Personal:
Professional:
A look into the world of marketing, in respect to Belgian chocolate!!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Week 12: Working Hard or Hardly Working?
Well the answer to that is definitely 'working hard'!!! The end is near, and it's so emotional already. On one hand I am beyond excited to get back home and see everyone and just give everyone the biggest hug. My house is being sold at home, another one being built on the lake, my brother is finally back from Iraq, I'm headed to Australia in June....just so many changes are taking place. I feel like many things have changed at home since I left; before I left there was no talk of putting the house on the market, and now when I get home everything will almost be moved out! Wow. I also cannot WAIT to drive a car again. I was fortunate enough to be able to drive a sweet BMW throughout the streets of Paris about a month ago with some Parisian friends that invited me there, and that was SUCH a rush. I forgot how much I truly miss driving. So I cannot wait to grab my 4runner as soon as I get home and go for a spin to my friend's houses :)
On the other hand, it's hard to imagine not living in Beligum anymore. It has become such a huge part of my life, and I'm so used to waking up in a beautiful apartment every morning and being submersed in a completely different culture. I have had many highs here and also a few lows. This week on Tuesday night, I was coming home by myself around 10:30 pm, and made it all the way to my building door (and I live in a very safe, rather high class area). Before I know it, as I'm putting the key into the door, these 2 men grab my purse so tightly off of my shoulder and immediately I go into defensive mode. They almost had it, when I grabbed the straps right as they were taking it away from me. This absolutely monstrous yell came out of me exclaiming 'STOPPPP' and thank you Lord that a car also saw. The car slammed on breaks and honked the horn as loud as possible so that the men would know the driver was watching. I was so shaken up and the men were still standing pretty close to me, and I was desperately trying to get the key in the door but my hands were shaking to bad. The car was asking me in French if I was okay, and I told them to wait until I got inside my building. Finally I was able to make it inside and I ran up my 4 flights of stairs faster than I ever imagined possible. I made it into my apartment and just bawled on my roommates shoulder for a while. She said she heard me scream outside and was wondering what was going on down there. I had never been so terrified in my life. I felt so violated and to imagine if they had actually been successful and if I didn't have the strong grip on my purse that I did; I feel like my life would have been over. I would be passport-less, no camera, no money, no cards, no phone...literally I can't even imagine. That's why I never take my purse out at night anyway, it was just a random reason that I had it on that night. Anyway, thankfully I'm okay and I still have my belongings.
Onto my progress, I was able to get my interview done this week by Professor Megan Mowrey (Law professor at Clemson) about her take on public transportation in Belgium, mainly the metros. For my video about an important issue in Belgium, I'm talking about the importance they place on using public transportation and saving gas. I cannot even tell you how many hundreds of times I've ridden the metro here, and it's going to be strange back in the states not riding it anymore. It's become a part of my everyday life! I think it's great and I'm interested to see how that video turns out.
Stay tuned, CLAMers! Good luck to all this week. Lots of finals approaching and videos to be finished!
On the other hand, it's hard to imagine not living in Beligum anymore. It has become such a huge part of my life, and I'm so used to waking up in a beautiful apartment every morning and being submersed in a completely different culture. I have had many highs here and also a few lows. This week on Tuesday night, I was coming home by myself around 10:30 pm, and made it all the way to my building door (and I live in a very safe, rather high class area). Before I know it, as I'm putting the key into the door, these 2 men grab my purse so tightly off of my shoulder and immediately I go into defensive mode. They almost had it, when I grabbed the straps right as they were taking it away from me. This absolutely monstrous yell came out of me exclaiming 'STOPPPP' and thank you Lord that a car also saw. The car slammed on breaks and honked the horn as loud as possible so that the men would know the driver was watching. I was so shaken up and the men were still standing pretty close to me, and I was desperately trying to get the key in the door but my hands were shaking to bad. The car was asking me in French if I was okay, and I told them to wait until I got inside my building. Finally I was able to make it inside and I ran up my 4 flights of stairs faster than I ever imagined possible. I made it into my apartment and just bawled on my roommates shoulder for a while. She said she heard me scream outside and was wondering what was going on down there. I had never been so terrified in my life. I felt so violated and to imagine if they had actually been successful and if I didn't have the strong grip on my purse that I did; I feel like my life would have been over. I would be passport-less, no camera, no money, no cards, no phone...literally I can't even imagine. That's why I never take my purse out at night anyway, it was just a random reason that I had it on that night. Anyway, thankfully I'm okay and I still have my belongings.
Onto my progress, I was able to get my interview done this week by Professor Megan Mowrey (Law professor at Clemson) about her take on public transportation in Belgium, mainly the metros. For my video about an important issue in Belgium, I'm talking about the importance they place on using public transportation and saving gas. I cannot even tell you how many hundreds of times I've ridden the metro here, and it's going to be strange back in the states not riding it anymore. It's become a part of my everyday life! I think it's great and I'm interested to see how that video turns out.
Stay tuned, CLAMers! Good luck to all this week. Lots of finals approaching and videos to be finished!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Cultural Literacy/ End of Study Abroad
Ahhh! I cannot even believe it! These 3.5 months have absolutely flown by and I can't believe my study abroad experience is coming to an end. How is this possible already?! I feel like I just packed my two huge suitcases and boarded the plane for Belgium back in January. And now it's almost the middle of April! I feel like I have learned SO much more than I ever imagined I would about other cultures. Living it is so much different than merely reading about it in a textbook or online. I am so incredibly thankful that I've had this semester here to learn so much more about myself and the world.
Plan of action: I've been reviewing past videos from the syllabus links. I plan to do some good interviewing this week! Still finalizing interview questions and still playing with Imovie. Man...I truly hate technology sometimes! I can just be pretty bad with it. I need to watch more tutorials on Imovie so I can become an expert :) Cannot wait to see everyone's final results! I believe they are due in just 2 weeks!! AHHHH! We can do it :)
Plan of action: I've been reviewing past videos from the syllabus links. I plan to do some good interviewing this week! Still finalizing interview questions and still playing with Imovie. Man...I truly hate technology sometimes! I can just be pretty bad with it. I need to watch more tutorials on Imovie so I can become an expert :) Cannot wait to see everyone's final results! I believe they are due in just 2 weeks!! AHHHH! We can do it :)
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Rhetorical Analysis of Media Artifacts...Part 2!
**While thinking of what media artifact to analyze around Belgium, I couldn't help but think of all the metro advertisements I see everywhere here. There are several different kinds of advertisements to ride the Brussels metro, therefore saving gas of your own and helping the environment. These ad's also catch my eye because I'm a marketing major, so I love to see how marketing is similar/different in Belgium compared to the US. I have not been able to walk around Brussels for an entire day without seeing some form of a STIB/MIVB advertisement posted on the streets or inside the metro. I always knew it was promoting the metro line, but I had no idea what exactly it stood for. I’ve now found out that the letters represent French and Flemish language. STIB is French standing for ‘Société des Transports Intercommunaux Bruxellois’ and MIVB is Flemish meaning ‘Maatschappij voor Intercommmunaal Vervoer te Brussels’.
I believe the marketers of STIB/MIVB do an incredible job of promotion by having catchy, yet different types of advertisements posted everywhere. I also believe it is an advertisement very worth while, by promoting to ride the metro instead of drive your own car and waste unnecessary gas. By riding the metro you are helping save the environment! I honestly think the US would really benefit by having more local public transportation, and not almost requiring everyone to own their own vehicle to get from Point A to Point B. At least Clemson has the CAT Bus service!
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