Blog from Jamie at HEC Montréal

Part 5: The end

At December 22 I finished the International Triangle Programme by completing my last exam. I went back by plane to the Netherlands the next day and an elderly French lady was sitting next to me. While listening to her complaining about all the food she received (apparently something was wrong with everything), I drifted away in deep thoughts about the past few months. More...

Blog from Vera at Católica Lisbon 

Chirstmas time in Lisboa

It was that the streets of Lisboa were enlightened by Christmas lights last week, that I realized it was already December! With temperatures still around 15 Degrees and sunshine, it does not feel as this time of the year at all. But during this year, nothing has been as ‘normal’;). It might be because of this course I am taking where we have to think critically, that I came to realize again how much I have learned and experienced this year. More...

Blog From Jamie at HEC Montréal

Bonjour Montréal!

After two months, I’m still amazed by the magnitude of Montréal. I would be surprised if anybody from Europe would think differently! Let me start off by saying that it’s absolutely great to live here. It is very different from anything I’ve experienced before which makes it a worthwhile addition to the International Triangle Programme. People here are very open and multi-cultural and HEC is a great business school. More...

Blog from Vera at Católica Lisbon

Lovely Lisboa

Four days after the defense of my thesis it was time to take the plane again and start the next adventure of the Triangle Programme. Settling in Lisbon went really smooth and easy and after a few days I already felt home. The first two weeks were full of introduction days, welcome parties and pub-crawls. My room is located in the middle of the center, (where the shopping area is ;) and also very close to the river – perfect for running. Compared to the always vibrant 24/7 life in Hong Kong, Lisbon has this relaxed southern-Europe vibe – where rooftop bars are hidden on the top floor of parking lots and street artist give ambience to almost every street in the city center. And where HK is surrounded by large skyscrapers, Lisbon has these wide views over the city and a see breeze alongside the river. The one thing that these cities have in common is the feeling that everything is possible – which perfectly fits the Triangle Program in my opinion. Drinking a beer in the streets is also done here in Lisbon, just like LKF in HK, Lisbon has Bairro Alto – a phenomenon I can get used to ;-). More...

Blog from Vera at City University Hong Kong

Goodbye Hong Kong!

Coming back to the Netherlands, where things still go the same way as half a year ago, felt strange in the beginning, but now after two weeks already completely normal. The last two months in Hong Kong went really fast, but I enjoyed every minute of it. The last courses were quite intensive with a lot of group work (read: meetings and drinking Chinese tea), case presentations, and report write-ups. Especially in the last weeks of the course, I couldn’t spend much time on my thesis. However, since the summer finally kicked in those last months, and summer in Hong Kong also means lots of rain, I had to enjoy the good days in the weekends, which are celebrated in Hong Kong by parties on a boat! Watching the first world cup soccer matches in the middle of the night with over hundred orange-dressed Dutcheese was also an amazing experience I will never forget. More...

Blog from Jamie at Catolica Lisboa School of Business and Economics

Adeus, Lisboa!

It’s about time to publish already my last blog about studying in Lisbon. I am sitting in the train now from Amsterdam to Maastricht, overthinking the period of my life that ended just yesterday. Time flew as I expected it to go and I am a little bit sad since I just came home again and realise I just left the life I built up in five months. However, there is so much to look forward to such as my family, Dutch friends, my girlfriend, the Dutch way of life, my thesis (Yes! You’ve read that right! I am so looking forward to finally start and finish my thesis between now and the 28^th of August when I leave again for Montréal) that my sadness quickly makes place for excitement right at this moment. A lot has happened in the last few months, and I will try to put all those things in words. More...

Blog from Vera at City University Hong Kong

Life in Asia – Part 2

Time for an update! It is already May and that means the last two months in Hong Kong have arrived. The past weeks have been very busy with case deadlines and this week the Finance exam. Since Finance is not my most loved topic I had to spend quite some time and effort in studying for the exam. At the same time, the two new courses have started this week. For the remaining seven weeks we have Global Business Management and Strategic Management, of which the last contains an online business game. Luckily no more exams but papers, which gives me a little more time to work on the thesis. More...

Blog from Jamie at Catolica Lisboa School of Business and Economics

Beautiful Lisbon

Time for a little update my dear readers ;). No need to worry about me, I’m sitting at the river right now, downtown Lisbon, in the sun. It’s 29 degrees right now and all I can say is it’s lovely being here right now! I try not to brag too much about it, but for the past weeks it just feels like summer! Every day is nice and warm with a clear blue sky… just makes me want to go to the beach every day. Unfortunately I have got other things to do as well, such as studying, working and learning Portuguese. I’ve started to enjoy living here more when the weather got better. It gives such a good feeling knowing that at night you can just walk in your shorts, since it is still around 24 degrees at that time! The old buildings in the center of Lisbon, which basically look terrible if it is raining, start to gain in charm when the sun falls down on the old bricks and the city is even more alive now than it was before the good weather came. (With good I mean even better than at the time I wrote my first blog :)). More...

Blog from Vera at City University Hong Kong

First weeks in amazing Hong Kong!

Ni-hao! Welcome to my blog about my experiences as a Triangle Programme student from Maastricht University. Here I will post my adventures about living and studying in Hong Kong (till July) and afterwards Lisbon.

Time flies here in Hong Kong! I have settled down in this amazing, vibrant city very quickly. I arrived on the 29th of January in Hong Kong. At the airport I took a taxi to the university campus where I could check in for my room. The campus is quite big. In total there are 10 halls, and every hall has several floors and ‘hall tutors’. The rooms are oke, but nothing except for a bed and desk where in there, so first things needed to be done first after my arrival: shopping! More...

Blog from Jamie at Catolica Lisboa School of Business and Economics

First month in Lisbon

Hi people! I am Jamie Duijn, 23 years old, Dutch, and proud member of the International Triangle Programme! My first semester of the IB master was in Maastricht, and now I am in Lisbon for my second semester, at Universidade Católica Portuguesa. I’d like to dedicate this first blog to my first experiences with the  city, the university and the courses with one course in particular. Since this is my first blog and I’ve got a lot to talk about, it’s going to be a big one so take your time ;)!

The semester started here at the 10^th of February, but I decided to come already at the 2^nd so that I had a week to make myself comfortable in the city. I used this week to check out the university, which is around 15 minutes by metro from the city centre, how to issue my public transportation card, and to already get familiar with my living environment. I already took care of finding a place back in Maastricht, and got with help of a fellow student a place in the perfect apartment in Lisbon! More...