A Royal Hoosier Weekend

With temperatures in the high 80’s and low 90’s last week (only to go up to 100F in May), I was excited to get away from the hot Sevilla weather and relax in the brisk coolness of London.

Sike.

I guess I should consider myself really lucky. I haven’t been on one trip where the weather was something to complain about (knock on wood), and London wasn’t going to ruin this streak. Ironically, I happened to bring the nice weather with me, as London experienced 60-70F while I was visiting. Pleasant.

This trip was a bit unique from the rest: not only was I traveling alone, but I was also meeting up some of closest friends at Indiana University.  The Kelley School of Business has a way of bringing students together through its arduous exams and demanding coursework, and eventually creating lasting friendships. It’s typical for students to study abroad 2^nd semester junior year (after taking I-CORE in the fall), thus my friends and I have had many traveling destinations to choose from.



With Professor Briggs of Operations Management at the Kelley School of Business



MM, my gracious hostess, invited me to stay with her if I had room to fit London into my traveling schedule. I took her up on her offer and was off to be reunited with several Kelleys (in London for an internship program, similar to mine in Sevilla) and JS, a friend from freshman year, starting her one month Euro trip in London.

But of course, the actual travel to my chosen destination has to be an interesting one, or else I would have nothing fun to blog about. Don’t you worry readers, I had quite the experience even BEFORE leaving Sevilla. First, the AC on the shuttle bus from the city center to the airport BROKE on our ride. 100 passengers were jam packed into a bus built for 30, with backpacks, suitcases and smelly armpits…so you can only imagine what I was going through.

Death.

Next, having gotten to my Ryanair terminal an hour before take-off, I was notified that our flight was delayed by a half hour. Okay, not bad for Ryanair. But THEN I was searched from head to toe by the airport POLICE (AFTER having been initially searched at security) before getting on board. And to make matters worse, I got stuck between seven women, in their mid 40’s having left their kids at home for with their husbands, for a “Girls Getaway Weekend” during the flight. They were screaming, whistling, dancing flamenco and ordering around the air hostesses for the entire 2 hours and 20 minutes. Needless to say, I got NO sleep on that flight.

At Stansted airport, I had to wait another half hour to get through customs and missed my bus to the center of London. I had to buy another ticket (the exchange rate from Euros to Pounds REALLY killed me) and was off. I was instructed to call MM when my bus left, but get this…genius me turned off my cell phone on the flight, and when I finally turned it back on I realized I forgot to bring the 4-digit pin to unlock it. EPIC FAIL. So I had no way of getting in touch with her. Luckily the lady sitting next to me on the bus was nice enough to let me use her phone for a few seconds.

Long story short, we finally made it to MM’s flat at 4AM. Some five hours later, we started exploring the city. JS and I were on our own for the most part, as MM had a final presentation to deliver.  Here are some of the sights we saw on our tour (including the hyped up changing of the guards in front of Buckingham Palace).

The three of us eventually met up again at MM’s internship (brace yourselves) in PARLIAMENT! MM was given access to all rooms and areas in this ginormous building and was allowed to give friends and family a private tour of the place. WIN. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures inside…but this is what it looks like from the outside (not many people can say they’ve seen the parliament up close and personal!).

The rest of the day was spent sightseeing (including PLATFORM 9 and ¾ for all of you Harry Potter fans!), cooking dinner and resting up after a long, touristy day in the city. I, however, used this time (Friday evening) to visit the first Ismaili Center ever created.  I’d like to think I’ve become braver traveling on my own…taking the local subways and buses to where I need to be, but I’ll have to admit, this time I got a little help from the city of London. Take a look:

How crazy?!?! Seeing the Ismaili Center labeled on the tube stop was such a proud moment for me! Jamati ceremonies were what I usually experience in the States (same language, same sequence of events, etc) except that the ceremonies were conducted in a much better accent (haha) and that I received a candy instead of Sukreet when drinking Niyaz (holy water). After ceremonies, I was fortunate enough to run into some familiar faces (ZS and RK) and then was given a tour of the center. It was beautiful! Here are the few pictures I was allowed to take.

Saturday followed the tune of Friday’s touristic day. I saw St. James Park, did the South Bank River Walk, St. Paul’s, the Globe Theater, London’s Financial District, Borough Market, Tower of London and walked across several bridges, one of them being the same bridge used in a HARRY POTTER MOVIE (I’m a HUGE fan :D). I also stopped by the Institute of Ismaili Studies for a personal tour of the building. A professor was kind enough to take me from one floor to the next, explaining in detail the STEP and GPISH Programs offered by the Institute. Interested in learning more? Check out this link: http://www.iis.ac.uk/home.asp?l=en.

In the evening we cooked dinner, watched Mama Mia with MM and her five other flat-mates and eventually got ready for a BIG Kelley Reunion. It was a long, but extremely fun, night catching up with everyone and trading study abroad stories…ending with a London sunrise, LOL.

Sunday morning I had breakfast with JS, MM and MM’s brother and girlfriend who were her newest visitors (she’s had many throughout the semester) and then revisited the British Museum to finish seeing some galleries before heading back to Sevilla.

Overall, a solid weekend with some exceptionally great people.

This week, I’m scrambling to submit final papers and projects (two weeks before their deadline) as I’m headed out for a 10 day spring break in...(hold on to you hats) ATHENS, GREECE AND ISTANBUL TURKEY (and Barcelona)!!!! This spring break will be one of two that I’ll be enjoying this semester. I’ll clue you all in on the locations of my second break as the time gets closer.

Until next time.

First Daze of School

Remember that feeling you got, on the first day of high school? Scared, nervous, not knowing what to expect.  Would you make friends, or be an outcast? Would you find all of your classes on time? Would the professor label you as “that kid” without giving you a chance to prove yourself?

You may not admit it, but I’m pretty sure we’ve all gone through the same experience on that first day. Lucky for me, I was able to relive it once again. 

This past Monday, the students in my program began the first day of core classes. Now, you may be thinking, what has she been doing in Spain for the past two weeks? The program is structured in such a way that students MUST take a 10-day intensive Spanish course, to bring them up to speed at the University’s teaching level.  After this three credit class is completed, students start their major classes and attend them until the end of the semester…like any university back home.

Like the other students, I arrived to FCEYE (Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales or the Business School for short) a half hour before my first class.  Not quite sure of where my classroom was I was relieved to see VT, AV and NB, fellow Kelleys.  Coincidentally, we were all in the same class; NB had had a class earlier that morning, so she knew the lay of the land.

European Corporate Organizations – a management class required for graduation at Kelley – was led by Adolfo, a well-dressed and well-spoken Professor, Director and Consultant.  The class itself was very interesting, as we analyzed different styles of management in companies based out of both Spain and the United States.  The best part: the class is centered on movies and documentaries (i.e.: The Godfather) to spur up conversation and debate.

Services management – a requirement for my International Business Major – was taught by a corky old, bald man with a five word name that I can’t seem to remember at the moment. Within the first 30 seconds, he taught us the difference between “Yo comprendo” and “Yo entiendo” (when said by a male).  The first meaning “I understand” and the second “I am gay.”  His jokes quickly resonated with many of the students.  As the class progressed, we found out that this Professor was no ordinary professor, but rather a real big hot shot in the business and academic world.  Monday night, he was to have dinner with the owner of the Betiz Futbol team (if you know anything about Spanish Soccer, you know this is a BIG deal).  He also mentioned his best friend was the Number 1 guy for McDonalds Europe (who will also be speaking to us in class in the near future!!!). AWESOME.

On Mondays, I am in the unfortunate position of running from the business school (more like brisk walking) to the CIEE center, for my internship class (a 30 minute walk that I’m given 25 minutes to complete).  Thank God Stevenson High School prepared me for this very moment.  For four years I had mastered the art of getting from the 2000s in the Old Building to the corners of the 8000s in the New Building.  I was able to get to the center in about 21 minutes, NBD.

Tuesdays and Thursdays I only have ONE class (love my life) from 3-430PM.  On these days, I will be interning with Vorsevi for some five to six hours and then attending class.  International Trade and Finance is equivalent to a Finance 400-level class back at Kelley. DEATH! I was so worried before that class.  But as the universe would have it, it ended up being my favorite class of the bunch.  Professor Jose Luis Jimenez Caballo (I only remember his name because I just received an email from him) came off as "that teacher" (no offense).  Strict posture, stern face and judging demeanor he asked each and every one of us why we chose his class.  I think I hit a note when I said that I was very interested in learning about stocks, the exchanges and hedging, because Professor Cabello’s eyes lit up.  I didn’t know what I had done, but I rolled with it.  The class’s discussion revolved around the current economic crisis and the role of banks.  We even took our first quiz (Finance in Spain = difficult). 

Overall, a great first and second day. I’m sure my future posts won’t be as positive…as the homework starts piling up.

Speed Dating…For an Internship?

Times have become so terrible that the unemployed in España need to speed date in order to land an internship. Or so that’s what it felt like.  Approximately thirty business students were vying for some twenty positions offered by our study abroad program.

Sounds intense. Well, it WAS intense. Kelleys (business students at Indiana University) are used to bidding for interviews, getting selected as one of ten (or however many the company chooses), arriving at our Undergraduate Career Services Office (UCSO) fifteen minutes ahead of schedule and having a one-on-one interview with a recruiter. Unfortunately, all that interviewing at Kelley never prepared us for what we experienced today: a small hotel banquet room, twenty some tables, two hours and awkward five to ten minute interviews in the open…in SPANISH.

You read correctly. For roughly 100 minutes, I babbled on and on about Indiana University, my internship with Wrigley, my aspirations for the future, my hobbies and why I chose Sevilla of all places to study.  At first, I had a major case of word vomit – spewing “umm” and “so” between Spanish words – but after the first two interviews, I felt my Spanish improving exponentially.  By the tenth interview (yes, ten), I had my script down and was incorporating new business terms I had learned along the way. Clever, I know.

Though it may seem like the worst is over, interviews were only the calm before the storm.  Tonight begins the first of many sleepless nights most of us will be enduring.  While we cross our fingers and twiddle our thumbs, our study abroad program director will be pairing each candidate to an empresa (business).

Seems simple, right? If it were simple, I’d have nothing to blog about. The process goes somewhat like this: after the two hours, each company is asked to rank the students they spoke with.  The students are also asked to do the same. The director takes both lists and matches all the empresas with their number one choices and then goes down from there (like our intense Greek system, for all you Hoosiers reading). Now, this can end in one of four ways:

1.       A student ends up with his/her top choice

2.       A student settles for his/her second (or third) choice

3.       An empresa decides it doesn’t want any interns, if it doesn’t receive its first choice

4.       A student ends up with no internship

With more students than businesses, number four is a likely option.  In this case, students will have to interview with other companies, on their own time…an added stress none of us want with major classes starting in a few days.

Nonetheless, you’re looking at some accomplished Kelleys who, I have no doubt, will secure internships within the first round.  With any luck, this picture will make it into our business school’s marketing tools. ;)