The UPC campus in December- we'll miss weather like this! |
It has long been accepted that the passage of time is
constant, but after our three months in Barcelona I think it would be fair to
challenge this assumption. As we woke up from some of our final siestas, it was apparent that our three months in the heart of Catalunya had
flown by. After tonnes of tapas, stacks of sangria and frequent fiestas, our
time in Spain was drawing to an end.
But not before we had been assessed. In keeping with the
Spanish way of life (ask Patricia), our at UPC was very relaxed, with much
independence given to us in the completion of our assessments. With two group
assignments and two group presentations set, we were given deadlines in the
final week for each.
The FRM group bidding farewell to our UPC lecturers over a few beers |
Accordingly the emphasis was placed on independent and self-motivated
study to a far greater extent than in the earlier parts of our course. I think
it would be fair to say that each one of us learnt a lot about our style of
teamwork, time management and planning, with (hopefully) an all-round
successful outcome reached for all of us!
After the hard work of our final weeks, it seemed fitting to
relax and say goodbye to our lecturers. Again, we chose to do so in keeping
with the Spanish way of life: through a few beers and lively conversation. Well
attended by the class and lecturers alike, we took a lot of pleasure in
learning a bit more about each other (congratulations on the forthcoming third
child ‘Big Daddy’ Brian! Note, Richard makes a great boys name…), our opinions
of Spain over the past three months and to say farewell properly.
Leaving drinks with our new Erasmus Mundus friends |
Also, during our studies in Barcelona we found ourselves in a Coastal Risk Management class with a number of other Erasmus Mundus students (from a course with an official website, but without a student-run blog, if you can believe such a thing exists). These students had also spent the past six months in Delft – unbeknownst to us – and, we found significant comfort and enjoyment in our shared experiences. Therefore Barcelona was also a significant time of new friendships and it was with heavy hearts we bid goodbye to our new Erasmus Mundus pals. But fortunately, for a those of us selected to write their thesis in Holland at UNESCO-IHE, they will be reunited with our new friends as they complete their own thesis. International Erasmus Mundus friendships at their very best.
It was then time to pack up for one more time and board our transport to our next stop, and final destination as a total group of 18, Ljubljana. Due to the high prices of flights from Barcelona to Ljubljana (or anywhere near Slovenia!), bus was the mode of transport chosen by most of us. As a 23 hour journey, it was as ‘interesting’ as expected so please return soon to hear about our arrival and first impressions of our new Slovenian home.
by
thanks for your nice post, Mr. Richard, would you like to tell us about yaur experience enrolling in emundus programm? is there any south east asia student in your programm? your pal
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A PMP Certified personnel can handle risk management very effectively
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