6th Semester IV

As I mentioned in my last post I participated at a workshop at the Sprungbrett Event last Monday. I could attend a workshop for Unilever and the goal was to create a brand activation concept for Bertolli, an Italian food manufacturer. First, we had an introduction into the world of Unilever whose mission is the add vitality to life. Then we formed two groups for brainstorming and soon we brought our ideas to paper. After lunch, each group held a short presentation in front of the senior brand manager of Bertolli.

The next day, Valentina sent me a text message saying that she saw me in the newspaper. And indeed as soon as I was at home, some neighbors talked to me and asked how it was at the workshop…

Last Wednesday we had an excursion to Midor in Meilen. Midor produces ice cream as well as bakery for Migros. We had insight into the whole production steps from mixing the ingredients to packaging the final product. Even though they might use state-of-the-art technology, there is still space for improvement, because after filling the boxes it needs to be checked manually by a women sitting next to the band-conveyor.

On Saturday I went jogging from my girlfriends place in Schaffhausen to Merishausen, a village in a valley leading to Bargen, the most northern town in Switzerland. Actually I run pretty fast, as I made the 9.6km with a height difference of at least 100m in 45min. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining through the light green leaves, turning the whole way through the forest into a green tunnel. I feel in shape for the SOLA race on 17th of May!

Yesterday I had my second BBQ this year at Valentinas place. Unfortunately she had to leave soon, as she has a school camp until Wednesday. I will certainly miss her!

6th Semester III

It happened quite a lot since I wrote my last post, especially what my bachelor thesis was concerned. The human nutrition institute intended to create an iron food frequency questionnaire for swiss women aged 18 to 40 years. This has never been done before for this age group and therefore it would have needed a huge effort to accomplish the FFQ as bachelor thesis. So it was decided that I now have to validate a 24h diet recall instead of the FFQ. I intend to interview approximately 10 women of the targeted age group seven times over a defined timeperiod. This has to be done, as it's almost impossible to get the average daily iron intake with one recall. And one big disadvantage of this method is that people are likely to forget what they eat the last day... But still I'm highly motivated to write a good thesis!

Next monday I will participate at a workshop for Unilever, a company based in Thayngen in Schaffhausen. It's part of an event called "Sprungbrett", where local companies give an insight into their work field. The goal of my workshop is the development of a brand activation concept.

Two weeks ago, all third year food science students organized a party called "E175 - The Taste of Gold" at StuZ2. It was a great evening, even though I went back home with the last train after I worked at the bar for a few hours.

Last week Valentina and I had a sauna lasting two ten minutes sessions with a cooling in between. For me it was the first time in years, but she does it more regularly. It really helps to relax and forget the world around you...