matsvanlooy-blog1

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

Looking back on my time in Prague

Hi guys,

As you know, I’m already back in Belgium for over a week now. Today, I’m going to look back on my wonderful time in Prague. 

I learned a lot during this internship, not only at C-IN but also at home. We had to live on our own and that was a big responsability but we did well. 

I enhanced my language skills and also my digital skills. I’m sure that my English has improved a lot. My digital skills also improved because I had to work a lot with Excel and Word.

I will never forget the people at C-IN, they’re my friends forever. I will also miss Prague, it’s so beautiful there and I’m definitely going back.

I want to thank the team at C-IN, Julia and Nguyen for all the amazing tips, the other students for the unforgettable memories, the teachers for realizing this project and Erasmus+ for making this possible.

The adventure is now officially over and so is this blog. Thanks to all the people who followed my adventures in Prague. 

Goodbye!

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

Back in Belgium :(

Jammer genoeg zijn we weer terug in België, het was een onvergetelijk avontuur met fantastische mensen. Ik heb zoveel bijgeleerd van iedereen, maar toch voornamelijk van de mensen bij C-IN. Ze waren zo lief tegen mij en hebben me heel veel over Praag verteld.

Ik was het al gewend om elke dag op te staan, de metro te nemen, te gaan werken, te gaan eten, ... Ik ga het nooit vergeten. Ondertussen ben ik thuis aangekomen en mis ik Praag al enorm. Je merkt nu pas wat een prachtige stad het is en wat voor toffe mensen daar leven.

Ik wil iedereen bedanken voor mijn leuke tijd daar, eerst en vooral het team van C-IN maar toch ook voornamelijk Julia en Nguyen voor al de goede tips die ze me hebben gegeven. Verder zou ik natuurlijk ook de leerkrachten willen bedanken die het mogelijk hebben gemaakt voor mij om deel te kunnen nemen aan dit onvergetelijke avontuur, ook zou ik mijn medestudenten willen bedanken voor de maturiteit, de kalmte en het begrip van iedereen. We hadden een topgroep! Bedankt voor alles.

Ik zou het meteen opnieuw willen doen en het liefst van al terug bij C-IN dan, wat een topbedrijf! Het is werkelijk voorbij gevlogen, ik zal de collega’s hard missen maar toch is mijn plaats hier in het kleine België. Ik ga zeker en vast nog eens terug.

PRAGUE, I WILL BE BACK SOON!🇨🇿

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

Goodbye Czech-IN, it’s time to Czech-out

The adventure is over, three amazing weeks in an amazing company with amazing colleagues. I had my evaluation yesterday and I didn’t expect that it would be that good, it was excellent. I’m really going to miss my team. I love the way how they accepted me in the  team during these 3 weeks. They gave me so much tips that I couldn’t use them all. 

I learned a lot during these 3 weeks because they gave me so much tasks. The last week was pretty calm because I had finished all my tasks so I worked a bit for school. I had lunch with the team and did the interview with Aleš. I worked a bit on some LinkedIn contacts and waited for the teachers. 

I left C-IN around 02:00 p.m., I received a typical Czech gift from the team and I  absolutely love it. 

I would like to thank the team and all the teachers for this once in a lifetime opportunity, I’ve gained a lot of experience and made some new friends. I’m really going to miss Prague but especially my team, the best team ever.

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

What a busy weekend

Hi everyone

Last weekend we did some nice stuff and I would like to share it with you. On Friday we went to a club but we were very tired so we didn’t stay very long. But it was very nice. We played some games at our apartment and then we left.

On Saturday, we went to The Gallery Of Steel Figures and it was absolutely amazing. it’s really impressive how they make all these figures. After that, we had a little snack at McDonalds. We played some games at home and then me, Vince and Alex went to second floor, a club that I know because of Nhung, one of my colleagues. It was nice but it was pretty empty so after that, we went to Chapeau Rouge, a local Techno club. It was amazing and we enjoyed it very hard. It was boysnight because the girls were too tired to join us. I was hungry so on our way home I went to a restaurant. The menu was in Czech so I just said ‘anything without cheese and sauce.’ When I came home, I ate it but I couldn’t finish it. My mouth was literally on fire. It tasted good but it was so spicy. Alex became friends with a homeless guy on our way home. It was so funny, but it didn’t took long. 

We visited the Petrin Tower and the fair on Sunday. We lost two hours due to the navigation skills of Sophie, I had to take the strings in my hands because we were losing too much time. The view in the tower was very nice. You can see Prague in a whole different view. In the evening, we went to the fair. it was huge. Julia suggested me to visit the fair so we did it. I’m not into heavy attractions but I did one and my head was literally shaking. We had a lot of fun and it was good for the team chemistry. 

On our way to the metro station, we saw like 100 police officers with football fans. It was very impressive. We were not allowed to film it. We also ate a döner kebab on our way home. Definitely a great weekend! See you later. 

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

It’s going way too fast

Hi everyone

It’s already the end of the second week and it’s going so fast. I’ve learned a lot at C-IN and the colleagues are amazing. Today I went to a restaurant with a part of the team. It was great and so cheap. Going to a restaurant is almost as cheap than cooking at home. I have a lot of tasks to do. I’m now searching extra contacts for C-IN for the upcoming congresses. I need more than 500 contacts and I’ve been working on it for just one hour so I’m going to continue next week. I would like to thank the people at C-IN for all the variation in the tasks. I have to admit that some tasks are pretty difficult but that’s the only way to learn anything. See you later!

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

Halftime sip

Dag allemaal

Jammer genoeg is de stage al half, het vliegt voorbij maar dat komt door de vele variatie in de taken die ik krijg. De taken die ik krijg zijn deze week veel moeilijker dan vorige week, mede door de vele Excel documenten waarmee ik moet werken. Het lukt me wel dus dat is niet zo erg. Vandaag heb ik al mijn taken afgemaakt die nog gepland waren voor mijn stage dus heb ik er ondertussen nog 2 grote gekregen. Ik ben er ondertussen helemaal mee weg dus het gaat enorm vlot. Door het harde werk op de bureau ben ik uitgeput en had ik dus geen energie meer om te bloggen. Mijn excuses daarvoor! 

Maandag heb ik Aleš ontmoet, echt een topkerel! Hij is zeer enthousiast en vriendelijk maar de taken krijg ik voornamelijk nog steeds van Simona, Julia en de rest bij C-IN omdat Aleš het zeer druk heeft. 

Gisteren ging ik oorspronkelijk lunchen met Jana en Natalie maar uiteindelijk ben ik bij Aleš en enkele andere mannelijke collega’s beland. Vandaag heb ik dat dus ingehaald met de vrouwelijke collega’s. Het was zoals altijd weer heel gezellig. Ik heb hier al enkele specialiteiten geproefd en de meeste waren zeer lekker maar eentje steekt er echt bovenuit, namelijk de soep. Alle soepen zijn hier echt overheerlijk vooral de look- en de goulashsoep. HMMMMMM. 

Ik heb ook al een heel lijstje met tips gekregen van Nguyen. Een heel toffe collega die me constant tips geeft en vaak met me praat en ook vaak vraagt of ik mee ga lunchen, net zoals Natalie. Julia heeft daarstraks ook enkele tips gegeven, echt zeer vriendelijk van ze. 

Ik kan ook echt niet klagen over de werkplek hier, het uitzicht is echt bangelijk! Ik heb al heel veel collega’s ontmoet hier en ze zijn allemaal heel vriendelijk tegen mij en ze blijven me maar taken geven, super dus. 

Blijf op de hoogte van mijn blog.

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

Please, a beer

Hi guys

First week went by very fast here in Prague but it’s been amazing so far. The colleagues are very kind and Nguyen, a colleague @C-IN gave me a lot of tips to visit some nice places here. I’ve done a lot of tasks this week but I forgot to take pictures due to all the tasks I needed to do. Next post, I will show you some pictures. I’ve also lunched with 2 colleagues and a French girl, she is also on an internship @C-IN. 

On thursday after work, I went to a very nice restaurant with the other students. Cheap spare ribs with potatoes and a very good atmosphere in our team. 

Yesterday, we went to the Orange bar. Our teachers recommended the bar to us and I’m absolutely going back. Nice location, great atmosphere, cold beers and  a very friendly staff. After that, we went to Roxy, a club here in Prague. The music was very nice. I really like some hard techno. But we couldn’t stay in the dream ofcourse. The entrance fee was pretty expensive and we couldn’t pay with our debit card. This ensured that we hadn’t enough money to have a few drinks. We only had one drink there and went back to the Orange bar without the girls. They wanted to go home but the guys had a little afterparty. 

We went to the Pilsner Urquell brewery today. I would really like to thank Sophie for arranging the tour. I’ve learned a lot and the building was very impressive. We missed our first train so we were a bit late. After the tour we ate @Mcdonalds and took the train back home. The train was full so we had to sit for 2 hours on the stairs. I’ve really hurt my buttocks because it was such a long ride.

And last but not least, I saw the famous Hachiko. It looks like he is still alive. 

Stay updated and have a nice weekend.  

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

First day @C-in

I have been @C-in for the very first time today and I have met my internship mentors, Julia and Simona for the first week. Next week, I am going to meet Aleš but he is on vacation now with his family. It was very nice to meet Julia and Simona and they were very kind to me. I will be starting my first day at C-in at 9 a.m. tomorrow. I also met Tomáš Maxa, director of operations at C-in. I’m looking forward to this adventure and it’s finally starting tomorrow. Stay informed about my adventures here in Prague.

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

My name is Optimus, Optimus Prime

Hi guys

Yesterday, we saw an amazing statue in Prague. It stood in a museum that we are definitely going to visit during our internship.

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

First moments in Prague

Hi guys

Yesterday, we arrived in Prague around 11:00 a.m., I was really nervous on the plane because I’ve never been on a plane before. I had a strange feeling in my ears and I fell asleep as soon as we were above the clouds. I also got stopped by the customs because I forgot to put my soap in my large suitcase.

We arrived around  01:00 p.m. at our apartment. We met Hana, the owner of our apartment. We lunched at a local restaurant with amazing food and an amazing service. I would really like to thank Ann Van den Meutter and Kathleen Genoe for the nice weekend. I’m also very happy with our amazing group. 

We visited some very nice places this weekend. I also tried to learn some Czech words but it is such a difficult language. 

I will be going to C-in tomorrow for the first time and I’m very excited because I can’t wait to start this unforgettable adventure. It’s been an amazing adventure until now and we have already done a lot. 

Below, you can find some pictures I took.

See you later! 

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

Poëzieweek

Roses are red

Violets are blue

We are going on our internship

And we all say woo hoo!!!

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

Metroplan en kennismaking met de locaties van de bedrijven

Goedemiddag aan allen die mijn profiel regelmatig aanschouwen. Onlangs heb ik mijn metrotraject uitgestippeld.

Ik zal ongeveer 32 minuten moeten pendelen. Mijn opstapplaats is de halte Staroměstská. Deze halte bevindt zich op de groene lijn, lijn A. Ik zal een metro moeten nemen die als eindbestemming Depo Hostivař heeft. Twee haltes verder zal ik overstappen naar de rode lijn, lijn C, deze halte heet Muzeum. De metro die ik neem zal als eindbestemming de halte Háje hebben. Gelukkig moet ik niet tot de halte Háje gaan maar slechts tot de halte Vyšehrad. Als ik af de metro ben is het niet ver meer stappen naar C-in. 

Verder heb ik ook de locaties van de bedrijven van mijn medestudenten in een overzichtelijk plan geplaatst. Noor en Sophie kunnen wandelen naar hun bedrijven. Zij gaan hun stage afleggen in de Hilton hotels. Noor zal stage lopen in het oude hotel en Sophie in het nieuwe. Alex zal ook de metro moeten nemen maar hij kan eventueel ook nog wandelen. Hij loopt stage bij Eprovement. Ook Vince heeft de keuze tussen de metro en een wandeling. Hij gaat stage lopen bij IP Fabric. Ik heb op het plan ook nog het vliegveld, ons verblijf en de locatie van de Karelsbrug geplaatst, een zeer mooie bezienswaardigheid in Praag. Onderin deze post kunnen jullie het plan eens bewonderen. Bedankt en blijf op de hoogte van mijn blog.

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

First week without Aleš

Hi guys

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on my blog! I just heard that my internship mentor, Aleš Pejsar, will not be present at C-in during the first week of my internship. He is on a holiday with his children. I just want to wish him an amazing holiday and I can’t wait to meet him and the rest of the C-in team. It’s coming closer and I have to admit that I’m getting nervous. It’s such a unique opportunity and I’m so happy that I get this chance. I hope that this internship will be the time of my life. Thanks!

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

My internship at C-IN

Hello everybody, as you already know I am going to do my internship at C-IN in Prague. I will be working there from the 11th of February until the first of March. 

C-IN is a professional congress organizer. Over the last decade, C-IN handled over 600 projects for institutions, academic and medical sectors, organisations and companies. 

C-IN has around 50 team members. My internship mentor is director of sales and marketing, Aleš Pejsar.  As C-IN partner he is in charge of business development and marketing team, his background is engineering and economics. There are people working from 7 different nationalities. C-IN is already in business for 15 years. 

The company Czech-in was founded in May 2002. They organize more than 50 events per year.

 I am really looking forward to work together with Mr. Pejsar and the rest of the team. I think C-IN is a very professional company where I can extend my knowledge. Thanks and see you later.

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

My expectations

I’m going to Prague in a few weeks. I have been thinking a lot of what I actually want to learn at C-in. I would really like to thank C-in and my school Sint-Maria Geel, Belgium for giving me this unique opportunity to improve my knowledge. 

My expectations are that I’m going to learn a lot from Aleš Pejsar, my internship mentor. I would really like to improve my English in Prague and I also want to learn some Czech words.

It is very important for me to see how the people in a company work because I am probably also going to work in a company when I have finished my education.

It’s also important that I can improve my digital skills because that is very important in a company. I also want to become a bit more sociable and I don’t want to be shy anymore. I think this is a good way to improve it because I have to speak 3 weeks in another language so I need to explain everything very good.

I’m going to live there with 4 other people who have the same age as me so we actually live alone. It’s very important for us to act as an adult but I am sure we can do it. Thanks and I will keep you up to date. Ahoj!

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

De Moldau

Dag allemaal

Onlangs zag ik dat het mogelijk was om een boottocht op de Moldau te doen. Ik ben in februari in Praag maar dan is het daar heel koud. Dus lieve volgertjes, wat zal ik doen? Eventjes bevriezen in een bootje op de Moldau of toch maar iets anders kiezen? Tot de volgende keer!

[matsvanlooy-blog1]

Prague is the equal of Paris in terms of beauty. Its history goes back a millenium. And the beer? The best in Europe

Lonely Planet