Guest Post: From Belgium to Lausanne by Amélie van der Aa

Hi, I’m Amélie, mother of a lovely 21 month old daughter named Nell and mother to be of another girl in a few weeks. I’m Belgian, supporting my Belgian husband Jonathan, whom I’ve met 15 years ago (no no, I’m not that old) in Belgium. I specify this, because this makes us one of the most unique IMD couples, as most partners are from country X, have married a guy or girl from country Y, whom they’ve met in country Z.

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Believe it or not, but this blog post has been on my to-do list since February. Am I lazy, or have I been suffering from a writers block? None of the above. The truth is, this year might have been the busiest of my life. 



Let me take you back to a bit more than a year ago. The day that Jonathan came home all excited, not only because he got into IMD, but because he had spoken to an ex-IMD candidate who had told him the “exciting” truth about day-to-day (and night-to-night) life at IMD during the first 6 months. All I could hear was “military camp”, “nap room”, “night work”, “no spare time at all”, let alone “time for your kids and family”. I told Jonathan that in this case I was wondering why we would join him to Lausanne. Silence…  a shocked husband was looking at me realizing that there could have been a better way to prepare me for the IMD reality.

But in the end, we actually took the decision to cut the year in half. I would spend the first 6 months in Belgium, keep my job, leave Nell at daycare, and be surrounded by my network of friends and family who were all willing to help a single mom survive on her own. Every 2-3 weeks we flew to Lausanne to spend some time (or shall I say “hours”) with Jonathan. And apart from that, Skype became our best friend and well, we just both wrestled through these 6 months, keeping our eyes firmly on the finish line in June.

I ain’t gonna lie. It was tough. We really missed each other, we have both cursed Skype, I have literally cried carrying Nell in and out of the plane, being nauseous from my second pregnancy. I have been quite frustrated when spending weekends in Lausanne, cleaning the apartment, ironing hubby’s shirts and not seeing him as much as I’d hoped. But in the end, all this made us stronger as a couple and made the start of the second part (June-Dec) so much sweeter…

Now I am enjoying all this free time with Nell, this “normal” family time with Jonathan, our interesting discussions in the tiny kitchen and most of all, meeting all these amazing other ladies (and men), who are all so strong and trying to keep up the positive spirit throughout this strange year.

Let me conclude by giving some tips for future partners who decide to join their student later during the year:

1. I strongly advise to take one month off at the start of the year. That way you can settle in and arrange the apartment together with your partner, and most importantly, get to know the other partners. Believe me, you will feel less alone when you are in Lausanne on the weekends.

2. Try to attend at least one partner activity each time you’re visiting Lausanne. It will make it easier to integrate when you move to Lausanne in Summer.

3. Keep telling yourself that being in Lausanne with your husband would be equally or even more frustrating than being in your home country, surrounded by friends and family.

4. And this is my tip for any partner: don’t be too hard on your partner and don’t complain too much. This surely isn’t an easy year for us, but so far it has been one of the most interesting, culturally diverse and enriching of my life!

Guest Post: Trip to Iceland by Andrea Canidio

Hi! I am Andrea, Sophie Lacombe's boyfriend who is currently a student at IMD. I live between Bruxelles and Budapest and commute to Lausanne regularly
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Sophie said: "I don't have time to take care of our vacations, so you do it. I just want to be outdoor. I have been locked in the IMD dungeon for 6 months. I want to hike, to be active, to be outside.' So I went online and bought two tickets to Iceland.

Iceland is an island sitting between Europe and the American continent, touching the Arctic circle with its Northern shore. From a geological point of view, it is one of the youngest places in the world. It is located with the American plates meet the Eurasian plate and for this reason, it is full of active volcanoes, natural hot springs, geysers, mountains, glaciers. It is roughly twice the size of Switzerland, but has only 300,000 inhabitants, about 70% of which live in the capital. This means that is has some of the most amazing landscapes and scenery in the world (with the exception of some spots) which you can admire in full solitude. I've always wanted to go there and this was my chance. Sophie didn't specify that she wanted to be in a warm place!

 

The vacation was great. We hiked through the valleys fuming from the presence of hundreds of hot pools; we climed a glacier, and a volcano; we saw icebergs, seals, puffins. We rented a 4x4 pick-up truck and drove for days on uneven roads, crossing several rivers, in a surreal landscape with no trees (the winds and temperature prevent them from growing), no buildings and no people. All we could see were patches of pure colours; the black of the lava stone, the bright green of the moss, the white of the glaciers, the red and yellow of the sulfur.





The vacation was also a reminder of how powerful and extreme nature can be. The temperatures would usually be between 5 and 15 degrees, the winds were extremely strong, the weather would abruptly change every 10 minutes. The whole country is accustomed to extreme climate and extreme events. For instance, several of the glaciers sit on top of active volcanoes and sometimes some of these volcanoes heat up- without erupting- and melt some of the ice. The water eventually bursts out and violently flood the surrounding valleys. This happened when we were there: a bridge was washed away and the only paved road connecting the capital with the other coastal cities had to be closed down. However, within two weeks a temporary bridge was in place and traffic was restored to normal. Apparently, this events are so frequent that Icelandic people are very efficient in reconstruction of roads and bridges.

Finally, here is a link to all the pictures of the vacation.

Roma, non basta una vita

So the students were all gearing up for MBAT with their partners and kids and after considering it for a while, we decided a break from IMD would be more fulfilling and headed for Rome instead. 

We booked Easyjet flights- 6:20 in the morning. Only a day before did we realize that the last train to the airport was at 12:10am and the next one at 4:20am- which was cutting it too short. We arrived at the airport around 5:35am. I WAS RUNNING FOR MY LIFE. Easyjet is ALWAYS so crowded. The queues were long and it was taking us forever and then terminal D inside the airport seemed like it would never show up- Yep! They make sure you pay for having opted for a cheaper flight. 

But 2 hours later we were in Rome. Managed to get to the hotel, freshen up and made our way to the city center. 

What can I tell you about Rome that will actually justify its magnificence? Nothing. You just have to go. 

Perhaps it is possible to conquer Rome in a day- but not for history buffs. I had some help from Sharon, Marcella and Marieke that helped me chalk out a plan on what we wanted to do on our short trip there. The Vatican, The Museums, The Colosseum, The Fountains, The ruins- everything about Rome is saturated with centuries of History. As someone rightly said, the city itself is an open-air Museum. 

Yes the queues were long- but they were fast moving. 

Yes people talk rather loudly- but they are so friendly. 

Yes the traffic is crazy and even the buses and local transport are reminiscent of overloaded trains back in the South Asian sub continent. But nothing that a comfortable pair of shoes and a large appetite for history cannot solve once you set out on foot. 

All in all, with my transportation mess up (our hotel was far away from the center and the nearest Metro station no longer existed) and all-you-can-eat Gelato and delicious Italian food, the flights, stay (which was the bulk of it all) and excursions, it cost us around about 900 Euros. 

International Student Cards didn't help in the least. In fact, I should have saved the 40 francs I spent on it because wherever applicable, it also stipulates a standard requirement for (a 26 years) student/ partner age limit. 

The Italian term for greeting someone (hello or goodbye) is 'Ciao' and Thank-you is "Grazia".
And-a when-a you come-a back-a you vill-a vant-a to talk-a like-a that-a for-a while-a! 

Tip: It's better to pick up tickets for the Palatine hills and then enter the Colosseum. Saves you the madness of getting into another long (and this one not so fast moving) line. 

Another tip: Book your flights as early as possible!

So the world didn't come to an end on the 21st and I figured I couldn't squeeze out of it and had to get off my lazy derrière and do something about hubby's upcoming birthday. I was absolutely exhausted from all the labour I underwent to prepare a "nice dinner". I was up at 8 and sat down to rest ONLY at 6:30 in the evening. But I want to thank: 

Sevara & Lois for the cooking tips

Alison for the blender that made possible the Lentil soup

Sharon for the spring-form pan

Christina from Spain- for the mixer

and Fei for the grater.

and this is why you cannot NOT love the Partner community! 

This month has been busy. 

Our lovely Christina (my mixer saviour) has given birth to Nicolas. Can't wait to see them! 

There was also Iyerida's surprise birthday party that Diana organized. And little Sevinch who turned 3 earlier on during the month. Some pictures I'm sharing. 

It's getting hotter. I've been (yawn!) reading, baking and after an amazing "Positive energy" session offered to partners by IMD (which I will talk about in another blog because my blogs tend to get too lengthy then) I have gone back to some activities I had long given up. These days its puzzle solving and cracking brain teasers. Here's one I'll share with you- try not to cheat.

"Mike's birthday is today. He tells me that Tyson, his brother, has a birthday coming up in two days. They are twins. Is this possible? Or is he lying? 

Note: Mike is a twin to Tyson (so don't assume that Mike is much younger than Tyson and that Tyson has another twin brother)"

Until then, Au revoir!

My MBAT Experience

(by Maria Godsey)

As mentioned in a previous post, Noah and I decided to join the IMD class in a trip to Paris to compete in the MBA Tournament (MBAT). In total, I believe there were 88 students, 25 partners and 8 IMD babies who made the venture.

Leading up to the event, there was a lot of excitement in the air. IMD clothing was issued, posters and banners were made, class song and cheers were selected and final logistical arrangements communicated. Looking at the students, you could tell they were ready to let loose for a couple of days and the partners were ready to join them in the fun! After several months of planning and practicing for the competition, the class was ready to head to Paris!

The IMD team competed very well, especially considering there are only 90 of them to show their talents and the class curriculum doesn't offer much time for practicing. The final results…. 6 medals! A silver and two bronze in cross country running, silver and bronze in tennis and a bronze in squash. Not too bad! If I had a vote, I'd also give the team a gold for best team spirit!

Overall, the experience was nice, but not exactly what I expected. While I appreciated so much that partners were able to join, it would be hard for me to recommend the trip for future partners, especially given the expense and if you have children. Perhaps my weekend could best be summarized by borrowing Mastercard's priceless campaign. My version would go something like this:

• MBAT attendance fee (incl. transportation, hotel, food, parties)....... 500 CHF
• Additional expense for food due to late/sparse dinner offering...... 150 CHF
• Sightseeing trips around Paris..... 100 CHF
• Four days of uninterrupted family time away from IMD: .... PRICELESS!

If I had to do it over again, I would still join the class in Paris (the time with Joseph and Noah really was priceless), but would save the attendance fee expense and arrange my own travel, hotel and food. Some other lessons learned I can offer to the future partners are:

• • MBAT takes place on the HEC campus which is very widespread. Getting from one end of the campus to the other with a stroller is very difficult. If you're traveling with a child, try to bring a carrier or come by car so you can get around easier.
  • The dinners offered by HEC start at 8 PM and probably not the best if you are bring a child. We decided not to attend the dinners since they were so late and enjoyed a nice relaxing dinner at our hotel while Noah slept in our room. The feedback from other partners that went to the dinners were that the dinners were mainly finger foods, there were long lines and no tables to sit at. As well, although the dinnertime was communicated to be 8 PM, food was not served until much later.
  • The lunches provided by HEC were bag lunches and of decent quality.
  • It's about a 6 hour drive to the HEC campus, but much longer by bus due to mandated breaks for the bus driver. Depending if you are traveling with child or not, you may want to choose another method of transportation.
  • The campus is very close to Versailles. If you haven't visited this site, I would definitely recommend you reserve some time for this. Those with babies, don't forget your baby carrier as strollers are not permitted in the palace. :)
  • When we put our budget together last year, we did not budget anything for MBAT. The trip is free to the students, but the partners who wanted to join had to pay their way. Depending if next year's class participates in MBAT, raises enough sponsorship funds to cover the partners, etc, it would be wise to plan some money for MBAT, just in case. As you can see from my 'priceless' campaign, the expense is not small.

So those are my lessons learned and what I wish I knew beforehand. For the future class.. best of luck next year!! GO IMD!!

Maison de Quartier & Vallee de la Jeunesse

(by Marieke Van Esch-Gille)

My name is Marieke and mother of 2 daughters: Daantje (just turned 2 years old) and Juul (6 months). The three of us support my husband, Papa, in his MBA this year. We are from the Netherlands and I chose to focus this year our the family and quit my job as a HR consultant at an international HR consultancy firm. Every day we are profiting and discovering Lausanne and its direct surroundings. Up till now, life is good and the city of Lausanne seems very child friendly to me.

Besides the many parcs and playgrounds, Lausanne has several indoor play areas for parents & children which are great to visit. For me and my two girls it has become a fixed moment in the week: On Monday we go to Maison de Quartier (sous-gare) and on Friday morning we go to Vallee de la Jeunesse. My eldest and I love it as both places have different things to offer.

Maison de Quartier opens their doors three mornings a week for children from 0 till 6 years old. A typical morning starts with handicrafts (on Mondays by the dedicated leadership of Marcella, our IMD partner coordinator)……very nice for the creative mums, or discover something new in yourself in this field. This is followed by free play for the children. We end the morning with French child songs. As a break during the morning, coffee/croissants are served and for the children, bread, water/lemonade and apples. We all sit to have a nice pause in the dynamics.

Vallee de la Jeunesse is a place for children from 0 till 5 years old and their parents (2 mornings and 1 afternoon). It has a great play area for the babies including a partly separate play area for the toddlers. The toddlers will find lots of bikes, cars, hobble horses, books, puzzles, little toys, a small house etc to play with and meet other children. The babies can have fun underneath one of the many baby-gyms. This attracts parents & children from all kinds of nationalities. Two people guard the place and will help you out with your child if needed. The nice thing about it, and Daantje will agree for sure, is that they have a coffee table where you and your child can drink coffee, tea, water or lemonade and eat apples, bread and cookies. The rule is: sit while you eat. I love it from an educational perspective and also because it is a nice moment to mingle with the international mothers (and sometimes fathers).

For me, these visits have a very nice side effect. It turns out to be a great opportunity to speak/ polish my French and really be aware that we are in Lausanne and not only in IMD-land!!

BTW: the activities described of both places are one of the services provided by them.

IMD Partner Room

(by Maria Godsey)

I've spent a lot of time in our IMD partner room the last couple of days that I thought I would write about it. It's currently become an art studio as a couple of us are painting banners and making cheering supplies for the upcoming MBAT (just 6 days away!) The IMD partner room is one of the great things IMD provides for the partners. It's located in the same area as the student study rooms/lockers and purely dedicated to us partners!

(Maria, Noah, Leena, and Sachi getting ready for MBAT)

The room is large and has all the necessities: computer, speakers, TV, white board, art supplies, lots of books, maps, brochures, toys for the little ones, lounge chair and a nice, big table. Plus it's super convenient with it being located on campus.

Right now our room is doubling as an art studio, but we use it for everything… language classes, sewing class, potluck lunches, playroom, study area, reading area.. the list is long! And the best part, seeing the student partners during their breaks or after class is over! They all know where to find us! Here are some photos of our wonderful partner room!

(The IMD Partner Room)

(Computer Area)

(Books and Toy Area)

Easter Break!

(by Maria Godsey)

It's been a week since the Easter Break, but the feeling of having this special time together as a family is still fresh in my mind. So much so that I think I miss Joseph more now than before Easter Break! Perhaps I had gotten so used to him being at school and this break was a reminder of how nice it is to actually have your partner around for the entire weekend straight.

For Easter we decided to stay in the Lausanne area and travel to near-by cities. Switzerland and the Lake Geneva area are so beautiful, it just made sense to stay here than to fly someplace else. It turned out to be a great decision as we were able to save some money and still had a wonderful time together!

So what did we do? Here's a quick outline in case any of the future partners want to use this as reference next year:

Day 1: Hiking! - We packed Noah in our back carrier, took the metro to a stop just above Riponne and started hiking towards the woods/trees. We didn't really know where we were going, but I heard there was a large park close-by and thought we would check it out. The exploration was nice and we found some marked hiking trails which lead us to a wood tower lookout point, small lake and 'zoo', and several museums I hope to check out as the year progresses. We got back before the sun went down and ended the day at the beach near-by. Bliss!

Day 2: Gruyere and Cailler: Tahira talked about this in her last blog. I think many of the partners visited these locations over the break. I would definitely recommend it as the Gruyere region is beautiful and the cheese and chocolate are too good to be missed!

Day 3: Lausanne: Our initial plan was to visit Sion, the oldest city in Switzerland, but changed our minds as the weather didn't look promising. Also, Joseph was really craving a 'do nothing' day and I was all for that! We did a nice little Easter basket reveal for Noah, quick visit to the park, played board games while Noah napped, nice stroll along the lake and ended the evening with a wonderful dinner together. Maybe we did more than 'nothing', but the day was perfect!

Day 4: Morges: Joseph needed some time in the afternoon for school work, so we decided to visit Morges' Tulip Festival. Morges is very close by, only 10 minutes by train. The entrance to the tulip park is free and there are lots of tulips!! This is a definite must-do for the incoming partners! We found a nice spot in the park, picnicked and took lots of pictures of the flowers and Noah walking all over the place around them.

So that was our spring break. Was amazing! Now time to focus on MBAT (MBA Olympics) taking place at HEC Paris. A bunch of us partners will be joining the MBA class as they compete against the other MBA schools. I'm really looking forward to the event, the away time with Joseph, and hopefully some family time visiting Paris. 12 more days to go……! :)