School work… not play time!

Believe it or not I have actually worked very hard this semester.  Although my pictures and stories about all the fun activities and places I have been don’t seem like I have very much time for school work, my weekly schedule was full with the 4 classes I was enrolled in.  I took social marketing, cross-cultural management, international marketing and dynamics of Asian businesses.  They were all very interesting and for the most part I enjoyed my lectures.  The school I am attending, ANU-Australian National University,  is ranked #27 in the world… what was I thinking?  No one told me that!

For international marketing 50% of our semester grade revolved around working for a real client here in Canberra and developing an international marketing plan for the company to implement into a foreign country.  My teammates and I worked extremely hard for 12 weeks to develop a plan for our client, Blended Learning International (BLI).  BLI is located right here in Canberra and they offer higher executive training programs to companies along the lines of IT programs and management training.  I was on a team that was composed of 5 people who were all from different countries- Australia, Netherlands, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

It was a great experience, but I am so glad all the hard work was over.  To give you an idea how big this project was we had weekly meetings with our client, presented in front of their bored of directors and was recognized by the university.  My team created a plan for BLI to enter the Malaysian market with their IT programs.  In a nut-shell my team came second place.  There was 5 teams working for BLI, so to come in second is pretty good I think!

Proof that I did school work while here!

Well, I have finished 2 finals and I only have one more to go!  Today I discovered that McDonalds sells mini ice cream cones for $0.30 YES 30 CENTS… perhaps the cheapest thing in Australia!!!   This Sunday I am leaving for the Great Barrier Reef with my friend Janelle (It really is a hard life here).  I come back to Canberra on Wednesday and then Thursday morning I make my long journey home… traveling from Canberra-Sydney-LA-Dallas and then watch out… I will be back in good old’ Saxonburg!  Not for long though, I have a 2 week date with the woods to find Bambi’s Dad.

Let me know if there is anything else you would like to know about Australia!  I would happy to answer any questions!

I am looking forward to:

1.  Family & Friends

2.  My horse

3.  Home cooked meals from my Mom… and eating Al’s food at the Hotel

4.  My own bed

5.  Taking a bubble bath

6.  A peanut butter cup blizzard from DQ

7.  Driving my car

8.  EVERYTHING!