Scribbles

Thank God I'm still alive to write this.  I got into a car accident yesterday.  It was one of those mornings, cold, running slightly late for the 8:30 class, raining, and still tired from the party the night before.  So stupid me takes the turn into the roundabout too fast without considering the wet road, and I lose control.  The car went right through the roundabout, then hits the curb on the other side.  Usually this roundabout by my house is crowded, but since it was a national holiday, not a single car was in sight.  So no other cars, people, or animals were injured.  As for me, not even a scratch.  I got out of the wreck and saw that one tire completely deflated.  The wheel on the other side was dented, not good.

So between then and now, my mood did the full transition, cycling through a gamut of emotions.  At the time of the incident, I didn't panic or feel frightened, simply pissed off that it had happened.  One of my housemates picked me up on the way to school and I left my car on the side of the road.  In class, my mood went from anger to sullenness, the usual “why does this have to happen to me” self-loathing, carping at the world.  By the afternoon, it had become gratitude.  I came out completely unscathed and nobody else got hurt.  The rest is just tackling the issue.

Today, it became irritation.  My buddy Gino and I spent the afternoon trying to fix it.  We got turned down by the local garage to fix it; “c'est impossible” repeated the garage owner, because they're too busy.  They couldn't even spare us 10 minutes to replace the tire.  We left in disgust and decided to handle it ourselves.  Since I had to replace two wheels, I borrowed Gino's spare, which turned out to be flat.  So Gino drove all around town trying to inflate it, and after half an hour finally returned.  For the second wheel, when I tried to get mine, the bolt that holds the spare (the cars here in France have full spares under the car) was completely rusted and refused to budge.  So with that dented wheel, I drove the car gingerly to another garage, hoping they could unbolt it.  But alas, the verdict was cutting it and replacing it.  Again, the liberal French holidays kept the parts shop closed, so I had to drive home whobbly-wheeled.  Looks like I will have to tackle it again next week.  At this point, I will be happy if replacing the wheel is it.  I really hope the alignment isn't completely destroyed.

I’m starting to notice a pattern. Once again, I’m blogging at the airport. This time, the infamous Rossy-Charles De Gaulle airport. A huge multinational corporation decided I was sufficiently expense-worthy to fly me out to the Big Apple to further determine my employability. Who am I, still jobless in P5, to decline, and travel to one of the best cities in the world no less?

Back to the subject of this ranting, a rather unpleasant security probing. I’m not sure who to give proper credit to for this experience, ze French, US security, American Airlines, probably a combination of the above. Nonetheless, the questioning I underwent at the AA pre-checkin security counter made me think of the people extradited to an undisclosed country for a confession inducing one-on-one:

What do you do?
A student.
Let me see your student pass.
Why are you going to NY?
To talk to a company.
Do you have a receipt for your ticket?
No, the company paid for it.
Where are you staying?
Holiday Inn.
Do you have a receipt?
Again, no, I didn’t pay for it.
When did you buy your luggage bag? What kinds of electronics are you carrying? Where and when did you buy them? Have you sent them in for repair? How did you get to the airport? And on and on.

He then leafed through my passport and focused on my visa to Indonesia. You went to Indonesia? For how long and why? 3 days for vacation. Only 3 days? Yes, I went from closeby Singapore.

More inane questioning ensued, and the entire ordeal must have lasted at least 7 minutes, while feeling more like an unacceptable eternity. I’m rational enough to see the need for security, especially to NYC, but does that justify criminal treatment for someone going to his own country? And why single out Indonesia out of all the countries stamped in my passport, because it’s predominantly Muslim? Aren’t there French laws against that?

My takeaway is that I at least walked away from the grilling to the checkin counter without further hassle and, to borrow a phrase from Accordion Guy, preserved my anal sovereignty.

Naively thinking all the unpleasantness was over, I assumed that the checkin process would go smoothly. But alas, my French experience had not ended. To complete it, the agent insisted on weighing my carryon, asked me if the suit-carrying slip I was holding (with hanger showing) contained a suit, and dismissed me with one final parting shot; in oh-so-francais manner she claimed to have let me take it on the plane because the flight wasn’t full. Gee, can I get a free snarl with that? Let’s see, my luggage falls well within the weight and size limit, so spare me your infinite generosity s’il-vous-fucking-plait.

While the courses in P4 were good, I found myself less enthusiastic about them when compared to the excellent electives I took in P3.  That definitely affected my approach and effort to my studies last period.  Coming into this period, I expected to be more relaxed given everyone in the final period turns their attention from academics to job search and final period socializing.  But after attending my first 3 electives, I think I've recovered my P3 enthusiasm.  I picked these 3 courses based on the professor evaluations from previous promotions, and luckily my bids all came through.

Power and Politics discusses how to build up your own power to influence people in the political dynamics of every organization.  In the first lecture, the professor had us list what we think are sources of power and what we can do to develop them, in the absence of wealth (a huge source of power).  How can we, a bunch of talented and motivated people not born into wealth and fame, develop our own politcal and social capital that ultimately translates to power?

Somewhat disappointed by professor Rangan's teaching style after the first lecture of Global Strategy and Management (he's not very engaging), I really enjoyed this morning's lecture on why and how should firms become global.  The professor's systematic and deliberate style works effectively at teaching the methodological way I think strategy applied.  He delivers very clearly and precisely the concepts, as well as offering his own insight.  Very solid, completely vindicated.

The dark horse of the three is Family Firms, a course I considered dropping due to the workload I wanted to manage this period.  But after the first session, I was utterly floored by both the professor and the content.  Thoroughly engaging, he loves to share his opinion and expertise in the subject matter.  He claims that most MBA programs have it wrong because of the lack of coverage of this subject.  After all, the majority of firms worldwide are family firms in some shape or form, making it relevant to understand the various dynamics behind them, even for those not actively engaged in family firms.  One example brought up is the many times investment bankers waltzing in with the best deals only to walk away baffled by management's lack of enthusiasm for their perfect proposals.  Why?  Because they failed to see the underlying motivation of the people in power.  What makes perfect business sense might not make family sense.  Most exciting to me is the psychoanalysis behind these ventures, which all began as entrepreneurships.  So what started out for me as potential drop candidate has become my most anticipated class, as psychology and entrepreneurship are the two subjects I feel most passionate about.

My last course, First Hundred Days, won't begin until June.  This one deals with the issues general managers deal with as they're air dropped into a venture or company in the first hectic period.  More on this when it begins.

I may be taking on a lot more than I bargained for, but the excitement of learning has been rekindled.  The MBA academics have definitely been worthwhile and I owe it to myself to get the most out of it.  Just yesterday, I was tempted to ditch Friday classes for an amazing tour of Champagne (organized by our stellar campus oenophiles), but now, these courses are just too interesting and valuable to miss.  Exploring beautiful France will have to wait.

Today's my 4th day back to France, almost fully settled in and adjusted.  The most unpleasant aspect so far has been the weather.  Spoiled by the heat in Singapore and absolutely gorgeous weather in California, I find the 15 degree Celsius cloudy and rainy days here less than pleasant.  I heard that just last week it was beautiful, so I'm expecting it to turn soon.

Another adjustment is the transportation; it's back to driving again, no more taxis.  Since my car gathered leaves in the forest for the past four months, the battery died and I've been dealing with it.  After repeated jump starts I started to suspect that the battery died permanently since it wasn't charging.  But after running it for almost an hour yesterday, I managed to start it this morning to catch my 8:30 class without bothering folks for a jump.  I'm hoping that it keeps up and spares me the expense. 

My mood so far has been a bit down.  Perhaps it's the combination of jet lag and gloomy weather.  In some ways my return has felt like a let down after the highs I experienced the past few weeks on the two other continents.  But classes have been in full swing and the social gatherings are about to pick up.  I'm certain my mood will as well.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

The week and a half spent here in California blew past, just like that.  After my short visit to see the family in LA, I spent the remaining time here in good ole Silicon Valley.  Being at INSEAD, you don't have time to miss your old life.  But being here with all my friends and loved ones, eating at familiar hangouts, seeing my old colleagues, made me realize how much I miss it here and how much I enjoy being in the company of these people.

INSEAD's Building Business in Silicon Valley course took place this week, and while I did not attend, I met with my classmates on a Yahoo campus visit.  One classmate, upon seeing the foosball tables, free sodas, and all around hectic SV atmosphere commented that she's so glad to be away from it, especially the long hours and non-stop work in the labs.  Personally, after being exposed to all the investment banks and consulting firms the past months at school, I'm not convinced they are any better.  As a matter of fact, I would argue they're much worse.  After all, being in SV still affords you a relatively accessible healthy life-style compared to the Shanghai's, New York's, and London's of the world.  When you compare the weather, air quality, fresh produce, and general life-style of the people, the Bay Area wins hands down.

Alas, I am slated for a very early flight tomorrow leaving for Paris, which I hear is just beautiful right now.  I look forward to the forest life in P5.  Hard to believe the MBA journey is almost over; it feels like just yesterday since I was last here.