The first day was more like a ice-breaker sorts. I met up with my new classmates and got to know them. We found out that we had a very very diverse class. People from 18 countries!! Let me try and list those - India, China, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Morocco, Switzerland, Norway, Germany, France, Argentina, US, Luxemborg, Finland and a couple more which I dont remember now.
The second day we were divided into two groups. One had an outdoor team-building session while the other one had some in-class sessions. I was in the outdoor group. We had to do some daredevil exercises! jump from one tree to another like a tarzan, fall backwards from a height and trust ur friends to catch you etc! there were also some very thought provoking exercises. All in all, the purpose was served. These exercises bought us together which was very important in a group which is as diverse as ours.
On the third day it was our turn to have the in-class exercises. The initial feeling was that we would get bored after the exciting previous day, but it dint take long for Prof Beck to prove us wrong. If previous day's exercises were a physical test then these were a mental test. We opened our own company and simulated production. Had fun in out-thinking the other team. Basically had loads of fun!
The final day started with the class doing a case analysis. It was my first exposure to case-study method and I am impressed. More about this method in a later post. Next was the cross cultural presentations. Each country had to present something about their country. By presenting I dont mean PPTs, but any kind of presentations...skits, songs, quizzes etc. The Indians made a skit wherein we showed a foreigner coming to India and his experiences in the country. The other countries also had great presentations. Worth mentioning are the Swiss farm-boy song and Germany v/s Luxemborg quiz. In the afternoon we had a session with Prof Conner from Australia on Managing Presentations. Very informative I must say. Learnt a lot in the 2 hrs. Will most probably take his class in the next trimester. The classroom session ended with elections for the student committee...and I got in! :) Will put in a post later about my plans.
In the evening, we had a formal welcome from the Dean and head of Alumni committee. After that we had a dinner party where we met our Professors, Seniors and Alumni. Was a great experience meeting these people.
Inducted and Oriented! Time to get down and study....Week 1 of Trimester 1 begins!
