Archiv für die Kategorie ‘Study abroad (outgoing)’

Castellers de Barcelona

Castellers de Barcelona

Bettina Redl (M10) won the photo competition on HHL’s blog. She submitted photos of the Catalonian tradition of the Castellers (human tower builders) at a folk festival in Barcelona/ Spain. She spent her fall term at EADA, Barcelona.

In the beginning of October, all outgoing HHL exchange students were asked to submit a photo or photos capturing their experiences and impressions abroad.  They could send in expressive pictures with captions regarding the three following topics:

1. Did you make a very special foreign food experience? If so, what was it, what did it look like and how did it taste?
2. Did you experience something peculiar in the country where you are staying, e.g. regarding customs and traditions, a special bank holiday, or did your attend an interesting event?
3. Did your find some weird things that you found funny or fascinating, e.g. street signs, advertisements etc.?

We received 8 fantastic and beautiful photos and stories, which can all be viewed on this blog. A small jury consisting of HHL staff decided in favor of Bettina Redl, who therewith won an HHL scarf.

Thank you all for your participation!

HHL scarf

HHL scarf

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Agra - Taj Mahal

Agra - Taj Mahal

After landing at the Indira Ghandi International Airport in Delhi, the first thing I experienced was a power cut, which switched off most of this huge metropolis. It was an amazing event for me. During the next power cut, I was annoyed as I was just in the middle of a shopping spree. But after the second, third and fourth time, you don’t even react anymore. You just continue with life as usual waiting for a couple of minutes to get your needed power back. The second thing I was confronted with was the wall of people, noise, dirt, smell and humidity when I left the airport overtired at 3:00 a.m.. Humidity is not an issue anymore as the monsoon is over. As regards the other points, you will develop abilities in ignoring as well as special breathing technologies.

Jaipur - City Palace

Jaipur - City Palace

I would say that coming to India was a heavy cultural shock, since I have never been to this side of the world before. But being abroad means to explore new things and to adapt to them if necessary. The most important thing you are learning in India is to be patient. Even though India has managed to do a lot of progress in the last years, their bureaucracy is time-consuming and not straight forward. Several visits are required before things are done. If I wanted to have an easy going life during my exchange term, I would have gone to one of our western partner universities. We are not traveling through the world, studying in one of our partner universities to learn for school only. We are learning for life, always. In a couple of weeks, everything will be over and I know that I am really happy that I took and have had the chance to meet India in person and detail. I will miss it.

Varanasi - Holy Cows

Varanasi - Holy Cows

India is crossing the border line between a developing and a developed country at the moment. There many things that need improvement, further development and higher efficiency on one side. On the other hand, India is known for its highly developed IT and glamorous Bollywood. This mix was the reason to be here. I wanted to see how business life is working, how people are living here, and what the contrasts between home and India are. And there is so much to see. The gap between poor and wealthy people is terribly large. It feels strange to see a new Porsche Cayenne, produced in Leipzig, next to an old bicycle rickshaw driving along the same street. The contrast of modern shopping malls at each corner with sleeping dirty people in front of it, who have not even a home, is impressive. It starts to change your own perspective. And for the first time in my life, I realized how spoiled and privileged I am. Nevertheless, the poorer the people, the more happily they seem. Kids are still able to play in the streets with each other. Things you don’t see in Germany so often anymore.

Delhi - India Gate

Delhi - India Gate

MDI - Management Development Institute is one of the private B-schools in India, which is preparing the next generation of managers to continue and foster the developing process of its country. They are living their slogan: “Arise awake and stop not till the goal is reached”. MDI is offering a highly practical oriented syllabus of courses. Almost all courses I have chosen are case structured as we know it from HHL. It is interesting to read these cases as they mostly show Indian companies besides the typical Harvard articles. The teaching faculty is highly committed to convey techniques for successful entrepreneurship, business strategy and,by the way, the best tactics for negotiation in India’s streets. However, studying at MDI is quite different to our school. It is not only that you have a fixed time table with all courses during the week. You are faced with spontaneous quizzes, mid-term and end-term exams and challenging group meetings after midnight, too. Additionally, all students and most of the faculty are living on campus. Thus, you intermingle with them 24/7 and we get to know each other better. After the typical period of mix and meet you find friends easily, especially when you are used to international student groups as we are. At the moment 35 exchange students from at least 10 different schools are studying besides around 600 Indians. Living at campus is like being in a different world. It is a relaxing, almost quit and clean area in a continuously growing and never sleeping city. The living standards are relatively high compared to other places in India.
In a nut shell, I follow the statement from last year’s students: “Studying in India is to expect the unexpected!” Come and see it yourself.

Thank you to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) that kindly supported my study experience at MDI -Management Development Institute Gurgaon, India.

Author: Anna-Kristin Georgii (M10) at MDI -Management Development Institute Gurgaon, India

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Korea - The Country of Traditions

Korea - The Country of Traditions

Korea ‐ the Country of Traditions
Korea is a country full of traditions with landmarks like ancient Buddhist temples, traditional Korean “Hanok” Houses and the national dress called the “Hanbok”. Throughout the year, many festivals remind of the ancient history of Korea. So does the Bibimbap Festival which is annually held at Jeonju, the city of Bibimbap. Bibimbap is a famous, nutritious dish with vegetables which is served in a hot stone bowl with a row egg on top. On the picture besides you can see us mingling with the Bibimbap ingredients - beef, rice, cucumber, garlic, alga, bean sprout and egg.

Korea - The Country of Impressive Economic Growth

Korea - The Country of Impressive Economic Growth

Korea - a Country of impressive Economic Growth
With its rapid economic growth in the 1960s, South Korea took its place among the leading economic countries in the world. Highly motivated staff and advanced technologies made Korea the 4th largest economy in Asia. Korean people are proud of the worldwide recognized Korean brands like Samsung, LG and Hyundai. That is why advanced electronic products and Hyundai cars can be seen everywhere in Seoul. On 11th & 12th November 2010 Korea hosted the G20 Summit in Seoul.  Although we didn’t have the chance to actively join this event, we attend the not less important ;‐) International Water Conference in Gumi to discuss important water issues with the majors of Korean cities.

Korea - the Country of Mountains

Korea - the Country of Mountains

Korea ‐ the Country of Mountains
Mountains are an important element of Korean’s impressive countryside. Over 70% of the territory is mountainous. We already mastered the challenge to climb to Korea’s highest peaks several times. First, we conquered the UNESCO World‐Heritage volcano, Mount Hallasan on the island Jejo‐do. With 1950m this is Korea’s highest mountain. Last week we climbed the 3rd highest mountain on the Korean peninsula. After 800 almost vertical steps and a demanding hike, we finally reached the top of the 1905m high Mount Seoraksan. Greetings from the top!

Korea - the Country of Beautiful Beaches

Korea - the Country of Beautiful Beaches

Korea ‐ the Country of beautiful Beaches
Korea’s largest island, Jeju‐do, is not called without reason the “Hawaii of Korea”. A mixture of beautiful sand beaches with palm trees and rocky cliffs surround the whole island. And swimming in the bright blue water of the yellow sea makes you want to stay there forever. No surprise that the island is a magnet for many Korean honeymooners that wear the same shirts, go to the Teddy bear museum und love shuffling food in each others’ mouths. The only disadvantage is that Korea has four seasons as well and that already by the end of September the temperature drops to a quite low level.

Korea - the Country of Table Grills

Korea - the Country of Table Grills

Korea - the Country of Table Grills
Traditional Korean food is one of the highlights during our stay. The range is fully diversified. Especially octopus is eaten in all variations starting from living tentacle to dried octopus snacks. Spicy, fermented cabbage called Kimchi is part of every Korean meal. Our personal favorites are the numerous restaurants with integrated table grills where you grill meat by yourself. As Germany is the ultimate Grill nation, this kind of food is not only familiar to us but also the most delicious part of the Korean cuisine. We highly recommend the black pork!

KDI - The School of Diversity

KDI - The School of Diversity

KDI ‐ the School of Diversity
KDI School is not only renowned for its research efforts in the field of public policy and management but also for its diversity of students. People from over 60 countries study here, many of them working as public officials in their countries. But studying over books and spending long hours in the library is only one part of KDI life. We had the chance to visit several highly ranked conferences and to participate at fun activities like the school hiking trip or the International Food Festival where students presented their national cuisine :‐) Here you can see the German‐Vietnamese cooperation that won the 2nd price.

Sarah & Ivelina

Sarah & Ivelina

안녕히 계세요

SARAH & IVELINA

Authors: Sarah Jentzsch & Ivelina Florev (both MSc4) at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management, Korea

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Stefan and Igor in a tuk tuk

Stefan and Igor in a tuk tuk

Visiting Bangalore, India’s Information Technology capital, HHL student Igor Stepanishchev (23), currently studying at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta, met up with his classmate Stefan Frisch (24), who currently spends his exchange term at the IIM in Bangalore.
During our journey through Bangalore, we faced an everyday challenge: Negotiating with the tuk tuk drivers. It is very easy to observe that the negotiation can be smoothened if you are supported by your team since two people represent more expertise, more independence and more possible reactions to the counteroffers. We were coming out of a shopping mall after having had Igor´s “welcome-dinner” when literarily dozens of rickshaw drivers started to approach us by offering “best prices for bosses. Our reservation and fair price for 6 km journey was 60 rupees; unfortunately, the initial offer from the rickshaw driver was 300 rupees. In Germany with this disparity of prices you would walk off directly. In India, this is where you think “Ok, let’s start to negotiate”. Our strategy was very simple and effective. I, Stefan, talked with the drivers and presented rational arguments why the price should be no more than 60, whereas Igor showed much skepticism and pretended the highest level of dissatisfaction about the current price. He only spoke short sentences in Russian just to irritate the rickshaw drivers and make them believe that the situation is not under their control. The fact that I didn´t understand the sentences as well was unknown to them. After 5 minutes when Igor became bored and the price already went down to 100 rupees, he decided to use his last strong argument: “walk away”. Our further tactics were: While I was still negotiating the price, the drivers’ heads turn to Igor who started to walk away and was immediately approached by other drivers. That was the moment when the fear of losing the deal caused by Igor walking off and the fact that the Rickshaw driver would still make a profitable price, lead to the final agreement on 70 rupees.
You may ask “Don´t you, guys, feel bad negotiating over the last 10 rupees (15 eurocents) with people who earn less than 200 Euro per month? What about fairness and social responsibility?” - Our reply would be: “First of all, negotiation is a part of their culture and if you don´t negotiate, drivers feel bad although they have made a good deal. Second, they never agree on loss-making prices and, therefore, are satisfied with any offer acceptable; it just reduces their profit margin a bit. Moreover, to not negotiate would rule out the system and establish prices that would be too high for many other potential customers and, thus, is socially unwanted. Consequently, everyday Indian negotiations represent a functioning economic mode of exchange and, thus, allow cooperation for mutual advantage. Furthermore, they will prepare us to become effective and responsible business leaders with advanced negotiation skills in Europe.” Isn’t that a right mindset?
PS: The Rikschaw driver on the photo received a competitive remuneration for his photo model efforts.
Best Regards from Bangalore,
Stefan & Igor

Thank you to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) that kindly supported Stefan’s and Igor’s study experience in India.

Authors: Stefan Frisch and Igor Stepanishchev (both MSc4) at IIM in Bangalore and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta

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Hello from the Ivy League!

Tuck School of Business

Tuck School of Business

Although this greeting is not uncommon during a specific part of the year at HHL (check out our European Ivy League), this time I am honored to write to you from inside the real Ivy League - the century-old group of universities in America.
In HHL’s exchange program, which is mandatory for all MSc - students, you are able to select the university you like to attend out of a long list of over 100 partner universities around the globe. I opted for the unique chance to go to one of the leading Universities in the United States: the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Tuck School of Business

Tuck School of Business

Being at the world’s oldest business school, it is fairly hard to tell what impresses me most. Is it the class and the style of the buildings right in the midst of lovely New England? Most parts of the school were donated by large international companies and as you may guess, this leads you most of the time to the impression that you are in an exquisite Hotel rather than a Business School. Or is it the small but neat fact, that tea and biscuits are served at five?Maybe it is more the academic side - that all classes are taught by leading lecturers in their field, and that it makes a difference if you hear just some professor talk about the Three Factor Model, or Professor French, who invented it. Learning the corporate spheres of influence from Prof. Richard D’Aveni (and of course hearing all his jokes) isn’t just the same as hearing it from someone other. And the same is true for Prof. Keller, Prof. Fairbrothers and lots of others.

Inside Tuck School of Business

Inside Tuck School of Business

I think these would all be pretty good reasons to like Tuck, but honestly, what really impresses me most are the students themselves. Admittedly, HHL already sets the standard when it comes to diversity in Germany, but Tuck takes it even further. At almost the same size, students from over 50 countries are present, giving the campus a very international touch. The backgrounds of the students vary from M&A to consulting, from military to fighting poverty over entrepreneurial ventures to religious activities - making sure whomever you talk to, conversation never gets boring.

Roland Drapatz's home in New England

Roland Drapatz's home in New England

And if you sum all this up, combine it with a huge load of solidarity, colleagueship and belief and trust in this special community, you get the ideal place to study, develop yourself, make friends and, not to forget, have lots of fun.
This makes the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth one of the very best places to study in the world - even if it is just for an exchange term.

Author: Roland Drapatz (MSc4) at The Tuck School of Business at the Dartmouth College, United States

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Ciao! Mi chiamo Susanne Weidenkaff! Studio di Castellanza/ Milano da due mese. This could be the introduction of a wonderful dialogue with an Italian „ragazzo“. Yes, I am studying in Europe in Italy – nothing exotic, how boring? Believe me, it’s far away from boredom. Our European neighbour provides every day some surprises. But let me start with another point, with the most important objectives of the Italian society, the four “Fs”:  faith, fashion, food and family and my experiences with that.

Religious procession in Bologna

Religious procession in Bologna

During our stage in Bologna, the inhabitants celebrated an awe‐inspiring procession through the whole city. More than 100 believers followed the orchestra and the church. However, the most exciting thing was the smell. Even from the highest position in Bologna, the “Torri pendent”, one could smell the taste of frankincense.

A fashionable Italian lady

A fashionable Italian lady

Besides this adventure, I recognized in the beginning month that fashion is one of the most important topics in Italy ‐ not only in Milano, the city of the fashion week. In every small town, one can recognize this phanomen. It doesn’t matter whether young or old, children or pensioner, beeing well dressed is a MUST. Every young girl is saving money right from the beginning to buy at least an original handback of Louis Vuitton or Gucci. For that reason, it is not remarkable that our first guest lecture at LIUC was given by Gucci.

Delicious Italian food

Delicious Italian food

Moreover, my favorit Italian food custom experience during the dinner time is the “Aperitivo”. Never heard about it? Me neither. The system works quiete easy: to motivate the Italians to visit a restaurant or a bar, every location offers  a big buffett of pizza, pasta and anti pasta, free of charge, during the evening! You order just an coktail, wine or … That’s it.

Susanne Weidenkaff (on the right) together with her flatmates

Susanne Weidenkaff (on the right) together with her flatmates

Nearly three of four of the LIUC students are still living with their parents. Therefore, the housing situation of shared flats can be described as limited. Our flat, which I share with three other girls coming from France and Australia, became a popular meeting point. At least once a week other international students swing by to chat and exchange experiences and opinions. The main advantage of studying abroad!

Regarding the academic program at LIUC: I am studying in a multicultural atmosphere in which Italian and international students can grow and flourish both academically and socially. The courses I am attending are well structured and rewarding.

Author: Susanne Weidenkaff (MSc4) at the University of Carlo Cattaneo (LIUC) in Castellanza/ Milano, Italy

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Castellers de Barcelona

Castellers de Barcelona

I am currently studying at EADA (in Barcelona), where I am profiting from a number of very good courses. The pictures that I am sending show a typical Catalonian tradition - the competition of the Castellers (the human tower builders) to “build” the highest and most complicated human tower possible. One of the towers even broke down, but thereof I only have a video, no pictures. The towers consist of two parts: the base (a lot of people supporting the weight from the column) and the column. The competition is carried out in several rounds where different formations of the Castell are performed. The clothes of the individual Castellers is composed of pants, a colored shirt (which represents the town or village where they come from) and a belt which is used by the climbers to dig their feet in when climbing onto the top of the tower. At the very top of the tower are kids, usually not more than 4-6 years old.

The pictures show the competition that took place during a local Barcelonian festival called “La Merce” - a kind of Thanksgiving.

Author: Bettina Redl (M10) at Escuela de Alta de Administracion, Barcelona/ Spain

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These famous song lyrics by Udo Jürgens translate to “I have never been to New York”. They tell the story of a man, who desires to escape his routine and travel the world. Speaking for myself, at least this part of the story is history now.

Andreas Hoenl and the New York skyline

Andreas Hoenl and the New York skyline

I am a MS student at HHL - Leipzig Graduate School of Management. In the course of my studies I have the terrific opportunity to go abroad and attend one of HHL’s numerous partner universities around the globe. For several reasons, I have chosen the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College in New York City, where I am spending my fall term 2010. Fortunately, in support of my personal as well as professional objectives, I was awarded a Fulbright scholarship.
Majoring in Finance and Accounting, my time in New York has been academically rewarding so far. Gaining insights as for that matter from professors, guest speakers and in conversations beyond the campus is even more appreciable here at the heartbeat of the financial world. Besides, referring to the Fulbright network presents itself further opportunities.
Additionally, the cultural diversity distinguishes New York from any other major city. I share my apartment with an Indian, an Italian, a Korean and a Saudi Arabian - just to get a taste of what I mean by that. Hence, the range of offerings and cultural activities is overwhelming, no matter what day of the week or what time of day. To retain some sense of home, I plan to go to a concert of a German band called Sportfreunde Stiller. It has reaped some success with a recent recording of the song “Ich war noch niemals in New York”.

Author: Andreas Hoenl (MSc4) at City University, Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, NYC

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Diving into Indian culture - HHL student at IIM Ahmedabad, India

von admin | 12. Oktober 2010 | Kategorie: Study abroad (outgoing) | Kommentare geschlossen
Festivities in honor of Lord Ganesha

Festivities in honor of Lord Ganesha

Christian Klemenz (MSc4) is enjoying his term abroad in India and a lot of inspiring coursework. He had the exciting chance to actively take part in a traditional festivity and, thus, to learn what Indian culture really is all about:

“Right at the outset of my semester abroad at the IIM Ahmedabad in India, I got round to participate in the Hindu festival of Ganesha on my campus ground. It has been the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, who is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune in India and elsewhere. Because of his identification with the color red, Hindus worship him with red sandalwood paste and my Indian fellow students didn’t leave me alone until I was also colored in red.”

Thank you to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) that kindly supported study experience of Mr. Klemenz at the IIM Ahmedabad in India.

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Arbeit und Studium zwischen Alpen und Pazifik

von admin | 09. September 2010 | Kategorie: Karriere, M.Sc., Study abroad (outgoing) | Kommentare geschlossen

svenjakSommerzeit ist Urlaubszeit. Doch Svenja Klups sieht das anders. Die Studentin der Handelshochschule hat die sechs Wochen, die ihr bis zum Beginn ihres Auslandsstudiums in Costa Rica noch blieben, für ein Praktikum bei Swarovski in Österreich genutzt. Der Titel der Campus-Serie „Das sind meine Semesterferien” müsste in ihrem Fall lauten: „Das sind keine Semesterferien”.

Wer den Namen Swarovski hört, denkt an Schmuck, Uhren, edle Kristalle. Doch Swarovski hat mehrere Sparten. Eine davon ist die Optik-Abteilung. Sie stellt Ferngläser, Teleskope und Zielfernrohre her. „Ich komme aus einer Jäger- und Schützenfamilie”, sagt Svenja, die einen Jagdschein besitzt und als Sportschützin aktiv ist. „Viele Produkte der Firma für die Jagd kannte ich schon lange.” Daher lag es für sie nahe, bei Swarovski-Optik ein Praktikum zu absolvieren.

Die komplizierte Umsetzung einer Werbekampagne

Fernrohre hatte Svenja während der anderthalb Monate in der Firmenzentrale in Absam bei Innsbruck aber nur selten in der Hand. Die Management-Studentin der Handelshochschule Leipzig (HHL) arbeitete in der Abteilung für Marketing und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit mit. Sie entwarf und betreute Anzeigen, Kataloge und Messepräsentationen. So erlebte sie, wie gründlich eine Werbekampagne vorbereitet werden muss - vor allem, wenn Inserate international in verschiedenen Sprachen erscheinen sollen. „Wir mussten die Anzeige übersetzen lassen, die Übersetzung überprüfen und alles mit unseren Standorten in den betreffenden Ländern abstimmen”, berichtet Svenja, die aus Herne im Ruhrgebiet stammt.

Die 24-Jährige durfte selbstständig arbeiten und Ideen einbringen. „Es war eine sehr lehrreiche Zeit”, sagt Svenja. Das Praktikum hat bei ihr Lust geweckt auf einen Job im Marketing-Bereich. Auf eine Branche möchte sie sich allerdings noch nicht festlegen, das hat keine Eile. 2012 will Svenja ihr Studium abschließen, und das gleich doppelt. Neben dem Master an der HHL strebt sie einen weiteren in Costa Rica an, wo sie sich seit Ende August aufhält.

Koffer auspacken, Koffer einpackensvenjak1

Für die Umstellung auf einen anderen Kontinent, eine andere Sprache und eine andere Kultur nahm sich Svenja nur zwei Tage Zeit. „Am Freitag bin ich von Österreich nach Leipzig gefahren, habe schnell die Koffer umgepackt, am Sonntag ging der Flieger ab Frankfurt.” Ihre Seminare an der Incae Business School in der Nähe der Stadt Alajuela im Zentrum Costa Ricas haben bereits begonnen. Svenja belegt verschiedene Wirtschafts- und Politikkurse. Einige ungewöhnliche sind dabei, in denen die Studenten lernen, ihren Einfluss im Arbeitsleben zu erhöhen und sich durchzusetzen. Durchsetzungsvermögen ist auch in den Unterrichtsstunden gefragt. „Hier wird viel mehr diskutiert als in Leipzig, jeder kommt dran.”

Bisher hat Svenja nur auf Englisch diskutiert, die Kurse auf Spanisch beginnen später. „Mal schauen, wie weit die Sprachkenntnisse reichen.” Das Semester ist mit zwei Monaten sehr kurz, die Leipzigerin wird anschließend schon wieder umziehen - wenn auch nur innerhalb Mittelamerikas. „Es folgt ein Projekt, bei dem wir Studenten Unternehmensberater spielen, entweder in Honduras oder in Panama.” Im Januar kehrt Svenja nach Leipzig zurück. Abschiedsschmerz muss sie nicht haben, im Frühjahr 2012 absolviert sie ein weiteres Semester in Costa Rica, um den dortigen Abschluss zu erreichen. Eine angenehme Perspektive, denn der Pazifik ist nah, Svenja hat ihr erstes Wochenende am Strand verbracht - und sich gleich einen Sonnenbrand eingefangen. „Die Sonne ist hier viel stärker.” Das klingt dann doch nach einem Hauch von Ferien.

Der Autor Johannes Pöhlandt ist Mitglied der Lehrredaktion Campus, einem Gemeinschaftsprojekt der LVZ und des Studiengangs Journalistik der Universität Leipzig.

Fotos: privat
© LVZ-Online, 06.09.2010, 19:21 Uhr

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