Living in "The Big Easy"

Hey lovelies! I have been here in New Orleans for over a month now, wow time is running! What can I say… I’m having a blast! I love exploring this wonderful city. I love walking around, seeing the houses here, the streetcar, the people, the music, … I love catching up the feeling of this city! Also, I find it so interesting to get to know so many new people, not only Americans but also other exchange students from different parts of the world! My studies are also going well and, lucky me, I am not too busy. I had my first test today, I think it was ok! Another good news is that I finally bought a bike! I am super-happy because it’s so convenient for shorter distances, especially for grocery shopping (it’s not like in Vienna where you can find a supermarket on “every corner”!) Besides it's also good for getting on time to my 8a.m classes after a night out ;)

Aaand I’m going to New York during my fall break in October! I’m so excited!

Hope everything is fine at home! 

Love,

Lisa

PS: I’ve been a bit lazy with taking pictures lately but I will try to improve! Here are some fotos of the last 2 weeks:

with french friends

fantastic live-music @ Maple Leaf

with Monica & Maria

crazy Bourbon-Street

participating in a mass at a gospel church

having dinner on Magazine Street

caesar salad

Renate with seafood-stuffed pepper

I like our dinner-partys!

Discovering NOLA

Yesterday (10.09) I had a marvellous day! Renate, Maria and me went on a City Bus Tour with other international exchange students organized by our university. In the evening Renate and me were visiting the seafood festival, a free festival with great live music, local food and artists. Afterwards we went to crazy Bourbon street, a famous historic street in the French Quarter that is home to many bars, restaurants, strip-clubs and souvenir shops. We tried a "Hurrican" which is a typical cocktail in New Orleans but it was so disgusting! Later we went to a house party and to "the Palms", a student bar close to our house.


Some impressions:

city park

St. Louis cemetery (the tombs are above the ground due to the high water level)

seafood festival

Girls in the House!!

My lovely roomates and me! From left to right: Mirta and Renate (WU Wien), me, Maria and Carmen (ICADE university Madrid). Our girly house rocks!

My courses

Hey lovelies!  In the meantime it’s my second week attending classes here in New Orleans. Most of you probably know that decisions are sometimes giving me a hard time :0) So last week I tried to figure out which classes to take and finally I decided for these courses:

-Microeconomics (" An introduction to theory of prices and the allocation of resources. Topics include the pricing of goods and services, the determination of wages and returns to capital, market structure, and international trade")

-Macroeconomics ("An introduction to theory of aggregate income, employment, and the price level. Topics include unemployment, alternative monetary and fiscal policies, and economic growth")

-Social and Online Marketing ("In this course students will learn tools and framework to understand how companies can implement effective online and social media marketing campaigns")

-Organizational Behavior ("applies concepts from psychology and social psychology to organizational problems that managers face. Topics such as perception, communication, attitudes, motivation, influence, group dynamics, and organizational change are covered in a lecture, discussion, and problem-solving framework")

So far I can tell you that that I am quite pleased with my classes. The teaching-style is indeed different from WU. The courses seem to be much more lively here and the instructors are highly dynamic and commited. Very current topics are discussed. Also, class participation is very important and it seems that the amount of work is better distributed over the semester with midterm-tests, assignments, case studies, presentations etc. Instead the final exam should be rather easy (what I heard). Let’s see so far I am really happy and I hope everything runs smoothly at home as well!

Now I want to show you a really funny (and interesting) thing I learned in my Organizational Behavior class yesterday. The intention of our instructor was to demonstrate how different perspectives of people can be. First I thought he is kidding but the Americans really use this world map:

somehow not surprising at all, huh? ;)

And that's the world-map Australians use:

crazy perspective, huh?

Tropical Storm

These days are pretty rainy and stormy here in New Orleans due to "Tropical storm LEE". Well this sounds worse than it is! However, today we had no electricity at our house and the company told us to fix it on Monday. Fortunately they came earlier and we have power again ! 

So no reason to worry, I'm fine ;)  XOXO 

My University

Hi lovelies! Today I want to tell you some facts about the university on which I am studying here for a semester, Tulane University. 

It is a private nonsectarian university located in uptown New Orleans. Founded in 1834, Tulane is one of the most highly regarded and selective independent research universities in the United States. Tulane offers degrees in architecture, business, law, liberal arts, medicine, public health and tropical medicine, the sciences and engineering, and social work. It counts around 12.600 students. Tution fees are around 25.000$ per semester. With 4.400 employees, Tulane is the largest employer in New Orleans. (cf: www.tulane.edu)

I am really impressed by this amazingly beautiful and huge university campus. It is in no way comparable to any Austrian university. I feel very happy and regard it as a real privilege to get the chance to experience studying here!

I am also impressed by all the services Tulane offers their students,  the recreation center for example offers nearly all kind of possible sport facilities, including basketball courts, tennis courts, indoor running track, indoor and outdoor pool, sauna … it’s incredible! 

Tomorrow I will tell you more about the classes I am taking. Have a good one! =)

campus map

business school in the background

recreation center

indoor pool