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.

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!

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.. :)

Japanese dinner

Living with so many international people offers incredible opportunities to expand your knowledge on the world and basically limitless opportunities to get in direct contact with a country culture. In this case our Japanese friends at Hughes Hall college arranged a typical japanese dinner with home made sushi and lots of other excellent courses. And yes, they rolled sushi in front of us: finally I know how they make it!

Group picture

Better late than ever: here is a pic of the 2009 JBS MBA group, taken right in front of the school!

Management Science

Professor Stefan Scholtes (Management Science) in action. We've just completed our first home assignement: prepare KPI trees on how a retail bank makes money. The class is composed of about 55 people, divided in 11 groups. Every group attaches his tree before the lessons start.. funny to see how different they are!! (Our is in the bottom row, 2nd from left).

The beer game

Courses started now, Management Science and Microeconomics. Here is an in-depth analysis of supply chain management by simulation of a beer market. Here I'm the beer factory, I have to decide how much beer to put in the market. Every red token is a crate of beer.. the temptation is high!! Let's flood the market!! BEEEEEEEEERRRR! HAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!