Watching Candy Lead Singing of "Un Petit Canard" (Liege, Belgium)

I was photographer for Candy as she led a Belgian kindergarten class in singing "Un Petit Canard."  She originally learned the song from Stina's mother (Cecile) before coming to live in Liege in 2015-2016 (when I was on sabbatical and we were living in Liege).  Candy learned the song then so she could play it for Stina on the days they "hung out" together.

"Un Petit Canard"

If you would like to see/hear the video I made of Candy singing with the class, click here: https://youtu.be/BQiBFVLQP7M .

Starting the "Publishing Scholarly Research" Seminar at HEC-University of Liege (Belgium)

Today we had 16 PhD candidates attending my seminar, "Publishing Scholarly Research," being hosted by Yves Crama and Cecile Delcourt at HEC School of Management at the University of Liege. This is where, in effect, my seminar was first given...it was a "mini" version that I did at HEC (in a couple of hours) in November, 2011; I did the seminar two days after Cecile's PhD defense (in Nijmegen, The Netherlands).  The seminar has grown in length to 20-24 hours of discussion (and, lots of articles to read concerning publishing) over the past eight years.

The next generation of great business scholars!

After they heard me tell a couple of stories of my publications, they shared with each other a piece of research that they considered to be "interesting" and one that was "NOT interesting".  (Several students suggested is was actually more of a challenge to identify uninteresting research.)

Discussing "interesting" research

Visiting My Favorite Belgian 6-Year-Old (Liege, Belgium)

Candy and I spent the weekend just outside of Liege in a small hotel (10 rooms) called Au Comte de Mercy in Hermalle-Sous-Argenteau, Belgium.  (The GPS on our car sent us to a very different location, but we were finally able to make it to the hotel after leaving Muenster.)  Most of the time was spent working on my "Publishing Scholarly Research Seminar" for next week as we sat in the hotel garden next to the Maas river.  After we transitioned on Sunday to an Airbnb apartment in Liege, we went to have dinner with my Belgian colleague Cecile, her partner Fabrice, and their daughter Stina. 

Fabrice made Mojitos for everyone except me...I had a Belgian beer (Curtius), of course!

Stina (with her mother's encouragement) has been working on her English language skills since she was quite young.  Recently she received a certificate for her English language knowledge!

My next co-author?

  

Experiencing the German "Service Desert" (Muenster, Germany)

My friend Thorsten Hennig-Thurau has described Germany as being a "service desert" because of the lack of good service that frequently occurs.  We experienced that last night, as we waited for 35 minutes just to place an order at the Peter Pane restaurant in Muenster.  We sat outside, where only about half of the tables were occupied, and when we sat down it took a lonnnnnnnnng time for someone to even acknowledge we were there.

We experienced quite slow service here.

When we finally placed our order, Candy ordered a Raddler.  (Robert had ordered that in Muenster a couple of nights earlier.)  We both had hamburgers, which were tasty but quite thin.

Candy and her Raddler!

Wrapping Up Another Course at WWU (Muenster, Germany)

Today was the final day of the Service Management class.  Four teams provided an overview of the service innovation they designed using the service blueprint tool.  Afterwards, as part of my tradition, I treated those who did not have to go off to another class (or, to work) to ice cream. 

The students seemed quite happy to be done with their big project...and, to get ice cream!

Reuniting with Samantha & Robert in Europe (Maastricht, The Netherlands)

We had not seen Samantha and her new husband, Robert, since they visited us in Ohio at Christmas (2018).  But, it worked out for us to travel from Muenster to Maastricht to see her.  Since we had a car, we drove out to Gulpen to have lunch (we had ice cream at the restaurant in 2006 when my sister Tammy, her two kids, and my mother came to visit us).

Samantha & Robert Kitson, Candy and I having lunch in Gulpen, The Netherlands

I was delighted to find my favorite (Belgian) beer on tap...Tripel Karmeliet!!!

Once we finished having lunch, since it was Memorial Day in the U.S., we visited the American Cemetery near Margraten, The Netherlands. The Dutch have always been very appreciative of the U.S. support in World War II.  Our son-in-law, Robert Kitson, is currently serving in the U.S. Air Force.

Samantha & 2nd Lt. Robert Kitson (Air Force) at the American Cemetery in Margraten, The Netherlands

Dining 17 Years Later at the Lemminks' House (Maastricht, The Netherlands)

In June 2002 I brought the family with me as I helped to organize the Frontiers in Services Conference in Maastricht, The Netherlands.  We spent a week in Maastricht, and one of those evenings the Lemmink family and the Gremler family enjoyed dinner in the Lemmink Garden.  (See second photo below.)  Nearly 17 years later, we had a similar experience...this time with only one of our daughters (Samantha) and her husband.

Jos and Marion Lemmink, Candy, Samantha and Robert Kitson, and some guy from Pittsburgh

Mallory (in pink) Samantha, Lotta, Jos (wearing a Bowling Green hat!), Dwayne, Candy, Marion, and Ester