Entries about netherlands

Yesterday morning I woke up at 6:15 and began preparing for my last day at Hanze. After turning in my bike and lock I spent nearly 40 minutes with other students reviewing as much information as we could and spitting it back at each other. When the 2.5 hour exam on the 13 sections we had to cover was over, we waited to present two major presentations worth 60% of our grades. After we finished, we walked 30 minutes back to student housing and then prepared for the 30 minute walk to the restaurant where all of the summer school students would have our last meal and drinks together as a group with the program coordinators.

On the walk to the restaurant we talked about what our favorite parts of the trip were, and I couldn’t pinpoint any specific experience. I thought about it and realized that even though it has been difficult sometimes and the workload constant, I’ve enjoyed my time here in its entirety. I came here specifically to move outside my comfort zone, push those barriers and challenge myself, and grow as a person. I am taking all of this experience gratefully. The people who shared it with me are amazing and I don’t know if I could have come as far as I did without them.

Would I take this program again? In a heartbeat.
Would I recommend it to others? Without hesitation.

Emily Sharpe
Business Administration Student
NSCC, Pictou Campus

I am Melissa Kranyak, one of the five students from Nova Scotia Community College that is participating in the Doing Business in Europe program here in Groningen, Netherlands at the Hanze University.

There are only four days left in this three week program and it has been a steady onslaught of homework, sightseeing, Dutch cuisine and Dutch culture.

Last week we went to Amsterdam and visited the Rijksmuseum which I absolutely adored. I saw many works here, some by Rembrandt, Monet, and Van Gogh. The weather was beautiful for this event.

After the museum we were ushered to Philips Headquarters where we observed a presentation given by the CEO Frans van Houten and his global eye employees. At the end of the presentation three groups from Hanze university that are participating this program competed against one another in a mock “Dragon’s Den” event with concept products that Philips may be interested in making. Among them from NSCC were Bradley Cameron (First place winner) and Megan Holley. The prize was a sonic care tooth blasting type floss machine……? We then finished up at Philips with a drink and snack social where we were able to practice our 30 second elevator pitches (which I failed horribly at several times, but that has not discouraged me for the future)

After this long amazing day we went out for a wonderful authentic Italian dinner in the heart of Amsterdam and then retired to our Castle for the night. That is correct, it is not a spelling error, we stayed in a castle for the night. It has a moat that goes all the way around it.

The next day we went through the Anne Frank House and toured around Amsterdam sight-seeing and shopping. I also was able to locate a normal size coffee which made me very happy (Side bar: In the Netherlands and suspect all of Europe, coffee is sold in very tiny increments which does not work for me because I am severely addicted)

The last couple of days have been dedicated to presentation and project completion.

Overall, this is a great program that challenges you in ways that you would not normally experience in your own country. Seeing and learning about how multinational companies operate and restructure has been my favourite part of this trip along with the mentors that are teaching us in the many classes we have each day.

Thank-you Hanze University and Nova Scotia Community College for this opportunity and experience.

Melissa Kranyak
Business Administration Student
NSCC, Waterfront Campus

Hello! My name is Megan Holley and I am one of the students participating in the Doing Business in Europe summer program at Hanze University of Groningen. I am a Business Administration student at NSCC and I found out about this program through a presentation done at my school by past participants.

Today is Wednesday which means we're officially half done of the program already. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by; it feels like we've only been here a couple of days. Today was the first time I've biked around town without getting lost once! I finally can bike to school and back without taking a wrong turn. It's pretty bad that it took me almost two weeks to learn the route! Other than getting lost a lot, I am loving biking everywhere each day. When I left home I was sure that I was going to miss driving a car, but so far I don't miss it at all - biking is awesome. We've been really lucky with the weather so far as well, I haven't had to even open my umbrella yet!
My stay in the Netherlands so far has been super busy but so much fun at the same time. We have done three tours of the Netherlands and a trip to Germany for a tour of Meyer Werft, along with lots of fun social programs. On Sunday, the group went to The Island of Schiermonnikoog for a cultural excursion day. Schiermonnikoog is a nearby island that is a part of the province Friesland. It is a small island; about 1,000 people live there permanently and biking is almost the only transportation used. Only the people living there are allowed to drive a car there, so there's bike roads everywhere. The island was beautiful and we were able to have some time to explore wherever we liked. I decided to spend most of my time going to the beaches there and just biking around and sightseeing.

We had a short teaching day today from 8:30 until 2pm. We learned about international facility management, followed by a sales training class, and then we had a class about the countries in Eastern Europe. I'm glad our day was a little shorter because we have lots of assignments to work on along with studying for our final exam. This Friday is our trip to Amsterdam where we will visit Philip's headquarters. When we arrive there we are going to have the opportunity to pitch a new product idea to Mr. Frans van Houten - the CEO of Philip's! The class worked in groups to think of new ideas that Philip's could possibly add to their line of products. It's going to be so cool. I probably won't sleep the night before!

Overall my experience in The Netherlands so far has been very positive. The teachers do an amazing job of fitting in all the information into the short amount of time they have for each class. My other classmates and our program coordinators have been great, and most all of the Dutch people I've met have been very friendly. This next week and half is going to go by so quickly, but I'm going to make the most of it and enjoy every minute of it.

Thank you!

Megan Holley
Business Administration Student
NSCC, Pictou Campus

Over the past few days I had the privilege of joining five NSCC business students during their first week of this year’s Doing Business in Europe (DBIE) summer program organized by Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen, the Netherlands. This program consists of a combination of academic sessions (workshops, seminars, lectures, and student presentations), site visits to local companies in Groningen, Amsterdam and Germany, and various social activities. The purpose of the program is for participants to learn about the European business environment as well as to increase their professional and personal intercultural skills. NSCC has participated in this program since it was established three years ago, and so far a total of 19 students have participated in the DBIE.

Our hosts have prepared an exciting program with an interesting group of facilitators including faculty members from Hanze University as well as guest lectures from relevant industry sectors. The highlight of the program promises to be a "Dragon’s Den" session with the CEO of Philips and some of the young professionals from this Dutch company (currently employing approximately 122,000 people world-wide).

The Doing Business in Europe Program is organized by the Hanze University Institute for Marketing Management under the leadership and great support of its Dean, Paul Ganzeboom. Maris Keijser is the Program Coordinator and responsible for the excellent organization of the summer program. For the second year in the row, Robyn Wilkie has been hired by Hanze University to assist with the organization of the summer school. A NSCC participant in the first program back in 2011, Robyn is completing her second internship / work placement with Hanze as part of the NSCC International Business Program. Way to go Robyn!

This year’s NSCC participants come from three campuses (Pictou, Truro and Waterfront) and they are another very impressive group of students. It was a great pleasure to witness their enthusiasm, dedication and professionalism during the first week of the program. We have selected another fantastic team of Ambassadors for NSCC, Nova Scotia and Canada. Over the next few days all students will share their DBIE experiences through blog posts on this site. Stay tuned for exciting updates.

Zoran Kondali
Manager,
NSCC International

As a collective, the other Nova Scotia students and I decided to travel early to Europe in order to get to know each other and have some pre-project fun. This may have been one of the best decisions we made on this trip, it gave us the opportunity to get to know and trust each other.
After our short time in Amsterdam we travelled to Groningen, to meet up with the rest of the Canadians and Dutch students. Upon our arrival in Groningen we settled into our hostel that we would be staying in for the majority of our trip.

I travelled to Brussels on our travel weekend, there was a little mix up on the trains during my travel, but I suppose that just adds to the experience. It’s funny that such a small amount of snow can cripple a whole train system. It all worked out in the end however. I enjoyed my time in Brussels; it’s a big city with lots going on. Brussels is one of those places you would have to stick in for a while to really get to know it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have that kind of time. I had the opportunity to meet some great people in the hostel in Brussels.

On our last weekend the other Nova Scotia students and I travelled to Gent, almost trouble free. We spent a night at a great Bed and Breakfast called “The Black Hole.” I found Gent to be much more welcoming, and the people to be much friendlier than Brussels. I got to taste some classic Belgian chocolate, which I brought back to Canada. We also got to taste some delicious classic Dutch candies from a kiosk in a small market area. After our short time in Gent it was time to leave for Schiphol to catch our plane. Our trek back to Schiphol was not without its own complications and pure luck. At one point we ended up on a high-speed train in first class (quite an experience in itself).

I think it is fair to say that we have all made many friends along this trip; which, in itself is possibly the biggest thing I’ve gained from this experience. We went to a lot of very interesting places, and saw a lot of cool things. I myself have taken hundreds of pictures in hopes I won’t forget anything I’ve experienced on this trip. It was a trip of a lifetime. I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to go on this trip. Our project went well. I had the opportunity to work with an excellent group of Dutch students and another Canadian. I am looking forward to seeing five of our Dutch classmates during the second half of this exchange in May. On our turf!

Alex Fraughton
NSCC Student, Electrical Engineering Technology
Waterfront Campus