Classes are over!

Just delivered the last assignment for the GIM class 30 minutes ago.
That means that, apart from the Global Supply Chain Management assignment due on Monday, I am done with MBA classes.
I wish I could continue to have classes indefinetely. I like classes. I like to learn, to ask, to discuss. And I like the feeling of beeing worry-free, as the only thing you are supposed to do is pay attention.
ButI need to find a job and to write a thesis. So it is good to be finally able to concentrate on that from now on.
Pity that this last module was, in my humble opinion, way below the level of other modules, so it wasn't very enjoyable. And I was (am) sick.
They are having a reception with champagne and snacks in the next room, I should join them. But I think that my health won't allow me to drink or eat much. That also the reason I am missing out on the Hazmat Modine concert in Stuttgart in an hour. But I should be fine tomorrow.

A week in review

Well, actually a bit more than a week, as the picture below was taken two Saturdays ago. I went with 2 other colleagues, one Canadian, one French, to a very small town somewhere in the wine lands around here to a wine and castle festival with some live music. The first band was bad, the second was ok. The festival was much smaller than I expected, but the Weinschorle (whine mixed with - little - sparkling water) was plentyful and cheap. The place was called Wachenheim.

Monday saw us rowing again, as well as Wednesday. I believe that I will be able to post better pictures later during the week, as I cannot take my camera in the boat. On Wednesday I tried to row a single boat for the first time and landed 3 times in the water. Of course. But it was warm, so that wasn't a problem.
Monday was also the day when I discovered that my locked bicycle was stolen from the locked bike garage in the locked apartment building. Really upsetting.

On Tuesday I went to an interesting networking event in Stuttgart organized by the BWcon institution, on the role of business angels in start-up financing.

Thursday was a busy day. Career strategy coaching session at the business school and soccer game watching with barbecue in the same location, in company of the students of the EMAT course. It was also the day I got my push scooter as a replacement for the stolen bike.

Germany won, everybody went to the Wasserturm to commemorate.

Saturday saw me taking the train to Idstein, for a Jazz Festival in a very picturesque town. Was really fun with good company. We even did a small rock climbing stunt which reminded me of Dee's blog: Venture to the top.

Barrelhouse Jazz Band in Idstein.

Sunday saw me for some hours in Mainz, and this is the only view I had from the impressive cathedral.

Today the last MBA course for our class and my sixt in Mannheim started: Global Information Management. It started slow with an analysis of Friedman's "The world is flat" text.
The afternoon was a bit more exciting, with a quick (and I mean quick: 1000 years in 1 hour) review of the world's history based on economic cores and a tentative look on how the world might look like in the next 50 years. I am curious to see how the course progresses and how today's class integrates with the rest of the course's material.

We went to rowing practice again and I spent half an hour in the single boat once more, this time returning safe and dry to land.

And tomorrow I will be the CIO of Volkswagen of America, at least during the case study discussion.

Europameisterschaft

We had yet again another nice get together at the Villa, this time to watch the soccer games.

Summer ball at the Warwick Business School

This would be something I would like to be able to take part in. But I am not. So all of you who can go, enjoy!

Join us for the annual SUMMER BALL!!

Saturday 19 July, 7.30pm - late
For tickets please visit www.wbs.ac.uk/go/summerball

The luxurious Lakeside Marquee here at Warwick Business School will provide the perfect backdrop for this Summer Ball, including an evening of cocktails, fine dining, charming company, dancing & more. Following an indulgent culinary experience you can dance the night away until the early hours. The Ball is a black tie event and is open to all members of the WBS community, their friends, colleagues and family.

New album online: BBQ at the Villa

Check it out here:
http://picasaweb.google.de/ferbress/080530BBQVilla

Below some preview pics for you.

From 080530 BBQ Villa

080530 BBQ Villa

A picture before sleep

The evening started great with a nice pizza and a movie in great company and ended with snow shoveling and an hour or two at the Elixir club, with the MBA class. An this is the Mannheim team in a great pic. Excellent night, indeed.
Tomorrow is Walmart Business Case Day, let's see how it goes.
Oh yes, and it snowed like crazy. Bit annoying, when the restaurant is waaaaaay down at City Hall and all taxi services are completely overloaded, but very beautiful anyway.

Phase 2, block 1

The first block of the term is practically over. The "Financing New Ventures" course was a great eye opener and I enjoyed every class of it. Great structure, great guestspeakers and a really good teacher, asking the right questions at the right time and making everything exciting. Even the assignment, which took a huge effort to get done (it was the first time I saw term sheets and I had to get myself familiar with many different legal and financial terms and practices), I enjoyed doing. There is still a group assignment to be done, but this will be dealt with on Tuesday.
So it was a good break to have an easy weekend after a busy week, and I am glad it is not over yet. Some of my colleagues are doing a heavier course and had to work the whole day yesterday, so we went to the Queen's Pub in the students' union's (or government, as they call it here) building to cool off.

And, if you have 20 minutes, take a look at this:
http://storyofstuff .com/

Hardware as a service OR Don't try to match the text to the pictures

Nikon added several new features found in its newer D70s SLR camera to the older D70, including a new menu design and better auto focus.

In a statement, Nikon said, "The rapid pace at which development of digital technologies is proceeding inevitably leads to a continual release of new products. In the face of this dynamic, Nikon is determined to demonstrate our respect for the many customers who purchased a D70 digital SLR camera by delivering, where possible, the latest technology that the digital world has to offer through firmware updates."

It was a good night out. More pics here:
http://picasaweb.google.de/ferbress/08011718Second04

The first real weekend in Kingston

I can't complain that my weekend in Kingston wasn't eventful. I started it by going, by bus, out of the Kingston Bubble to buy second hand ice skates. I went as far as the Gardiners Centre and discovered a new side of Kingston, which is a city with around 140 thousand residents.
And of course I had to enjoy the nice weather and test the skates right away, which I did on the City Hall ice rink, as you can see on the album on Picasa.

In the evening, living in a co-op house paid off: I was invited to an Irish dance with other co-opers, and really enjoyed it. Pity it only happens once a month. But I also found out that there is an Irish music session happening in town, which, if assignments allow, I plan to visit tomorrow. There is even a slow Irish session for those learning, and this one I will visit with my Pady Richter tuned harmonicas to give it a try.

After the Irish dancing I met Viktoria and Marc, who literally spent their whole weekend on the Mergers and Acquisitions assignment. It is really strange that some of the courses require so much extra work, while others are comparatively mild. I believe this really damages their ability to divide their attention even

After missing Sujay due to strange scheduling, we met him by chance at the Grizzly and people even played some pool.

Sunday was less interesting, but also quite nice. And Monday awoke to Kingston covered in snow, and it snowed the whole day. I guess the winter arrived again.

Quick pre-weekend update

Just for the record, on Thursday, most of our syndicate group went to Coventry to have dinner at the Habibi restaurant. It was really nice, going out after the exams. Pictures to follow.

Yesterday we had the visit of Grace Schomber, programme manager from Mannheim. She presented the electives and we had a good feedback chat plus dinner with her and Sam. I really hope to see many people from Warwick showing up in Mannheim in the summer, it will be great!

And after the very nice dinner (there is, after all, a decent restaurant on campus!) we all went to meet the rest of the class at the Varsity Pub. Strange stories with sheep happened there. But what happens in the bar, stays in the bar.

And, finally, in 15 minutes I am meeting Singean and others to go collect some data for our Operations Management project. I didn't complain too much that we will be analysing the operation of an indoor ski slope! And I thought that I would only put my feet on a board in 2008! Gotta get a quick shower, see you later.

Viranthi's birthday party

So I was invited to Viranthi's gathering at the Varsity pub on Friday. I stayed for a short while, but had a good time and enjoyed it. I also stocked up my suply of condiments and sauces.

LatinNight

After Nicholas' Workshop and some OB reading, some of us went to the LatinNight in the Students' Union building. The music was good, there was a guy to show us some steps and all the tiredness that we thought we felt was forgotten. If the day started well, it surely couldn't end better.

071007 Leamington Spa: The Two C(h)ristian(o)s Birthday

Cristiano and Chris had their birthdays this week and this was enough excuse for us to get out of campus. And the sandwich was even kind of nice.

From 071007 Leamin...

The way back was also peculiar, with negotiations with a taxi driver going on and, as a result, the defection of a big number of our group from the bus stop. Later negotiations didn't work very well, so we saved some money waiting for the bus. Below a picture of part of the remaining contingent. Now I can say that I have Srilankan friends, something quite new for me.

From 071007 Leamin...

The crisps are gone...

Well, the meeting was great, we had about 40 people there, and it went on until about 10:30 p.m. Good way to end the week, good way to talk to the colleagues outside the BizzS. But I'll leave you with the first picture of the album and with a picture with more people on it.

From 070928 Mannhe...

Mannheim Crisps Party

Mannheim Crisps Party
Come get some crisps at the Graduate Bar with us
Host: Mannheim Exchange Students

Friday, September 28, 2007
Time: 6:20pm - 8:20pm

Location:
Graduate Bar, Students' Union Building
Coventry

First British party

And I won't be able to attend, being hundreds of quilometers away :-)

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Warwick Postgrads
From: "University of Warwick SU"
Date: Tue, September 11, 2007 6:37 pm
To: bresslau@warw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hello from Warwick SU [that's Student Union]
Postgrad Party
There is a party for all Postgrads tomorrow (Wednesday 12th September)
8pm till late in The Graduate Bar and Club
Carlsberg 1.50 a pint
The Grad will be serving basket meals till late.

FREE ENTRY ALL POSTGRADS WELCOME!
We would also like to invite you to our Postgraduate Welcome Evening on Friday 12th October (Week 2 of term). More details can be found on the Postgrad section of the SU website including details of the Postgrad forums and how to join the Postgraduate Society.

We hope you have a great year whether you are just about to start or just about to finish your studies at Warwick.

Warwick SU

First Canadian party for me

And I won't be able to attend, being thousands of quilometers away. But I guess this just shows how my stay at the co-op house will be. The social aspect of it was surely one of the reasons to decide to stay at the Science '44 Co-op, in Kingston, Ontario, for my stay at the Queen's School of Business.

From: MSC
Date: Sep 10, 2007 9:52 PM
Subject: First Co-op Party of the Year!
To: science44co-op.com

Hello All,

Just a quick e-mail to announce that 31 Garrett Street will be hosting the first Co-op party of the year. See the poster in the dining hall and please post the poster I've put in your house mailbox outside my office door.

Where: 31 Garrett Street
When: Saturday September 15th 8pm
Theme: Back 2 Skool "Uniform Required" (I'm guessing you are supposed to dress preppy or in a faux school uniform...I'm sure this is open to stylistic interpretation!)
BYOB
Non-co-opers are welcome!

Have a great week,

Member Services Coordinator
Science'44 Co-op