2011 was

stirring.

December

When exactly did this happen? How did it come that we are already at the end of this year?  It had barely started… It seems that the more intense you live, the faster life seems to go. At least for me and I’m not sure I like it.

Not that I’d be in a position to complain. I met new, fantastic people. The bunch of fellow students is more than just nice. They are cool, intelligent and funny people. Even after almost 12 months, I still don’t know many of them as well as I would like to. There is so much more to learn and to discover.

And what’s even better, I’m making plans – step by step – to move to a new country, a new continent. Isn’t that cool? Not that I’m not scarred a bit but the excitement prevails. 2012, here I come!

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November

Another exam. Penultimate. One more to go and then it will be only papers & assignments. Halleluja.

One more deserved and much needed week of holiday. Doing the Deutschlandtour; driving from Cologne to Magdeburg, to Dresden, Jena, Darmstadt and back. Seeing more from my home country in a week than in the past 10 years combined.

Upon the return, the new life makes it first concrete step towards a new continent while my schedule gets even busier than it already was. Hard to believe but true.

October

What a busy month. Big conference for work, one more deadline, and even more exam preparation. At the same time, the new direction where ‘our’ life will be leading us is becoming certain. Excitement and anxiety are nicely kept in balance.

People keep on asking me how I find time to study while working. My answer by now: Nobody ever finds time. You make time by doing some things less frequently and take this time to do others more often.

 

September

Back to school. And oh is it hard to get started again. From now on, no breaks but a four weeks between classes instead of the usual three over Christmas. It is but one long finish.

On top of school work, there is even more real work (the one I get paid for, instead of paying for like the first one). But then again, there is not too much time to think about all I have to do. Just getting is done, one after the other, is the secret to remaining sane.

August

Break!!! No class. It feels like I’m a child again, happy about school being out. Though, it’s not out ‘out’. There are deadlines coming up in September, books to read, cases to prepare. But hey, there is no summer. So why wasting good time outside.

Still, occassional frisby duels in the park, a walk or two over to the ice cream shop and after all a week of holiday: Learning how to sail with a catamaran. No wind = no fun; but that was just the first day. The others bring wind, the trapez, the spinnaker, a storm, and a lot of fun.

July

One more full MBA week – it is exhausting, fun and insightful. And, it means we are more than a third of the way through the programme. I have no idea when this happened. By my time feeling, last month was January.

But then, life goes on: more papers to do – some fun including factory visits; some less so including t-tails and probabilities. The reward: a four day mini holiday on the French coast. Despite the weather forecast, sunshine trumps rain, warmth conquers the cold. J’adore!

June

My sister comes to visit on a sunny and warm weekend. The last one we would get in Brussels for what passes here as summer. A long cycling tour and a relaxed evening out put some balance to the learning: calculating, moving curves, more reading.

Good news: reading the Economist definitely counts as learning. Some fun at least.

May

Another exam. NOT open book. How I hate to learn things by heart. Yes, I can get this stuff in my head but to what end? The topic was interesting but why can I not look up the formular? It’s the meaning of it that matters, not the exact equation.

More numbers, more projects, more courses. Most of it not easy for me, but still time worth spent.

April

My first written exam since summer 2004! When getting the results, I remember why it is as important to be well prepared as to actually read the question. And calculate what has been asked for and not something else. A passing grade was more than what I could have expected but even though; I did 🙂

Beside school, there is going home, the strongest and longest lasting cold since I came to Brussels and an amazing weekend trip to Den Hague. Overall feeling: Life is good.