It's the most wonderful time of the year!

When writing my previous blog, I was just preparing for the exams of Period 1. These were my first exams for the Masters program International Economics & Business and I did not really know what to expect from them. It had been a pretty hectic period altogether, with lots of deadlines and project group work. To be honest I couldn’t wait for it all to be finished.

After two weeks of waiting, we finally received our final grades, and I am glad to say that I have passed them both. In the meantime the next period has already kicked off, with some new exciting courses. I am currently following the course Urban Development, digging into the theory and challenges behind development in urban areas. The course Institutions, Growth & Development explores the differences in economic growth patterns across countries and their underlying reasons.

The main assignment consists of writing a report on two Sub-Saharan African countries, Zambia and Madagascar in my case, to find out whether their economic development is in line with the literature.

Apart from the actual studying we got something else exciting going on, namely the fact that our department of the Masters Program has a certain fund available to organize study-related activities. One can think of a intriguing guest lecture, a movie night, meet and great with an institute in the field or even a conference. We are currently determining what activity would be the most popular among the students.

Apart from all these exciting study related topics this period is going to be an extremely hectic one. First of all, we have to start thinking about what to do after we finish our studies. In relation to this labour market orientation process I am attending ECU ‘92’s Economic Career Event, on the 29^th of November. Secondly, it is time to determine what courses to follow in the third period, which is the last term in which I will effectively be following courses before I write my final thesis. Thirdly, the deadline for handing in a thesis proposal is rapidly approaching. This is the option to come up with an own thesis proposal or to write the thesis at a company.

As December is quickly approaching, it is almost time to shave off my contribution to the Movember movement. In all honesty, there isn’t much to shave off, but hey, at least I tried. We are slowly moving towards the most wonderful time of the year. The days are getting shorter, nights are getting longer, the temperature is getting colder and the cocoa is getting warmer. Despite all of this, it is still my favourite part of the year, as the Christmas holidays are upon us. At the beginning of December I will celebrate Sinterklaas with my family and some really close friends, so I should start waking up my creative side and come up with a nice poem and ‘Surprise’. At the end of the month, my family will come together to celebrate Christmas and I am looking forward to spending some long awaited family time. Also, I can’t wait to see my mother’s completely decorated Christmas tree with real candles, bright red balls and an astounding star at the pinnacle of it all. Finally, we head towards the end of the year accompanied by the musical prowess of Radio 2’s Top 2000, and obviously the grand finale: New Year’s Eve.