On the Cusp of a New Life and Random Musings

Making Up For Lost Time

2011-01-22T03:36:00.000-08:00

Hello readers! It's the new year again and with that, comes new resolutions.

Resolution #5487: Blog at least once a month.

So let's make up for lost time. I'll try to cover what transpired during my short absence from the blogosphere. After October, things really started to pick up and in addition to classes, group work and exams we all experienced our own set of busy from team sports, club responsibilities, and the odd commitment we agreed to in advance. In my case, it was girls' soccer, being involved with MBAT Marketing, and agreeing to be an emcee for the school's Talent Show/Visions of Leadership awards presentation. Pretty soon, winter arrived and it was time to begin preparing for finals.

I discovered a few things during this period. 1) It's impossible to be productive solely studying by myself in Expansiel. Inevitably, I end up on Facebook or Perez Hilton's blog. 2) Starbucks and McDonald's are pretty close to the Versailles-Chantiers station. There's even a really cozy bar/study lounge around the corner. It's my own little gem so I hope you don't mind if I forgo naming it for now. 3) The winter is absolutely FREEZING on campus. When it snows, the shortcut freezes up and it becomes impossible to down into Jouy. Get boots with tread and traction. Best if you do it in a currency other than euros ;).

After finals we all celebrated by going down to the lake on campus that had frozen over and holding a "Polar Bear Plunge" of sorts. As you can imagine, it ended with giggles, Facebook photos, and a few ice-induced stitches. Later in the evening half of the class headed to a terrific Italian restaurant in Paris called Don Giovanni to eat and be merry. We then met up with the rest of our class at a club called La Planche. The shenanigans escape me now but it was definitely a great celebration before we headed off to our separate vacations.

As for me, I headed back to California for my two-week vacation. The weather was mild, the food filled with variety, and the stores easy to access at all hours with a car. The trek back to North America wasn't without its struggles though. Around December 18th, snow became the expected weather du jour and with its presence caused massive travel delays in Europe. Many of us had our flights canceled and had to wait hours in the airport to be rebooked, only to be canceled again. CNN aptly described it as a "European travel nightmare." One of my classmates left the Friday after finals to head home to Boston. His itinerary took him via London Heathrow and unfortunately caused him to be stuck in London for one entire week while the airports shut down. Luckily, he took it in stride and used the time to visit historical venues in London.

Upon returning to campus in January we also welcomed a new intake and kicked off the school year with a weekend ski trip at the resort Chamrousse in Grenoble. The TGV ride made for a good experience as did the alpine air and rich food at the summit of the gondola. It's now Core 2 for those of us in the September 2010 intake and we are now in the midst of required classes such as Business Economics, Strategic Management, Corporate Finance, and Management Accounting. Accompanying these core classes are Organizational Behavior and of course, French. This term though, there's a different sentiment pervading our thoughts. It's time to be proactive about our post-MBA plans and secure an internship after the core phases end and begin thinking about exchanges and/or the personalized track.

Hopefully it won't be too long again before I put my fingers to the blog, but in the meantime, enjoy 2011! As Mike Leach once said, "Go out there, expect sun, have a good time. And if you run into the bad stuff, don't let that hamper your day."

One Month In, Fifteen More to Go!

2010-10-20T12:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, it is getting really hard to keep up my blog. My earlier goal was to have at least two posts per month and I seem to have failed miserably. Dommage. Will try harder next time.

Anyway, classes have started and we are in the swing of things now. This year, the September intake of the MBA program is much larger (as they are trying to move away from having a January intake in the future) and the total count is 186. We are now a total of four streams. Three English-speaking sections (ES1, ES2, and ES3) and one bilingual section. Each section's schedule is structured differently and sometimes the professors are different as well. After two weeks of "integrating" with my class and forming friendships, we had to say goodbye to impromptu daytime get-togethers. Now, I have a "new" set of friends. But the nice part is, you really get to know the people in your section after spending so much time with them. In my case, I'm in ES2. For those that don't know what that means, let me explain. Since this year's intake is much larger than previous years, they opened up an extra stream. Since all of us take the same core courses, albeit at a different pace/time, there weren't enough professors for all the classes. So my lucky group got the visiting professor for our Financial Accounting class. Although he was a lovely man, the course was extremely accelerated. How does three times a week at three hours a class at 8 AM sound? I have to say, for me, coming from no financial background, it was a struggle to stay on top of the workload in that class. The good part is, drum roll please...we just finished our final yesterday!! So now you see why my blog sat unattended to for so long.

The rest of the classes I am taking for Core 1 include Marketing, Financial Markets, Human Resource Management, Operations Management, Statistics, and French. On some Fridays and even some Saturdays, we have CMC (Career Management Center) workshops. These really keep me busy. I do like my Marketing professor though, which is good considering I am planning to go into Marketing. He's a very animated German man, who somehow manages to keep all of us entertained. (And that's very difficult to do when you have an average schedule of classes from 8 AM to 6 PM.)

The other interesting thing which I promised to update on is the TEC program. So far, we've had one one-on-one session and one all-day group session. I really enjoy meeting with Bernard Bismuth. He's an older French gentleman who is kind, yet very straightforward. While discussing the personal aspects of my life with him, he sits there thoughtfully but isn't afraid to interject with his own opinions. In our all-day group session, we had a guest speaker from Italy who ran a multinational company and shared his experiences living all over the world. It was amazing to hear his story. My own group members shared very personal parts of their lives with me that day, and without divulging anyone's secrets, all I can say is wow. We're really going to get to know each other intimately. It's actually a very liberating feeling though, sharing things about myself that I don't often tell other people. I'm excited to see how the program progresses.

And lastly, another thing I have taken on is the MBAT. The MBA Tournament is a sports tournament hosted by HEC each year that involves around 15 business schools. Everyone comes to our campus, we have a mini-Olympics of sorts, and it's three days of straight competition. To organize the entire event (whose budget is about half a million euros), we held an election. It was my team, Les IMBATtables (wink, wink, get it?) versus MBAT-a-licious. After a good fight, my team emerged the victor. Now I am tasked as an official MBAT Marketing Coordinator. (I also get official class credits for taking on this big responsibility.) So we're just in the beginning stages right now, but my team and I met with the previous year's MBAT coordinators over a rowdy Thai dinner (somewhere around 30 people in the basement of a restaurant in Paris?) and we quickly learned what we were in for. It's going to be a handful. (Well, I can't imagine running the Olympics is a piece of cake either.) Oh well, add it to my pile :).

I've decided I'm going to end each post by giving some useful tips. Today's:

1) The French love to strike. Make friends with people with cars so you don't depend on the RER to go into Paris when there is a greve.

2) Sundays are sacred in France. Nothing is open and nothing can be done. If you absolutely want to buy things in a store, go to La Defense. Shops are open all day :).

3) The cafeteria food really is as awful as everyone proclaims. Stock up on other tasty items and get a fridge in your room.

4) If you get the red wine headache (which happens less frequently in France due to better-quality wine), go for the wines with the "sloping shoulders." Whether it's tannins or sulfites that cause the problem, these wines have lesser of them. No headache guaranteed.

That's it. See you next time!

Better Late Than Never

2010-09-09T05:12:00.000-07:00

Hello loyal blog followers, I'm finally in Jouy!

After three lovely days in Paris (14eme arrondissement, or Montparnasse) and my French a little less rusty/dusty, I was excited to make the trek to HEC's grounds. When I finally arrived to the sleepy town of Jouy-en-Josas, my taxi driver was quite confused. For a historic French institution, HEC is surprisingly hard to find. 1 Rue de la Liberation is tucked away in a small corner, with no signs. If you go too far, you end up at 5 rue. Definitely turn around when you see a castle.

Anyway, using the little French I could muster we found another taxi driver parked along the side of the road and asked him how we could get to campus. His rapid-fire French and hand gestures took us to the front of the gate, where there were dozens of policemen milling about and the distant buzz of a military plane overhead. "What's going on? It's like the whole army is here!" my driver remarked. I later found out that check-in day happened to coincide with the biggest conference of French finance ministers, senior leaders, and chief executives on campus. All together these people are worth billions. Well that explained the cops.

That was last Thursday. It hasn't even been a week yet, but it feels like a month has gone by. As students, we've unpacked and set up our rooms, gone through math and finance camp, found the local supermarket, and started working on our CVs. It's amazing how quickly we've integrated back into student life. It feels a little different this time around though. No sharing of bathrooms, no easy way to cook, and a nice little piano bar on the first floor to help us bond. I, surprisingly, have found myself there almost every night of the past six days. With beer and wine flowing freely and the conversation hilariously stimulating, it's always hard to call it a night.

One of the things I've been really surprised to discover is how much I like my classmates. For the most part, I find everyone amiable, helpful, and fun to be around. The francophones have been so willing to practice French with me and those with cars have been generous with rides. This intake is rather diverse, although it feels like we have a surplus of North Americans. I've been told that our intake is about 18% North Americans, 19% South and East Asians, and 17% French. Not too bad, I suppose.

Some of the things I've learned in my first week here:
-Breakfast consists of baguettes and coffee only
-The restaurant doesn't open until 6:45 PM for dinner
-French fries are rarely salted
-Everyone likes to drink. Doesn't matter what kind of drink.
-Laundry is really expensive to do
-Unless you have a car, you'll be stuck on campus
-The campus is not designed for girls in high heels

So far, it's been a pretty fun ride. But then again, real classes haven't started yet.

One Less Working Girl

2010-08-02T10:02:00.000-07:00

It's August already and you know what that means.

Freedom!

Last Friday marked the end of four-and-a-half years of work and the beginning of a student life again. I have to admit, I was actually a little sad when the week finished. With tasks to check off and a replacement to train, there hadn't been much time to mull over this life-changing event until the very last minute. When Thursday night rolled around, I tossed and turned in my sleep. Unsurprisingly, I woke up unrefreshed an hour earlier than usual. Seeing no point in trying to catch a few more Zs, I threw the covers off and headed to the computer.

A bold "(2)" greeted me from the inbox of the email address reserved exclusively for HEC. Ooh, I thought, not a whole lot of communication from them these days. (You know how the French love their vacation time.) The first one was from the Integration Council, advertising a beautiful three-day retreat in the French Alps for the weekend of September 10 - 12. A powerpoint was attached with summer mountain landscapes and quaint rolling hills. Something about petanque and accrobranches written in the text. What's a better way to get to know your classmates than going away with them for a weekend? And to the Alps, no less. Sold. I'm there.

The next email took on a more formal tone with "TEC Jury Decision" peeking out of the subject line. For those unfamiliar with it, TEC (short for The Executive Committee) is a special on-campus program that pairs participants with executives for individual and group career coaching. It's really pretty neat. The program meets several times from September through March with different company leaders. This year, it's headed by Mr. Bernard Bismuth, President of FIEN. TEC, or Vistage as it's now know, labels itself as the largest chief executive coaching organization in the world. At HEC, the program is limited to just 24 students, twelve male and twelve female. The application for TEC asks for an additional five short essays. So now, the moment of truth. As I scanned through the email quickly, I saw the words "pleased" and "you have been selected." Wow, I made it! Now I'm really looking forward to being a part of the program. Like always, I'll be sharing it with you :).

Well, this seems like a good start to my brief stint of unemployment. Now, I just have to figure out what to do with all this free time. Hmmm...

Happy August everyone and enjoy the summer!

Excerpt from a Traveling Classmate

2010-07-08T08:02:00.000-07:00

So it's finally July and that means vacation, sun, and free time, right? Well, for some folks. While I'm still sitting at my indoor cubicle, some of my classmates have begun their adventure to France! I'm living vicariously through their Facebook status updates and mobile picture uploads. It's wonderful to see what's in store for me in less than two months.

Since certain things are done differently in France, I thought it'd be helpful to post this excerpt from my lovely classmate who is currently there right now. She gives a little insight into the bank-account-opening and getting-a-pre-paid-cell-phone-SIM-card process:

"OK, first of all, about the prepaid SIM cards. I was expecting to find telephone company stores everywhere and especially at big train stations such as Gare Montparnasse. I was wrong. The hotel told me that I could buy prepaid phone cards at tobacco stores, but all they have are packaged SIM card + crappy phone, so unless you want that, go online to search for the closest Orange or SFR or whatever store near you. If you are near Montparnasse like me, there is both Orange and SFR on the ground level CCIAL. Getting the card and all that is pretty straight forward, just need to have ID, that's about it. Dunno much about recharging the card, cos I haven't done that yet.

Regarding bank account opening. Many banks don't open on Monday, so don't go on a Monday like what I did! I think many banks are open from Tuesday to Saturday. I chose Societe Generale as suggested by a current student, cos apparently the ppl at the BNP in Jouy are not very helpful. I went to a Societe Generale bank in Montparnasse. Take note that although you don't have to go back to your original bank for normal transactions, you do have to go back to the same back to close your account, so you definitely want to go to a bank that you can easily go back to when the time comes to close the account.

To open a bank account, you'll need your acceptance letter, proof of address and passport with visa. I think most French bank cards come with credit card + bank card together in one card. Remember to ask for a MONEO card which is a card that you can charge credit to for use on campus for drink machines n stuff. (at BNP you can get MONEO, credit card, bank card = 3in1, but at Societe Generale, MONEO is on a separate card). The process is pretty easy, just sign some forms and you are done. But then you have to pick up the card two days later at the same bank, and if you want to choose a PIN code for your card you have to pay extra (at Societe Generale this is the case, not sure about other banks) and then you have to go through a process of activating the PIN code that you have chosen, by entering some password that they send you in the mail. If you decide not to use your own PIN code, they will send you one in the mail which supposedly should arrive at your address three days after you open your bank account. You can not change this PIN code at all! The password for internet banking will arrive at your address a little later.

So that's about it, I am due to receive my PIN at the Expansiel address on Friday, I have emailed Dominique (the warden) to contact me as soon as it arrives so I can pick it up before I leave for Nice on Sunday. If it doesn't arrive on time, I'll have to ask her to forward it to my address in Nice.

Peggy, things should be quite straight forward for you, since you arrive just before school starts. I'm told that both BNP and Societe Generale in Jouy will go to the school during orientation week to help students open their accounts."

She also sent me another message this morning saying that when she went to go pick up her bank card, they told her to come back the next day so be prepared for such surprises.

Hope this information is useful to you, cyberspace :).

An Upgrade to Phone Home About

2010-06-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

So the countdown to France is getting shorter and that means it's time to think about the little things.

It occurred to me recently that I'd spent so much time working on getting all my paperwork in order that I completely forgot about the fun stuff. Like cell phones and shoe organizers.

Luckily, my hometown's famous little company reminded me this week. June 7th was the first day of Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference. At this annual meeting in San Francisco each year (a hop, skip, and a jump away from us), Apple announces new product releases, operating system changes, and platforms for third-party developers to build on. It's the most talked about technology event in Silicon Valley. Especially since Steve Jobs always gives the keynote. This year, Apple showed up with a bang. On Day 1 of WWDC, they announced the June 24 release of, wait for it, it's coming, drumroll please....iPHONE 4!!

As you can see from the above video, the latest iPhone is something to marvel at. Steve tells us the new iPhone 4 has all these incredible features:

-LED flash and 5MP camera on back plus a camera in the front for video calls
-Retina display capability at 326 pixels per inch
-New Apple A4 chip, supporting 7 hours of talk time, 6 hours of 3G, 10 hours of WiFi, 10 hours of video, 40 hours of music, and 300 hours of standby power
-Gyroscope supporting 6-axis motion sensoring
-Ability to record 720p HD videos and the ability to edit videos right on the iPhone
-Will run iOS 4.0, allowing for things like multitasking
-FaceTime video calls

Now once upon a time Apple was a small startup and the only thing I knew about them was that my elementary school had their Mac computers. I found the layout of these old-school Macs to be weird and anti-intuitive and I didn't care much to use them. Then they entered the music player world and converted everyone in my proximity to wearing white earbuds at all times with their iPod or Nano. Still didn't think much them. Then they came out with the first iPhone. "What an ugly-piece of equipment," I remember thinking, "I would never be caught dead with a hunk of metal like that." And to my credit, the first-generation iPhone was not as aesthetically pleasing as the next model and it loaded websites like a 56k dial-up modem used to. But then came the iPhone 3G. Improving on all the insufficiencies of its predecessor, this new phone was really a contender in the mobile market. Pretty soon, all my friends and coworkers had one. (I remember a party where we lined up all 30 of our cell phones and over 60% were iPhones in colorful cases.) So I thought, "what the heck, I'll join the bandwagon." And one and a half years later, I STILL love the phone. There's just a ton of things that Apple's done right in this phone and having it around always proves useful. Case in point: When I was traveling in Europe early this year, I was quite lost. Turning on the Google Maps in my iPhone gave me an automatic read on my location. Presto change-o! I was found again. (I also have an incredibly useful app called "Zuti" that helps me map out my Paris metro trip from location A to location B.)

So with the advent of new technology (like FaceTime) and the need (and want) to stay connected to my family and friends, I think the iPhone 4 is actually the perfect phone for me to keep in touch with them. With iOS 4, the new phone lets multiple apps run at the same time. Previously, I had to stop my Pandora or my Skype if I wanted to check email. Now, I can keep them running in the background. Perfect for receiving calls from the US! And it just so happens that Dad is a technophile and early adopter as well. Once we all have our new iPhones in hand, we'll be FaceTime-ing up a storm! **iPhone 4 releases June 24 in the US, UK, France, Japan, and Germany.

A bonus: French regulations allow for customers to have their phones unlocked by their carriers after fulfilling six months of their contract. On the contrary, US customers are bound to AT&T. No official unlock has yet been provided for any of the previous iPhones. Something to phone home about...

A Sticker in My Passport!

2010-05-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

It's exciting to finally have something to report to the blogosphere. I HAVE A VISA!

In retrospect, when I sum up the experience, the hardest part really was getting all of the documents in place. That pesky Campus France letter? It finally arrived...after about 4 weeks. Make sure to check your portal page - that's where they sent me the letter. The other tough part was the financial guarantee. Since the consulate gives you only two options for this, one being a notarized letter from your parents and their bank statements and the other being a letter from the school saying that you've prepaid your room, board, and tuition (impossible), I went with the notarized letter from my parents. I wasn't quite sure of the minimum amount they needed to see from the bank statements so I just told my dad, "Give me the one with the most money." He gave me a copy of his retirement account.

When I got to the San Francisco embassy, it was a lackluster Friday morning. I had made the appointment online, printed out the receipt with the barcode and set multiple alarms so I wouldn't forget. My appointment was for 11:00 AM, a time I thought I could surely make since traffic would be long gone by the time I had to leave the house. Google Maps told me to budget an hour and ten minutes for the car ride but I brushed them aside thinking, "That's only for people who drive the speed limit." (I'm not condoning speeding, but I speed when I need to.) So I leisurely left the house at 10:15 AM. As it turns out, the freeway I ended up taking (280-North) was the loooooongest route ever. I discovered new ways to San Francisco that I had never been aware of. By the time I had exited, it was 11:01. Yikes! A quick glance at the wording on the printed receipt told me that the guard would not accept anyone who was late. So I pushed on the gas and raced to Bush Street. On the street before Bush, I noticed space on the curb between two cars. I could get into it. So I eased my car into reverse and tried to parallel into the spot. GAH! The incline on this street was just too sharp. As I put the car back into Drive, I narrowly missed hitting the car parked in front. "Forget this!" I thought. I'll just park in the garage. So $3 poorer and 7 minutes even later, I emerged ready to race into the embassy. However, I always forget how convoluted some parking garages are. I asked three people how to get to the French embassy and finally found my way down the elevator. Note: Press the Level 3 button in the elevator for the Pedestrian exit to Bush Street. Totally goes against your intuition.

I entered the visa section of the consulate and was greeted by a stern guard and a large metal detector. She looked at all my prepared documents and motioned for the embassy reps to buzz me in. Then she WALKED me in, asked all the people sitting on the blue chairs to get up and move one seat to the right, and directed me to my seat at the end of the line. I sat there partly excited, partly nervous, and partly needing to use the restroom. Since there seemed to be no restroom in close proximity, I decided to ignore my natural urges for the time being. After twiddling my thumbs for more than half an hour, one of the two men finally called me to the counter. He asked me for each of my documents, one by one, and actually read the print on ALL of them. Even my admissions letter. (That's got to be a max of 7 lines.) Then I got my fingerprints collected, filled out the top half of my OFII form, and he sent me on my way. Two business days later (the following Tuesday), I got a call that my visa was ready. This time, I was better prepared. I smiled at the guard, she didn't walk me in, and the man at the counter told me to sit on the brown chair. So I watched a French Mad TV-like show for fifteen minutes until my name was called. Finally! In my beautiful new RFID passport was a lovely green visa sticker. I am formally an "ETUDIANT" now and I have the authorization to work (only up to 60% of the time) and re-enter France multiple times. WOOHOO!

The countdown begins!

2010-04-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

There's a lovely wall calendar on the side of my cube. I mark off each day that I go into work, note it with the upcoming meetings and conferences that will break up the monotony of my workweek, and have special asterisks on the days I will give notice and leave.

Since it is now April, it's only fitting that I'm counting down to August. Unfortunately, these are the things I still have outstanding:
-Campus France letter. CF has not gotten back to me and I fear it will take them a LONG time to.
-Financial finalization. HEC has not yet certified the loan I am applying for, and I'm getting anxious. Money makes your life comfortable!
-Visa interview. Can't schedule this until the above two criteria are met. SIGH.

To get my mind off of these things, I'm trying to keep my schedule busy. Yesterday, I just returned from a two-day retreat in Sausalito at Cavallo Point. Tomorrow, my friends and I are driving down to LA for Warrior Dash! Next week, I start a new French conversation class. The following week, I will be heading to Washington, DC for a three-day conference. In May, there's a Hawaii trip planned. In June, there is yet another conference to go to. So the time should fly by, yes?

I sure hope so!

For those of you who will be passing through Paris in May, I'd recommend checking out MBAT 2010.
Here is the official trailer:

Do I Dare?

2010-03-12T13:40:00.000-08:00

*Dusts off the blog

Sorry it's been awhile! Life has been so busy lately...throwing me curveballs left and right. But that is what I have come to love - change! It makes everything go round.

Since my last entry, some lovely things have happened. My sister got into pharmacy school! Yay! It's such a surreal moment because we were both applying for schools at the same time:

June - Sis graduated from college and moved home.
July - I started taking GMATs and became a hermit. (Spent a good deal of time in the room next door to Sis.)
August - Sis sent out pharmacy school apps.
September - I took the GMAT, went to three back-to-back conferences (visited Seattle, San Francisco, Miami, and San Diego), and started essay writing.
October - Sis started to hear back for interviews. I submitted two full b-school apps. Also went crazy trying to get my recommendation letters in on time (one writer was fully pregnant and working full-time as a marketing director.)
November - I interviewed, then was admitted. Sis interviewed for one school.
December - Sis got a few more interview invites, but no answers yet.
Fast forward to March 11, 2010 - Sis finally got in to her dream school!! A wonderful sigh of relief.

Now we can both celebrate. Well, kind of. We had a family dinner at a fabulous restaurant yesterday and a bit of red wine. (New article just released stating that Wine Keeps Women's WEIGHT in Check. Very interesting news. PM me if you want the actual scientific manuscript.) As it is, I'm still holding down the fort at my big company. Sis can be a bit more flexible about her schedule right now.

One of the things I'm struggling with is when to quit my job. The company I currently work for is a huge conglomerate. There's definitely a sense of being just an electronic number to them. And truly, I'm not passionate about my job. I'm good at it, and I try to be as efficient as I can, but overall, I feel like I'm only staying because I want to save up $$. I go into work thinking about the end of the day and I leave work thinking about the number of weekdays left. It's no way to live. I'm one of those people who truly lives to work. I want to feel fulfillment, excitement, and utter joy at what I do every day. So I've been toying with the idea of leaving my industry. And certainly leaving the large company culture.

I wake up almost every day not looking forward to sitting at my desk and I keep my personal schedule busy and activity-filled so I have things to look forward in the meantime. But there's no denying it - underneath, I just want to QUIT. Yes, with capital letters. I want to leave, partir, sortir, quitter.

And it's not fair to my company, to my group, and to myself. I'm occupying the spot that someone else would gladly have. But if I leave to make a moral point, I'm in a bit of a financial pickle. Searching for another, more satisfying job in the interim is even more unethical, I feel. So what would you do if you were in my shoes? Would you tough it out a bit longer? Would you leave and hope that you could find another job temporarily? Would you leave and just take out a bigger loan?

I'm on the cusp of a major life change, and one that I willingly want to make. I'm so looking forward to September, to the start of school, when I can see my classmates' faces instead of their avatars and their Facebook pages, and I think to myself - "This is all worth it."

HEC's slogan is, "The More You Know, The More You Dare."

I hope, if I'm ever faced with this dilemma again after my MBA, I'll dare to follow my heart.

USA Represent! All Love For the Olympics

2010-03-02T09:20:00.000-08:00

Shaun White. Lindsey Vonn. Lindsey Jacobellis. Apolo Anton Ohno. JR Celski. Shannon Bahrke.

I love you guys like the US loves gold.

It's that time of the decade again. Time for the 2010 Olympic Games!

I can't help but watch in dazed amazement when I see these athletes complete magnificent feats in the air, on the mountain, or on ice. It's truly wondrous how they can manage to make everything look so ridiculously easy. When I was a kid (ok, a younger kid) I tried ice-skating for a year. I was actually quite good, if I say so myself, but I can imagine needing a million more years to even be close to these pros.

A couple of years ago, I picked up snowboarding. I'm not really an adrenaline junkie, but after trying this sport, that may have changed. There's something really exciting about strapping both feet into a long board and hurling yourself off a snowy mountain. It's really scary the first time! The first time I ever boarded, I fell countless times and was in ridiculous pain for a week. But when the next season arrived, I threw off my shoes and slipped into my snowboarding boots and trudged up the mountain to face my fears. Now, it's a winter must.

Anyway, I've been engrossed in watching these Olympians compete. Naturally, Shaun White is my favorite. The guy has his own secret half-pipe in the middle of Colorado that he gets airlifted to practice on. How cool is that?!! Anyway, he's my inspiration. If the corporate life doesn't work out for me, I'm going to try pro boarding. I kid, I kid. Or do I? Come to think of it, I did write one of my HEC essays on imagining myself as a pro-snowboarder. :)

I'll leave you all with this awesome video of a three-year-old who boards better than he forms sentences. It's pretty rockstar.

You Can't Find Money on Trees

2010-02-17T09:01:00.000-08:00

Hello blog! I think it's been a little while since I've visited you. So sorry for my absence. Right before my short hiatus, I was tinkering with the interface, and although I love this new template, it's not quite pristine yet. So bear with me...it'll look better eventually.

While I was away, I was working on organizing all the remaining aspects of my move to Jouy. Namely, getting my finances together. This part, no one ever tells you, is the most complex aspect to get under control. There's plenty of writing back and forth to be done between the school, your bank, and your national government. It's like a love triangle gone horribly wrong. Sigh.

Since I've had as early as December to get a move on my finances, I've been trying to take active measures in securing some money. I researched different options and scholarships aside, this is what I've found:

1) Get a loan with a French bank. (BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, LCL, BRED) Pros: Since HEC is a top school, the interest rates are lower (3.2% or lower), you can defer repayment for a period of time (1 to 4 years), and you can borrow quite a bit. For BNP, this is up to €60,000. Cons: You need a French guarantor (resident or someone working in France) or a home country bank guarantee. Not easy to find. In the US, forget finding a bank to guarantee this loan.

2) Get a federal loan with Sallie Mae. For US residents, this is pretty much your only local bank option. With HEC, you only have two options available: Stafford (up to a max of $20,000 a year) and Smart Option (private loan that lets you borrow up to the cost of tuition and attendance). Cons with these loans: The interest rates aren't great. Stafford also maxes out at 20k a year. If you make decent money, most likely you won't get too much out of this loan. Smart Option is a private loan. The interest rate REALLY varies based on credit history (4.25 to 12.5% + LIBOR, based on my memory). You'll also have to pay interest-only payments DURING school. That sucks. You may also need a credit-worthy cosigner to qualify.

3) Get a home equity loan or refinance. I bought a beautiful condo in July of 2008 and am considering this as another option. However, the cost of housing has dropped a bit, and so I'll have to do more research on this to see if it's a worthy option. As for refinancing, I don't feel like adding more costs (pay down points, closing fees, loan origination fees, etc.) to lower my monthly payment. I also don't know if it's wise to intertwine my educational expenses with my mortgage. Most likely, I'll forgo this idea.

4) Borrow from retirement. I have a collection of IRAs and 401ks. The IRS has said that you can borrow from your retirement, without penalty, to pay for higher education expenses. However, there may be a portion of your withdrawal that is subject to the regular income tax. Again, slightly more research to be done, but this looks like a good backup alternative. Especially if I continue to work until the end of August, my retirement funds will be a little bit heftier. Hopefully.

Anyway, in order for me to pursue the federal private loan as a financing option, I have to complete the FAFSA. Make sure to do your taxes pretty thoroughly prior to filing your FAFSA. At the least, you'll need to know your AGI (adjusted gross income) and your income based on wages. If these change after you submit your taxes, you'll have to file a FAFSA correction. My status: Taxes ALMOST done. Once I finish them, I'll be putting line 37 (AGI) into the FAFSA and sending that into cyberspace as well :).

To try to come up with the exact amount that I need for school, this is the list I've put together:

School tuition (HEC now says it's €45,106)
Cost of attendance altogether (HEC says this is somewhere around €17,000 - €18,000)
Expenses remaining at home (For me, these are my HOA fees and property taxes)
Other (This might include budgeting for French immersion programs, travel, or extra fun purchases)

From this little exercise, I've finally realized that money really doesn't grow on trees. This new revelation actually makes me regret some of my actions in childhood. Fitted with strange orthodontia for six-plus years, I never once made an active effort to listen to my orthodontist. He said wear your rubber bands and I said nah. He said keep your retainer in at night and I said no thanks. Now I have teeth that several more braces-years away from a proper bite, and my parents are several thousand dollars poorer. Sorry Mom and Dad! I finally get it!

Lesson learned: frugality and simplicity are good, budgeting is key for maintaining financial sanity, and buying a house on the cusp of a downturn market is probably not the best idea. Although my place is awesome. Ask me about the cherrywood floors.

Ok, so I'm going to sign off now since it's time to head to work and I could really use the $. I'll just leave you all with an update from Campus France: After three weeks, they've finally responded. Instead of uploading the transcripts and CV myself, Campus France has asked me to fax them over and they'll add the documents to my file for me. Yay!

Places I'd Like to Linger At...

2010-02-10T23:15:00.003-08:00

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Choosing the Right School - Why HEC For Me (Part 2)

2010-02-07T10:49:00.000-08:00

After mulling around in self-reflection and deciding that full-time business school was the right next step for me, I still faced a plethora of questions:

Should I take a GMAT prep course?
When should I apply?
How many schools should I apply to?
What city do I want to live in?
For business school aspirants or potential applicants, I say figure out the answer to the above four before you proceed.

As I mentioned before, I decided to take a nine-week Manhattan GMAT course to assist me in mastering the GMAT. Since the price tag of this class was rather hefty (IMO), coming to this decision was no easy task. I wondered if I could handle the three-hour post-work classes once a week. I questioned whether I would do my homework. I worried about wasting my money, my time, and two months of my life. But being very self-aware, a wonderful trait I am thankful for, I was certain that only a rigorous, structured, regularly-scheduled class would get me to the ballpark of an acceptable score. For a standardized test, self-study just wouldn't bode well for me. (This is in stark contrast to my preparation for class exams. For these, I thrive on noisy solitude. Give me an iPod and some flashcards, and I'll kick my midterms and finals out of the water.) So that answered the first question for me. I needed to get to a classroom, pronto.

Next, I needed to answer the question of when I should apply. Since it was already summer, I had to hurry up and decide whether I would be able to have my application ready in time for the first round of deadlines in October. I highly recommend future applicants give themselves more time than this. Thinking the b-school application process was easier than the med school process (MCAT + primary + secondary + compiled recommendations), I thought it wouldn't be too much of a problem, thoroughly underestimating the amount of writing and work involved.

Now I had to figure out the tricky part - how many schools to apply to (and thus, how many applications to complete.) Figuring out the number of schools to apply to is a mind-numbing exercise, because each school has an additional set of essays that have to be written, as well as at least two customized letters of recommendation from colleagues and/or former employers. So how much did I want to torture myself and my writers, in essence. I thought at first, the magic number was fifteen. From there, I'd have a reasonable number of reaches, targets, and safeties, and I was sure to get into at least one, right? Not so fast, my recommender told me. Having applied to US top-ten b-schools with her husband, and her graduating with a Ross MBA (University of Michigan) and him graduating with a Harvard MBA (and getting into all five schools he applied to and later writing a well-known MBA prep book that was then acquired by an MBA prep company), I felt she was uniquely qualified to give me advice on the application process. "That's a ridiculous amount of applications to complete," she told me, "and I do not have the bandwidth to support that many recommendations." Thank you for knocking some sense into me, recommender. "Narrow your list down to at most, six," she commanded. Aye, aye sergeant.

With the magic number reduced down to a maximum of six, I now had to do the hard work of figuring out exactly which schools I truly wanted to attend. But first, I had to choose the cities in which I could stand living. (That's a grammatically-correct sentence. Never end your sentence with a preposition. But I digress.) Initially, I thought Philly was the top-contender. Perhaps a bit biased since the med school I had been waitlisted at was in Philly, I thought this busy East Coast hub would give me the chance to experience a life completely different from California. You know, freezing snow and sleet and deliciously humid summers with the chance of possibly getting shot in the streets. (Ok, it's not that bad.) I put it on the list. Next, I thought about Boston. With at least two top-notch programs in this bustling historical town, I was sure I would gain something from living here for two years. Into the list it went. But then, it occurred to me that every time I had visited Boston or Philly, or any other major US city, I still felt like I hadn't truly gone anywhere. The one thing I had learned from years of extensive business travel within the United States, was that all major cities resemble each other. With some exception, you can expect to find the same retail chains, restaurants, and lodging accommodations. A Hilton in New York feels much like a Hilton in San Francisco, which both probably have a Walgreens down the street, serve steak the same way, and are impossible to find parking at or around. (Grammatically incorrect.) For purposes of trying out a new lifestyle, I think I realized then that nowhere in the US would offer me that opportunity.

So I looked to European b-schools. Having always loved the European way of life and the mesh of nationalities, cultures, and accents in architecturally beautiful glory, I felt that I would emerge a thoroughly worldly person after a stint at one of their schools. So then came the question of which schools. Knowing I did not want a language barrier as one of the difficulties in my MBA program, I looked to top English-speaking programs. And compiled a list:

London Business School - renowned, in the heart of London, extremely reputable
HEC Paris - close to Paris, the most reputable business-teaching institution in France, opportunity to be proficient in French, well-connected in the luxury goods market, smaller class size, ideal program length
Oxford/Cambridge - world-class brand name, location in England
IMD - in idyllic Lausanne, Switzerland, known for churning out business managers, top-notch program

As my recommender suggested, I put together a lengthy business school application plan, including research on my target schools. This was not only a terrific introspective exercise in discovering what I wanted out of business school, but it also helped my recommenders write thoroughly detailed and customized letters about me.

With my love of all things French and strange whim to one day work at Chanel or Louis Vuitton (not sure how solid this dream is) in addition to the ideal program length of 16 months (more than a year, but not quite a full two years), HEC Paris seemed to be my perfect fit. With guest lecturers such as the former CEO of Louis Vuitton (Vincent Bastien) and the CEO of Givenchy and founder of eLuxury.com (Alain Lorenzo), along with notable alumni such as François-Henri Pinault (CEO of PPR and Salma Hayek's hubby), the CEO of L'Oreal (Jean-Paul Agon), the former CEO of Eli Lilly (Sidney Taurel), and the founder of Adecco (Philippe Foriel), I knew I would receive a world-class education, if I was admitted. I was also drawn to the fact that the class size at HEC was only about 215 (January and September together). Wanting a more intimate environment (less than the almost 400 at LBS), but not too intimate that everyone knows my underwear colors (the 90-person intake at IMD), 215 seemed just right. Also toying with the possibility of changing industries and pursuing luxury marketing, I knew there would be no better school than HEC in this regard.

(If I do stay in the biotech/medical device world, there are several key companies based in Paris or have large affiliate offices in Europe.)
Ahh the luxurious life. It's going to be a long flight to Paris, but LV, Chanel, and Hermes are waiting across the other side of the pond.

Getting My Mojo Back - Why Business School (Part 1)

2010-01-29T09:48:00.000-08:00

(the cast of Scrubs, taken from here)

For as long as I can remember, I've always been interested in health science: biology, physiology, neurobiology, endocrinology...all the "-ologies." To me, the human body always seemed easier to interpret and understand than all the inanimate technologies that are man-made. Architecture? Couldn't come up with something that would stay standing if my life depended on it. Engineering? Boring. Computer science? cin, cout, I'm out. No Hello World here. But blood? Fascinating. Cells? Way ingenious.

So it was only natural I would want to pursue a career in medicine. And I almost did. Right out of college with my MCAT freshly-taken, I was waitlisted for a great med school on the East Coast. But simultaneously, after the dramatic announcement of my first company's move to Colorado, I was recruited for the position of a lifetime. Or so I felt then anyway.

This new job took my breath away. Like the perfect present on Christmas Day, everything was ideal. My colleagues were young, smart, beautiful, and dashing. The company was headed by one of the most renowned medical device entrepreneurs of all time with a well-proven track record. And I got to travel all over the country all the time. By myself. At barely 22. Working with cardiologists and surgeons. It was quite a trade-off to seven years in med school and residency.

Fast forward a year later and results from the sinking economy are starting to show. Eventually, the company is acquired by a Minnesota-based corporation, and the California office is closed. So onto the next company. The young, smart, beautiful, and dashing holds true here as well. (It's Silicon Valley - running for lunch and boasts of a Stanford degree are what I've come to expect.) But this company is on the edge of something truly revolutionary. With a product that combines multiple aspects of current available products into one, it just can't go wrong. But it does. For reasons I won't delve into, the economy targets Company #3 as well. Ping! Bulls-eye. Time for #4.

Naturally, it's a little draining having to find a new job each January. Although I don't regret the trade I've made into industry, I've come to realize the volatilities of my sector. And the resistance from the FDA (the United States Food and Drug Administration that regulates the commercialization of pharmaceuticals and medical devices.)

So I started thinking, "How can I arm myself against these gusty winds?" and what if someday, I no longer want to work in the medical device industry?

What could I do with myself?

Having always been a person with a plan, and always a proactive plan, I felt lost when company #3 couldn't survive. Three times in three years is statistically significant enough to indicate that the company changes weren't all coincidence. The economy was truly tanking. Although I landed on my feet at a very large and well-known Company #4, work just didn't excite me anymore. With a big company came bureaucracy. The idea that I would be Homer Simpson pushing a Yes/No button with an automatic woodpecker took away all my spirit (see episode where Homer files for disability.)

Well no more. I was going to reclaim my passion, fervor, and motivation! I sat down one day and wrote a list of positions and responsibilities that excited me and realized I would need some additional skills to help me get my mojo back. Eventually, it dawned on me - business school was my answer!

With business school, I would be able to:

-Work with young, smart, beautiful, and dashing people

-Learn from renowned entrepreneurs

-Acquire a few new skills (corporate finance, supply chain management, improving a foreign language)

-Gain credibility (it's hard being a young woman in an industry with mostly male physicians)

-Fast-track myself to a true managerial role

-And most of all, get my passionate self back again!

I couldn't wait. In July of 2009, I made the commitment to take a nine-week Manhattan GMAT class and scheduled the actual test for four days after the course finished. In August I called all my recommenders. In late September I put together a thirteen-page plan for my business school application (and gave it to my recommenders). In October, I applied to two schools. In November, I was admitted.

B-school is seven months away but already, it's rekindled my spirit.

Stay tuned for the next post: Why I Chose HEC.

Tout A Commencé Par Un Mercredi Brumeux!

2010-01-20T22:30:00.000-08:00

I have been looking forward to this evening for a long time. Back in November, when I first found out I was admitted to HEC, the first thing I wanted to do was sign up for French classes. I wanted to throw my fist in the air and yell, “Mais oui, tres bien!!” and follow with other eloquent French phrases. But of course, by the time I figured out when the local French classes were being offered, it was already the middle of the semester.

Luckily, I soon discovered Alliance Française. A worldwide organization dedicated to an appreciation of French culture and language, they are renowned for the competency of their language classes and schedule-wise, they are much more flexible than community colleges. Plus, this month they’re offering a free French film screening with galettes de rois to go along. And I love me some galettes. So it was decided, I would visit the local AF. And tonight was the first class. How did it go? Drumroll please.

C’était genial!

I don’t need to translate for you readers. You can see my enthusiasm oozing out of the accent aigu --> (é). It was wonderful et magnifique and my professeur was full of bubbly goodness. (I sound like I’m talking about pie or something.) I think what I enjoyed most, aside from the smaller class setting, was just the opportunity to listen to a native French speaker talk. In fact, since the majority of the class was a bit more beginner, the teacher spoke in English a bit more often than I would have liked. I found myself raging, “en Français, s’il vous plait!” in my head, of course.

We listened to a great little conversational excerpt while in class. I will provide you with the transcription. Should you need a translation, go here:

Catherine: Tiens! Salut! Votre voyage est fini?

Guillaume: Bah, oui! Salut Catherine! Ça fait deux semaines qu’on est revenus!

Catherine: Et alors?

Guillaume: Génial! Mais, là, tu as deux jours pour qu’on te raconte tout?

Catherine: Vous avez fait le tour?

Guillaume: Sans problem! Pour qui tu nous prends?

Catherine: Bon, allez, racontez!

Guillaume: Dun dun dun. Tout a commencé par un mercredi brumeux. Il y avait une heure que le train roulait vers Douvres. Tout à coup! Ah! Tiens-toi bien: le contrôleur! Aaahhh! Il est arrivé et…nous a demandé nos billets!

Catherine: Oh, non! Comment est-ce possible!

Ah, oui, it’s vraiment cheesy. But still, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the real French banter. (As opposed to the poorly constructed sentences my classmates and I make, haha.) After class, my teacher remarked that perhaps I would be better suited for the classes on mardi, instead of hers, since the Tuesday classes are slightly ahead. Look at me! I’m advanced remedial already! Yes, I’m an oxymoron. The funny thing about the story we listened to is that tonight really was a mercredi brumeux. The weather has just been terrible lately in California. See news article: California Weather Sucks

Guess I better remember to bring my parapluie wherever I go. I sure hope the rest of you around the world (and I see your tracks on my page :P) are seeing more temperate weather.

Speaking of around the world, I promised an update on Campus France. After sending an email to washington@campusfrance.org, I received no response. I then called the phone number listed online. Apparently, it is a message recording. But they mention that if you need help on your application, to send a private message through your Campus France account. So that is what I did. The saga continues…

Now, dear readers, I’d like to address some of your questions. Thank you all for providing me with feedback and fodder. This blog shall be a work in progress, updated frequently, and interface prettified over time. In a previous post, I alluded briefly to the fact that I intended to visit my school while visiting Europe. Unfortunately, through a series of many events, I did not get the chance to visit Jouy-en-Josas or the HEC campus. Very unfortunate, I know. I was able to get as far as the Versailles Rive Gauche RER station. (Not to be confused with the Versailles Chantiers stop where you can get to Jouy directly.) Hence the title I gave, "Just a Little Taste." But I console myself with the fact that since it was the holiday break and no one was on campus, I'm better off re-visiting again in the spring. This time, I shall do the trip justice. (You know, clips of birds singing in the background and panoramic views of the chateau on campus. I kid. I am an html noob.)

What about your application experience, you also asked. Or what about your reasons for choosing HEC as your future business school, you said. Are you ever going to talk about those things? Mais bien sur, but that shall be reserved for a later post. The grandeur of HEC is too much for this post. Hold your horses, it’ll come.

Anyway, I hear the awards music wrapping me up. Ok, ok, I’m almost done! Before I go, I have to give a shout-out to my lovely friends. Thanks for being so supportive of my plans (and being Europhiles as well.) Incidentally, two of them, who actually don't know each other, got the same idea to give me a book about French culture as a present. So in my current reading list, I have Entre Nous and French or Foe?

Entre Nous – For those who want to find their inner French girl. This book is an observation of French women, their ways, and how to really enjoy life.

French or Foe – This book explores the cultural obstacles that Anglophones face when exploring France. With excerpts from real life, the author crafts of a great picture of French customs and mannerisms.

Hey guys, for my birthday (which coincides with the time I will be moving), how about you each carry a piece of luggage onto the plane for me instead? ;)

Visa Woes

2010-01-15T08:43:00.000-08:00

I started writing this post on Friday. Fridays are good for problem-solving. You have the whole day to think of solutions, Saturday to implement them, and Sundays to figure out a list of phone numbers to call on Monday.

I bet you think this post is about credit card debt.

Nope! Not that kind of Visa ;P.

Today I will be going over my trials and tribulations with the governmental agencies of France. More specifically, my plans to secure a student long-stay visa and the associated woes that plague me. Hopefully, this post will be useful for future US citizens who plan to study in France.

In order to apply for a long-stay student visa, which is a visa for students who are studying at an institution recognized by the French Ministry of Education for longer than 90 days, you must first create a Campus France account and receive a letter from them after payment. See link: http://usa.campusfrance.org/en/1.html

Things you need for this Campus France ID:
-your transcripts
-CV
-money order made out to “Maison Francaise- CampusFrance” for $120
-copy of your acceptance letter

Once you have completely filled out the online form, you'll need a printout of your Campus France ID. (They'll send a letter in a few weeks.)

So far, I am encountering a few difficulties. 1) The Campus France form is all in French, so you need to go by their PDF guidelines. This doesn't address little issues. Such as Attachment sizes. 2) Transcripts from post-secondary institutions need to be uploaded as files. They only accept JPEG, GIF, or BMP files not over 300 kb. This is extremely difficult. 3) Ditto for your CV to be uploaded. I plan to email washington@campusfrance.org for some help with this. Will update shortly!

Next, assuming you have received your confirmation letter from Campus France, you will need to schedule a visa appointment with the French Embassy. Here is a list of documents you will need to present IN PERSON at your appointment, taken from the San Francisco French Embassy's website. (So they better be ready before you go to your appointment):

-Passport valid for 3 months beyond the applicant’s last day in France (+ 1 photocopy)

-2 Copies of the Long Stay application forms filled out and signed - (Remember to indicate a date of departure)

-2 passport-size photographs

-For non US citizens, Proof of legal residence in the US (visa, permanent resident card…) (+ 1photocopy)

-A letter of admission (pre-enrollment) from a University which the applicant will attend in France. This school must be recognized by the French Cultural Office (+ 1 photocopy)

-Financial guarantee: either a notarized statement (from the parents) certifying that the applicant will receive a monthly allowance of 800 US dollars for the duration of her/his stay in France and their last 3 bank statements, or a proof of (student’s) personal income and their last 3 bank statements and a letter from the University stating that room, board and tuition are fully prepaid (+ 1 photocopy)

-Proof of medical insurance with coverage valid for France if you are attending a school or university for a stay less than 6 months OR if you are 28 or older regardless of the length of your studies (+ 1 photocopy). You will have to prove that the coverage is valid while you study in France with a letter from your medical insurance.

-A printout of your ID number from Campus France.

-A copy of your last Degree, Diploma, student ID, or transcript (+ 1 photocopy)

-Round trip ticket if you are studying 6 months or less (+ 1 photocopy) or a one way ticket only if you are studying in France more than 6 months (+ 1 photocopy).

Once you've secured your visa, you'll also need to apply for a Carte de Sejour (residency permit) once you arrive in France and you will need to submit the Attestation OFII form in France as well.

...I have my work cut out for me. Current status: Campus France account started, form not completed, attachments too large, passport sitting on an official desk somewhere, in the process of being renewed.

Un Petit Peu d'Europe - Just a Little Taste

2010-01-14T12:23:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day – Spent in the Clouds

As some of you may know, I have been eagerly looking forward to this Europe trip since my family booked it all-impromptu style almost a month ago. The main purpose of going to Europe is to visit my school, but we are visiting a bunch of other countries as well. Might as well, you know, while we’re on this continent.

So this morning started off relatively uneventful. We drove to SFO in our little rented car and got to our gate by 7 am. However, I should mention, that in our rush to get to the airport, food was foregone and there was nary a food place open in the US Airways terminal. Sigh. Oh well, it’s Christmas, and I’m going to Paris!

After getting on the plane to Philly, we realize that it’s quite an overbooked flight. A bunch of unruly teenagers are scattered around us (they come from a family of 10) and a little 21-month-old is steadily puking into a cup as his mother carries him past. Halfway through the flight, there’s an announcement for a physician as that little 21-month-old is pretty sick. We see a guy get up from his seat in first class to take care of this little baby on Christmas. Ahh, thank you Doctor. After two beverage services (but no snacks), Tiff and I have visited the bathroom at least three times each. Luckily we’re all sitting in the same row, so it’s just a little bit of musical chairs. An announcement is made telling us that we are 75 miles from Philly and to get back into our seats. We have to pee again, but since we’re close to landing (or so we think), we hold it in. The plane makes a little descending motion and then stops actively moving. Darn it – we’re being put in a holding pattern. This little cycle occurs about three times for about 45 minutes, until we are finally able to land. At this point, we are one hour delayed and have only twenty minutes to make it to our next flight in the next terminal. We patiently wait as the medics cart the 21-month-old’s family off first and then we make a beeline for the bathroom. After emerging from the potty a little bit happier, we sprint to our Paris flight. Luckily, it’s not completely full and there are still loads of (practicing my British here) people streaming onboard. Mom decides to find an empty row for herself, leaving Tiff to have the two seats by the window and me still stuck in the middle section with a family and their 8-month-old. He’s very cute. The baby makes some faces at me and I make some faces back. Then his face begins to do a funny contortion – a mix between a smile and a frown and his whole face reddens. The mother says, “Oh he’s making!” as if that explains his face. Then she whispers to me, “he’s cooking” and it dawns on me. This baby is POOPING right before my very eyes. Not so cute anymore. I motion to my sister to take a look at his face while making no effort to conceal my laughter. His face is still strained! Uh oh – I definitely have a whiff of the bathroom right now. Luckily, the mom carts him off to be changed. Shortly after we take off, the flight attendants come around to serve dinner. Remembering who just pooped in my face right next to my seat table, I’m all of a sudden not so hungry. Even though I haven’t had a chance to eat anything all day.

Landing in Paris

Tiff and I are way tired. We have not slept a wink on this cramped little plane. But stepping off the plane, we’ve clearly entered another world. There’s French everywhere!! Perked up a little bit by this fact, I eagerly run through customs and to baggage claim. At first the sign for our US Airways flight says “Livraison Retardée,” meaning, “Delivery Delayed.” Boo…Tiff is not happy about this. But then, we hear the carousel move. I look back at the sign and it’s now been changed to “Livraison en cours” (Delivery in progress). It’s kinda neat to be able to practice my French. Finally, I see my bag come out and I joyfully pull it off the conveyor belt. But then, the carousel stops and the sign now reads “Livraison Terminée” (Delivery Finished). But wait – where are Tiff and Mom’s bags? Oh dear…the dreaded walk to the baggage office to go complete some forms. There’s a cluster of angry US Airways passengers ahead of me, waiting for these twentysomething French people to do something about their missing luggage. When it’s finally my turn, I hand the woman behind the counter my form and indicate that I will not be in Paris long (so I hope the bags get delivered soon). Another woman comes out and tells us that seven more US Airways bags have just been located. I run to the newly-discovered luggage pile and find our missing two bags. Whew, ok good. We’re off to a rocky start, but at least we have our clothes with us.

Day 1 in Paris – The Louvre and a Bunch of Things I Can’t Remember

While waiting for our ride in Charles De Gaulle, we saunter to a nearby food counter and Tiff decides to order something. Mom thrusts some Euros in my hand and tells me to order for her. Aaaahhhh!! My French is rusty, save me!! Seeing no way out, I suck it up and go to the counter. My heart is pounding. I open my mouth. “Une banane s’il vous plait.” “Juste un?” the teenage boy asks. “Oui, un,” I respond. He packs the banana and waits for me to finish. “Et un saumon fumé aussi.” He grabs the little smoked salmon sandwich and puts it with the banana. “C’est tout?” he asks. “Et de l’eau chaud, s’il vous plait.” “Chaud?” he asks. “Oui, chaud,” I tell him. The French seem to think it strange to ask for hot water. Anyway, I’ve successfully completed my first order in French! Woohoo!

Places I visited and would love to linger at:

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Note: This post was written 12/25 - 12/26 with the intention of updating my trip while in Europe. Unfortunately, internet was scarce in our hotels (at least for a reasonable fee) and I was unable to post my activities. This is a little excerpt of what I did manage to write.

Needs for End of 09 and All of 2010

2009-12-14T08:51:00.000-08:00

Hip Hip Hello!

It occurred to me that musing online in a semi-public forum might be easier to drum up sympathy for the tough stuff I'm going to be facing (as an MBA candidate) as well as sort out my thoughts and priorities (duh, it's always easier to see things when they're black and white. Like this font!)

So today's topic is going to be the latter (thoughts and priorities). In fact, it's going to be a very material post, so apologies in advance.

After a thoroughly productive weekend of snowboarding in Tahoe, I have destroyed a good pair of calf boots. You might wonder, what do calf boots have to do with snowboarding? And who the hell wears high-heeled boots in the snow anyway? Well, the answers to both questions are this: 1) calf boots have everything to do with snowboarding, or pre/post-snowboarding, and 2) probably only me. In any case, I happen to like all sorts of heeled pump-like shoes and the ones I brought on this Tahoe trip were zip-up calf-length boots. I figured, the extra heel will help me not step on my pants when I walk on the snow, and boots are better than pumps when you're going to a freezing location. Plus, how much am I really going to be walking outside anyway?

Gah, a lot apparently. Lesson learned. Somehow, in between getting into the car, getting onto the lifts, and getting back into the cabin, I've destroyed a pair of nice boots. Now I need to buy another pair. Yes, my shoe collection is in a state of equilibrium - when one is destroyed, one needs to be replaced. Always in a state of flux and never leaning towards one side of the equation. Now the question is, where can I find a durable pair of boots for a discounted price? And this got me thinking about all the things I'd like to have vs. what I need to have vs. what I should be doing while saving up so I can afford my Parisian MBA. Sigh.

I do need boots. Because you never know when you'll be cold and need a pair of shoes to double like leg warmers. Second, I don't need to be buying much more other than a set of clothes that can last me through 2012. (Ok, I should really set a budget for this.) Third, my priorities should start at SAVING. Meaning, buy that pair of boots and don't buy anything for half a year until I'm about to go to France and realize that I have absolutely nothing that can brave the harsh European weather. Hmm...so what did I just figure out?