Welcome!

Welcome everybody, to my brand new blog!

I am writing this blog for the course English I for IB&M to keep track of my performances and progress in this subject.

First I am going to introduce myself. My name is Peter Jesse Sijbrandij, I am 21 years old and I live in Groningen, The Netherlands. This is also where my current study is. I study IB&M, short for International Business and Management, at the Rijksuniversiteit. That is a three-year Bachelor program after which I will probably enroll in a one-year Master program.

I am originally from a small town called Hidaard, which is near Sneek in Friesland. After my secondary school I chose to go travelling with a friend of mine. We set off for Australia, thinking about staying there for eight months. It did not really go according to plan, though; my friend left after eight months and I decided to stay for longer, a year and a half to be exact. After that I travelled through parts of Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, China, Tibet, Nepal and Sri Lanka) and Africa (Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa).

Travelling rewarded me with a lot of unforgettable experiences and gave me a good insight in the real world beyond Holland's boundaries. I would do it all over again, if I stood for the same decision again. I also gained good English speaking and writing skills and working experience. In Australia I had to work for my money, it runs out really quick, which gave me a lot of confidence in English speaking and expanded my vocabulary greatly.

As I mentioned already, I am currently enrolled in a study, called IB&M. Next to that I work in a cheese factory in Friesland to keep funds up a little, mostly in the weekend. Living costs are high in Holland, if you have to pay for everything yourself. Mommy does not cook for me anymore now!

I hope you will enjoy reading this blog and learn from it yourself as well. If you have any comments or questions, please write me a mail.

Peter Jesse