and warm here but I need to find a place to live for the year. I arrived in Leuven on Saturday and started my great search on Monday … after I got a local phone – a necessity when calling prospective landlords.
The International Student Housing office at KU provides assistance in finding a place to live (well they have computers to search the web and phones to use) but they also have people that will read your Dutch lease and help you with Leuven law. So it’s helpful, but what has also been extremely helpful is my classmates and my own 2 feet. I got a lot of great advice from classmates that arrived before me, I also walked around with another classmate that was also hunting and it was really the walking and calling numbers listed on TE HUUR (for rent) signs. And in the end I called a rental agent and found a studio within 2 hours – I move in on Monday. I’m glad I started by looking on my own, when I went with the agent I had a general idea of what’s available and prices. It was less than what I wanted in a studio and a bit more than what I wanted to spend but I heard all the good places with good prices were taken way back in June. So I’m happy with what I have, it’ll work for the year. Once I move in I’ll post pics of my place, because I know you just can’t wait!
Finding housing was really important. Why you ask – well it’s the final step for the visa. My USA passport only gets me 90 days as a tourist so to stay for the year I need a student visa. The Belgium gov’t requires many things to get this visa – from my tax return, bank records & pay stubs to FBI record to a medical certificate. So I sent all these docs to the Embassy in NYC and I eventually got my visa back …except it’s only good until Nov 15, 2010! I was so concerned, but it turns out that this is just provisional and I need to finish the process after I actually arrive in Leuven. Now the process is go to city hall no more than a few days before move-in and register with them (they need a copy of my lease and to be safe I’ll bring all my docs from school). Then the city sends a police officer to my address to make sure I live there. Really.
So it’s now Thursday and I move on Monday. I don’t want to shop for things for my studio because I don’t want to buy more I need to move from here to there. And it’s raining outside – again. Maybe instead of shopping for household items I’ll shop for a rain coat. I think I’m going to need more than the 1 I brought. ;-)
Later!
-Annie
My mission the first few days has been my housing for the year. You see my school, Vlerick, is only a grad school and doesn’t have student housing. But the Katholieke University (KU is the oldest Catholic Univ in the world) is also in Leuven and has temporary accommodations available. My temp housing is about a 15-20 minute walk away from city center (which is a nice walk except when it’s raining). I’m safe and warm here but I need to find a place to live for the year. I arrived in Leuven on Saturday and started my great search on Monday … after I got a local phone – a necessity when calling prospective landlords.
The International Student Housing office at KU provides assistance in finding a place to live (well they have computers to search the web and phones to use) but they also have people that will read your Dutch lease and help you with Leuven law. So it’s helpful, but what has also been extremely helpful is my classmates and my own 2 feet. I got a lot of great advice from classmates that arrived before me, I also walked around with another classmate that was also hunting and it was really the walking and calling numbers listed on TE HUUR (for rent) signs. And in the end I called a rental agent and found a studio within 2 hours – I move in on Monday. I’m glad I started by looking on my own, when I went with the agent I had a general idea of what’s available and prices. It was less than what I wanted in a studio and a bit more than what I wanted to spend but I heard all the good places with good prices were taken way back in June. So I’m happy with what I have, it’ll work for the year. Once I move in I’ll post pics of my place, because I know you just can’t wait!
Finding housing was really important. Why you ask – well it’s the final step for the visa. My USA passport only gets me 90 days as a tourist so to stay for the year I need a student visa. The Belgium gov’t requires many things to get this visa – from my tax return, bank records & pay stubs to FBI record to a medical certificate. So I sent all these docs to the Embassy in NYC and I eventually got my visa back …except it’s only good until Nov 15, 2010! I was so concerned, but it turns out that this is just provisional and I need to finish the process after I actually arrive in Leuven. Now the process is go to city hall no more than a few days before move-in and register with them (they need a copy of my lease and to be safe I’ll bring all my docs from school). Then the city sends a police officer to my address to make sure I live there. Really.
So it’s now Thursday and I move on Monday. I don’t want to shop for things for my studio because I don’t want to buy more I need to move from here to there. And it’s raining outside – again. Maybe instead of shopping for household items I’ll shop for a rain coat. I think I’m going to need more than the 1 I brought. ;-)
Later!
-Annie
Monday, August 23, 2010
The journey
I'm 2 days in Leuven and things are going great. I met a great Rotaractor from Leuven that was so kind to not only pick me up from my hotel near the airport in Brussels but take me around Leuven and show me the city. Then today - day 2 - I met many people from my class and had a great time getting to know them.
I know you're all itching to see pics, but before I show pics of Leuven I wanted to share pics from my journey to get here. A couple pics at the begining are from a goodbye supper my immediate family had for me. Then there's a few from my parents house my day of departure, the airport, and then me on my journey to BRU. I flew Icelandair (love them!) first class due to a sweet summer sale that made my ticket less than 50% what other airlines charged. First class also gives much more luggage allowance and access to the 1st class lounge in Iceland. I had 2 checked bags (70 lbs each) and 2 carryons (20 lbs each). That's a good start to what I need for the year but I left my big winter coat and boots at my parents...word is I'll need them soon.
So enjoy these pics below (click on the pic to link to my picasa site) and there'll be more soon!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Annie.Marek/TheJourney?feat=directlink
I know you're all itching to see pics, but before I show pics of Leuven I wanted to share pics from my journey to get here. A couple pics at the begining are from a goodbye supper my immediate family had for me. Then there's a few from my parents house my day of departure, the airport, and then me on my journey to BRU. I flew Icelandair (love them!) first class due to a sweet summer sale that made my ticket less than 50% what other airlines charged. First class also gives much more luggage allowance and access to the 1st class lounge in Iceland. I had 2 checked bags (70 lbs each) and 2 carryons (20 lbs each). That's a good start to what I need for the year but I left my big winter coat and boots at my parents...word is I'll need them soon.
So enjoy these pics below (click on the pic to link to my picasa site) and there'll be more soon!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Annie.Marek/TheJourney?feat=directlink
Friday, August 20, 2010
My adventure begins
Well it’s been a crazy rollercoaster of emotions these last few weeks. Each day has been filled with many highs and lows, everything from deep belly laughs with friends to the stress of preparing for a year away. I didn’t get to spend nearly enough time with my family and friends. I didn’t get everything perfectly organized like I wanted. And I definitely didn’t get enough sleep. But yesterday at 7:20pm I boarded my plane. And that’s what I’ve been saying from the start, as long as I can get on that plane I’ll be fine – and it doesn’t matter if I don’t have one piece of luggage with me.
Ha! But I did have luggage, lots of luggage. 2 checked bags (up to 70 pounds each), 2 carry-ons (up to 20 pounds each) and 1 purse. All of this was included with my first class ticket on Icelandair. I was so lucky when I was booking my flight that Icelandair had a huge air sale for the flight I wanted to take. My first class ticket on Icelandair was less than half what other airlines were charging for coach – and there weren’t any coach seats left on my flight. I like first class there’s more leg room, a free paper, and a meal option. I think all my traveling should be first class from now on.
I am so grateful to every one that helped me and supported me these last few months. Thank you to my family that became my team of personal assistances – helping me with everything from laundry to shopping errands and even sending faxes. Thank you to my friends that listened to me and helped me keep my stress level low. Thank you to all the Rotarians and Rotaractors that have helped me prepare for this process, I’m inspired by all your selfless acts and am so honored to represent you. And thank you to everyone out that came to my party, called me on the phone, sent me a message, or met me for lunch/supper/coffee – these moments are my treasured memories.
See you later!
-Annie
Ha! But I did have luggage, lots of luggage. 2 checked bags (up to 70 pounds each), 2 carry-ons (up to 20 pounds each) and 1 purse. All of this was included with my first class ticket on Icelandair. I was so lucky when I was booking my flight that Icelandair had a huge air sale for the flight I wanted to take. My first class ticket on Icelandair was less than half what other airlines were charging for coach – and there weren’t any coach seats left on my flight. I like first class there’s more leg room, a free paper, and a meal option. I think all my traveling should be first class from now on.
Me in my seat, notice the leg room!
I am so grateful to every one that helped me and supported me these last few months. Thank you to my family that became my team of personal assistances – helping me with everything from laundry to shopping errands and even sending faxes. Thank you to my friends that listened to me and helped me keep my stress level low. Thank you to all the Rotarians and Rotaractors that have helped me prepare for this process, I’m inspired by all your selfless acts and am so honored to represent you. And thank you to everyone out that came to my party, called me on the phone, sent me a message, or met me for lunch/supper/coffee – these moments are my treasured memories.
See you later!
-Annie
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