Thank your lucky stars

Okay I know that I bitch about school because well it's stressful and I always have heaps of assignments to get done, etc. However I've decided that I really like the program I'm in and I'm learning lots. For example last week the assignment I was slaving over was a guide for US negotiators on how to maximise outcomes in Brazil, really interesting to read all the research about how culture effects negotiation styles and the tactics that each culture deem appropriate to use. This week I'm writing a foriegn currency strategy for a company on ways to minimise their risk from fluctuations in exchange rates, which believe me is as confusing as it sounds but in all honesty I'm learning alot and I'm beginning to understand things I never thought I would. Also I really like most of the other people I'm in the program with, now that we are in semester 2 everyone is starting to become friends which is cool, especially given everyone's completely different backgrounds. This past weekend Nico, a french guy in my program had a bbq with some others from class and it was fun, apparently Uno is a universal game, the norwegians, french, and thais all knew how to play. Also everyone is really smart which is a bit intimidating but for the most part every one is always glad to help out. Plus it's interesting to hear about everyone's backgrounds, we've got the Indonesian royal (who I don't like b/c she thinks she's smarter than everyone and is always trying to prove it in class), the super rich Russian (who I used to think was intimidating but is actually nice even though she's often wearing like 10,000 worth of clothes and jewelry), the super rich Thai (whose parents apparently own a billion dollar company in Thailand but you'd never know it, I just thought he was a funny little Thai guy that loved the Simpsons), soot face the crazy Dutch woman who really is endearing when it's not your project she's messing up and she does mean well, the French baseball fan who told me he loves the Cardinals and gets all the games on satillite over here so he can watch them, the Swedes who are all tall and good looking but really nice and don't mind how many times you ask them about it being dark for like 3 months during the winter and are always happy to tell me the stories about people who've gone crazy from it, and the norwegians--all of them who do love to have a party and then the Taiwanese and Chinese who sometimes don't say much but always smile and wave when they see you, and the outspoken Thai girl that told me she doesn't want to go back to Thailand b/c she can't voice her opinion over there--I feel for you sister..keep fighting the good fight, almost forgot the Germans who can always come up with a practical question and readily admit that they like order and efficiency and beer too--musn't forget the beer. So here's to all of them and to the unique experience I'm getting to have working with students from around the globe--I've truly broadened my horizons and I feel lucky to be able to do this, and thanks to Nico who I talked with about this on Saturday which made us both realize how lucky we are and helped us to quit bitching as much about all the work we've gotta do.