Saturday, May 28, 2011

Why I bought a Mac...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iLgNUlS3gc


And there you have it. The wonders of Final Cut Pro... What a program. What a friggin amazing program... um... yeah so now I should probably catch up on some homework. IT IS the weekend (so I feel semi-better about having spent most of my time making afore-linked video).

HOPE YOU ENJOY!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Some time to reflect...

Drive to Koenigsee (King's Lake)

The past 5 months at INSEAD... I feel like I'm in a dream. Sometimes the words from the movie the Matrix echo through my head:

"Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream, Neo? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?"

And I'm not trying to be melodramatic. I'm quite seriously reflecting right now. Some of this came out of a conversation I had with some friends recently when we were just comparing our lives in the bubble to those of you - our support system connected to us outside the bubble and we really feel like we're "plugged in" to some sort of surreal system.

View from a boat on the Lake
As you obviously know, I love INSEAD. It is a great experience. My whole life I've been a fan of the United Nations, and here I am living this "dream" for a year, surrounded by nationalities I've never interacted with before, learning nuances of cultures, slang in various languages, and quite a bit about myself.

I know some of you, at least those of you who have been keeping up to date with me via email and/or through friends or (to an extent) through facebook have noticed how much I'm traveling. I've visited several cities over several weekends - most of the time trying to bunch them together.

What's funny is that it sometimes feels like my classes too! The 1st two periods of core classes were filled with an entire spectrum of knowledge leaning slightly more towards finance in the beginning and more towards qualitative subjects like strategy and marketing towards the end.

I've honestly felt like I've been going to different cities even in classes. Absorbing whatever I can for the 90 minutes on Financial Accounting, before packing my bags and heading to another city with a completely different view of the world and a cuisine to match in say Financial Market Valuation. And during each trip, through Berlin, Managerial Accounting, Prague, Organisational Behaviour, and so on and so forth, I've realised what is important to me.

Prioritizing what I want to see. Experiencing what is important to my future. Assimilating onward and forward.

And everytime I stop to take a breath I run into a different version of me, racing to explore other nooks and crannies, hopeful to find out yet a little bit more of what there is to offer.



Alps.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

First Star Sighting!


yep - saw him at Cannes. was hilarious because my friend yelled out his name and he turned around to wave. then as we were standing there, another star appeared


at which point she convinced all of us to yell out his name and when we did he was a little intrigued how so many fans appeared but then waved. it was quite hilarious.

cannes was an interesting experience. several levels of badges and access and entry and this and that and lines and so on... fun times nonetheless.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Two things..


1. I really take for granted the fact that lots of places in US & France (and some parts of Europe) have a no-smoking policy!

Because man do you SMELL when you walk out of a Pub and it is especially annoying when you're say - asking for directions and you walk out smelling like a bar-rat. ANYways. This brings me to point number dos:

2. Live Music is great. I've been to many bars and pubs all around the place - France, Netherlands, Austria, Thailand, USA, India - and the few things I do like - first and foremost are the accents of the performers. Somehow they try to mimic the voices of Bono, Elvis, or Jimi and they end up sounding like Johnny Cash - a great version of Johnny Cash, but still, Mr. Cash. It is just an observation. And I think it is because they get really excited about the "American" accent that they take it either wayyyyyy too far south or back West. I've been noticing this all around. Even songs by Coldplay sound like there's a cameo from one of the aforementioned.

Anyhow, back from the live music scene in Austria. Great songs. Amazing ambiance. And a martin acoustic to keep the rhythm going.


Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Wish you were here!


These drives are amazing. I will (promise) upload pics shortly. Internet here sucks. But definitely on the drive over here I keep thinking about random sights and sounds here that I would love to share with you - and I actually do know who you are and who I would want to be here so it is not entirely a blanket/mass message here folks!

Some are really suitable to the artistic eye, while others are for the more cynical of heart. Yet others with the comical or vdo game references and of course the motherly touches and the childlike awe.

Driving through the roads and highways you think and feel like everything looks the same (when you're on a road) and then you turn for a few seconds (keeping your eye on the road as a priority) and notice the countryside.

Then you start to miss one another. And I do miss you!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

road trippppppppp!


exams done.

class photos taken.

packing. or almost packed. hopefully packed completely.

in lucerne tonight.
then to innsbruck.
vienna.
finally prague.

and this should be a great trip!

will try to keep blogs updated. but will def do so post-trip!

hope all's well with you :)

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Inevitable...


Always happens. Every term. There's a freakout mode. Facebook, for example, is crowded with the same variations of the same complaints of the same classes. And you ask yourself, why the heck didn't you work harder, study harder, read more, and so on... during the semester. The honest truth - because there are constant trade-offs. You read the extra stuff for one class, you can't for the other. You want to go to a networking cocktail to meet a prospective/future employer, you can't finish some other homework.

And so the story goes... pa-parara-pa... :)

However, I have recently received some nudges (or complaints to be really straightforward :P and take acknowledgment of not fulfilling some promises, so here goes!)

Haven't had a chance to properly update these pics and so on, so I apologize for any randoms that aren't focused and/or double shots and so on...


Luxembourg & Berlin (March 10th - 13th)
Istanbul (March 19th - 21st)
Amsterdam & Lille (April 2nd-4th)

Boo yah! Hope you enjoy :)