Spring Break Part 2 - Berlin

On Sunday the 18th, at 2:30 in the morning, I finally arrived in Berlin. The first thing I noticed about the city was how incredibly large it was. I knew Berlin was a big city, but it took about 20-30 minutes to get from the edge of the city to the bus stop, and another 20 minutes by taxi to reach my hostel, which was at the heart of the city. Fortunately, they allowed me the stay the extra night for only 10 Euro, and I couldn't wait to finally sleep somewhere besides a bed. The next day I slept in and around noon just walked down the street, where I enjoyed a nice sandwich at a small outdoor cafe. My second impressions of Berlin was that it was [1] warm and [2] the lifestyle was much different than I imagined. I'll discuss more of that later. After my lunch I took the U-Bahn (the most extensive metro in the world during its construction) and a bus to the airport, where I met my friend Janie, whom I knew from UK. After settling in, we decided to explore a little. We found where the Berlin Wall was located (as the receptionist told us, this was the "real" one), and decided to walk there. Once again, I underestimated the size of Berlin. However, along our very, very long stroll to the remaining piece of the Berlin Wall, we did see some awesome sites, including our first glimpse of the Bode Museum and connecting museum island, the River Spree, the Berliner Dom, and the TV Tower in Alexanderplatz.







One interesting thing we saw which we wouldn't have known about had we not walked, was large graffiti signs (sometimes covering whole sides of buildings) telling "Media Spree" to, well..."fudge off." What we learned later was that Media Spree was a property investment company that was buying up land, often historical land, in Berlin and turning it into new buildings or shopping areas. Many locals were extremely upset and claimed that the group was ruining the culture of Berlin. When we finally got to the Berlin Wall, what we saw wasn't as impressive as we had hoped. However, we just turned out to be on the wrong side of the East Side Gallery. Fortunately, we were able to see the Gallery on our last day of the trip, accompanied by Luke, a friend from Vermont we had met. The longest remaining strip of the Berlin Wall had been converted into a gallery where people expressed everything from cultural to political themes. It was a very neat part of Berlin that I was glad I got to see.

To avoid bogging down the blog, I'll split the rest of our trip into four main parts - sites, relationships/nightlife, culture, and food. However, my first day of Berlin proved to be the one in which I only got a feel for each of the areas, and it pales in comparison with the rest of my experience, which transformed my view of Berlin into what it is now. I'll begin with sites. After the Berlin Wall, Janie and I continued to explore by foot. We saw the Brandenburg Gate (which marked the entrance into West Berlin), and Checkpoint Charlie, which is where the entrance into American held territory once was. Here we got a large dose of history that explained the events in Berlin from the end of WWII up to the fall of the Wall. However, Janie and I realized that in order to see as much of Berlin as we wanted, we would have to find a way other than walking. On the next day, we decided to take a bus tour, in which we traveled around the whole of the heart of Berlin. On the tour, we saw the Tiergarten, the Bundestag (Parliament building), Postdamer Platz, KaDeWe (the second largest department store in Europe and the oldest in Germany), the famous Victory Tower, the Topography of Terror, Alexanderplatz once again, the Berliner Dom, the University where Einstein studied, and many other sites, all the way back to the Brandenburg Gate. What was good about the bus tour is that we were able to hop off at any time, and then hop back on when we wanted to continue. We tried to go into the Bundestag, but an appointment was needed, but we did see the Topography of Terror (which was where the secret Gestapo headquarters were located) and the memorial to the Berlin Wall, as well as the island of museums and Einstein's University.




For the next two days, we spent time visiting some of these sites. The most prominent ones we visited, as well as my favorite, were the Holocaust Museum and the Berliner Dom. We visited the Berliner Dom first, which was a Parish and cathedral constructed during the time of the Prussian Empire. The church was magnificent inside, and I loved the way that I was able to compare and contrast it with churches I had seen in Italy years before. What made the church even better, was that there was a climb to the top of the Dome, that gave one of the best 360 views of Berlin for the money. Underneath the church was a massive crypt, where all of the Prussian kings were buried, who were all consequently named Friedrich. Due to it's amazing views, terrific architecture, rich history, and the crypt, the Berliner Dom turned out to be my favorite site we visited in Berlin. The next notable site that we visited was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This was by far the most powerful experience I've had during my time in Europe. The design is a large number of cement blocks placed at different heights. Each block is representative of the number of Jewish souls taken during the Holocaust, and can be thought of as if bodies were laid on top of one another, the total number reaching somewhere around 6 million. Once you enter into the middle of the memorial, you find yourself lost with the blocks towering above. It's difficult to explain this experience, but there is a certain lonely somberness present when you are in the maze of blocks, and for me I realized the insignificance my problems compared to what the victims of such an atrocity felt. Underneath the memorial was a large museum, with each room dedicated to a different telling of the tragedy of the Holocaust. Some parts told the history, others discussed families that the event affected, and the most emotional room was filled with stories. If you ever find yourself in Berlin, this is a museum you have to visit.







The next part of my trip that was amazing was the relationships I made with people from all over, as well as seeing a little bit about the Western European nightlife (completely different from the Eastern European nightlife, and they are both leagues away from our nightlife). First, hostels are a great idea to meet new people, especially for someone my age. What's more is that there was a bar in the hostel that allowed people to have a beer and gather before going their separate ways for the night. However, since most people had no clue where to go for the night, it provided the perfect atmosphere to make new friends. We met some Danish guys and girls from Sweden who we hung out with the first night, and for the next few nights we spent time with some girls in Med school from Kentucky, a group of guys from Manchester our age, an Australian guy who had just moved to Berlin and was looking for a place to stay, and our friend Luke from Vermont. Together, we visited a local bar around the corner that had every sort of beer imaginable (they literally had a menu the size of the Cheesecake Factory's just for beer), as well as the alternative area near the East Side Gallery, famous for Berlin's nightlife. In this area, we took the S-Bahn and checked out Berlin's famous club scene. Although the cover for the club that my roommate recommended was far too expensive due to a special appearance from a famous DJ, just being around the area was very neat. The area was a long strip of buildings and old factories/power plants that had been bombed out during WWII. This whole area had been turned into biergartens and clubs and was a huge scene at night. We did enter one place that was an outdoor courtyard which had once been a building, but had been nearly completely destroyed during the war. All in all, Berlin turned out to be a great place to meet new people, as well as a great nightlife built up from history.

The culture of Berlin was perhaps what surprised me the most. From what I have learned about the German culture in general is that they are a very low-context and independent society for the most part, even more so than the US. Also, the general consensus about the German culture is that they have a strict sense of time, and are more concerned with business than forming long-term relationships, another comparison with the United States. From this knowledge, my expectations were that the German locals I came into contact with would be more concerned with business and getting to the point of things rather than the laid-back lifestyle expected of most Italian or Spanish people. However, Berlin seemed to be the exception to what I have learned about German culture from my classes. In fact, many of the locals in Berlin could be found lounging by the River Spree in beach chairs or on the grass enjoying conversation or just a cold beer. This was true no matter where I went in the city, and often there were large plots of land where sand was laid down and umbrellas were set up near refreshment huts. I thought I was at the beach at one point. I learned during the week that this lifestyle was actually a form of rebellion instilled into the Berlin culture during Soviet rule of East Berlin. Because of the strong demand for work from the Soviets, on every open occasion the locals from Berlin would choose not to work and would show this by laying out on the lawn or sitting near the river. This was a part of Berlin that I loved, and one that made my trip really feel like a vacation.




And finally, a discussion of Germany wouldn't be complete without talking about the food. Before this trip, I actually HATED sauerkraut. I'm not sure what it was, but every time I tried the dish as a child I always had trouble not spitting it right back out. This changed the first night when I had a great meal of sausage, potatoes, and even sauerkraut. Although we did have sushi one day for lunch, for the most part Janie and I tried to stick with the traditional German foods. I had currywurst, a type of bratwurst made in Berlin that was filled with curry and topped with a sauce and a little bit of curry. Of course I had bratwurst as well, which was no comparison with the brats I usually buy at Kroger and grill out with. We also went to a place with Schnitzel and German potato salad, which I took mine prepared in a nontraditional way that was delicious. What I learned about Berlin is that they like their variety of German sausages and their beer, both typical to what I had heard about Germany. As for the food, it was distinctly different from the Russian and Latvian food I had become accustomed to, but still different that American food in so many ways. This makes me excited to travel even more, as it seems that every country in Europe has a traditional food that will make for a different experience everywhere you go. The beer in Germany also did not disappoint. It is easy to see why German beer is held to such a high standard around the world.

All in all, it's safe to say that Berlin was a great trip for Spring Break. Although I spent almost 5 days there, I still feel like there is plenty in the city left to uncover. This is a place I hope to return to someday, and visit the things that you can't find on a day or week's tour. In the end though, one of the things that stuck with me most was my return to Riga. As we crossed the bridge into the city and I saw the skyline of Old Town I see every week, it felt as if I was returning to a place I could call home. This was an interesting feeling for me, as the whole town now feels familiar to me, even though I can't even speak their native language. Perhaps this was my first realization of the reverse culture shock I will have when I come home. The city, state, and culture I grew up in and have known for so long even now seems distant, and although it will be difficult to say goodbye to Riga soon, I am also excited to rediscover my home in Kentucky after all I have experienced here.

Spring Break Part 1 - Bus rides and Warsaw

Last week was finally a time for me to kick back and relax after my marathon of exams and reports. It was Spring Break in Riga! I had my European Union Studies exam two Thursdays ago, and I spent most of the next two days catching up on rest and relaxing with friends. On Saturday night, I left by bus en route to Berlin. On the way, I was able to see how the geography changed from country to country. That is the reason I chose to take a bus, so I could actually see the differences between Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Germany. One huge difference that had nothing to do with the geography was that each country had their own language and their own currency (with Germany using the Euro). This was difficult for me, as I had to learn 4 different ways to convert my money to the dollar. It also made it clear that one of the problems in the EU (as we talked about in class), was that the free flow of goods and services is difficult to achieve where there are as large of obstacles as language and currency. This for me made the bus ride alone worth it, since I was actually able to experience something we learned about in class.

At about 6:30 in the morning I arrived in Warsaw, Poland. I didn't realize the time change was back one hour until I got there (it was 7:30 in Riga), so I had some time to walk around and explore the city before anything opened. I took a taxi to the Central Station, which seemed to be the center of the city. Warsaw provided some interest to me because nearly all of the city was destroyed during WW2 and had to be rebuilt. Because of this, much of the city was modern, but in some places you could still see areas that were once monuments and that were in the process of restoration. Right next to the Central Station was the Palace of Culture and Science, a huge building consisting of galleries, concert halls, theaters, and a congress hall. The Palace stands in stark contrast with the rest of Warsaw's skyline, as it was built by Soviet influences soon after the war. Until the end of the USSR's influences in Eastern Europe, it was named for Stalin.




As the day went on, I had seen some churches around Warsaw and a few buildings that were never restored but held pictures of Jewish victims of the 3rd Reich. I wanted to find the old Warsaw Ghetto or the large concentration camp (one of the main ones in Europe), but I learned that both were too far away for a short visit. By mid-morning the city had become very alive, and everywhere I went I saw people holding a short stick with a variety of flowers. I realized that this celebration was taking place because of Palm Sunday, and as I made my way closer to the Old Town, I started to see churches pouring out onto the streets with people. The Old Town was about a 30 minute walk away from the Central Station, but once I got there it was definitely worth visiting. In the Old Town especially, you could see where the city had made attempts to restore what once was a very historical and cultural part of town. It's not that it wasn't that way now, but there were obvious distinctions between what was new and what had been preserved since before the war. The Old Town covered a huge area, and once again there were people all over holding the makeshift palms. There also seemed to be a lot of tourists, something I didn't expect in Warsaw.






For lunch, I had a national Polish dish, which was some sort of filled wafer and beet soup, and a regional beer. The beet soup was surprisingly a lot different from borscht, but the meal was very good. Something I learned as I got closer and closer to Germany was that the beer became cheaper with meals and any other drink became much more expensive. For example, by the time I got to Berlin, having .2 L (8 oz.) of coke with a meal costs between 3-4 Euro, while having a .5 L (nearly a pint) of beer cost 2.50-3.50 Euro. This seemed to occur throughout Poland as well, and given that the beer in both countries was very good, it seemed like I didn't have much of another choice for meals. Also, ordering tap water in most places in Europe will get you a very quizzical look, as if you are the first to have ever done it. I did this a few times, and the restaurant still found a way to charge me 1.60 for the ice. I learned from my lunch in Warsaw that this was something I would have to keep in mind all week.

After my lunch, I explored more of Warsaw and saw most of the Old Town (I saw the rest on my bus ride back to Riga), and managed to take a quick tour of the University of Warsaw. I made my way back to the bus station by 2:30, where I got on my next bus to Berlin.

A Breath of Fresh Air

Spring has finally arrived in Riga! And with the arrival of spring has also come the relief that classes are coming to an end. Sorry for the delay since my last post, but since then I've had three classes at once and have decided to focus all of my energy on those. After this past week, I was finally able to relax. Monday we had a beast of a Macroeconomics final and for the next few days I tried to balance writing some of my team's final report (it came out 30 pages, 1.5 spaced) and assignments for my other classes, European Studies and Negotiations and Dispute Resolution. Fortunately, Macro is officially over tomorrow after presentations of our reports, and this coming Thursday I will finish with European Studies, leaving me with a much smaller workload and much more time to relax going into spring break. Spring break begins on the 16th for me, and I have plans to visit Poland and Berlin. Until that time, I'll focus on getting through this last tough week of class.

However, my last few weeks have offered more than just a heavy dose of academia. Although I wondered if I would ever see the day, in the last week all of the ice and snow in Riga finally melted! Just last weekend the river that runs through the city was still frozen solid, but now it's completely melted and hard to imagine as the block of ice it recently was. With the change in weather has also come a change in the spirit of the city. After a stressful day during the past few weeks I would often head into Old Town during the day, where everything was much more alive than before. It's hard to pass through without hearing someone play an instrument, and some of the cafes have started to open up and pour into the streets. One of my favorite things about the change in weather is going to the market and buying some fresh food. Although it stayed open through the winter, now the doors are left open during the day and it's easy to get caught up in the bustling crowds while roaming among all of the shops and vendor stands. In one of the parks, there is also a fair that has set up, and walking by and hearing the music and screams from the rides brings me back to the county fairs I experience in Kentucky every summer. It's easy to see why everyone here has told me that I need to see Riga when it gets warm. The picture below is of the same park I have a picture of in January. It's an amazing place to take a walk in and to sit and relax when it's warm. A part of the park that I didn't realize until recently is the bridge you see below. Those are all locks attached to the bridge. It is a tradition for couples to put a lock on the bridge and throw the key in the river to symbolize that they are locked in love forever. It's these small hidden gems of Riga that makes me love exploring the city every chance I get.




What's more, in the past few weeks I've gotten even more acquainted with parts of the city and Latvian culture I had previously been ignoring. I went to the Museum of Occupation, which was a very educational and powerful experience. I learned too that, although not apparent on the surface, there still exists a big rift between the ethnic Latvian people and ethnic Russians. Being friends with both at school, I can tell the large differences between the two cultures that I originally didn't know exist. Also, my roommate did a study for his Economic Anthropology course, and it was easy to see from his surveys that many of the ethnic Latvian people are hesitant to trust some of the ethnic Russian people in the community. My visit to the Museum of Occupation made it clear to me why this distrust still exists. Many of the students my age are stuck between the two cultures, and therefore have to deal with mixed emotions about Latvia's occupation that are influenced by both their family and friends. The museum is pictured below.



Another part of Riga I've visited is the Baltic Times. I didn't realize until recently that the headquarters of it is very close to my flat. I've also traveled across the main bridge in town and explored a little bit of the part of town I had never been in. Though there doesn't seem to be too much across the bridge, I still found an amazing spot to take pictures of Riga's skyline across the water. I also ate at a neat noodle restaurant across the river, and plan on exploring the area a little more to see what else I can find.



I've tried to expand my experience in Riga even more by trying some new restaurants. I've found two good Russian restaurants (neither of which I can pronounce the names of), one where I had a chicken breast in a traditional Russian sauce, and another where I had some great plov, a rice-based dish with carrots, pork, and a tomato-based sauce. It's become normal for me to eat traditional Russian and Latvian meals, and although I still haven't learned to cook them, my diet has become based much more off of these foods that were strange to me when I came (such as kebabs, plov, and borscht). I've also eaten at a more traditional buffet called Metropolitan, one of my new favorite spots for lunch. I'm sure I will continue to experience new foods and go to new restaurants in the next few weeks. I also want to experience more of Riga's museums and go to an opera at the national opera house to get into the culture of the city away from school.

But going back to school now, the newest courses I'm taking are, as I stated before, EU Studies and Negotiations. EU studies is taught by the same professor who taught Macro, and he is one of the best instructors I've ever had. He has a great sense of humor and continues to make the course interesting. However, the course I really love is Negotiations and Dispute Resolutions. Each Thursday, we do a simulation where we negotiate some sort of offer with someone else in the class. We have done one-on-one negotiations and multiparty negotiations, and not only is it fun, but I've also learned that I have to adopt my negotiation styles to fit the culture of the opposing party. Each time I negotiate with a Lithuania, a Latvian, a Russian, or another exchange student, I get to see how different cultures approach similar problems. For me, this has been the most educational class I've taken at SSE, due in a large part to these new cultural differences I am constantly experiencing.

Over the next few weeks, I will start to travel and see more of Europe, but I know that returning to Riga at the end of each trip will feel like returning home. It is this ability to make me feel completely at home while still allowing me to experience something new every week that makes Riga such a great place to be.

Weekend in Lithuania

Most of what has happened in the last few weeks came at the end of this past week. Last Monday, we finally had our Macroeconomics midterm. Every other student I talked to had a similar situation to mine, in that we didn't have time to finish almost half of the test. I answered all of the questions, but not to the level we are supposed to for a good score. Fortunately, the professor admitted after the exam that he had purposely made the test too long, and so that would be taken into account when grading. I was just happy that the exam was over, so that I could finally relax for the rest of the week. Wednesday I went to a Catholic mass for Ash Wednesday. It was long and I didn't really understand the mass, but it was an interesting experience. The churches here seem to be a lot more traditional, and because the church was a few centuries old, comfort was pretty much ignored during the ceremonies. Still, I'm glad I got to experience more of a typical life in the Baltics.

That's what my weekend was primarily about. On Thursday we had another pub tour for more shadows who were visiting SSE, and Friday we had another school party that was even more fun than the last one. But my weekend was highlighted by my trip to Lithuania. For most of the week, I had plans to travel to Tallinn and just explore the city on my own. Luckily, Gerard told me at the party that he was heading home Saturday morning and invited me along. So early the morning after the party I found myself on a four hour bus ride to Vilnius. For most of the day Saturday, we spent our time exploring the city. Vilnius has a smaller population than Riga, but it seemed like a larger city. This was most likely because in Riga, all of the activity is packed into the Old Town. Vilnius was more spread out, with two distinct parts of towns (one was the Old Town and one was the business center). What I liked about Vilnius was that it wasn't as flat as Riga, which is devoid of hills or really any natural elevation. There was also a lot of history on how the city was formed. For example, in the picture of the tower below, there used to stand a castle. It is said that one person in the palace had a dream of a howling metal wolf, and when he woke up he went to the tower and took it as a sign that a city should be built around the fortress.








On Saturday night, we took a bus to the city Gerard grew up in. Pabrade is a small town of about 6300 close to the border of Lithuania and Belarus. In the town, there is a large Polish and Russian influence, and it was apparent in the people. Most of Gerard's friends spoke in Russian, but fortunately Gerard was along to translate when we hung out with them during the night. Gerard's family was very nice and extremely hospitable, and I had some great meals while staying the night there. Some of the traditional Lithuanian foods that were made included hot borscht before dinner, which was a sort of beet soup with peppers, mushrooms, and meat, Lašiniai as an appetizer, and Kėdainių blynai, which are boiled potato pancakes and the national Lithuanian dish.

Saturday night we spent time with Gerard's friends and then went to a small bar where most of the town was. On Sunday we saw the rest of the town, including a lake nearby and a river where they go fishing or swimming in the summer. It was very eye-opening seeing the normal life for someone living in the Baltics outside of a big city. I had always grown up feeling claustrophobic in Danville because I believed it was so small. However, most of the people in Pabrade have lived in the same house their whole life and have went to school at the same building. For most of the people in the town, they will move back to Pabrade after they graduate from their university, and while some may work in Vilnius, they will likely live their whole life in that same small town. Being there helped me understand and be thankful for the opportunities afforded to me and everyone in the United States, where moving (even if it is just a county away) is much more of an option. I was also able to see how the recession had really affected people living in small towns in this part of the world. Even if the family was still well-off (such as Gerard's), the small town didn't have enough money for much of the services such as street lights and snow plows that I take for granted. In order to save money, in most of the neighborhoods the lights were turned off and the roads were still covered with ice. Seeing these differences in culture and how we live is why I decided to travel to Riga in the first place, and although it was different, I still really enjoyed my weekend. I hope to visit again before I leave, and take away even more from the trip than I did this time.

It's Already March?

I can't believe I'm 2/5 of the way done with my study abroad experience already! It seems to have flown by, and although the first two months have been very fulfilling, I hope to expand my horizons in the remaining months. So far, I've experienced a lot of Riga and all of SSE, and I've decided that it's time to start experiencing the rest of Europe. I have already booked a trip with my brother to visit Stockholm, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Paris in May, and during the weekend of March 12, my roommates and I are planning on going to Tallinn, Estonia. I also plan on visiting Vilnius, Lithuania and hopefully another few cities in Germany or other parts of Europe around April.

This weekend, I will likely stay in Riga, since I have a midterm exam for Macroeconomics on Wednesday. However, I may decide to take one day off next week and visit the city of Sigulda at some point. It is the largest tourist city in Latvia and is known for its ski resorts, other sporting events (such as bobsledding and a vertical wind tunnel that I want to try), and also for a beautiful view from a nearby castle. Another city in Latvia that I am waiting to visit is Jurmala, which is a beach resort nearby. Hopefully I will be able to go when it is warm outside!

Since my last post, I've taken my Organization & Management Exam and have finished the final report. Today I received the good news that I passed both and therefore I already passed the course! I've also had the chance to experience more parts of Riga that I haven't before, as I took a tram to the outskirts of the city to eat at a great restaurants with one of the other exchange students. I also explored Old Town some more and took a tour of St. Peter's Church. Going up to the top only costs 2 Lats ($4), and provided some of the most beautiful sites I've seen in Latvia. I plan on doing it again when the weather isn't so cold so that I can stay up there for longer than 10 minutes. It has become one of my favorite places in Latvia so far.






I've also done more than sightseeing, as Valentin, Ivan, and I went ice fishing one day on the Daugava River. It was a little bit scary being out on the ice on a huge river, but certainly an experience I've never had before. We unfortunately did not catch any fish, but my roommates found another place a little outside of the city where it is rumored that the returns of ice fishing are very high. Last week I also met some other American students over here who are from the University of Nebraska and are studying at the University of Latvia. Like me, they came here to have a completely new experience and it seems to be paying off for them as well. I also met a professor from the University of Michigan who teaches an MBA course in SSE every few months. It's been nice having people from the US that I can relate to, although I still mainly hang out with the SSE students from the Baltic countries and exchanges from SSE.







From this point on, student life is about to become much more exciting. The Year 2 students finished their Financial Economics course last Wednesday, which was followed by celebration in Old Town from most of the students at school. The Finance course is extremely difficult, with only a 25% pass rate the first time. It's the equivalent of 9 UK credit hours, and occurs over the span of only two months. Fortunately for those students, it officially ends this Friday, but that also means that more people will be at all of the SSE events. For example, debate had about 16 people yesterday, and at night a poker tournament was also held. I'm very exciting to see what the next few months will old, especially with spring right around the corner.

For a full album of pictures, check out my facebook page. Until next time, enjoy!

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!

First Month and Winter Symposium

I've been here for one month, and it seems to have flown by. I can't believe I'll be going home in just four more months! To me, this is a sign that I've felt comfortable in Latvia, and when thinking back over the first month it's hard to point out any huge culture shock I had. The culture here is certainly different than anywhere in the U.S., but everyone I've met here has treated me well and helped me to feel at home.

Since my last post, a lot has occurred. Saturday, January 22, I moved into my new flat with Valentin and Ivan. We spent the first few nights without internet, but I didn't mind too much because the school is so close. I'm very glad we made this move, as the flat is much more convenient than the dorms. Our flat is about a 2 minute walk to the school and a 10-15 minute walk to the Old Town. This is compared to a 10 minute walk from the dorms to the nearest bus stop, a 20-30 minute bus ride, and another 10-15 minute walk to the school. Being close to the school has allowed me to explore more of the city, and I've spent time with more students hanging out at their flats, which are all close by. A few pictures are below: the main room, the kitchen, part of my bedroom, and the view from the balcony leading off of my room.





After we moved into the flat, we didn't have time for much else than studying. Just last Monday, I took my first final. It wasn't too difficult, but it was long (we were given 3 hours) and covered the amount of material a course usually covers over a whole semester. In some ways this made the exam easier, as most of the material was still fresh in my mind, but in other ways the sheer volume of material we learned compared to the small number of lectures we had made it more difficult. During Tuesday-Thursday I didn't have any class, but I had a large project using WebGPSS that was part of a ten page report due Friday, so I was still constantly at the school. Between finishing my final and working on the project, I managed to find time to celebrate the end of the final with a group of students, finish my temporary residence permit application (finally) at the immigration office, and attended a Riga hockey game with some of the other exchange students and all of the compadres. Below is a picture of Valentin (my roommate from Germany on the right), Ivan (my roommate from France in the middle), and Rihards (one of our friends who helped us find the flat) at the game.



Friday after submitting my final project early in the morning, my next class started, which involves each group (this time 4-5 students per group) working with a company and writing a report on it's management structure and business initiative. I will meet with my group tomorrow to discuss which company we will study, but I believe they have already contacted one who has agreed to work with us and it is a Latvian company. Hopefully some of our interviews (we have to have 5-10) will be in English so I can be very involved in the process. After our first lecture, I left for Winter Symposium with Gerard and two other students from the dorms named Mindaugus and Thomas.

Winter Symposium is held by SSE every year and consists of staying in a guesthouse for a night with other students near a lake somewhere in Latvia. Students were scheduled to arrive Saturday, with games being held during the morning, and then head to the Zagarkalns Mountains for a day of skiing or snowboarding. I left on Friday because I had found a ride with Gerard a few weeks before and he was in charge of setting it up and running the event. We were allowed to stay there Friday night for free, and only paid 8 Ls (about $16) for Saturday night. It was a good turnout, with about 25 students showing up for the games, many more showing up for skiing, and about 35-40 total staying the night. Some of the Year 2 students who were there I already knew from soccer each week, and so it was easy to talk to all of the students. Ivan and Valentin also went up on Saturday. I had a terrific time skiing, and that night awards were given for the morning games and a small party was held. Once I upload pictures from this weekend, I will post a few to the blog and the rest to Facebook.

Also during the last two weeks, I signed up for a few international business competitions with Gerard and two other students (they are for teams of four), in which we will compete in late March or late early May depending on which ones we qualify for. One is SSE's very own Peak Time, a competition that usually hosts about 2,500 students from all over the world. We also applied for a competition in Germany and one in Lithuania, and since my other teammates are from Lithuania that trip would be expense free (as far as where I would stay and probably meals). We have decided that, in the case that we qualify for the competition in Germany, we will go as long as we find reasonable airfare and lodgings for the weekend. However, Gerard believes that SSE may fund a team if they qualify for such a competition, so I may get lucky.

That's a recap of my last two weeks. I'll keep you updated in the weeks to come!

Settling In

After a few weeks in Riga I'm glad I made the choice to come here. I feel very much at home for being in a place very far away from home. I accredit that mainly to the people I've met. All of the students have been very nice, and once I get to know someone I hardly recognize the cultural differences between us. It also helps that there are so many ways to get involved and to meet people at SSE. For example, last week I went to the soccer trainings, which were on Wednesday and Thursday night. The school has a deal with the Olympic Center in Latvia (about 15 minutes walk from the school) to where we can play there for about 2 hours twice a week. Playing pick-up indoor soccer games has been a great way to meet more people (still struggling with names though).

This past weekend, I had another chance to see more of Riga, as I went to a club Friday night with my compadre and some of her friends. Entrance was free via accepting an invitation on Facebook, so I decided to check it out. This was my first time really experiencing a club scene, and it had all of the flashing lights and loud music you would expect, with multiple DJs in different rooms for different tastes in music. It left me with a headache by the end of the night, but it was a neat experience. Saturday night I went into town with Valentin and Ivan to look at more flats, and we decided to settle the issue over a beer or two at one of SSE Riga students' favorite bars. There we ran into a few students I knew from New Years and we had a good time hanging out with them.

As far as a flat goes, Valentin, Ivan, and I have a meeting with an owner tomorrow to review a contract. Rihards (one of the school's compadres) offered to help us search and spent last week looking around for cheaper and nicer flats for us. He's also done a great job negotiating price. It seems like many of the other students can't wait until we find a flat, since it's customary for students to throw a welcome-party in their flat when they first move in. I think some of the students who are stuck in the dorms (a few I talked to said they paid for the whole year as a single payment last semester) don't want us to leave since it will be that much quieter around here, but they have admitted that they would find a flat too if given the chance. Either way, I will still hang out with the students here, especially Gerard and Oleg, who I am around a lot.

Last week we had a completely new type of learning setting, as all of our work consisted of online simulations. This week, we are back to what we did during the first week, although we have a new lecturer this time around (some classes have professors who cycle). Monday I already have my first final, followed by a 10 page paper testing my WebGPSS skills due Friday. As for some of the other activities the school offers, I have been advertising one for a friend called "Peak Time." This is an international business competition for students and seems very prestigious. Winners of individual rounds will be given the chance to come to Riga in early May for a finals competition. The school also offers many academic clubs, such as a debate club, that I may consider joining for the semester.

My next class is Organization and Management, and in the class I have to go with my group (once again assigned, but this time with 5 people) to a business in Riga and learn about their management techniques and operations. A lottery was created so that few lucky groups will get to visit PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, or Ernst&Young. Since there are 30+ groups and only 3 or so get chosen, my hopes aren't too high but it is still an amazing opportunity.

As far as other news goes, I promise I'll start being more of a shutterbug and finally post some pictures! Also, at the end of January the school holds an event called Winter Symposium (Gerard is in charge of organizing it), which consists of a full day of skiing, games, and the first school-hosted party. I'll bring more details on that next time!

Until then, stay classy.

Fun, Frustration, and Food

Over the weekend I had a great time learning more about the culture here in Riga. Friday began with a double lecture, of which one was to learn WebGPSS systems (a popular simulation model for companies such as IBM). This week, all of the lectures are over these systems, and our assignments use a WebGPSS program. The weekend became more exciting Friday night, as all of the exchanges were invited on a pub tour. This is basically what it sounds like, though it began with meeting at the school and a few fun ice-breakers (they actually exist) before checking out some popular bars in and around Old Town. We also went to one of the student's flats to meet up with more students, and fortunately this allowed all of the exchanges to feel like just another SSE student through the night.

The next day, I slept late and at about 1:00 went into Old Town with Valentin (the German student) and Ivan (the French student) to look for a flat. The one we were shown was terribly overpriced and one room had a hole in the roof. This surprised me and frustrated us because we had searched the whole week before and thought we had found a decent flat for a good price (this wasn't our first or last disappointing visit). However, since then I have spoken with the Student Association at SSE and they gave me the number of the person who runs the apartment building where many of them live. Because of their help, we should find a good flat close to the school very soon. The dorms are not a bad place to live, but at night we often have bad internet connection from the amount of people getting on at the same time. On top of this, it is simply a huge inconvenience to take the bus whenever we want to do anything. However, living in the dorms for the first month has allowed me to meet some great students (thus allowing me to meet more people in the flat that we may move into). I would suggest anyone studying at SSE into the future to at least give the dorms a chance for the first month.

Saturday night I took it easy and had a good time just hanging out with a lot of the other students on my floor, despite hearing about UK's double loss. Sunday, I tried to begin my Managerial homework that was due Monday morning, but I found that the program I needed to run WebGPSS does not work on Macs. Because of this, I spent most of the day going all the way to the school to do the assignment, where I couldn't get the program to work either. I was lucky enough that by the time I got back to the school one of the other students allowed me to use his computer to finish the assignment. Today, I figured out how to work the program at school and finished the assignment before coming back to the dorms. These assignments are completely different from our work last week, although I believe the real-life simulation problems are something that many managers will have to do on the job when making economic decisions (how changing an input will affect an output). The switch in subjects has just made the course more exciting, and it is refreshing to do different work every so often.

On another note, I realized that I haven't spoken much on the food in Latvia, besides naming a few places that I have went. Most of the time, I eat breakfast and dinner at the dorms (we have close to a full kitchen and an oven is downstairs), which usually consists of eggs, pasta, or pelmeni. Pelmeni is a popular food here that is tasty and easy to make, consisting of meat (usually sausage) wrapped in a thin dumpling. It is similar to tortellini, but much more filling. I have eaten at Cili Pica a few more times, and have had some Latvian pasta as well as more of their unique pizzas. In the grocery close to the dorm there is also a very good sushi restaurant that some of the other students and I discovered. I ate there today, and was impressed at the quality of the food at a low price (it was similar to a high-scale American sushi restaurant). For lunch, I usually eat at the school, which has had wonderful food so far including chicken, a type of beef stew, potatoes, salad, etc. The food is not to different to what you can find in the US, but it is usually prepared differently, and in my opinion, prepared better. There is a Russian restaurant called Bufete close to the school where you can also get a full meal - such as soup, rice, some type of meat, about 3 types of sides or vegetables, and a drink - for about 2 Lats (roughly 4 dollars). I have done my best to avoid American meals, though I have been to Hesburger once (the Swedish version of McDonalds that many Europeans claim is better). Basically, the food here in Riga isn't anything to worry about if you are considering study at SSE Riga, and if anything should be a reason to visit.

That was my weekend of fun, some slight frustration, and really good food. Over the weekend, I have become a lot closer to many of the students from school and a lot of the exchanges, and this has made me glad that I chose somewhere away from other Americans to study abroad. I'm not saying it wouldn't be great to study with another student from the States, but I feel as though the diversity of nationalities has really allowed me to become close with students from all over the world and understand the differences in culture. It really makes me want to travel to other parts of Europe, and I will likely have to chance to go to some people's homes during a long weekend or one of the breaks. So that's it for now, but I'll be sure to post more soon. Also, I'll work on taking more pictures and uploading them here.

Schooling and Such

So I've had 3 days of class at this point and it's obvious that SSE Riga was a very good choice for STUDY abroad. The students at the school are all smart, and there's not near the level of slacking I notice in the United States. Grades here are taken seriously by almost everyone, and that makes it a very fun atmosphere to study in. The first class I am taking is Managerial Economics. Everyone I spoke to said that the professor was one of the most boring at the school, and that my professor for Macroeconomics is the best one. However, I find the lectures in Managerial Economics to be much more bearable than some of the classes I've taken back home, and the material we are learning is much more application based than just conceptual based (for example, I've had classes where I've studied the idea of different costing systems, but in this course we actually go through how to do each one). Class is from 9:15-11:00 each day with a 10 minute break at 10. This makes the class seem much shorter than what I'm used to. I'll have class Monday-Friday every week, and on certain days (tomorrow for example), I have an extended lecture until 2:15.

After the lecture, we are always given 2-3 problems to work on that are graded for credit and due before the end of the day. The grading system here is much different and much more difficult than back home. For example, until the tests, all of the assignments are graded on a pass/fail basis. So when you are given two problems, missing just one of them will end in a failing grade on the assignment (you are allowed to fix your work and resubmit it though, which may be for partial or full credit - I don't know). I'm not sure how much each assignment counts for the total grade, but I'm guessing that it is somewhere around half. My goal is just to pass each assignment to make sure that I am doing well in the course. As it goes on and the assignments accumulate, I will speak to the professor to get a definite idea on how the grades are split up. As far as classes go, I am very pleased with the amount I've been learning and the level of material I've covered.

Another thing about assignments is that we are randomly assigned a group member to complete all of the homework with. Mine is another exchange student named Akzhan from Kazakhstan. She knows English well and works well with me so I'm not worried about the assignments. She is also one of the other students I have met who live in the dorms. More students have moved in, and I have become friends with some of the other exchange students and the other students who live here. On my floor there is Gerard from Lithuania (who I spent New Years with), Oleg from Estonia (not an exchange student), Valentin from Germany (exchange), Ivan from France (exchange), and Ilias from Kyrgyzstan (also exchange). Most of the girls we know live on the first floor, including 3 exchange students and one student from Latvia. Valentin is the student I was in contact with before I came here, and he, Ivan, and I are interested in finding a flat together. As for life in Riga, I have been to a few more places around the school and eaten some terrific Russian food, but I haven't been to Old Town all week due to being at school and living so far away. However, I am excited to see what the weekend brings and I will most likely hang out with more students I have met in class, both those who live in the dorms and those in flats. I'll be back with a new post and I'm sure new things to share in a few days.

P.S. I apologize for any typos, as I did not reread this post before I sent it.

Day Before School Starts

So pretty much over the last few days I've just been trying to figure out the city on my own a little bit and get accustomed to the time change before class begins. New Years Eve was a lot of fun, as I hung out with a Lithuanian in the dorms named Gerard and a lot of his friends, who were first year and second year students from the school. We went to a few flat parties and at midnight went to the main park in the city to celebrate with everyone else who was out and to watch fireworks that were lit off.

Over the past few days, I have had some problems with the buses but nothing major. Today, I had a meeting at the school where I met Evita (the exchange advisor) and Diana (one of the program heads). It was a very helpful orientation, and it seems that class may be a lot different than what I am used to. For example, I will have class each morning from 9:15-11:00 Monday through Friday. During the rest of the day, I must work in a pair with one other student (which was done by random assignment) and finish an assignment before the end of the day. The school has a good reputation as being challenging and I could see that as there were already a few students at the school today preparing for class that starts tomorrow.

During the orientation, I had the chance to meet a few other exchange students from Germany, Lithuania, Sweden, and Kyrgyzstan (of which about half live in the dorm). As a group, we went to eat at a chain buffet that can be found around Riga known as "Lido." Here we ate typical Latvian food, of which I had some type of potatoes and a smoked chicken shish kebab. We then finished the night and came back to the dorms. I'll be in bed early tonight so I can be up early tomorrow for class. I'm sure I will have a lot more to report then.