Almost 2 Classes In

Sorry for the extended time between posts, but I'll try to just report on the main events. Since Winter Symposium, most of my time has been occupied with school and spending time with friends from here, but I've still managed to see some new things. I have a final in my second class this Friday, and a paper due a few days after that. I've had Macroeconomics (my third class) for a little over a week and a half now, and so my weekdays have become busier. Also, the preliminary rounds for some of the business competitions I'm involved in (one in Vilnius, Lithuania and one for SSE) have begun, so I've been working on those with my team between assignments. My team consists of Gerard and two other students from the dorms, and if we are finalists after the initial business problems (mainly large simulation problems), we may get to attend the international competitions in late April.

As far as Organization and Management goes (my second class), I've held some interviews with a company here called Autonams that specializes in car security and technology. Interacting with a Latvian company has been really neat for me, and I've enjoyed learning about the differences in how our cultures interact in business. For example, their company rarely has monetary incentives for doing more work (bonuses, raises, etc.), but it seems like internal incentives such as high praise are what the employees of the company prefer so that no unfriendly competition exists among employees. My next class, Macroeconomics, is led by a great lecturer. He's been able to make class interesting and funny, and I really enjoy being able to compare the economies in the Baltics with those in other parts of the EU and the United States. Latvia is a great country to study for Macro because it had one of the highest GDP growth rates in the world before the recession, and one of the largest declines during the recession. It's nice to look at new perspectives in economic classes here.

As far as social life goes, I've spent more time hanging out with all of the students from school. I went skiing with Ivan and a few other guys last week, meaning that within the last few weeks in Latvia I've gone skiing more times than my whole life back home. Also, the school had its first official party, in which the Student Association decorated the school to basically look like a club (with DJ and bar included). It was really nice being able to hang out with nearly everyone from school in a social setting, and I had a great time. We also had another pub tour for shadow students who were here over the weekend, and so I got the chance to see more of the Old Town nightlife with my friends here.

The other main thing that has happened since my last post is that all of the exchange students were encouraged to present their country to all of the compadres and the Student Association, as well as make a "national dish." During the presentations, I mainly discussed Kentucky, and there seemed to be a lot of interest in the state. I spoke to the Rector before the presentation (he's comparable to the school's President), and he seemed to be interested in sending a student to UK soon, so hopefully my presentation helped. For my dish, I decided to make bourbon balls, another way of showing a little more of Kentucky's culture. Surprisingly, they were very good and the most popular dish there. I've had a few requests (the first coming from the Rector) to make more if possible, so I may be perfecting my baking skills while I'm over here.

I'll end this post before it gets too long and keep you updated on new things to come. Hopefully by next post I'll have some travel plans worked out to Stockholm, Tallinn, and maybe Lithuania so look forward to that!