domenica 8 novembre 2009

Rowing!

Having a week of Personal and Professional Development is almost priceless. We still had class, but also time off to think about ourselves and try new things. Somewhere below this post you will see the cricket session. This post is about rowing!

I might be because it was a lovely day, but it's been really a wonderful experience for me. The shot is from Emma's boathaouse, where Hughes Hall boats are stored. The Cam river is on the right.. yes, it's that "big". Consider every college has at least 2-3 boats, larger colleges probably lots more. And there are 31 colleges in Cambridge. I can assure you: on a sunny day the Cam has more traffic than the Rome ring!

Cox Ariel Yip is portrayed right there, waiting for us lazy guys to take our boat off. On the back another boat is coming out. The loudspeaker in her hands is what allows all of the crew to hear her loud and clear while pushing hard!

The experience of rowing is probably the most intense team building experience I ever had. The boats are 8 + 1, so 9 people packed together. Everyone has to row together for the boat to run smoothly. One guy out of synch already causes havoc: one guy doing stupid things and you'll find yourself swimming in the Cam in no time! Moreover, none except the cox sees where the boat is actually headed: you just push hard and trust each other. And if the cox shouts "Easy there!" you'd better stop quickly.. or ram into a tree in the water!
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Cricket trying!

Among the endless activities going on each day, our sport guys arranged a Cricket induction day for us. Here Asad is dressing up Chris for batting!
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Japanese party (2)

Asad (Pakistan) and Corina (USA) posing in Japanese costumes!
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Japanese and Korean party!

Such an international group of people can give its best when local traditions are put on display. In the Japanese and Korean party about 15 Japanese and 3 Korean students (plus members of staff!) cooked for over 100 people in Hughes Hall Pavillion Room. The party was awesome, I was frankly impressed by the effort those people put in showing the best from their country.. and not only food: Origami, Kimono costumes, Video, Writings... Hughes Hall became Little Tokyo for a day!
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domenica 25 ottobre 2009

People

For those who asked about why I find this experience quite unique: one of the more important aspect is the quality of the people that walk in Cambridge. The class diversity is simply incredible, people from all around the world and all kind of different industries. In no particular order, in my first week I met:

- An NBC reporter that followed and interviewed Obama during his campaign;
- A business lawyer specialized in music who among his clients has several music celebrities (suffices to say he once drove Pamela Anderson to the airport - no, he didn't give me her phone number, sorry!);
- The VP of the largest bank of Kirghiz Republic;
- An organizer of the Russian winter Olympics 2014 who works directly with the committee president.

And of course the school and the university invite speakers to share their experiences. Last week we met:
- Ernest A. Mackay, CEO of SAB Miller (one of Fortune 500, among the largest beer producers in the world).
- Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, President and CEO of Nokia (http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia/corporate-governance/group-executive-board/olli-pekka-kallasvuo), portrayed here on the right while lecturing us on the importance of change (and showing us a prototype of the new E72 - that of course he is already using! :)).

The more people you know, the more amazing stories you encounter. Most importantly, all of those people are incredibly easy going and accessible and willing to share their own experiences. The experience is there, than it's all about you.
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Bowling Diwali!

Diwali (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali) is an Indian festival, "popularly known as the Festival of Lights". The MBA Indian community invited all MBAs at an Indian restaurant located in a shopping mall just outside Cambridge to celebrate it, we had a great time together, about 100 people attended, including partners and children! After the dinner we went to play bowling at the ground level of the mall - here is a souvenir picture of one of the bowling teams!
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lunedì 12 ottobre 2009

Asian ladies

We have a lot of asian (looking) ladies in class. Actually here we have Hong Kong, USA, Singapore, USA again. Don't be fooled by the eyes.. :)
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