Humm…where was I ? Oh right…second week… 🙂
Well, in our second week in Rennes the topic was about “Leadership”. So basically it was about learning and identifying different kinds of leadership, how we define leadership, and how to know what kind of leader we are… Our lecturer was not a professor, he’s a well-seasoned practitioner named Mr. Simon Lawder, a great and inspirational Scottish gentleman. He has worked in various fields of business and he has been a leader in his life and in his work for over 25 years, bottom line is…he KNOWS what he’s talking about…and it didn’t take long for us to like him.
He took us through the theories & practices within the week, but he also helped us to get to know ourselves better, especially in leadership field. We were required to delve within ourselves, reflect, think back, think ahead, and envision the kind of leader we aspire to become, and of course to start chartering the way to get there. For me it was an enlightening week, a week of rediscovering myself, because when it comes to leadership, it’s always about knowing yourself-envisioning-action-renewing, and it’s a continuous process… 🙂
Our company visit this week was to a local recycling factory. Europe is pretty big on sustainability actions, one of them, of course : recycling. It was a super hot day when we came to Veolia recycling center. We were greeted by a guide, she spoke in French, and so our program director Caroline Michel had to be our interpreter all the way ! First she explained the history of trash thrown away by mankind, dated back to the cavemen era up to our era nowadays (man..it’s a LOT of trash). Then she helped us understand the classifications of trash, which one’s recyclable which one’s not (we got mixed up a lot !!). Then she went through different kinds of plastics, apparently not all plastics can be recycled…It was an interactive session, so we watched videos, answered pop quizzes, and we could ask anything about the topic. J They actually made all of us play somewhat like an interactive trivia quiz and we had to submit the answer using a special remote control. It was like playing a video game or like participating in a quiz on TV, the animation was hilarious, and I enjoyed it very much though I didn’t win the goody bag. 🙂
We got to see the whole recycling machine in the factory and actually saw the sorting machine doing its job sooo rapidly…And then they explained what happened to the trash after they’re recycled. I think it’s a very good investment opportunity for sustainability purposes, and we found out that citizens who participated correctly & actively in sorting their trash (by extension helping the factory in reducing sorting hours) could get a tax rebate from the local government, pretty neat, huh ? 😉 And in addition, this factory does employ quite a lot of people, so they create jobs for the local community. In spite of the heat and the waste smell, it was a useful visit !
Okay, next important thing after class would be…..FOOTBALL ! yuppp…we were in the best time to be in Europe, at times of FIFA World Cup 2010…To me, football is one of the most powerful “language” of the world. And the FIFA World Cup is like the convention where the world joined together to celebrate and to compete. We can talk about football anywhere, everywhere, and to almost anyone there, it’s a universal language. I remembered watching the Uruguay vs Ghana game, I was rooting for Ghana. Ghana got lots of opportunities, but they couldn’t deliver a goal out of them. I was screaming and yelling for Ghana, and at one point I got so emotional that I started screaming in my own native language (Indonesian). What I didn’t realize was that the guy who’s selling kebab’s watching next to me, and he too was screaming in his native language (I think he’s from somewhere in the Middle East) for Ghana. And behind us there were three Saudi guys watching too. When Uruguay was denied a goal, we all jumped in joy and high fived each other frantically !! It was so crazy that we shouted at each other happily in our own different languages ! hahaaa…now that I looked back, it was a hilarious moment (imagine if you’ve witnessed it, three screamed in Arabic, one older guy in a Middle-Eastern accent, and me in Indonesian, all jumping and screaming at the same time). But at that time, none of us cared, none of us mind, I didn’t understand what they’re saying to me, and I was pretty sure they didn’t understand what I was saying too ! But exactly at that moment…we all understand that we’re sharing emotions on the same thing, the game…the universal language, that somehow I “understood” what they’re saying and vice versa, that’s the beauty of it and I’m so glad I experienced it in Rennes.
I was very excited to be there and the best thing was…my friends came from a hardcore football-fan & football champion countries (Brasil, Mexico, Argentina, Japan), you can imagine how crazy and serious we can be in watching the game J . We all have our teams jerseys with us (I have Indonesian football jersey although I know we’re not in the world cup, but hey..i love my country regardless..haha). We’d meet in the afternoons to watch the game together and I just really enjoyed the atmosphere, we’d support some team and boo-ed another team jokingly. The USA team was quite good, they actually made it out of the group, which is the first time in world cup history for them, so the USA team was progressing this year. I think this football fever is a cultural thing too, it may be seen as something very different for people from other countries, especially in the USA because it’s not considered a popular sports compared to baseball or basketball. So it was a good experience for them to see the enthusiasm live in the heart of Europe.
Next up ! On the second week we’re there, there was a huge sale going on throughout France. Stores would give up to 80% off prices and people would open kiosk and sell all kinds of goods ranging from art stuff to shoes. The sale starts early in the morning and ends in the afternoon, but it went on for the whole week, so we got plenty of time to roam around the city (with ice cream in our hands, no doubt). My friend bought six pairs of jeans, for like 15 Euros each (more or less about US$20), so yes, many people turned into big spender. 🙂
Aaaand….one night there was a free concert in town. Many bands came and performed on a huge stage in the center of the city. We figured it’ll be cool to come and get some free entertainment (well most of us have never seen concerts in France before), but what we didn’t know was that the whole town will be there and that the whole thing was in French. So we arrived at the spot, it was soooo packed with people singing and jumping together, more or less like concerts in the USA i think. We had to work our way through the crowd, and when we got far enough within the crowd, we found out that the concert’s ending pretty soon (great !!), so we decided to head back and guess what ? everybody else’s thinking about the same thing..so the streets were full of cars and the subway’s full with people heading home from the concert, we stayed real close to one another and managed not to get separated, and finally fought our way into the subway. So much for a free concert, huh ? hahaha…
This week we had a guest speaker from Canon company, she is the head of sustainability initiatives in Canon research center, France. She shared to the class what Canon company is doing and what her department is doing in supporting sustainability initiatives. Canon’s Board of Directors really care about the environment and made it a worldwide Canon company’s policy to become a sustainable company in its field. Then we had a Q & A session, it was a good discussion for us.
So anyway, second week’s Friday came and we had to present our topics to the class and Mr. Lawder. We were asked to choose a particular dimension of leadership or of a leader, and to present it in a free format way, so we had the freedom to choose any kind of media to convey our points. Some did it in a role play format, talk show format, and my group did a sports commentary show format. It was a lot of fun working on the presentation and we were excited to do them. After the presentations, we summarized what we’ve learned that week and concluded the lecture series.
We had our final test that day, and after the test all of us decided to go out again since it’s our last night in Rennes together. Most of us will leave Rennes on Saturday, some on Sunday, and the rest on Monday. We had a farewell lunch at school and posed for a picture together. That night we went downtown again and had a great night, we were all relaxed and glad that the course was over, but were also sad that we had to part so soon. We stayed out really really late and we were really tired that night, but we didn’t mind… Oh, here’s what’s interesting, I was enjoying my time downtown when I saw a familiar face among the crowd, I saw my classmate in MSU ! He was in my marketing class in spring 2010 semester, I knew he’s French and he’s from ESC Rennes, but I didn’t know he’s back in Rennes. So I just stood there and stared unbelievingly, when he turned around and saw me. He was just as surprised as I was..haha…long story short, he’d completed his semester in MSU and was back in ESC Rennes to graduate, but he was thinking of going back to MSU to get his masters degree, so I might see him again.
Saturdayyyy….we all had to leave the apartment, the parting atmosphere was already there in the air, early in the morning. 🙁 We went to the train station and everybody hugged each other and said goodbye, most students’ flight back home’s from Paris, so we’re all heading there with different trains. But most students including me had planned a separate trip to the rest of Europe before flying home. Some will go to Rome, some to Ibiza & Ireland, some to Portugal, some to Belgium, Netherlands, UK, and some to Germany. So we’re all young travelers, eager to visit as many places on earth as possible :). I took a TGV to Paris with my two good friends and we’re so tired that the three of us immediately fell asleep as soon as we hit our seats.
Since some of us were still in Paris for a couple of days, we decided to meet for the last time before we really part. We convened in Paris somewhere behind Musee de Louvre (I know, it sounds so fancy, LOL). We talked for a while, took pictures, laughed, made plans to meet each other again in other parts of the world, and finally…with great emotions, we said goodbye…*sob
I had the time to meet with my college friends who are living in Paris too, so it was a good reunion plus I got free tour guides, hahaa..I got around Paris briefly and then I had to continue my journey..
I had a wonderful magical funnest (if that’s even a word) time in summer study away course. It’s not just about the study, it’s about the atmosphere, the new best friends you’ll get, the culture, the breathtaking views, the people…it’s about the experience and I consider everything else as a big bonus for me ! I am truly grateful and blessed to be able to participate in it…I hope you’ll be able to experience it too or at least be inspired to go study abroad…
Once you’ve traveled, you’d want to go and travel again and again. As the title of this story say it : “Once is never enough…” (at least that’s how I feel)
Wait !! it’s not over yet…See, the great thing about studying in Europe is that you’ll get to travel around too. I will write a piece about my detours this summer 2010. So stay tuned for my detour story in MSU Blogaway ! 🙂
Cheerio !
Astrilia