The German-Swiss really went all out to organize a memorable National week. On Wednesday evening, I went to the driving range with Bill and Valerie. Valerie is a Belgian amateur golf champion, and it was an honour to have her play with my fake Callaway clubs.
Wednesday was my birthday, and INSEAD offered me 4.5 hours of POM as a present. (Process Operations Management) In the evening, we had a distinguished panel including “Your Excellency” the German Ambassador, a representative of the Swiss embassy, and several spokespersons from German and Swiss companies. After enjoying complementary Beck’s, seven students studying Spanish went out for dinner at Morton’s for some very serious Porterhouse steaks. We practiced our Spanish for our exam the next day, which went fine for everyone.
Friday evening was the climax of the German-Swiss week. We booked the entire second floor of the Paulaner brewery and restaurant. It was a sponsored, “free-flow” event, and many participants got pretty smashed while eating sausage and sauerkraut.
I studied all day Saturday, and went out for dinner at the Japanese BBQ with a few friends. On Sunday afternoon, we had a finance review session, and I continued to study calls and puts until about 8pm. I then had a pleasant dumpling take-out dinner at Lucas’ with the Italian crew.
On Monday, we had an accounting review. I planned on studying in the afternoon, but when I looked outside and saw a perfectly blue sky, I couldn’t resist the urge of playing golf. I tried to convince my regular golf buddies, but all used the “I have to study” excuse to turn down my invitation. Not discouraged, I went on my own and played a quick 9-hole with three Singaporean chemical engineers. My game is improving! I could drive very well, but I putted quite poorly, walking away with a decent 47. I had dinner at the course, and headed home to study. Later, I went out with Leo, his brother and his girlfriend for some good-byes at the hawker center. The then left to Madrid via Frankfurt.
I have 6 exams in the next 6 days. We will get finance out of the way on Thursday morning, followed by OB in the afternoon. After a 4-hour marketing case on Friday, we will have the weekend to study POM, accounting and perhaps a little strategy. On Tuesday night, we’ll have a big end-of-period party/Christmas party. On Wednesday afternoon, I have a phone interview with a retailer based in Singapore. We will have a get-together around 10pm at Changi Airport, as many people will board planes bearing for Europe around midnight. I will fly Singapore Airlines to Amsterdam, BMI to London and finally Air Canada to Montreal. I will arrive in Montreal on the 22rd at 5pm. I will celebrate Christmas with my family and stay in Montreal until the 29th, and head for Ft Lauderdale until January 6th. At 6am on the 6th, I will fly JetBlue to JFK to catch the 11am Japan Airlines to Singapore via Tokyo.
Time has flown by so fast! I’ve been away from Canada for 6 months already! I’m not sure when the next blog entry will be, but I will attempt to update it before leaving Singapore next week.
Canada, here I come!
No comments:
Post a Comment