The End of University of Sydney Semester

To start, I had every intention of writing one more blog before the semester ended but the last weeks of the program would not allow for it and I simply ran out of time.

Either way, after our classes were done, we had a week to study for exams and finish off projects. The following week exams took place, along with a 2 hour presentation to our client for the Not-for-Profit venture.

It was a very busy week as exams took place, as I was also starting to pack up my room and clean out my kitchen cupboards, and get ready for my mother to arrive that weekend.

My mother came to Australia and we spent a few weeks travelling on the East coast of Australia. I first showed her the city of Sydney and the University. After a few days there, we flew south to Melbourne to meet two aunts of my mother and her cousins. This was a great opportunity for us to see the city of Melbourne as well as some of the countryside 300km west of Melbourne. It was starting to become Fall in Australia, so Melbourne definitely demonstrated that Australia has a colder climate as well. From Melbourne we flew north to Brisbane and then to Cairns -- the tropics of Australia which has pure summer weather all year around. We spent most of our time in Cairns doing various activities such as sea-kayaking, rain forest tours, Great Barrier Reef tours, and experiencing the wildlife. We were able to see koalas, crocodiles, kangaroos, pythons and many unique creatures in the wild. Cairns is definitely a top destination for anyone. There is an abundance of things to do, or as the Australians would say, there is heaps to do!

My experience in Australia was simply fantastic! It’s a beautiful country with great people. The city of Sydney has definitely made my list of favourite cities that I’ve visited. It may actually sit at number 1 right now! It’s an amazing city that has a lot to offer; it was very clean and felt very safe. Of course the University of Sydney was also an unforgettable experience. The campus was massive but easy to find your way around. The Master of Management program was tough and required a lot of effort but it was worth every minute of it and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I thoroughly enjoyed the Australian culture, in terms of the informality, the business culture down-town Sydney, and the friendly and easy-going Australian people. And of course the people that I have met, my classmates and friends make this journey priceless!

So what is the next step for my master’s? I will be doing my first semester of CEMS (Master of International Management) in Rotterdam at Erasmus RSM (Rotterdam School of Management) starting August 30. The week before classes start, I will be doing a block seminar which is compulsory for the CEMS program. I will be doing this at the partner school of CEMS in Norway. My block seminar will focus on innovation, climate change and corporate social responsibility. I will be in The Netherlands from August until Christmas.

From January 2011 until May I will be doing my second CEMS semester in Barcelona, Spain at ESADE (Escuela Superior en Administración y Dirección de Empresas).

I may not post another blog until I begin my studies at RSM, which is less than 2 months away. So until then, enjoy the summer (or winter if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere)!

Studying and Projects

Finally a new blog post! I know it has been a long time since I last wrote, but I’ve been very busy!

After Easter we had another week without class. This week was dedicated to group projects and our Not-for-Profit project. Once we returned to class in the middle of April, we were told that the second half of the semester would get even busier. I didn’t think it could surpass the first half of the semester but it certainly did. All group projects went into full swing.

I’m currently working on three group projects. One of the projects is the Not-for-Profit project we started after Easter. We are consulting a client who wants to start up an educational venture with the aim to get high school students from a low socio-economic district of Sydney to go to university or obtain post-secondary education. This is quite difficult since there are a lot of inhibitors for this target market, mainly financial and social hindrances. Financial in terms that the parents simply cannot afford to send their children to post-secondary education, and more detrimentally the fact that these students do not have role models or live in broken homes where their role models are those who abuse drugs and alcohol. The client ultimately wants to inspire these children and change their mindset to consider post-secondary education. Our task is to determine the feasibility of his project and create a preliminary business plan.

The other project I’m working on is a business plan for a potential product. Our product pitch has been observed by an investor who gave us feedback and provided insight on how we can continue with the product into the market. Of course this is all hypothetical at the moment, but we are looking into the realistic feasibility of it.

As of tomorrow (Monday), I will have two weeks of class left including two skill seminars. Thereafter, one week to study for final exams and then a week to do the final exams and hand in the essays and projects. As predicted, the semester went very fast, but it’s not over yet and a lot has to be done before that time.

Last week, April 30, was Queen’s Day in Holland. There are about 8 Dutch people in this Master’s program, and well, I also live with two Dutch people, so it was obvious we had to celebrate our national holiday. The Dutch Consulate had organized a party that started quite early and we weren’t sure of the exact location but even two streets away from the building we seen many people dressed in orange so no further direction was needed. The consulate provided us with lots of entertainment and Dutch food. I spent a lot of time near the food table --- cheese, bitterballen, herring, poffertjes etc. There was an after-party arranged by another Dutch individual and thereafter an after-after-party that was quite entertaining.

Friday night our class had another networking event to go to. This event was at a Union Rugby League game and many individuals from big companies were present -- CEO’s, high executives, Alumni from the rugby league. We had a private section in front of the field with private food catering and drinks. It was a great experience. It was also interesting because two weeks ago I went to a League Rugby game which is different from Union League rugby. There was a big difference in terms of spectators and social class. Both games were interesting even though I have no idea what the exact rules are, both are quite rough in terms of physical contact but that is inevitable when players jump on top of each other to form a massive heap of people.

If I have some time I will try to add some photos. Enjoy the week!

Bruise from paintball, 24 hours after being shot
Sunset, Blackheath, Blue Mountains
Three Sister Mountains, Blue Mountains
First shot
The girls
Group at paintball
Blackheath, Blue Mountains
Blue Mountains
Blue Mountains
Ready for action
Blackheath, The Blue Mountains
Blackheath, The Blue Mountains

The Three Sisters, The Blue Mountains

Easter

A few weeks have gone by since my last update. I’ve been very busy and a lot has happened.

First off, I hope everyone had a great Easter!

I spent Easter weekend in the Blue Mountains, which is about a 2 hour drive from Sydney. We stayed in a small town called Blackheath. We went for several hikes and did a day of paintball. It was a lot of fun and I have the most interesting bruises on my body. I’m guessing there is an intricate physics aspect to it when a bullet hits you at 400km/hr. It has left perfect circles on my legs which are then encompassed by even larger, very purple, very wide circles. Paintball was a lot of fun especially since we were with about 13 people from our class... I think this secretly allowed us to show our true feelings of how we felt working with each other in group projects!

During this trip we stayed at a student’s house who is originally from this town. Her parents cooked an Easter dinner for us and it was a massive feast. Of course we all over-ate but we enjoyed a lot of Australian dishes that consisted of Australian lamb, Australian beef, pumpkin, figs, passion fruits, cheese, wines, prickly pears... it was very tasty.

After the Easter weekend we did not have class nor do we have class this week... but that doesn’t mean we can take 2 weeks of holidays. Instead we are working on a Not-For-Profit project, as well as 2 other projects and other assignments. I’m keeping very busy!

I’ve also moved into another house. I really enjoyed the neighbourhood I lived in before, but I knew that place was temporary. As of this last weekend I moved into a house with 5 other people. Two of them are students and in the same program as me. This time I’m living with 2 Dutch people, 1 Danish girl, 1 Portuguese, and 1 Scottish guy. The house is quite big and the rooms are spread out throughout the house on 3.5 levels. There are three floors but my room is between the first and the second floor, kind of a bi-level thing. I’m still within walking distance to the University and a bit closer to the city.

Two bizarre things I seen yesterday --- One: a man walking around the city with 2 pet goats. I’m a 100% certain they were his pets, the goats were wearing collars (no leash though) and obeyed the man better than a dog would! At a red light they would stay behind him and follow him when the man crossed the street. Two: usually I only see the bats at night as they rustle about in the trees, but I’ve already seen two during the day in the street where I live now. Of course they were both dead. The first one was definitely electrocuted by the power line. It was hanging upside down, which I know is normal for bats, but it was hanging with its wings open and it was definitely not stretching to the bright morning sun. Then there was another one lying on the sidewalk. It was big, about 40cm. It had quite a bit of fur, black and a very distinct brown head. Not very cute looking but I was intrigued. It looked like it had just fallen out of the tree, late night perhaps, or didn’t quite make it home. I wanted to take a picture but at the same time I felt the bat would twitch one last time or attempt to fly again and that would probably have me go for a quick sprint... the last thing I want to go get is a needle for rabies.

That is it for now! I will try to post some pictures as well.

Surf competition on Bondi Beach, Sydney
Bondi Beach, Sydney
Opera House at night, and also the view from our table for my birthday dinner




Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House
Sydney across the harbour
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Downtown Sydney
Downtown Sydney

University and Allocation

Hello!

It’s been a while since I’ve written and I had anticipated to write a new blog much sooner. Time however, is very limited when you are doing your Master’s. I really wish there were more than 24 hours in a day because I’m not quite able to get my 8 hours of sleep in. But I will make it work!

I will apologize ahead of time if my response to your e-mail or message is delayed! Life has been very busy and it will only continue to get busier each week.

Right now I’m in week 3 of this semester. In total there are 10 weeks of class and 2 weeks of specific projects that must be done. Along with the usual of class, we have to go to networking events and skill building seminars which are done outside of class time (for some of these seminars we get credits). Each class requires 2-5 readings of text, articles, or chapters per class. So, for 4 classes a week I average about 9 readings a week, which may not seem like a lot but unfortunately they are not a 2 page article, but rather 20-30 pages per reading. So that keeps me a little busy as well. I have four hours of class a day, plus group meetings/projects before and after class.

So as I had mentioned in the last blog, we were finally told where this program will take us next! I will do the next semester in Rotterdam, in The Netherlands, and the semester after that I will be going to Barcelona, Spain! Both these countries were in my top 5 choices out of 24 countries. I’m very lucky to have both countries out of my top 5 since the majority of the students only received 1 out of their top 5. I am very happy to be studying in The Netherlands since the Rotterdam School of Management is a high ranking, reputable university (with an even heavier workload... so I’ve heard). Furthermore, I’m very excited to live in The Netherlands again close to friends and family, and most importantly much closer to my Dad... I’m extremely glad that I can return to him sooner than anticipated.

The last semester of this program will be done in Barcelona. Although I already experienced two great cities in Spain in 2007, I only know a small fraction of Barcelona itself. I have heard great things about the university known as ESADE. This will also be another opportunity for me to use and improve my Spanish.

Interestingly all these schools keep me quite close to the ocean, which I quite like!

I reckon this blog will be a bit different than my Ecuador blog. Given that the workload and program is very intensive, I have little time to get myself into interesting, unpredictable, semi-dangerous, situations. As such, this blog will focus on a whole different journey. To keep you interested, I will try to throw in some random thoughts or facts. For example, English words that I was unfamiliar with before I arrived in Australia are: queue, fortnightly and bond. Which mean: line-up, bi-weekly, and damage deposit for a rental property.

Furthermore, the city of Sydney has been fantastic so far. It has many parks and sport amenities as well as many harbours of course. It is very easy to get around the city by means of bus and train... I prefer to walk however so that I may encounter interesting, unpredictable things. Additionally, the food is great! Every ethnic food is available, although I have yet to find the Dutch Pancake house (although once a month a lady comes to the university to sell Poffertjes!).

And just to recap or perhaps clarify, the semester I am doing now in Sydney will count towards my Master’s of Management. The semesters that I will do in Rotterdam and Barcelona will count towards my Master’s of International Management... hence why I will get two Master’s once I’m done.

I would also like to quickly thank everyone for the birthday wishes and cards! Thankfully my roommates retrieved my mail out of the mailbox which is home to a very large hairy spider. I celebrated my 24th birthday having dinner and drinks with friends in Circular Quay Harbour with a great view of the Opera House from our dinner table.

Returning to my point of not getting my 8 hours of sleep in ...I’m off to bed! For most of you, enjoy the whole of Tuesday yet, and for the others, enjoy whatever remainder of Tuesday is left! That’s worded awkwardly— sleep is calling me ...Goodnight!

Program Structure and First Week in Sydney

I’ve been in Sydney for a week and a half now and a lot has happened. Last week Wednesday through Friday we had orientation which was only for the Master of Management or Master of Management CEMS students. It’s a very small group. About 40 students total; of those 40 about 20 are doing the Master of Management and doing all of their semesters in Australia. This group consists of both local and international students. There are about 12 students doing the Master of Management CEMS program. These students are known as Incoming CEMS Exchange students. Those students are doing the exact same program as me but are already in their second semester and have chosen Australia as their second semester exchange university. Then there is a group 8 students, including me, who are the CEMS students in their first semester. Wherever a CEMS student does their first semester is their “home university”. So for me, University of Sydney is my home university. So those students who are perhaps coming from London School of Economics or from Rotterdam School of Management, will receive their master’s from that specific university. Wherever you start is where you receive your Master’s from. But what makes this program so unique is that we receive two Master’s degrees; one from the “home university” and one from the CEMS organization in Europe.

Tomorrow will be a very interesting day. Tomorrow our fate will be told! The group of 8 students will find out to which country they have been allocated to for their second semester.

This MM CEMS (Master of Management CEMS) program is very intense. We have four compulsory courses. I have class from Monday to Thursday and each day is dedicated to a different class. For example, Wednesday is dedicated entirely to Managerial Economics with 2 hours of class in the morning and 2 hours of the same class and professor in the afternoon. Fridays are reserved for group work which every class heavily emphasizes. There are about 3 readings to do each night to prepare for class the next day.

I must say orientation for the new Master’s students was rather intense. Although class did not officially begin until March 1^st, we already had group projects and had to do quite a bit of work. On Friday we had a very formal seminar with a company called Deloitte. We had to meet downtown Sydney at the Deloitte offices and we had an afternoon filled with information and more group projects. I found it to be quite interesting.

Last week was the week where all the students came back to the University; basically what happens in our September semester. They call it O-week here and they have many events that allow you to get to know the University. There was an opportunity for the students to check out all the clubs and societies that the university has. It ranged from sports, to political views, and religions, and causes... I can’t even describe it but they literally had a club for every student! They even have a chocolate society! And it definitely reinforced the stereotype associated with chocolate because the whole booth was surrounded by females. I myself joined the ski and snowboard group. I’m not exactly sure what it all entails but it’s mostly a way to socialize.

My weekend was quite busy as well since I was looking for a more permanent form of accommodation. I stayed at a very nice hostel for the week but of course having a room of your own is very nice as well. I highly recommend the hostel I stayed at for anyone, including older people and families.

Finding a private room in Sydney is not that easy however. There are many apartments that are “over-rented”. Some apartments are a bit cheaper but you’re most likely going to be sharing a room with 3 or 4 other people. Some other students had inspected apartments where 10 people or more were living; sleeping in the bathtub, on the balcony and in the kitchen. This situation seemed to come up quite often and among a certain group of people that I won’t mention. Either way, I found a place close to the University; about 10 minutes walking. It’s quite nice and I’m living with a Dutch girl, an Italian couple, and a guy from New Zealand. There was a rather big spider in the hallway yesterday, it was hairy and about 3cm big (crunched up) and FORTUNATELY it was dead. I kindly asked the New Zealand guy to dispose of it. I knew it was dead but having to walk past it every time wasn’t that great.

My perspective of time has altered somewhat. Although I did not suffer from jetlag, somehow the feeling of time has slowed. I’m not sure what it is, but last week Tuesday seems weeks ago.

Since my time here I’ve eaten kangaroo steak two times and it is quite tasty. I would compare it to a normal steak, it’s red meat and has the same type of texture.

So far I really like Sydney. I’ve walked a lot in the downtown area and it’s a clean, lively city but relaxing at the same time.