Picnics and Barbecues...

May has been generally wet and cold but we were able to enjoy our first outdoor IMD picnic/barbecue a few weeks ago- the sun even came out for the occasion and the weather was perfect ! We met a the Parc Bourget on the lakeside and grilled some food- Ivana treated us to some great homemade Cevapcici and Wendy brought some hamburgers. Stephen manned the grill while the kids enjoyed bike-riding and just running around in the grass- definitely worth repeating when the weather improves. ■ Regina Osih (Cameroon)

Party Time II!

On April 30th, Queen’s day , the Dutch took over the party-organising torch. Queen’s day in Holland is the official day celebrating the queen’s birthday: the whole country takes on the official ‘orange’ colour (the royal family’s name is Orange) and there’s beer, food, music and mild chaos. The same formula was taken for the IMDutch party. The terrace, MBAers and partners were dressed in orange. There was a buffet of Dutch/ Indonesian food, beer, music and even some Dutch stormy weather. Despite the MBAs having to get back to class after, everyone seemed to be able to relax a while…with thanks to the extended Dutch delegation, helpers and sponsors: Heineken, Philips and Shell. ■ Bryony Jansen (Holland)

Party Time!

SAKURA matsuri

In Japan, to admire the cherry blossoms, we, Japanese, have outdoors parties under the cherry blossoms in the spring. On April 21, five Japanese, MBA students and their partners, organized a party called Sakura matsuri (Sakura=Cherry blossoms, Matsuri=party) on the IMD campus, serving Sushi and drinks. About 100 people joined, and the party went on until the midnight!

None of us had ever made Sushi for 100 people, but thanks to the many non-Japanese partners and students, we managed to make the Sushi on time. Originally we planned to share the Sushi recipe with them though, I have a little regret; we just had time to work, work, and work, for five hours even without chatting.….. I thank them all! ■ Yuko Ota (Japan)

Trips

Oh la la! Paris!

Jennifer, Haruhi and I visited Paris for 5 days in the first week of March. Though it rained for one day, besides that the weather was good and luckily not too cold either. Very fortunately, we were able to gather plenty of recommendations and tips on restaurants, cafes, shops, museums, parks, etc., etc from other partners beforehand. We basically spent most of our time strolling through town according to the shops we wanted to visit. Though the paths were narrow and rather tough for strollers, I greatly enjoyed walking down the charming small streets, and stopping now and then at the cute shops. The two museums we visited (Musee Rodin and Musee du Quai Branly) were both very good with beautiful gardens and amazing architecture. I could say traveling in Paris with a 2 year old worked out smoother than expected, thanks to the delicious sweets and parks all over the city. I already look forward to our next visit, hopefully sometime soon ■ Taeko Yasuda (Japan)

Real Learning

MBTI Workshop
What type are you? IMD partners came together on February 15 with Jack and Ann Woods to score and discuss the results of their Myers-Briggs personality tests. The Myers-Brigg type indicator is a long used and respected system for understanding a person's particular personality type and temperament. Ann expertly guided us through this complex test by breaking it into simple and easy to understand categories. The results of our tests gave us much insight into why we behave the way we do, heightened our self-awareness and our understanding of others.


Cooking Classes
The IMD partners and children gathered at Taeko Yasuda’s apartment this past Tuesday for another successful cooking class session. This week, attendees enjoyed making and eating chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies. At the request of several partners, Christen Cheek (partner of Brad Peterson) volunteered to share her cookie baking secrets. Partners left the lesson with full bellies, sugar highs, and the recipes needed for their own adventures in the kitchen.■ Christen Cheek (USA)

On a rainy Saturday, a few of us with our little ones left Lausanne for a 1hr. 15min. train ride to Soleure, a city in the German speaking part of Switzerland. By the station, there is a huge indoor playground with trampolines, trains, jungle gyms, and go-karts. The children especially loved jumping on the trampolines and riding the train. While the activities were great, the lunch menu was pizza, hot dogs, or smiley-face fries. By the end of the day, Moms and kids were exhausted, but the key is that everybody had a wonderful, fun-filled afternoon.

To celebrate Africa, the IMD kindergarten hosted an African lunch that featured local dishes and even a musician performing on various traditional instruments. All the food at the buffet lunch was prepared by Catherine, Marion, and Caroline—the 3 teachers at the kindergarten. They made a variety of vegetarian dishes of African origin, which ran out very quickly. The lunch was especially memorable since the daddies were also able to join. The event ended with fresh cut pineapples and happy children running around the foyer.
■ Wendy Wang (USA)

Party Time!

In the middle of February the students were already working at full rhythm, but the Brazilians didn’t miss the opportunity for a Carnival party, and for one night, the IMD foyer
was animated with music, colors and VERY traditional dancers…

Then, on Valentine’s Day we comforted ourselves with a T-party at Joana’s, where we celebrated an important occurrence: Katia’s one year birthday!

This month we also enjoyed Dania’s astonished face at her “surprise baby shower”, organized to give a warm welcome to Mohamad, who by now, is already among
us! ■ Gaia Piazzesi (Italy)

Friday Afternoon @ Café de Grancy

At the end of a busy week, before going into weekend mode with the activities that come with the two days of ‘rest', everyone likes to enjoy a drink with friends. A time to put up your feet, sigh in relief that the week went well, and make plans for a fun weekend ahead. That is why we partners started the Friday afternoon drinks! OK, admittedly, some of us aren't working (full-time), so we don't need to celebrate the end of a working week. And OK, our partners don't have the following day off so it's not even really a weekend. But we like to keep the fixed appointment anyway. Every Friday at four o'clock, everyone is welcome to come share a drink at the Café de Grancy. No reservations needed, no obligations felt, kids are welcome, and so are friends of friends. Sometimes we're eight, sometimes we're 18; whoever feels like coming is welcome. There's coffee, tea, hot chocolate, but also wine, beer and coke. It's the perfect way to hear each other's stories, to share thoughts and feelings, and to make short- (the same evening), medium- (the weekend) and/or long-term plans. •Bryony Janson (Holland)

The Great Outdoors

With a spirit of adventure, Lisa, Perrine and I have been exploring the Swiss countryside by taking some of the many well-marked raquet walks in the mountains. After a hard days hiking we intrepid explorers usually relax with a glass of vin chaud in a local hostelry or take advantage of some of the outdoor thermal baths in the region. • Alison Caldwell (UK)

Education

Some people have taken the opportunity to share each others' languages. Jennifer and Pauline spend time together twice a week. Pauline teaches Jennifer French and in exchange, learns Mandarin. Jennifer is very impressed with Pauline's ability to understand Chinese, which she started learning while living in Shanghai . Until now, Jennifer couldn't speak a word of French. Less than a month later she can write a small paragraph about herself.
It's a big step for both of them and they are very happy about it. Jennifer hopes that after a year of learning French, she will know how to find her way home if she gets lost!! • Jennifer Hsu (Taiwan)

Goal Setting Workshop
For most of the Partners, this year was meant to be “Life on Hold”: putting aside our everyday lives and jobs to live with our significant others in Lausanne . That's the biggest mistake we all were making. The Goal Setting workshop made us think differently and gave us a sense of purpose and direction for 2007. We realized that this is also a special year for us. We then began thinking about our long term and short term goals! The workshop was very helpful and I know for sure that most of us are already working towards our objectives. • Ashima Enjeti (India)

Kids Rule!!

Regardless their age, our kids are already involved in plenty of activities: IMD Kindergarten, schools, Vallée de la Jeunesse , Maison du Quartier d'Ouchy … In addition, there is the lake as well as beautiful parks and outdoor playground areas all over Lausanne !
We have had two birthday parties: Max and Adriana celebrated with friends.
Some of us have gone sledging to Chalet a Gobet and had real fun with the snow and ice. During the Hot Air Balloon's Festival, a group of mums and kids also made a day trip to Chateau- D'Oex .• Virginia Alemandi (Argentina)

Living in Lausanne

Settling down in Lausanne.... The Partners Experience

For those of us who decided to move to Lausanne , January was busy settling down. With the help and support of Marcella, Regula, and the IMD MBA Office, we did it all, or almost (the internet connection still resists our efforts ;-) We settled our bank accounts and eBanking access; found out the most reasonable -or most enjoyable- places to go shopping; enrolled the children at the kindergarten or school; sorted out the details of the health / house / fire insurance and Swiss Radio and TV tax; bought our “Demi-Tarif” CFF card for the train or got our “Macaron” permit for the car; and of course, started our discovery of Lausanne and its surroundings, as well as met with our fellow MBA Partners! What a start!!!• Isabelle Sakai-Hefetz (Israel)

Culture and Culture Shock Workshop
On January 8 th , Debra Freathy conducted a Culture shock workshop for all the partners. When we were first told about it, our initial reaction was a feeling of denial…What is this? We have all traveled and stayed in different countries and haven't faced anything like that...
But as the workshop progressed we realized how we were all struggling to settle in. The workshop helped us understand how it is often difficult to cope with change and transitions. There are some external factors like language, knowledge of the place and many others that we need to work on so that the process of settling in is smoother and faster. There are some internal factors like our mindsets and how we hang on to the past, and this makes the settling-in process more difficult.

This workshop gave us insights into the different stages of Culture shock and the means to minimize it. At the end of the workshop all the partners could really relate to the topic and came out with a feeling that now they were confident of coping better with CHANGE! •Ashima Enjeti (India)