Nespresso - king of service

This morning I had the most amazing experience with Nespresso. My coffee machine that I brought from Sweden has broken down, and can't get any electricity fom the power outlet anymore. So, I called Nespresso Club (which I'm not even a member of) and asked if they could fix it. First of all, the machine is not bought in the Netherlands and they have no access to the Swedish records. Second, I wasn't completely sure when it was bought and what the model was called. The woman in the customer support was so nice and registered and helped me through everything, and they offered free pick-up of the machine (with a replacement machine while it's being repaired). However, I just need to find the receipt for the purchase, which could be quite difficult since I'm stuck here in Holland. But anyway, Nespresso deserves a special recognition for their outstanding customer support! This is a perfect example how going beyond expectations leads to word-of-mouth and a good reputation! Oh God, the marketing book has completely brainwashed me I think...

Kick-off

Last night I fell asleep at 22.00, which I was really happy about this morning when I had to go up at 07.00. It's been a very long day; the kick-off started at 09.00 and I came home around 19.15. First we got introduced to our new branding project for term 3, which we've been told not to disclose through social media. A quite disappointing approach for being a communication programme I think. After the kick-off we had Communication Research. What I like about ICM is that they integrate the courses quite well. The deliverable in Communication Research is related to the project, which is nice - less work!

After that, I had a long break and then Dutch A2 for 2 ½ hours. It was brutal, and the only thing that kept me going was coffee, coffee and more coffee. Tomorrow I have a meeting with (half) the project group, and we're going to try to start on the Research Plan. Uh, it feels like my brain has completely shut off these last weeks, and now I have to get used to the high pace again. It's hard the first few days, but then I get into it. However, I'm starting up slow and tomorrow night I'm going to check out a new lounge bar with some friends over a drink.

Maastricht Tour

This weekend has been really nice, I went down to the south of the Netherlands to visit a friend. He showed me Maastricht which is such a lovely city! I almost, almost, wished that I had moved there instead. On the other hand, if I would have moved there instead I wouldn't have met all the wonderful people here in The Hague. However, I had a really nice time and now I'm ready to take on term 3 of ICM! Tomorrow is the kick-off, and someone from the Grape District is going to speak and present our branding project. I'm looking forward to it!

Some old... wall?

The fanciest bookstore in the Netherlands

The Maas river

Tired!

Today we had a 3 hour workshop in Design Thinking and then we started on our assignment. The assignment is about coming up with a new innovative beer bottle for Heineken, and a slogan for Colgate's whitening toothpaste using different techniques. It was quite fun, but now I'm completely exhausted. After working a few hours on the assignment, we went to the Hebos Chinese New Year Borrel, where you got a beer for 1 euro. However, I was too tired so I left after my first beer. Now I'm going to take a nap so I'm fit for fight when we're going to the Erasmus welcoming party tonight!

There was a gigantic foosball table in school today!

The Hague is beautiful even on a rainy day. This was taken on my way home.

The Swedish Chef

This morning we had the second and last workshop in Project Management. The theme for today was feedback, and I realized when we practiced in groups how hard it is to give and receive feedback in a good way. It is so easy to end up criticising the person, or get in defense mode as the receiver. We decided in our group that we're going to give each other feedback regularly to practice this and to promote a good working atmosphere.

It's amazing how we suddenly don't have anything to do during the days. You're so used to being busy all the time, so you basically don't know what to do on a day when you end at 11.30 and have no homework (yet). I managed to fill up the day pretty good anyway though. I've run some arrends downtown, and yeah, I don't know what else I did really, but all of a sudden it is almost 18.00. We probably need this mini-break though, because tomorrow we get a written assignment that is due on Monday but since almost all in my group are away this weekend (including moi), we're gonna try to finish it in one day. I am so looking forward to tomorrow, because Hebos is arranging an Erasmus Welcome Party for the new exchange students this semester! I just bought a ticket today, it's going to be great!

Oh, also I just need to share the brilliant home decoration my roommate came up with, the Swedish Chef hanging over the stove. How suitable!

The Swedish Chef 

The Swedish Student

Workshop and presentation

What a nice day today has been! In the morning we had a workshop in Project Management, which was very good I think. When we came into the room there was a lot of straws, scissors, and tape on the tables. We each sat with our groups by a table and were told to building the Eiffel Tower. Everyone started working on it immediately, and it was quite stressful at the end when our teacher said that only 5 minutes remained. The most natural reaction to the stress was "Oh fuck it, just tape it on there so we get it done!". We were told later that the lesson to be learned from the exercise was to de-brief the client when you get a project (to ask the right questions in order to get the wanted result). Apparently not one of us did the towers as the teacher wanted it (because we didn't de-brief her). 

After that, we had the presentations in Design Thinking that we prepared yesterday. We had so much fun while making the presentation last night. I came home around 20.00 I think, so we spend a lot of time on it. We decided to make a video with the instrumental version of "Black and Yellow" by Wiz Khalifa. It was a big success, and the teacher liked it! The funniest thing was when we started the presentation and one of my friends in the group was going to present us - and presented herself with the wrong name. Everybody started laughing and it really took the edge off the seriousity of presenting, so we weren't as nervous after that. 

After school I impulsively decided to go with a friend to Rotterdam to shop at Primark. The store was a bit disappointing in size after having seen the one on Oxford Street, London, but I found some things anyway! Now I'm going to unpack my shopping findings and relax the rest of the evening!

My group and our teacher. I guess we got a passing grade for that one!

Our Eiffel Tower

All the contributions

Research report done!

I am in such a good mood today! We're going to hand in the Research Report which has been hovering over me like a dark cloud for a few months. It feels great! We've been working on it all weekend, and now we're finally done. I also have a lecture/workshop in Design Thinking today, and we'll get an assignment that we're going to present tomorrow, so it's going to be a long day. It's good though, I love being busy, it's so boring to have nothing to do. Let's go!

Happy Alice

Interview

Sick or not, school must go on. Today me and my research group had an interview scheduled with the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings. Unfortunately she couldn't make it so we had an interview with the Policy Officer. She was really nice and we got a very good interview I think. I recorded it with OneNote while taking minutes. It is so smart; when you click on a word in your notes, the recording starts playing from that moment. How I love this newfound tool! After the interview we went to Coffee Company to divide the work that is left to be done. I had a coffee and when we were finished, I went to "my" Coffee Company, the one by Noordeinde Palace. I love sitting there! So I was there for some hours while writing the transcript of the interview. It's not easy I tell you, when your ears are all blocked up from the cold!

The Ministry of Safety and Justice

Trying to listen hard to the recording...

Sick at home with pizza

So, here I am, lying sick in my sofa. I've come down with a really bad cold. Today I went to school, but had to leave a lecture because of the really bad cough that I have. I could at least stay in school for the programme committee meeting, which took a good 2 hours. A lot were discussed, not to mention the recent disturbances we've all experienced with the exams. Once there weren't enough exams for everyone so they had to go make more copies, and in the second year, some of the exams had the answers written in italics. Another time we had to change room after everyone had already found a seat. Well, let's just hope they take our criticism seriously and make some changes until next exam period. Tonight I decided to order home some food from my favourite Dutch website: Thuisbezorgd.nl. I could have just died for some nice comfort food after biking home through the cold rain.

End of exams

I am finally finished with all my exams! Today I had the last one, oral Langage Proficiency, and it went really good. We were supposed to have a formal discussion in two groups about our brand books that we made in Branding earlier in the term. After the exam I met up with my group in Research Skills to write on our project. The deadline is starting to move closer now, so we really have to work hard. The good news is that we managed to book an interview with the National Rapporteur of Trafficking in Human Beings. How great isn't that! Tomorrow the project week starts, and I have a meeting with the Research Skills group again, then a lecture in Project Management, and then the Programme Comittee Meeting. Sounds like an alright dayplan for me!

Coffee + studying = a good combination

Today has been a really chill Monday! Oh how I love the time before everything starts up again. I met with my branding group over some coffee in school to discuss the oral exam tomorrow, and it went very well. Later I wasn't really in the mood to go home, so I biked to Coffee Company (my favourite café with wi-fi) and had another coffee and wrote my motivation letter. There are a lot of people who go there to work or study, so I wasn't the only sitting alone with a laptop in front of me. It was really nice actually, to sit alone, listening to African music and writing about why I should go to South Africa. I actually finished the first draft of the motivation letter, and now I just need someone to read it and give me feedback. When I came home I was so pumped up on caffeine that I started cleaning the apartment a bit. Overall, it's been a very nice day so far!

Tiken Jah Fakoly, coffee, and writing!

Sightseeing in Rotterdam

Today was the best day I've had in a long time. I went to Rotterdam to visit a friend who lives there, and she gave me the full tour of the city on her vespa. It was so great! The sun was shining and the city was just so beautiful. It really reminded me why I love the Netherlands so much. I could really imagine living in Rotterdam later, after my study here. We went for lunch at a really nice café and then we went home to her place and I met her family. They were all so nice! We were really supposed to write the motivation letter for our exchange, but then we had a power breakage in the neighborhood so we played board games in the candle light instead.

Tomorrow I have a preparation meeting with my group for the oral exam on Tuesday, and then I will try to start with the motivation letter. So far I have a headline and a first sentence, at least it's a beginning. I always write the headline and then press "save" so I feel that I've started, it really helps actually!

The most complete coffee tray ever!

Hotel New York on Holland's version of Manhattan. This is the old cruise station for Rotterdam-New York I think.

Free ouzo at Rhodos

I survived the first night out in over a month, a real achievement! It was such a great night; first we went to a Greek restaurant called Rhodos and the food was simply amazing! We also got free ouzo shots because the manager of the restaurant wanted some pickup lines in Swedish to use when he went to Kos (the ultimate Greek party island for Swedes)! Haha, what a cliché. Later we met up at my place for some predrinks and then we went to Supermarkt, our standard going out place. We were pleasantly surprised when we saw all the others there too. That's one of the things I love about The Hague, you bump in to people you know all the time! Today I've slept in and then cleaned my room. I almost always clean my room when I'm hungover, because then I feel like I've at least done something good for the day and can chill with a clear conscience later. 

Lovely dinner and lovely company

Writing Swedish pickup lines

"Du är vacker" - you're beautiful

Marketing - check!

The last exam for this week is finally done, and now I only have the oral Language Proficiency left on Tuesday. Great! Tonight I'm going to celebrate with my friends with a dinner at a Greek restaurant, a bit later we're having a preparty at my place, and then we're going out in Grote Markt! It's amazing how such a small place can gain such big significance in our lives here. We haven't been out since the beginning of December, and we've really missed Grote Markt. So tonight is our night, and I've just bought the most amazing dress at Karen Millen! Happy Alice.

The process of getting exam results

Dear non-ICM readers, I will now share a typical ICM experience that usually occurs towards the end of the exam week and continues one or two weeks after. I am of course talking about the exam results. Here's a little example of what it can look like (remember, this is ALL happening in the same thread on Facebook):

1. Someone posts on facebook: "Branding results are online!!"
2. Everyone holds their breath and go online in Osiris to check the results. They aren't there.
3. The people who previously have been "offline" in the facebook chat to appear to be studying for the exam the next day, feels the need to come forward to comment and say something like "nooo, I don't have them". That type of comments continue for about 15 minutes.
4. About 150 anxious students start sitting in front of their computers, clicking "refresh" every second.
5. After 30-40 minutes of refreshing, people start to doubt the few ones who have their results (maybe it's a scam?).
5. People start getting annoyed with the teacher instead. "Why put some results online and not all at once?"

Around 60 comments later, they give up for the night, and then it starts all over again when the next results are online. You gotta love ICM!

Vocabulary attack

I'm back home from the Corporate Communication exam this morning. It was a bit hard, felt like there were a lot of trick questions so I changed my answer several times. And of course there were some of those annoying questions where you just want to say "all of the above". Now I'm sitting by my desk, buried in Language Proficiency studies. It feels like my estimation that a few hours the day before the exam will be enough might not have been so good. There are so many words to learn! I'm skipping the grammar though (I have to prioritize!). I think most of it'll come automatically anyway. The vocabulary, however, is a real challenge which I'll continue now. Wish me luck!

My crammed desk at the moment

At de Bakkerswinkel

Today I went to the really cozy breakfast/brunch place called Bakkerswinkel with two friends. I've written about this place before in this blog, but it's really nice! We ordered some lunch and studied Corporate Communication for a few hours. What I really love about this place is how personal it is. The style is very retro, like stepping into someone's home almost, and they have two house cats that are always lying around, sleeping and getting cuddled. So cute! One of them sat on the chair next to us today, so we just couldn't keep ourselves from petting it all the time. Despite the cute cat we actually got some work done too. Now I'm off to continue the studying!

Studying

Naaw, little kitty!

First exams done!

The exams went fine today, I think. I found that Branding was a bit harder than the Dutch, in which I had feared the listening part. I don't really feel like studying for the next ones to come, but I probably have to eventually. Tomorrow I'm free, so I guess I'll be studying Corporate Communication then. In one way it's pretty nice to have exam week, especially if you're like me and reach a point where you just don't give a damn anymore and hope for the best. The only thing I'm pretty nervous about is the oral exam next week in Language Proficiency. But hey, that's next week!

OneNote - My new best friend

Now it probably sounds like I'm being sponsored by Microsoft, but I just wanted to tip all you students out there who, like me, haven't noticed the marvellous little program on your computer called OneNote. This is a really good tool when taking notes at classes, working on projects, making to do-lists etc. It is basically a digital notebook, where you can create several notebooks with sections and pages - just like a real notebook! You can also choose to share it with friends or colleagues and edit it together. It comes with the Office-package, so most of you probably have it already. Okay, that's enough selling for today. You're welcome, Microsoft. 

I've just started using it myself.

To report on the studying: nothing much has happened today either. My brain is like teflon these days. Let's see how it goes on the exams tomorrow. First out: Dutch and Branding!

Walking with branding glasses

Today I took a walk downtown in the beautiful almost-spring-weather to buy Nespresso coffee caps, and how amazed I am over how coffee can be sold so exclusively. Going in to their shop is like going in to Tiffany's. That is an excellent example of what good branding can do. I really notice how my way of looking at things have changed since I started ICM. I can spot and see through commercials and PR tricks easier now, for example. Imagine what a bit of education and knowledge can do.

The studying is not going so well, I have a hard time focusing. I rely as usual on the intense studying the night before instead. Tonight I cooked a late birthday dinner for my roommate, and we had a nice evening. No studying, that is.

Back in NL

Today I went back to The Hague, my other home. It's is a very strange feeling when you, after flying 2 hours and taking a train, end up in a place that has become home. Leaving my original home was quite hard; after three weeks there I kind of got used to it and started feeling like I actually lived there. On my way to the airport I actually got a bit nervous. For what, I wonder.

Leaving Sweden at sunset.

The plane landed about 25 minutes early, and everything went on perfectly. Now I've just finished unpacking and reorganizing my room while I'm at it. Tomorrow I have a lot to do: grocery shopping (our fridge is completely empty except for some ketchup and cream cheese), buy Nespresso caps, and of course, studying. It turned out pretty hard to study at home in Sweden, since I had so many other fun things to do there. Here everyone is studying, so there's really nothing that can distract me when I've started. Or so I say now...

Swenglish speaking actors

The movie last night was so good! I definitely recommend it to those who like exciting movie. However, there were some scenes that are really violent and not suitable for sensitive people. It was very wierd in a way, to see and American movie take place in Stockholm. My Stockholm! The actors even spoke English with a Swedish accent. In one way I think it's good that they kept the Swedish "feel" of the story, and not completely Americanized it. This morning I got up insanely early to go to my sister's place in Stockholm to study there. I didn't get that much done, so I'm going to study a bit tonight before watching Breakfast at Tiffany's later.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

The boring part of my Sweden-stay has come: studying. Yesterday I got up at 07.00 but couldn't start studying effectively until around 11.00. The reason? I forgot to have my regular cup of coffee in the morning. So now I've made my coffee as strong as I possibly can, and I'm going to study at home all day. Ugh. It sounds so remarkably boring. Well, at least I can comfort myself with the fact that I'm going to go to the cinema later tonight to see The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I have a feeling that it's a really good movie, maybe even better than the Swedish version. It will be interesting to see if it's as big in Holland as it is here in Sweden, or if it's just we who are being so extremely proud of Stieg Larson again. 

Rooney Mara 

Happy New 2012!

The new year has begun, and I can truly say that I had a great 2011. A lot of things happened that kind of turned my life in a whole new direction. Probably the most important was my decision to move to Holland to study. During the past year I've met a lot of new people, had many new experiences and learned a lot. Let's hope that 2012 will be just as fun and interesting! In 5 days I'm going back to The Hague and my life there. I really feel like I have two different lives, one in Sweden and one in Holland. I love them both equally, even though they are very different at times. Well, this week I'm going to start studying for the exams, only one semester left of ICM's first year!