Wow, it's already end of June and tomorrow I'm gonna have the last exam of my third term.
I feel kind of guilty not to have written anything here during almost two months. There would have been quite a bit to talk about.
However, I was crazy enough to subscribe to 13 credits. Usually the school does not allow students to take on more than 9 credits in order to avoid overload. I got special permission to take an additional course, boosting my credit load to 11. Then I just joined one more course without officially subscribing to it (as I wouldn't have gotten permission anyway ;-).
I have to say - in retrospect - 13 credits is simply too much. There hasn't been much time left for anything else and my social life has been lying fairly low. But somehow I survived. I always do ;-)
On a side note: I'll be in Switzerland from July 1 to July 7, so if anybody wants to see me, that would be the occasion. Then I'll be off to the Philippines for 2 months and after that I'll be staying in London for another 4 months.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Mountain hiking à la chinoise
I've been in for a unique China experience. The past few days were a public holiday and I decided to go hiking to Huang Shan by joining a Chinese tour group.Huang Shan is one of the most fameous mountains in China. And - as I've learned the hard way - it attracts around 30'000 visitors on peak days (such as these public holidays). I guess I should have consulted my Lonely Planet before booking the damn thing, which hints that "Today the reclusive artists seeking an inspirational retreat from the hustle and bustle of the temporal world have been replaced by crowds of tourists, who bring the hustle and bustle with them". The picture to the left is not staged and is largely representative for the entire 35km of mountain trails.
The mountain was not only full of eager hikers, but also full of uniformed guards which continually opened and closed routes in a desperate attempt to spread congestion evenly across the entire mountain and to keep the crowd under control.As a side note: The scenery really was breathtaking, although it must look even cooler on a less sunny day, when there's mist between the peaks. What's really particular, though, is that the entire network of mountain trails consists of paved walkways and stairs. Not a single patch of dirt or forest soil. Almost like walking the streets downtown, just with better air ;-)
Friday night we slept in a hospice at the mountain top in order to get up at 4am the next morning to see the sunrise. Friendly Urusla, of course, managed to call me late at night and wake me up. The net result being that I spent the remaining hours of the night listening to the snoring of my 5 room mates. I still can't believe that such loud snoring comes without hostile intentions... And yes, the next morning was cloudy *!&%
But overall it was a great cultural experience. Not to be missed, but not to be repeated either.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Exam success
The first two exams are over!
I studied all weekend to cram the stuff in my head that I had missed during the past few weeks. It would be fair to call it a 28 hour study marathon...
And guess what, it payed off!
Ok, I don't have results yet, but I felt very comfortable at the exams (Managerial Accounting and Operations Management). And even having two exams on the same day turned out to be much less tiring than I had feared.
On a side note: After winning the Littlefield competition, I actually managed to screw up the Littlefield-related question on the Operations Management exam. It doesn't get much more embarrasing than that one might think...
But actually it does. Right after the exam, the school hosted a little celebration party where our Littlefield victory was duly recognized by the dean. Including free beer for everyone. A very smart move, considering that we have another exam tomorrow morning. I bet the school never got away that cheaply beer-wise with any other party they ever hosted!
I studied all weekend to cram the stuff in my head that I had missed during the past few weeks. It would be fair to call it a 28 hour study marathon...
And guess what, it payed off!
Ok, I don't have results yet, but I felt very comfortable at the exams (Managerial Accounting and Operations Management). And even having two exams on the same day turned out to be much less tiring than I had feared.
On a side note: After winning the Littlefield competition, I actually managed to screw up the Littlefield-related question on the Operations Management exam. It doesn't get much more embarrasing than that one might think...
But actually it does. Right after the exam, the school hosted a little celebration party where our Littlefield victory was duly recognized by the dean. Including free beer for everyone. A very smart move, considering that we have another exam tomorrow morning. I bet the school never got away that cheaply beer-wise with any other party they ever hosted!
Friday, April 25, 2008
Strategy Project woes
There it went, my study week.
I still can't believe that I actually spent an entire week on the strategy project!
The story: For Strategic Management, rather than taking an exam, we had to hand in a 20 page strategic assessment paper. Because I didn't want to spend mindless effort on an assignment-only paper on any random company, I decided to have a closer look at my own business, or - more correctly - the business I co-own to 30 percent.
Now one would think that doing a strategic analysis and coming up with some recommendations would be quick and easy fix for a business one knows that well. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. I guess knowing too much detail sometimes only complicates matters...
But the really hard part was the writing. While I had a fairly clear picture early on, it turns out that writing down the stuff in a logical, easy to read fashion for someone who's not an insider (i.e. the professor) can be a really hard thing to do.
So that's how I ended up wasting my entire study week on writing the paper. Granted, I didn't work as hard as I could have and a tiny little bit of procrastination might have played its role as well ;-) But the net result is, the study week is almost over and I haven't spent a single minute on studying the subjects I will be tested on next Monday...
The paper looks quite cool, though!
I still can't believe that I actually spent an entire week on the strategy project!
The story: For Strategic Management, rather than taking an exam, we had to hand in a 20 page strategic assessment paper. Because I didn't want to spend mindless effort on an assignment-only paper on any random company, I decided to have a closer look at my own business, or - more correctly - the business I co-own to 30 percent.
Now one would think that doing a strategic analysis and coming up with some recommendations would be quick and easy fix for a business one knows that well. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. I guess knowing too much detail sometimes only complicates matters...
But the really hard part was the writing. While I had a fairly clear picture early on, it turns out that writing down the stuff in a logical, easy to read fashion for someone who's not an insider (i.e. the professor) can be a really hard thing to do.
So that's how I ended up wasting my entire study week on writing the paper. Granted, I didn't work as hard as I could have and a tiny little bit of procrastination might have played its role as well ;-) But the net result is, the study week is almost over and I haven't spent a single minute on studying the subjects I will be tested on next Monday...
The paper looks quite cool, though!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Exams again...
We have just finished our last lecture of the second term. Gosh, I can't believe that it's already eight months that I've been living in China. Time passes so quickly in this place!
Tomorrow will be the exam in Corporate Governance. Then we'll have a week to study and prepare for the exams, which is what I need exactly, since I still have to write the Strategic Management assignment and I have not much of a clue about what we were supposed to learn during the past few weeks.
Having been visited by various friends over the continuous period of almost three weeks, I haven't gotten around to much studying. And I was rather sleepy in class, too, after taking people to the various hot clubs in town the night before. Add our littlefield simulation and the 24x7 MIT OpSim challange to that and you can guess where about I stand education-wise.
So for a change, I won't go on a scuba diving vacation during the study week, although both the Philippines and the Maldives are currently luring me to their beaches.
Tomorrow will be the exam in Corporate Governance. Then we'll have a week to study and prepare for the exams, which is what I need exactly, since I still have to write the Strategic Management assignment and I have not much of a clue about what we were supposed to learn during the past few weeks.
Having been visited by various friends over the continuous period of almost three weeks, I haven't gotten around to much studying. And I was rather sleepy in class, too, after taking people to the various hot clubs in town the night before. Add our littlefield simulation and the 24x7 MIT OpSim challange to that and you can guess where about I stand education-wise.
So for a change, I won't go on a scuba diving vacation during the study week, although both the Philippines and the Maldives are currently luring me to their beaches.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
#1 world-wide
For the last few days I was part of a team that competed in an Operations Management challange hosted by MIT.
With the damn thing running 24x7, I'm kind of sleep deprived by now, since we had to come up with decisions and implement measures 'round the clock. I probably slept a total 12-16 hours during the past 4 days.
However, the whole thing is finally over, and after catching up on some sleep, I'm happy to report that my team finished first, before teams from UCLA Anderson, MIT Sloan, Harvard Business School, Wharton, INSEAD and many other well-known business schools. In fact, three teams from CEIBS finished among the top ten. So we really are the world-wide elite, it seems ;-)
It was an absolutely fantastic experience. Our team, consisting of one student each from China, Denmark, India, Malaysia and Switzerland, was absolutely fabulous and we worked together as smoothly as you could possibly imagine.
But the best part was yesterday night, when we took our Operations Management professor out to celebrate and got him drunk as hell...
With the damn thing running 24x7, I'm kind of sleep deprived by now, since we had to come up with decisions and implement measures 'round the clock. I probably slept a total 12-16 hours during the past 4 days.
However, the whole thing is finally over, and after catching up on some sleep, I'm happy to report that my team finished first, before teams from UCLA Anderson, MIT Sloan, Harvard Business School, Wharton, INSEAD and many other well-known business schools. In fact, three teams from CEIBS finished among the top ten. So we really are the world-wide elite, it seems ;-)
It was an absolutely fantastic experience. Our team, consisting of one student each from China, Denmark, India, Malaysia and Switzerland, was absolutely fabulous and we worked together as smoothly as you could possibly imagine.
But the best part was yesterday night, when we took our Operations Management professor out to celebrate and got him drunk as hell...
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Don't believe the rumours
Some people have suggested that I might have bled to death, since nothing has happend on this blog for over a month.
Bear with me. I'm not dead yet, although I did catch a sexy James Bond (or Harry Potter)-like scar on my forehead.
The reason it's been quiet is simple: I had two very busy weeks and I piled up a lot of things to write. Then I got visited by Ursula and I spent every single free minute touring the city with her. At the same time we played an Operations Management simulation which run 24x7 for a week, so I was busy managing my virtual factory. And now I got visited by Roli and Herby, so I spend the days in school and the nights in clubs, which simply leaves me neither time nor energy to write.
And yes, I hate blogger for its clumsy interface without real WYSIWYG preview! Since its so buggy and doesn't let me add pictures to articles I've written in the past, I have to do the stuff first-time-right, so I'm not exactly incentivised to quickly type something and then revise it later on. I know it's lame to blame someone else, but I want to make this place look nice, with loads of pics, not just text.
Next week, I'll catch up on the past. Promised.
Bear with me. I'm not dead yet, although I did catch a sexy James Bond (or Harry Potter)-like scar on my forehead.
The reason it's been quiet is simple: I had two very busy weeks and I piled up a lot of things to write. Then I got visited by Ursula and I spent every single free minute touring the city with her. At the same time we played an Operations Management simulation which run 24x7 for a week, so I was busy managing my virtual factory. And now I got visited by Roli and Herby, so I spend the days in school and the nights in clubs, which simply leaves me neither time nor energy to write.
And yes, I hate blogger for its clumsy interface without real WYSIWYG preview! Since its so buggy and doesn't let me add pictures to articles I've written in the past, I have to do the stuff first-time-right, so I'm not exactly incentivised to quickly type something and then revise it later on. I know it's lame to blame someone else, but I want to make this place look nice, with loads of pics, not just text.
Next week, I'll catch up on the past. Promised.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
My head is bleeding like hell
Honestly, you didn't think that the "peace and love" theme of the last post would last for a long time, did you?
Tonight I slipped and hit my head exactly on the edge of some furniture, resulting in an ugly cut just above my left eye. At first I thought I had just hit my head, but then I started to wonder why my hand felt suddenly so sticky, and what the trickle from my head was all about...
It really was big enough a cut to warrant stitching, but scared of a potentially ugly scar from stitching gone awry, I decided to avoid the hospital at all cost. Instead I patched myself up with band aids tightly closing the gaping wound.
Well, I guess there will be a scar left, but at least it will be a thin line without stitching marks. And this at least leaves a lot of room for interesting stories, such as how the guy attacked me when I chatted up his girlfriend, what the rabid soldier had done to me in Vietnam, how I could barely escape the sabletooth tiger while hiking in the Amazon, etc.
And yes, various girls on campus have already comforted me by telling me that the scar actually looks rather sexy...
Tonight I slipped and hit my head exactly on the edge of some furniture, resulting in an ugly cut just above my left eye. At first I thought I had just hit my head, but then I started to wonder why my hand felt suddenly so sticky, and what the trickle from my head was all about...
It really was big enough a cut to warrant stitching, but scared of a potentially ugly scar from stitching gone awry, I decided to avoid the hospital at all cost. Instead I patched myself up with band aids tightly closing the gaping wound.
Well, I guess there will be a scar left, but at least it will be a thin line without stitching marks. And this at least leaves a lot of room for interesting stories, such as how the guy attacked me when I chatted up his girlfriend, what the rabid soldier had done to me in Vietnam, how I could barely escape the sabletooth tiger while hiking in the Amazon, etc.
And yes, various girls on campus have already comforted me by telling me that the scar actually looks rather sexy...
Monday, March 3, 2008
Life is good
I feel great! Really, I know, it's a long time since I last said something like this, but I feel truly priviliged and happy to be around. Somehow I spent the past few days reflecting on my life a bit, and the past years have been really great!
I've lived in Paris, Aix-en-Provence and now in Shanghai. I've learned French. I have great friends. A lovely girlfriend. I've truly lived my dream by travelling and doing weird things such as working in a restaurant kitchen. Or playing online role playing games. I've had fantastic experiences in my life! Been to so many places. And now I'm living the student life again, learning new things every day!
Yes I did loose a lot of money in the stock market lately - and no, that's not helping my happyness in any way ;-) But this is just a transient glitch, an annomaly that doesn't really impact the real life. And life is what we should all care about. After all we don't have much more than a hundred years to make the most of it.
I've lived in Paris, Aix-en-Provence and now in Shanghai. I've learned French. I have great friends. A lovely girlfriend. I've truly lived my dream by travelling and doing weird things such as working in a restaurant kitchen. Or playing online role playing games. I've had fantastic experiences in my life! Been to so many places. And now I'm living the student life again, learning new things every day!
Yes I did loose a lot of money in the stock market lately - and no, that's not helping my happyness in any way ;-) But this is just a transient glitch, an annomaly that doesn't really impact the real life. And life is what we should all care about. After all we don't have much more than a hundred years to make the most of it.
Two thumbs up!
I just fetched my laptop, and it works like a charm!
Surprise: The problem was the connector! The computer hospital resoldered the connector to the main PCB. Apparently some of the solderings that been broken which explaines the intermittent failures. I paid about CHF 50.- for the repair, one fourth of what is usually charged in good ol' Switzerland to simply have a look and then tell you that "it's not worth to repair it - go buy a new one". So the backoffice did indeed know what they were doing.
Surprise: The problem was the connector! The computer hospital resoldered the connector to the main PCB. Apparently some of the solderings that been broken which explaines the intermittent failures. I paid about CHF 50.- for the repair, one fourth of what is usually charged in good ol' Switzerland to simply have a look and then tell you that "it's not worth to repair it - go buy a new one". So the backoffice did indeed know what they were doing.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
diànnǎo yīyuàn
Careful analysis had finally revealed that it wasn't the memory that was faulty, but the connector that the memory was plugged into.
So today I went to the diànnǎo yīyuàn, the "computer hospital", which is about an hour away at the other side of town. After some unsuccessful trials I finally found myself talking to a yellow-shirted guy who spoke about three standard deviations (99.7%) Chinese and 0.03% English. "Memory hen hao, kashe zhege donxi bu hao", etc, etc.
After a few interactions I finally decided that this was leading nowhere and I called a Chinese classmate for remote translation assistance. What then followed was the ususal humiliation by an IT service desk that doesn't distinguish between computer professionals and stupid users.
NO, it's NOT a VIRUS, it's the CONNECTOR that's faulty. What do you mean, how can I know? It also hangs in the boot menu. NO, the MEMORY is FINE! I swapped it with another laptop and it works perfectly there, I SAID IT'S THE CONNECTOR! NO it's NOT the wrong type of memory, it has been working fine for more than a year! IT'S THE CONNECTOR! YES, I know that viruses cause sudden crashes, but THIS IS NOT A VIRUS, goddammit!
The whole thing then culminated in the guy trying to pull out the memory of my laptop while still in sleep mode (i.e. the memory fully powered on). Reluctantly I finally left my treasured device at the place for further analysis, sincerely hoping that the actual engineers would know what they were doing as much as the front office guy didn't.
So today I went to the diànnǎo yīyuàn, the "computer hospital", which is about an hour away at the other side of town. After some unsuccessful trials I finally found myself talking to a yellow-shirted guy who spoke about three standard deviations (99.7%) Chinese and 0.03% English. "Memory hen hao, kashe zhege donxi bu hao", etc, etc.
After a few interactions I finally decided that this was leading nowhere and I called a Chinese classmate for remote translation assistance. What then followed was the ususal humiliation by an IT service desk that doesn't distinguish between computer professionals and stupid users.
NO, it's NOT a VIRUS, it's the CONNECTOR that's faulty. What do you mean, how can I know? It also hangs in the boot menu. NO, the MEMORY is FINE! I swapped it with another laptop and it works perfectly there, I SAID IT'S THE CONNECTOR! NO it's NOT the wrong type of memory, it has been working fine for more than a year! IT'S THE CONNECTOR! YES, I know that viruses cause sudden crashes, but THIS IS NOT A VIRUS, goddammit!
The whole thing then culminated in the guy trying to pull out the memory of my laptop while still in sleep mode (i.e. the memory fully powered on). Reluctantly I finally left my treasured device at the place for further analysis, sincerely hoping that the actual engineers would know what they were doing as much as the front office guy didn't.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Time flies...
Today we had the midterm exam for Operations Management and this Friday we'll have the Corporate Finance exam.
It's unbelievable that the second term is already half over... Time really flies!
Tom Callarman (the Operations Management professor) saw me today and said something like "you don't seem to be overly nervous". So I told him that even though I had no clue about the formulas and theory covered in the textbook, I was quite confident since I see operations problems as something that can (and should) be approached by means of logic and common sense - and my IT engineering background certainly helps in this regard.
In any case, both the OM and CF professors are excellent. I could grasp all the essential concepts in class and didn't have to read any textbook to make sense of the material.
It's unbelievable that the second term is already half over... Time really flies!
Tom Callarman (the Operations Management professor) saw me today and said something like "you don't seem to be overly nervous". So I told him that even though I had no clue about the formulas and theory covered in the textbook, I was quite confident since I see operations problems as something that can (and should) be approached by means of logic and common sense - and my IT engineering background certainly helps in this regard.
In any case, both the OM and CF professors are excellent. I could grasp all the essential concepts in class and didn't have to read any textbook to make sense of the material.
Monday, February 25, 2008
My laptop is dying
SHIT!
My laptop started randomly crashing a few days ago. It seems that the memory DIMM is broken. I promptly took it out of the machine, and now I'm writing this from a system that runs on Windows XP and has only 128MB of RAM.
If you think you know the meaning of slow, think again. It has just been redefined!
Let's hope I get this sorted out ASAP.
My laptop started randomly crashing a few days ago. It seems that the memory DIMM is broken. I promptly took it out of the machine, and now I'm writing this from a system that runs on Windows XP and has only 128MB of RAM.
If you think you know the meaning of slow, think again. It has just been redefined!
Let's hope I get this sorted out ASAP.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Party, Party, Party
Pweeh! Student life can be really tiring...A few days ago was Rod's birthday. So we all met in a Korean restaurant for a great dinner and then headed downtown to Richy to party.
Yesterday Dani hosted a party in his apartment. Nice place, great crowd, loads of alcohol...
Gosh, how I hate does drinking games! Ever tried Jenga with a Whisky shot penalty for toppling the tower? It's the perfect example of a downward spiral. The more you drink, the more you overestimate your abilities, the more you gotta drink. The really bad thing, however, is that we run out of Whisky pretty soon, and then had to move to Vodka, then Tequila, then Gin and finally red wine. Do not ask about the next morning, please!
Turn's out we trashed the place quite a bit... Sorry dude, but I'm sure the bed would have broken anyway, so you better be grateful that we preemptied a possibly embarrasing situation in your future love life!
This Friday will be a party at "Terence & the girls". This lucky bastard shares an apartment with three girls. The only drawback? For each threesome, there's one jealous girl ;-)
Monday, February 18, 2008
I've made up my mind
I'm gonna do my exchange to London Business School.
I know, London looks like much less fun than L.A. (and please don't even mention the difference in terms of girls...). But at some point you have to grow up. And take informed decisions. And emphasize long-term value over short-term fun. Otherwise you'll never become an influental, big, rich CEO of a large multinational. Such as Kenneth L. Lay. Or Bernard J. Ebbers.
However, there's still a tiny glimpse of hope! I listed L.A. as my second choice and there is a slight chance of being denied the exchange to London ;-)
I know, London looks like much less fun than L.A. (and please don't even mention the difference in terms of girls...). But at some point you have to grow up. And take informed decisions. And emphasize long-term value over short-term fun. Otherwise you'll never become an influental, big, rich CEO of a large multinational. Such as Kenneth L. Lay. Or Bernard J. Ebbers.
However, there's still a tiny glimpse of hope! I listed L.A. as my second choice and there is a slight chance of being denied the exchange to London ;-)
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Chinese New Year
Just in time for Chinese new year I came back to Shanghai. I absolutely wanted to be in China during Chinese New Year...Was it worth it? Partly. Chinese New Year is a family reunion kind of thing and most Chinese travel across half the country to meet with their parents and/or grandparents (although, this year, they got stuck in the snow along the way)
So we had to celebrate within our own CEIBS family. Which we did. We we nt out for dinner and then to captain's bar to have a good view on the city and its fireworks. As I should find out later, the big fireworks happens on the fifth day of Chinese New Year and not the first. That's because the fifth day is the day of the God of wealth or so. Although it somewhat defies logic to burn up your money in the sky in order to become richer...
The interesting part was CCTV1. They screened an insanely boring new year's special show from 8pm till midnight. I've been told that all China watches these full four hours at home. Not much difference to Switzerland and Benissimo, here. Except that watching CCTV1 probably doesn't make you a millionaire. Ever.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Surprise!
Several people among my valued readership have complained that the blog doesn't move anymore. Let me say to all of you that I feel very honoured that my humble blog apparently brings sooo much joy to your (miserable?) lives!
Anyway,
I skipped the last day of class this week to catch a flight back to Switzerland. Let me tell you one thing: Lufthansa sucks. Big time. How can an airline possibly decide to show 2 (in words: TWO) movies during a daytime flight of 12 hours? Would they not have the benefit of hubs close to Switzerland, I'd switched to BA (nice planes, disgusting food), KLM (ouch, that's what I call missing legroom), or Finnair (never tried it, but heard good things only) a long time ago!
Where was I?
Ah, yeah, I went to Switzerland just in time for my mother's 83rd birthday. Surprise! Surprise!
She didn't expect anything like that and was totally blown away when the flower delivery boy in the door turned out to be her own son. I love you mom!
The stay in Switzerland was not all fun, though. Apart from the torture of the long flights, I spent only four days in Switzerland, two of which I used for interviews of stakeholders for my Strategic Management project.
Anyway,
I skipped the last day of class this week to catch a flight back to Switzerland. Let me tell you one thing: Lufthansa sucks. Big time. How can an airline possibly decide to show 2 (in words: TWO) movies during a daytime flight of 12 hours? Would they not have the benefit of hubs close to Switzerland, I'd switched to BA (nice planes, disgusting food), KLM (ouch, that's what I call missing legroom), or Finnair (never tried it, but heard good things only) a long time ago!
Where was I?
Ah, yeah, I went to Switzerland just in time for my mother's 83rd birthday. Surprise! Surprise!
She didn't expect anything like that and was totally blown away when the flower delivery boy in the door turned out to be her own son. I love you mom!
The stay in Switzerland was not all fun, though. Apart from the torture of the long flights, I spent only four days in Switzerland, two of which I used for interviews of stakeholders for my Strategic Management project.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Snow in Shanghai
The picture says it all. Especially if you compare it to the one here. Courtesy of Roy Cheung, CEIBS Photography Club.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
A night out at Malones
Yesterday we went out to celebrate. No, there was no particular reason for it. Why on earth would we need a reason anyway? Relying on reasons just limits opportunities for celebration. Comprendre?The evening didn't begin very promising though. I went out to have dinner with some '06 students. They brought me to this burger place, where the milk shake alone adds about 2 dinner's worth of calories to your diet.
I then went to People7, a really cool restaurant/bar to meet some other '06ers 'cause I'm trying to figure out which of the coming electives are worth going to, which obbviously requires highly classified insider knowledge...
Once I was done there and wanted to meet my own crowd it had started to massively pour down. And as local expats tend to put it: "Whenever the environment turns hostile, there are no more taxis available".
It took me about an hour to get a transport, despite all attempts, including trying to "buy" a taxi from existing occupants. What do you mean you can't do that? Of course you can. This is China, the worlds most advanced capitalistic system. Money will buy you (almost) anything in this place.
Finally I made it to Malones, a cool bar I hadn't known before where my people where hanging out. Quite nice, great live band and a good crowd.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
The exchange dilemma
We just got our Term 1 transcript.
Apparently it was a typo when they stated that the grades would be ready by end of February. So my rant was only partly justified and I hereby apologize for wrongly accusing whoever responsible. No, it is not like they discovered this blog and traded non-expulsion against rectification ;-)
Anyway, my grades turned out to be better than expected. I got a B+ in Organizational Behaviour, which is kind of hard to explain after my inital exam results. Looks like the other professor in the second half didn't hate me as much... I mean... valued my contribution and humour much more than the first one (thanks Jean, we all love you!).
And now to something completely different...
With my current grades I get a fair chance to go to my exchange school of choice. Which has created a new problem.
See, I think I should go to LBS because they have a good reputation and an excellent alumni network. And since I see my future mainly in Europe that looks like a huge long-term payoff.
But then again, I'd love to go to UCLA. The weather is much nicer, the school specializes in entrepreneurship and in general it sounds like much more fun. Not to mention californian girls - oops I didn't say that...
So what's it gonna be: Long-term payoff or fun?
Apparently it was a typo when they stated that the grades would be ready by end of February. So my rant was only partly justified and I hereby apologize for wrongly accusing whoever responsible. No, it is not like they discovered this blog and traded non-expulsion against rectification ;-)
Anyway, my grades turned out to be better than expected. I got a B+ in Organizational Behaviour, which is kind of hard to explain after my inital exam results. Looks like the other professor in the second half didn't hate me as much... I mean... valued my contribution and humour much more than the first one (thanks Jean, we all love you!).
And now to something completely different...
With my current grades I get a fair chance to go to my exchange school of choice. Which has created a new problem.
See, I think I should go to LBS because they have a good reputation and an excellent alumni network. And since I see my future mainly in Europe that looks like a huge long-term payoff.
But then again, I'd love to go to UCLA. The weather is much nicer, the school specializes in entrepreneurship and in general it sounds like much more fun. Not to mention californian girls - oops I didn't say that...
So what's it gonna be: Long-term payoff or fun?
Saturday, January 19, 2008
It's raining cats and dogs
Well, not literally, but the weather really is rather shitty right now!However, Chinese people seem to be very inventive dealing with the situation (and their pets)...
Tonight we had the farewell dinner for the MBA 2006 class. It was a great event hosted in the Ramada hotel. As part of the show they screened a 10 minute movie called the MBATRIX.
Essentially it was a short version of The Matrix re-staged with many personalities of CEIBS. Absolutely hilarious! Eleven out of ten for this one!
They re-did all the special effects and people rolled on the floor laughing when they had canteen personell turn into agents. The famous scene where Morpheous shows Neo the "real world" accurately reframed canteen food and in the end our statistics professor was cast as "the architect".
It's gonna be very hard to top this one on our own farewell party.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Swiss Cheese Fondue
Tonight we (Eric and me) hosted a Swiss fondue dinner for all interested students. Overall we were more than 40 people.We had to improvise quite a bit. Instead of Swiss Caquelons, we used the ceramic pots and heating-sets used for Chinese Hot-Pot. It worked very well and we got many helping hands from other students, although crowd control turned out to be a real challenge at some point...
We brought the Cheese to China after the christmas holiday.
"I believe it was more than 10 Kg in total and it's a miracle that they didn't stop me with that stuff which resembles plastic explosives in its consistency" commented Eric who travelled though London and Hongkong.
The evening showed once more the huge potential for innvoation that lies hidden within the CEIBS student body: Some groups "optimized" their fondue by adding Swiss choccolate, which made me sceam NOOOOOO! just in time to save at least one of the pots from being ruined. Most Chinese are used to adding a little bit of sugar while cooking and they thought it actually improved the fondue's overall taste (no comment here).
Yet others (the Westerners to be exact) added enough Kirsch so that the fondue could have been easily classified as biofuel, while yet another (Chinese) group ordered dumplings to see whether these could be dunked into the cheese as well...
Let's see how they will handle the smell which is bound to persist in the canteen for another few days ;-)
Sunday, January 13, 2008
The apartment story
This Sunday we had yet another meeting regarding our apartment. You cannot fully appreciate this without a little background information... Enjoy. It's hilarious!
Finding an apartment
At the end of August Paolo and me contacted several real estate brokers to find an apartment. Finally, after visiting several run down places, and some less run down ones which sported rather tasteless furnishing instead, we finally found a place which was nice, big, and appropriately furnished.
It didn't take us long to decide - after several days of looking at apartments you can tell within the first 30 seconds whether you like the place or not. So we immediately signed a one year contract and moved in the same week - paying 4 months rent cash in advance (a 5cm packet of money...)
The unexpected visitor
Now on the first Sunday thereafter - I was lying on the sofa in my underpants - suddenly the door opened and three Chinese people were standing in the middle of my living room!
One was a broker and the other two were interested buyers. The broker explained that the apartment owner was trying to sell the house and that they would just have a quick look around. Two seconds later I had kicked them out and shut the door. "No looking around. This is my place now!".
Later that day somebody else knocked on my door (which was locked in the meantime). I opened and outside was another broker with yet two other prospective buyers. This time they didn't even make it past the door... Yep. I learn fast.
Even later there was more fumbling and knocking at the door, but that time I didn't even bother to open anymore.
Damage control
We asked our Chinese co-student who had helped us sign the contract to phone the owner and inquire about what was going on. However, he refused, citing that probably the owner had been trying to rent or sell the apartment at the same time and that information of its successful rental hadn't propagated to all the brokers yet.
And sure enough, things calmed down in September and we had no more unexpected visitors.
The bill circus
Instead of getting annoyed by prospective buyers we then started to get visits from various utility companies. At school they keep telling us, that money collection is one of the biggest challanges in China. And sure enough, all the utilities came after us because the previous tenant hadn't bothered to pay his last bills (bills seem to be addressed to the apartment rather than the tenant in China).
Obviously my first reaction was "this is not my bill. Go get your money elsewhere!" However, it turns out that utility companies are in a slightly stronger position to negotiate, as they will simply shut down electricity, gas, etc. if they feel unfairly treated... So finally, after one day of blackout, we ended up paying the ransom, because not only did the laptops no longer work, but also the water in the shower kept flowing cold as ice, a rather persuasive argument.
Back to square one
Then on one Sunday in early December we had another unexpected visitor at the door. This time it was a broker who cited that the apartment had been sold and that the new owner wanted to move in ASAP. He would even be willing to compensate us by not charging us for one month's rent.
Again, this conversation didn't last very long..."I have a contract. This is my place now. I don't want a free month's rent. I want to stay here. Come back in a year. Thanks. Goodbye."
Interestingly we never heard of this broker again, and we thought that they had probably just been testing us to see whether they could make us leave so they could sell the house (house prices have been soaring in Shanghai).
The meeting
So we were even more surprised when the owner scheduled an official meeting with us in January to discuss the situation of the house. Apparently the apartment had really been sold in November and the new owner really wanted to move in...
After getting some legal advice regarding contract enforcement in China we decided not to give in - and even change the locks at the door if necessary.
However, the meeting went quite well. After explaining our situation and giving our reasons for not moving the new owner seemed to accept the situation and told us that he was going to respect the contract.
Let's see what happens next. I'll certainly keep you guys posted if one day I come home and all my stuff is gone...
Finding an apartment
At the end of August Paolo and me contacted several real estate brokers to find an apartment. Finally, after visiting several run down places, and some less run down ones which sported rather tasteless furnishing instead, we finally found a place which was nice, big, and appropriately furnished.
It didn't take us long to decide - after several days of looking at apartments you can tell within the first 30 seconds whether you like the place or not. So we immediately signed a one year contract and moved in the same week - paying 4 months rent cash in advance (a 5cm packet of money...)
The unexpected visitor
Now on the first Sunday thereafter - I was lying on the sofa in my underpants - suddenly the door opened and three Chinese people were standing in the middle of my living room!
One was a broker and the other two were interested buyers. The broker explained that the apartment owner was trying to sell the house and that they would just have a quick look around. Two seconds later I had kicked them out and shut the door. "No looking around. This is my place now!".
Later that day somebody else knocked on my door (which was locked in the meantime). I opened and outside was another broker with yet two other prospective buyers. This time they didn't even make it past the door... Yep. I learn fast.
Even later there was more fumbling and knocking at the door, but that time I didn't even bother to open anymore.
Damage control
We asked our Chinese co-student who had helped us sign the contract to phone the owner and inquire about what was going on. However, he refused, citing that probably the owner had been trying to rent or sell the apartment at the same time and that information of its successful rental hadn't propagated to all the brokers yet.
And sure enough, things calmed down in September and we had no more unexpected visitors.
The bill circus
Instead of getting annoyed by prospective buyers we then started to get visits from various utility companies. At school they keep telling us, that money collection is one of the biggest challanges in China. And sure enough, all the utilities came after us because the previous tenant hadn't bothered to pay his last bills (bills seem to be addressed to the apartment rather than the tenant in China).
Obviously my first reaction was "this is not my bill. Go get your money elsewhere!" However, it turns out that utility companies are in a slightly stronger position to negotiate, as they will simply shut down electricity, gas, etc. if they feel unfairly treated... So finally, after one day of blackout, we ended up paying the ransom, because not only did the laptops no longer work, but also the water in the shower kept flowing cold as ice, a rather persuasive argument.
Back to square one
Then on one Sunday in early December we had another unexpected visitor at the door. This time it was a broker who cited that the apartment had been sold and that the new owner wanted to move in ASAP. He would even be willing to compensate us by not charging us for one month's rent.
Again, this conversation didn't last very long..."I have a contract. This is my place now. I don't want a free month's rent. I want to stay here. Come back in a year. Thanks. Goodbye."
Interestingly we never heard of this broker again, and we thought that they had probably just been testing us to see whether they could make us leave so they could sell the house (house prices have been soaring in Shanghai).
The meeting
So we were even more surprised when the owner scheduled an official meeting with us in January to discuss the situation of the house. Apparently the apartment had really been sold in November and the new owner really wanted to move in...
After getting some legal advice regarding contract enforcement in China we decided not to give in - and even change the locks at the door if necessary.
However, the meeting went quite well. After explaining our situation and giving our reasons for not moving the new owner seemed to accept the situation and told us that he was going to respect the contract.
Let's see what happens next. I'll certainly keep you guys posted if one day I come home and all my stuff is gone...
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Any regrets?
So the term is well underway and last year's class of MBA 2006 students is back on campus.Nick Conti, one of the '06 party animals took the initiative to organize a night out for both classes. And go out we did...
We kicked off the evening at Cotton Club, a small jazz club with life music and then we went on to Muse, one of the stylish clubs in Shanghai with a fairly international crowd. Some say most of the Chinese girls there are models, but I think there might be another reason to it: Add enough drinks and every girl starts to look like a model...
Model or not - we certainly had a blast! There was a life band on the upper floor that performed really well and the DJ played some of the coolest mixes I've ever heard.
At some point during the night, Patrick (the '06 Swiss student who got me here in the first place) came up to me and asked "So how is it now, do you have any regrets coming to Shanghai?".
No. None. Zero. This is a cool place to be. Absolutely. One of the greatest experiences of my life!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Paolos Quest for a better me
The first few months in China have turned me into a chainsmoking, fat, lazy, sleep-deprived alcoholic (sort of)...
While some of the party animals out there might argue that there's nothing wrong with that, my dear flatmate got an entirely different opinion on this matter. He stepped up and put an end to all this by deciding that my body needed reshaping. Now.
So he volunteered to become my personal trainer. I wonder whether I should consider this a gift from heaven or a severe nightmare. Now six-pack-Paolo is breathing down my neck at least three times a week. "C'mon Matt, let's go to the gym!".
Maybe I should have done more careful analysis before picking him as my flatmate. How could I know, I'd end up living with a sports-maniac who works out daily in the gym.
Well, let's hope the pain is worth it and I'll return back home from China looking like Brad Pitt in his best years!
While some of the party animals out there might argue that there's nothing wrong with that, my dear flatmate got an entirely different opinion on this matter. He stepped up and put an end to all this by deciding that my body needed reshaping. Now.
So he volunteered to become my personal trainer. I wonder whether I should consider this a gift from heaven or a severe nightmare. Now six-pack-Paolo is breathing down my neck at least three times a week. "C'mon Matt, let's go to the gym!".
Maybe I should have done more careful analysis before picking him as my flatmate. How could I know, I'd end up living with a sports-maniac who works out daily in the gym.
Well, let's hope the pain is worth it and I'll return back home from China looking like Brad Pitt in his best years!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Strategy is breathing down my neck
We just had Strategic Management course. The professor is new to CEIBS. He got his PhD from MIT Sloan and taught at INSEAD before coming to China.
He kicked off his course by giving us a written case study assignment to be done over this first weekend and another one to be done during our precious spring vacation. He also supplied us with 4 course books of reading material, this is about the same volume as all other subjects combined.
HEY! WAKE UP! This is laidback China. This ain't no Wharton or INSEAD. If I wanted to work all freakin' weekend I would have applied there directly!
Jeez' I'll really have to think of some strategic evasion techniques, cuz' otherwise I can trash my Term-2 resolution right here, right now...
He kicked off his course by giving us a written case study assignment to be done over this first weekend and another one to be done during our precious spring vacation. He also supplied us with 4 course books of reading material, this is about the same volume as all other subjects combined.
HEY! WAKE UP! This is laidback China. This ain't no Wharton or INSEAD. If I wanted to work all freakin' weekend I would have applied there directly!
Jeez' I'll really have to think of some strategic evasion techniques, cuz' otherwise I can trash my Term-2 resolution right here, right now...
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
That's a joke, right?
From: MBA Office
To: All MBA Students
Very understanding that many of you are early expecting the grades of Term-1 courses. The hard copy of your individual transcript will be distributed by the end of Feburary. Before that, please DO NOT check the grades with the TAs individually. After the release of Term-1 grades, MBA Office will arrange the Final Exam Paper Review for Term-1. Should you have any doubts or inquries on your final grades after the review, then you can check the break-down grades of each course with me.
Two months to calculate the average of two exams and one participation grade per course? You must be kidding me!
And no way to learn about how we did on the final exam before receiving written transcripts? That's a joke, right?
To: All MBA Students
Very understanding that many of you are early expecting the grades of Term-1 courses. The hard copy of your individual transcript will be distributed by the end of Feburary. Before that, please DO NOT check the grades with the TAs individually. After the release of Term-1 grades, MBA Office will arrange the Final Exam Paper Review for Term-1. Should you have any doubts or inquries on your final grades after the review, then you can check the break-down grades of each course with me.
Two months to calculate the average of two exams and one participation grade per course? You must be kidding me!
And no way to learn about how we did on the final exam before receiving written transcripts? That's a joke, right?
Study less, party more!
I hate new year's resolutions. They never last much longer than a few weeks, or, more often than not, days.
So I decided to call this my term two resolution. It only has to work for four months and hence feels more doable and less frightening.
Why study less? Because it will leave me more time and energy for the second part of the resolution.
Why party more? That's not a serious question, right?
Honestly, I feel that I completely missed some of the goals I had set for my MBA experience. I didn't really enjoy Shanghai's nightlife as much as I would have liked. And most of the time I went out with other international students rather than Chinese fellows, mainly because they have a different notion of hanging loose.
While hang loose and relax usually means go to a bar, have a beer or two, and do some talking to a Westerner, the same thing to a Chinese means grab a group of 20 people, go to a Karaoke place, and sing, dance, drink and smoke in a crowded, noisy fashion.
And this is exactly what I'm gonna do this term. Why? I have no freakin' clue. Just part of the mandatory cultural experience, I guess.
P.S. I got 90/100 for the case I wrote in least-effort manner. Another point which proves my new strategy as being highly effecive.
So I decided to call this my term two resolution. It only has to work for four months and hence feels more doable and less frightening.
Why study less? Because it will leave me more time and energy for the second part of the resolution.
Why party more? That's not a serious question, right?
Honestly, I feel that I completely missed some of the goals I had set for my MBA experience. I didn't really enjoy Shanghai's nightlife as much as I would have liked. And most of the time I went out with other international students rather than Chinese fellows, mainly because they have a different notion of hanging loose.
While hang loose and relax usually means go to a bar, have a beer or two, and do some talking to a Westerner, the same thing to a Chinese means grab a group of 20 people, go to a Karaoke place, and sing, dance, drink and smoke in a crowded, noisy fashion.
And this is exactly what I'm gonna do this term. Why? I have no freakin' clue. Just part of the mandatory cultural experience, I guess.
P.S. I got 90/100 for the case I wrote in least-effort manner. Another point which proves my new strategy as being highly effecive.
The first day
So today I had my first day of classes and it looks quite promising: Operations Research with Tom Callarman is a real treat and Corporate Responsibility looks at the "other" side of China's rapid growth - a sad view as you might imagine.
I'm glad CEIBS is trying to sensitize future managers to environmental and social problems. Sometimes here in China you get the impression that people simply don't care. But the bitter truth is, they don't know. That's one of the downsides of keeping the public happy by censoring negative information in mass media.
Luckily, my blog is already banned in China, 'cause otherwise it certainly would be so now...
Picture this: Reportedly there are over 30,000 internet censors at work in China whereas the Environmental Protection Agency is staffed by 200 full-time employees only (18,000 in the US) and the Energy Bureau has 100 full-time staff (US: 110,000). Scary!
Make sure you check out this NY Times article on the "other side" of China. It's not only worth reading, it's a real eye opener!
I'm glad CEIBS is trying to sensitize future managers to environmental and social problems. Sometimes here in China you get the impression that people simply don't care. But the bitter truth is, they don't know. That's one of the downsides of keeping the public happy by censoring negative information in mass media.
Luckily, my blog is already banned in China, 'cause otherwise it certainly would be so now...
Picture this: Reportedly there are over 30,000 internet censors at work in China whereas the Environmental Protection Agency is staffed by 200 full-time employees only (18,000 in the US) and the Energy Bureau has 100 full-time staff (US: 110,000). Scary!
Make sure you check out this NY Times article on the "other side" of China. It's not only worth reading, it's a real eye opener!
The wait is over...
Hi there
I'm back from Switzerland, and jetlag once again makes me write blog entries in the middle of the night. What a pain. For someone like me, who normally falls asleep within 45 seconds or less, lying in bed unable snooze off is a pretty weird experience.
Let's just hope that the snoozing won't delay itself until tomorrow's Corporate Governance and Business Ethics class. That would just be plain unethical.
My three week vacation in Switzerland was a nice experience, although a bit weird, too. Ever felt like an alien in your own country? Somehow it felt familiar, but it wasn't really home anymore. At least for the first week. Also, meeting old friends kind of deteriorated into some kind of marathon. Beer simply doesn't taste the same on a scheduled basis rather than spontaneously after work.
And price levels - oh boy - let me tell you, this place is expensive! CHF 8.50 for a 2dl Perrier in a bar? That's just plain ridiculous! Thanks God Richi volunteered to pay the bill... It would have simply blown my budget!
I'm back from Switzerland, and jetlag once again makes me write blog entries in the middle of the night. What a pain. For someone like me, who normally falls asleep within 45 seconds or less, lying in bed unable snooze off is a pretty weird experience.
Let's just hope that the snoozing won't delay itself until tomorrow's Corporate Governance and Business Ethics class. That would just be plain unethical.
My three week vacation in Switzerland was a nice experience, although a bit weird, too. Ever felt like an alien in your own country? Somehow it felt familiar, but it wasn't really home anymore. At least for the first week. Also, meeting old friends kind of deteriorated into some kind of marathon. Beer simply doesn't taste the same on a scheduled basis rather than spontaneously after work.
And price levels - oh boy - let me tell you, this place is expensive! CHF 8.50 for a 2dl Perrier in a bar? That's just plain ridiculous! Thanks God Richi volunteered to pay the bill... It would have simply blown my budget!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
