Spring break!
Spring break is here! And after this another 3 weeks to the CSR Conference and then another 4 weeks to graduation. Then another 2 weeks before I go to Malaysia! Yay!Spring break is the perfect opportunity for "sun-starved" college kids in the mid-west (such as U of M) to have an excuse to takeover Florida for a week. I never quite understood the rationale...everyone running off to Florida or the Bahamas to escape the cold and the college life here, but really..you know that the only people you'll meet there are other students on Spring break. It's possibly like an extended bar-night on the beach so people are either drunk, hungover or if still sober, tanning on the beaches of Florida. I've also found it ironic when girls run off to the tanning salons before Spring Break because they don't want to look too fair in their bikinis. Really, if you are paying $10 to get a pre-tan in the salon; then it boogles my mind that the same person would pay $500 to fly to Florida and "get a tan". Urm...maybe that's why the after-sun lotions do so well during this period of time.Then there are those who can afford Europe...Barcelona, London, Italy....how I wish I could stuff myself in their luggages and get a free trip. Well, so what am i doing for Spring Break? My lazy weekend is to be spent reading books from my room-mates -- Lolita, and my research professor -- Unmasking the face; Emotions revealed; From Dogma to Heresy. Then it's off to Aman's house in Cincinnati tomorrow to meet his parents and sister, and then onto Chicago on Thursday morning for some serious shopping on MI Ave, and bestowing the clubs with my presence. :P Life is good....
My first big step
The weather has been freaky today. It was sunny, windy, snowed and then became sunny again. Hmm....I have an exciting announcement to share with the world....I have been accepted to work for MindValley in Kuala Lumpur!!!!
(1 year long internship)
Woot! *jumping around*
After 2 rounds of long-distance interviews that took place in the early morning hours here in America, a mini-background check, recommendations from Rickesh and Suzanne (Danke!), and then a nail-biting wait for the moment of truth....I received an email from Vishen saying I had been accepted to work for MindValley.
Note: They offered to interview me at more sane hours but I have a freaky sleep pattern anyway which explains the midnight interviews.
I immediately dropped everything I was doing, and ran downstairs to jump around excitedly in my living room where my 5th roommate (Nick) was to tell him the news that I was going to KL!
KUALA LUMPUR here I come! :)
Now that the news has had a few days to sink in, and I have had the chance to talk to Mike about the anticipated arrival date plus details about living in Malaysia...breaking the news to my mom and dad.
Suddenly, a nervous knot formed in my tummy...it's just hit me that all the weeks of wanting to leave the states was coming true, and will actually happen in another 8 weeks! Woah! My undergraduate life is coming to an end in 8 weeks!! Truth be told, the last 4 years in MI has been the best time of my life, and I really enjoyed my undergrad experience here. The friendships, the inspiring people I've met, the Ann Arbor life, the random travel throughout America because of AIESEC conferences, the cafe hangouts, the cramming sessions in the library, driving on the highways at 90mph, my favorite TV shows like CSI, the Colbert Report, Family Guy.... Aww shucks -- is there cable in Malaysia?
Funny how you start to appreciate the things when you are about to lose them?
So right now, (as I sort of told Juanita in an email)
"I feel nervous because I am leaving the states for real, am nervous about life in Malaysia (will I fit in?), and also because I am going to stop getting support from my parents now that I am graduating, and I wonder if I will survive given the lifestyle I have been so used to. So yeah, feeling this mixture of excitement and fear because I want to be out on my own but have this sense that I have been in such a safe environment for so long, Im not sure if I am prepared for the harsh realities of the real world."
eeks! life...
Longest Commerical flight (Singapore-Newark)
So Im about to purchase flight tickets back to Asia when I chance upon a rather interesting flight schedule on orbitz.com (an 18.5 hr nonstop flight between Newark to Singapore). Curious about the flight conditions, I make a quick check on the web for this airplane...and found an article which made me laught. Why? Read on... The comment that struck me is highlighted in bold.Record Longest Flight Flies in the Face of Its CriticsA hardy group of 181 passengers boarded a jet at Singapore airport yesterday for the world's longest commercial flight - an inaugural non-stop service to New York designed to appeal to time-pressed Asian and American business executives. After a champagne send-off accompanied by a band...By Guardian Newspapers, 6/29/2004
A hardy group of 181 passengers boarded a jet at Singapore airport yesterday for the world's longest commercial flight - an inaugural non-stop service to New York designed to appeal to time-pressed Asian and American business executives. After a champagne send-off accompanied by a band blasting out "New York, New York", the Singapore Airlines plane embarked on an 18-hour, 8,900 nautical mile journey over the North Pole which has drawn criticism from experts on medical and commercial grounds. Airline staff handed out 20,000 red apples to mark the record, which uses a new ultra long-range Airbus A340-500 plane with enlarged wings, enhanced engines and a smaller, lighter body than traditional passenger aircraft. Singapore Airlines said it would knock four hours off a one-stop service and would cut down on delays. A spokesman, John Cotton, said: "If you've got an intermediate stop-off point you're at the mercy of air traffic control and various other factors, which can be very inconvenient." The new Airbus plane has a long enough range to fly non-stop between London and western Australia. But doctors have expressed concern about the impact on the body of such long unbroken flights, in which passengers will constantly breathe recycled air. Experts said passengers had a greater chance of picking up viral infections such as flu and colds on board. Farrol Kahn, director of the Aviation Health Institute, said the heart and lungs would come under increased strain from a lower than usual supply of oxygen, with an enhanced risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) among people who fail to exercise frequently on board. "We'd like to see doctors on board these very long flights," said Mr Kahn. "There is an increased risk of medical incidents across the board - whether it's heart attacks, DVT, fainting or alcohol abuse." Singapore Airlines has equipped its new aircraft with special cupboards big enough to take a corpse in case any passengers die en route. The planes are staffed by 14 cabin crew and six flightdeck officers, each working four-hour shifts. A special "passengers' corner" on board allows people to chat or "network" during the flight. The flight requires 222,000 litres of fuel, weighing more than 10 times as much as the passengers. Jeff Gazzard, of the environmental organisation AirportWatch, said the service would mean less noise pollution than a stopping service. However, he said there was little advantage in fuel consumption because of the need to use more energy at the beginning of the flight to power its heavy load. "I would expect there to be a marginal environmental advantage in stopping en route," he said. Return tickets on the route cost £700 in premium economy class or £2,900 in "Raffles" business class. But industry watchers queried the long-term commercial case for the service. Kieran Daly, group editor of Flight International, said Airbus had struggled to attract orders for the long-range plane, which is only suitable for a small number of routes. Mr Daly said that even among business passengers there was often a preference to stop for a break during long journeys: "An 18-hour flight is a pretty tough experience. It's not yet clear that passengers are really going to leap at the chance of flying these kind of distances non-stop."
© Guardian Newspapers Limitedhttp://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-29-2004-56033.aspp/s: Hmm...gotta be extra careful about opening the cupboards on these planes! ;Ppp/ss: that was 2004, the longest commerical flight is Hongkong to London nonstop (flight time: 22 hours 43 minutes)
Teach....
Here's a thought: How do you define yourself?
The question is an old one, I started mulling over it when I was in junior college during my Literature classes. Good ole' Samuel Beckett who wrote some plays on existentialism, and the meaning of life. He had a very dismal outlook, as do most literary people.
I remember in elementary school...the teachers had us write an essay on "My Ambition". What was yours? My ambition at 8 years old was to be a teacher. I don't remember why I wanted to be one back then, but it might have something to do with my mother who teaches at an elementary school. I think it might also have to do with the school vacation that all teachers in the civil service enjoyed. Or maybe I thought being able to grade someone else's work, and give them Cs and Ds was better than receiving them myself.
Or it could be that I hated the dentist and evil nurses in my elementary school who would stick big needles in little kids and make them cry.
Anyway, we all must have changed what we wanted to do eventually, or the society would be over-run with policemen, firemen, teachers, and doctors. (The only known professions to children) Now my friends are consultants, Investment bankers, traders, engineers. Very few stuck on as doctors, or lawyers or even teaching. Hmm...
Like those school days, people still ask me the same question "what is your ambition in life?" Long term goals... I have to say, it's the same as it was when I was 8 years old. I love teaching...educating young minds, and shaping the way they think about the world. Introduce new perspectives, a new angle of looking at the same situation, sparking intellectual curiousity. Because that is man's gift to the world. We can't climb trees better than the monkeys, or swim faster than the fish, or fly higher than the birds. What we have to give is a thirst for knowledge, the quest to understand how the world works, brilliant thoughts and ways of looking at the world that would change the way humans live for the better. So yes, I want to be a teacher...not just any teacher but a Professor so that I can keep learning and educating the brilliant minds of the next generation. Perhaps research will help us find the answers and new ways of looking at our lives.
I need a change of environment...
Oh god...the travel bug bites! I need a change of my environment! AHHH!
I think I have rested way too much for my own comfort...I have spent my last 3 years being in this psycho state of action and hyperness, reflecting all the time. I was on "speed" and then now...it's all quiet....so much so that now the inaction and lack of a purpose is creating this vaccum...
I should have seen this coming. I started feeling really restless in mid-January, and needless to say...the feeling has only intensified over the weeks. As a result of my immense boredom here (rather a lack of challenge in the things I do, and not being passionate about the finance class I take)... I watch way too much TV (thankfully there is Crime Scene Investigation or my brains would degenerate even further with useless shows like E hollywood stories -- which I still watch anyway to pass time) To think that I had kicked the bad TV habit in my freshman year and actually last for 3 years without the google box. I was happier, had more time to focus on people, and on pursuing life.
So my lastest habit has been to search for old Japanese songs that I listened to when i was 14...this one is very cute! Makes me happy... teehee... Shingo Mama!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4833325909189977624&q=shingo+mama
Apple gets rich! I-tunes...
Have you heard about Apple's new marketing scheme? Boy, those people are BRILLIANT! They have created the greatest money making scheme ever invented! (I am exaggerating of course).
But dig this, they are calling it the Billion music countdown, and basically have it such that every 100 000th song downloaded will win you a brand new IPod and $100 gift certificate. When the 1 billionth song is downloaded, the lucky "winner" will get an IMac, 10 Ipods, and a $10000 gift certificate! Wow! I hope it's someone I know because I would love an Ipod for free!
Check it out here....
http://www.apple.com/itunes/1billion/Of course, the biggest winner has to be Apple because every I-tune song costs 99cents. A billion songs? Minus the little gifts along the way which doesn't even come up to 100000 dollars. And the only marketing was on the I-tunes website. The power of the internet industry....You do the math and well, all I can say is that Apple is laughing all the way to the bank.
Who knew? Every little cent counts!
p/s: If i could afford the $67.70 per share, I would buy an apple stock right now.
Dutch Delegation Hotness Factor on a scale of 1 to 10? 12 Special mention goes out to the Dutch people we met in India. By golly, these people must have special water in their country because they are all so TALLLL..... which is really hot in my opinion. :)Christian and Alex at the background are known as the Dutch Ambassadors. I met them during my time in Baroda as a CEEDer. The team of CEEDers were planning for Global Village then, and that was the first time I noticed Netherlands. I mean, we called their embassy and they were so enthusiastic about Global Village that they sent 7 BIG BOXES of stuff about Netherlands. Did i mention the country flag that was exceptionally big? It stretched from one wall to the other end of the room in its full glory. Very funny people. Especially Christian who was fustrated about AIESEC's attempts to bring an elephant into Jaypee Palace's tennis courts for India Night (which was a blast). According to Christian, the hotel staff were not having any of it, and wanted to charge extra money for the elephant to be brought in. Apparently the planning committee had not thought about that; and poor Alex in his frustration declared, "Of course when you bring an elephant into the tennis court, there will be no more tennis court!" Hmm....Why didn't anyone else think of that?I hope they are doing well wherever they are. :)
Memories from AIESEC
Nick, Katsumi, Mingz, Jorge, Julia, Myself at @ MI's Annual Dinner
(photo courtesy of Mingz).
Kim, Myself, Jo, Mingz taking India by storm. :P
Finally got these pictures from Joanna. Unfortunately, I am not high up on the tech curve when it comes to cameras, and still love the feeling of getting printed photos. Too bad my trusty camera died just before IC, and as a result, I had to resort to bumping photos off Jo and Mingz. :X
Michigan T-shirts and white skirts!
Michigan represents: There were 4 official conference delegates (Myself, Jo, Nick, Mingz), 1 party delegate (Aaron), alums from Michigan (Carly, Sarah, Rickesh, Shirley). Gotta love Ssma, she's now MCP of Canada. Way to go!
Random thoughts from the week
MondayI began my week feeling rather "poopie" (this word does exist! Go google it!); and well, started ranting to my room-mates about my desire for a different environment, and some excitement. I decided that I would like to be in Moscow, St Petersburg, Kuala Lumpur or Sydney before the year ends. Hmm...choices.TuesdayI finally get my act together and email the nonprofit organizations Dave N kindly recommended for my Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility. I'm trying to take over the world by reshaping the way people think of the role of corporations in society. I have been thinking about it since my trip to China/HongKong last summer: What if we could get everyone to work together through active dialogue to resolve the global issues we face? Can we create a "safe environment" for people no matter from the corporate and nonprofit sector to LISTEN and SHARE their thoughts about their activities? What if this produces collaborative efforts to deal with social problems? Anyhow, that gave birth to this conference. Perhaps if we could get people from both ends in the same room, maybe they would come to understand one another? And realize that more can be done working together than against each other. (It's AIESECey I know, but I can't help it. Teehee!) Brett is working on this panel with me, and we get positive responses from Sphinx, NCCJ, Focus Hope! I am crossing my fingers Oxfam America will agree to participate as well. They are still thinking about it. And of course, not forgetting AIESEC US!WednesdayFinally hear back from Whirlpool and Toyota about their participation on the corporate panel. Toyota in Ann Arbor said no, but Dave O is still helping me talk to Toyota in Cincinnati. Whirlpool gave an unoffical YES. :) It's all thanks to Jayne Boot from AIESEC Miami Ohio! I heart you! Still twiddling my thumbs for more corporate partners. Chrysler has also given a tentative YES but we will see what happens with that. Had a fun chat with Nick Botsas (alum from AIESEC MI).
Me: Hi Nick, I hear you work for Citibank?
Nick: No...
Me: Oops...
Nick: I work for AMEX.
Me: Err... (in my head: how embarrasing!)
Thankfully Nick is a great sport, and laughs it off. I should have done my research better and start telling him about my global domination plans. He's nice enough to agree looking over my proposal and maybe think of someone who could help me. Yay!
p/s: attended an Ice Hockey game that evening: Detroit Red Wings (3) VS St Louis (2). I actually got to see every single goal!
ThursdaySales "training" for Mike. (Ruth is also in this but she's not here today) Im prepping him to become a sales person after witnessing the sad demise of the sales force at AIESEC MI. He's our secret weapon from AIESEC MI. He's got the guts, has no shame, and is really thick skinned. The type who just does it. Perfect sales material. Lesson today is AIESEC spiel...Me: So if I asked you what is AIESEC? What would you say? Elevator pitch..go!Mike: AIESEC is ....(rattles something about cultural integration)....Me: @_@ you lost me at 10 secondsClearly, a lot has to be done! Stay tuned for next week's lesson.FridayI attended an ICOS seminar here at U of M yesterday. I have been trying really hard to reschedule classes to make it to the ICOS seminars (Interdisciplinary Committee on Organizational Studies) which invite awesome people from academic institutions around the world. We had Professor David Stark from Columbia Uni yesterday to lead a discussion about social network spaces. Honestly had NO IDEA what that meant, and being surrounded by professors and PhD students made me feel quite inadequate. Basically the research was an investigation about the changing ownership structure of companies in Hungary from 1987 to 2002 based on the effects of foreign investment. I learnt that Hungarian companies in the past would resort to innovative ownership structures to avoid liabilities, buffer against uncertainties, gain legitimacy etc. For example, it was common practice between shareholders to form a relationship tie by owning direct stocks in another company. It was not considered a merger or an acquisition. Foreign investment came in that changed this behavior as most foreign owned companies did not operate under such ownership structures. Fascinating stuff! Prof Stark said something that made me think, "The paths we take are shaped by the choices other people make." hmm....Weekendhttp://www.hybridcars.com/2006-state-of-the-union-address.htmlWow! Moving beyond a petroluem based economy! Despite the political and lack of supply motivations, it's actually kinda cool that America is finally looking to alternative sources of energy. I am happy to see such dialogue in the open. Keeping fingers crossed!
Progression
Im not talking about life here but the mathematical sequencing of numbers. Specifically Geometric progression. I might add at this point that I am currently struggling with my finance course. I am only taking it because it will allow me to graduate with an Econ major; I feel like killing myself because I much rather take a class on the European Union or the class on Transitional Economies. But noooo...I had to choose between Financial Economics or Taxation. Both seemed rather bad choices to me, so I figured either way I was screwed. :(Anyway, I can't believe I cannot calculate my annual yield on a bond because I have forgotten how to calculate my geometric progression. It's frustrating me! I have been stuck on this basic concept for the past hour!The great thing is that I am getting the theoretical concept of hedging. Last weekend was Chinese New Year, and so my roomies and I had a little get together at my house. Some of the guys started to play Texas Hold'em, but I decided to hone my mahjong skills. Then Nick (my 5th room-mate) decides to bet money, but the other guys are unwilling to lose their $2 to Nick. In the spirit of fun, I financed a total of $4 to 2 players (an American and German guy) -- come on, Nick can't bet with himself right? Exactly what my Professor was talking about in class! Hedge your risk! Because the American lost and the German won! YAY!Well, even if I applied the wrong concept, I still did win $16 without lifting a finger. Kekeke...p/s: I would still be miserable as an Investment banker.
As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will.
You will have your heart broken, probably more than once, and it's harder every time.
You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken.
You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did.
You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love.
So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.
So send this to all of your friends in the next 5 minutes and a miracle will happen tonight.
Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot; who calls you back
when you hang up on him; who will stay awake just to watch you sleep.
Wait for the guy who kisses your forehead; who wants to show you off to
the world when you are in your joggers; who holds your hand in front of his/her friends.
Wait for the one who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares about you and how lucky he is to have you.
Wait for the one who turns to his friends and says, "..that's her."
***
A friend in Aussie sent this to me (I hate being jinxed by chain letters). But for what it's worth, it does remind me of my friend who was in an unhappy relationship for the longest time; and the struggle she went through to get out of it. Hmm...emotions make fools of us all.
