Summer fun is over and school has officially started. I am swamped with readings, homework and individual as well as team assignments. Our professors are world-class, and come from various institutions such as HBS, Stanford, MIT, as well as in-house INSEADers. All are very interesting and make classes highly interactive.
Big disappointment, I failed the Spanish exam with a ridiculous 39%, so I will have to take classes starting in period 2 or 3. Aye caramba! As for the accounting exam, I received an email saying I had failed the exemption exam and needed to take the course. I asked for my grade and was told that I scored 68%, with 70% being the passing grade. 1 multiple question short! I spoke to the professor after class and explained the situation. His exact words were: “We’re not here to waste your time or tuition money; if you think you will learn more from another class, I will exempt you from accounting right now.” Relieved that I would not have to go through painful t-accounts and journal entries, I selected “Strategies of product and service development” instead. My other classes are “Leading people and groups”, “Prices and Markets” (microeconomics), “Financial markets and valuation” (corp finance) and "Uncertainty, data and judgment” (stats). … I have covered most of this material at Schulich but it’s a good review. I have no excuse for doing poorly in these classes. The first lesson I learned is never bet against the statistics professor… He managed to excerpt $110 from different people in the room.
We mostly get along well in my group, although there were a few bumps already… Our cultural and background differences are already showing up, and dealing with them will be both challenging and enriching. We are currently working out the operating rules which will guide our interactions for the next four months. (It’s actually an assignment for my “Leading people and groups” class.) I was also "elected" class representative for external relations. I say "elected" because no one else submitted their candidacy for this position. I will be officially designated as so on Monday.
There are many events taking place on campus almost every day . 99% of events come with free food and drinks, which makes a material difference on our drinking budgets. BCG had a presentation on oil and power on Monday. On Tuesday, the President of Singapore came by to say hello. He walked up to me and asked where I was from. He then told me that I had an Indian accent and appeared very puzzled when I told him that I was from the French part of Canada. After the presidential visit, we had an info-session from Capital International, a little-known asset-management firm with a meager portfolio of U$ 1 trillon. The presentation did not stimulate me very much but the sushi and wine were delicious. A few of us went out to the Fullerton Hotel Post Bar for a few long drinks, then found the cheapest beer in Singapore: $35 for 10 beers! We played pool with a Singapore Airlines attendant until well past 3am. On Wednesday, I had the first meeting with the Entrepreneurship club, with beers sponsored by a venture capital firm. It was extremely interesting, and excited me tremendously about the idea of starting a business post-INSEAD. Thursday night was Bain & Company’s turn to charm us into applying for a job there, and they were very successful. The buffet after the info-session was also the fanciest so far. Finally, on Friday, McKinsey came by to inform us about their firm, and invited the P4s (MBAs 4 months away from graduation) to a fancy dinner. All these presentations are targeted to P4s but P1s (that's me) are normally welcome to join. I will reach P4 in March. My most interesting options at this point are entrepreneurship or management consulting.
On Friday night, dozens of us went out to Cocoon Bar on Clarke Quay. They have an ice-bar in the back, which is kept at -5 Celsius. They offer winter jackets, and for $15, you get to cool down and drink a shot of vodka. It is considered an extreme temperature for Singaporeans, but the Canadians and Scandinavians were in there for about 30 minutes without jackets. It was funny to watch people who have never been in such “cold” shiver after 2 minutes. Everything is relative in this world.
In other news, we’ve hired a maid to look after our apartment. I was supposed to take the PADI certification (scuba diving) classes next weekend, but the class is full so it will have to wait until the weekend after. There are 3 in-class sessions, followed by a pool dive and four open-water dives in Malaysia. Philip, my roommate, bought a blender and we make delicious fruit shakes every morning, and sometimes at night too. I’ve concocted a delicious recipe with bananas, strawberry yogurt, an egg, apple juice, milk, and the secret ingredient: rum!
I’ve started working out in my building's gym and love it! When I lived in Toronto in 2003, I could hardly reach 12 minutes on the treadmill. After this summer’s physical activities, I managed to run 35-40 minutes at 8.5km/hour three times this week. I was extremely impressed and proud of myself. I purchased a Samsung 1gb MP3 player to encourage me to keep going. It’s too hot to run outside during the day, but I may give it a go during the evening.
My phone number in Singapore +65 9351 9391 and it should be cheap to call from North America or Europe. Please keep in mind the 12-hour difference with Montreal/New York.
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