So i am LOVING my international business course at UAB (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona). My prof is fantastic, and he is very passionate about the field of international business. His name is Dr. Jorge Mongay, and he is a native of Barcelona. He has quite the impressive background of education:
- Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) with a thesis on Marketing and Customer Loyalty at SBS BUsiness School, Zurich
- Master in Business Administration (MBA) at EAE Barcelona, Barcelona (rated in the top 3 business schools in the WORLD)
- Master in Business Administration (MBA) at Nottingham Trent University, England
- Postgraduate Diploma in Research Methods (Management) at University of Bradford School of Management, England
- BBA and Graduate Diploma in Marketing at the Chartered Institute of Marketing, London, England
He is a professor at UAB, Euncet (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya) and Arcadia University. I really like his class because he applies all the theory in class to real issues or situations happening in the world today. He showed a really interesting video which I will post to this entry.
It was about "Shifts" in the world, and how cultures/countries change over time with regards to population, power, language and influence. We've also watched this mini movie about this company that went through the tech bubble, it was all about how the company started focusing on the theme of entrepreneurism and the rise and fall of the company. Then today we had a debate about what the company did well, and poorly. After our debate we had a lecture and it was focused on political issues in the world. Within this subject he spoke about the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), and showed this map of the world with all the countries shaded in a blue. The lighter the blue the better the country was (aka had no corruption), the darker the shade the worse the country was. I felt very proud because Canada was one of the best countries!!! We are rated #8 in the whole world. New Zealand is #1, and Somalia is #180.
I also feel like my International Business course is like the UN haha. It consists of only international exchange students, and our prof is always asking for our views/opinions from each country that we represent. So i feel like the representative from Canada, since im the only one. The rest of the class consists of the USA, Germany, Russia etc. But I am the only Canadian. :)
Lately my roommate and I, Hannah (from Texas), have been talking about getting a gym membership while we are here. We went yesterday to one that looked a lot like a YMCA, but unfortunately we needed a Spanish bank account in order to get a membership (LAME), so we needed to find another place. So I went to the API office after my classes to ask Romá (the cultural coordinator) and he helped me research and call the gyms. So then I went to one that was close to my campus and asked for a tour. IT'S THE MOST INCREDIBLE GYM EVER. We have NOTHING that compares to it in Canada. First of all it's 5 floors, yes you read that correctly FIVE floors. Here is a breakdown of what my gym is like:
1st Floor: 3 pools. 1 pool for lane swimming, 1 pool for swimming classes, and 1 really big hot tub/jacuzzi. They have these really cool mosaic ceramic chairs that are curvy to the shape of your body that you can lay on too in the pool areas.
2nd Floor: Half the floor consists of 3 huge rooms for yoga, pilates, aerobics, etc, the other half (Lauren will LOVE this) consists of a room entirely dedicated to BOXING! And they actually have a boxing ring !! They also have some other machines and weights in the boxing room as well, with all kinds of boxing equipment, bags etc.
3rd Floor: Has fitness equipment for cardio (treadmills, bikes, steppers, cross trainers etc) and weight machines. Every cardio machine also has a tv, and there are 3 new bikes that are like video games where they are hooked up to a computer screen that simulates you riding through a mountain, or a forest and changes the difficulty level on your bike as well as you have to turn and bend with the road you see infront of you. SOOO cool i have to try it! There are also 3 or so squash courts too!
4th Floor: Has a restaurant/cafe with tables and couches. There is also free wireless access here. Then there is a terrace patio with chairs and umbrellas so you can sit outside in the sun.
The Roof!: Has a small pool, tanning area, seating and some sort of tennis court as well :)
Now you might ask yourself how much this would cost, but surprisingly it's not that expensive, it's only 44 euro a month for me (being a student is helpful hehe). I cant wait to start going, Im taking Hannah tomorrow after class so she can check it out and probably get a membership as well. :) They also have tons of free classes i can take (ranging from sculpt and burn classes to pilates or yoga or aerobics etc). Even better they have amazing hours, they are open everyday except sunday until 12midnight, and 9pm on sundays! The best part about the whole thing was that I did the tour, asked questions, and signed up for a membership all in Spanish! Then the employee at the end of our conversation told me that my Spanish was very good :) So that was a nice compliment to have. Once I got my card, they also took a scan of my fingerprint, because to get through the main gates at the entrance of the gym they scan your fingerprint! It's very high tech. After I got everything dealt with at the gym I went back to API to show Marta (program director) and Romá my membership card, because I was so proud of myself for being able to get it all in Spanish and on my own as well. Then I had a 30 min chat with Marta, Laura, and Núria about random stuff and they said too that my Spanish was getting really good and improving lots since Ive been here! Yay for learning languages. :)
Below are some pictures from my gym (no big deal):
One of the swimming pools:
Roof top tanning area:
Fitness center:
Yoga room:
Pilates Room:
Boxing Room:
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