Te quiero mi carino

My blog will be my way to unwind from the day. Our classes ended at 12:30 today but after a meeting with my Career Advisor and a group meeting for our Project Management class, I didn't get home till 6:15 or so. Classes have ranged from really interesting to uhhh...interesting. The latter being my perception of the class' negative feeling towards the class. Just draw out the interesting to sound more like...iiiiiinnnnttteeerrresting and you'll get my drift.

Anyways, I started this post to write some meandering rant about accounting but I got sucked into watching this Spanish telenovela that I had to comment on it.

For those who have not watched a Spanish telenovela (soap opera) just imagine if mimes acted out a love story. Every movement is super exaggerated to emphasize the emotion of the character. Now allow the mimes to actually speak. That's what a Spanish telenovela is like. Just flailing arms, long drawn out stares or glances, and passionate embraces all over the place. It's reflective of the culture, I guess. Spaniards are known for their fire and passion. Por ejemplo, my Spanish teacher consistently would wave her arms around as though she was doing the backstroke. It's a visual smorgasbord.

Speaking of smorgasbord I need to feed myself. Another day another dolla. Holla!

It's not where you're from, it's where you're going

Saturday night was movie night for me. A couple of my classmates and I headed down to Gracia to check out Enemigos Publicos. I think watching movies will be my favorite way of learning Spanish due to the fact that the audio was in English but Spanish subtitles. From what I could tell the translation was pretty much spot on. 

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Now what we learned during movie night was a couple of things.

1) Concessions are fairly cheap. After continually getting ripped off by the American movie theater chains like AMC and Mann, it was nice to see popcorn and drinks priced fairly. 2 euros for a small and 2.50 for a medium. The medium size popcorn was pretty big too. Definitely enough for a grown man to feel content. 

2) THEY HAVE BEER IN VENDING MACHINES. I'll let the caps do the talking. 

3) When a movie says it will start at 7:20, it will actually start at 7:20. There are no trailers, previews and commercials that take up the first 20 minutes of the showtime. I find this absolutely hilarious because nothing is ever right on time in Spain. Even if there weren't trailers I totally expected the movie to start sometime around 7:30-7:45 with no real definite start time. I swear everyone operates on this 20-30 minute lag but for some reason they are super punctual about movie showtimes.

Mr. John Dillinger appropriately stated "It's not where you're from, it's where you're going". My past is my past and is an important aspect of my life but what lies ahead beyond ESADE is what really counts. How cliche.

Trip to IKEA

Although my apartment is fully furnished it was still missing certain items that I figured would be helpful in turning this place from a dorm-like residence to a home. So with that in mind, I decided to trek over to the IKEAin L'Hospitalet. The always useful TMB website told me that it would only take me 2 transfers and about 27 minutes to get there. This being Spain I added another 30 minutes to that. 

Now I haven't had the chance to take some pictures of my neighborhood so I thought why not take some on the way to IKEA.

To be honest I have no idea what these buildings are for. Commercial, residential, public? Who knows. It just looks cool.

Plaza de Lesseps. This giant intersection is where Carrer Gran Via de Gracia and Ronda General Mitre cross. The odd/interesting thing about this intersection is that there are these public art installations interspersed throughout the intersection. It creates this very Barcelona mixture of modern and old. It's kinda like your grandma teaching you how to hack your iPhone, slightly jarring but at the same time very cool.

The Lesseps train station.

The inside of a metro station. I've been to a good number of subways, tubes, underground, metros, 地下鉄 (for you japanese folks) but Barcelona may have one of the nicest metros around. It sure smells a lot better than the good ole NYC transit system and it actually works compared to the Los Angeles subway lines. You know I take that back. I won't even consider the LA subway lines as real subway lines. After something like 10 billion dollars spent it still blows.

I didn't take a picture of IKEA because well its exactly the same as any other IKEA. Bunch of Spaniards and other non-Swedes confused as to what the difference between the Swomming and the Dvala sheets were. I'm not dissing the Swedish language but it is kinda difficult to try to explain to the Spanish employee in Spanish that I was looking for the JaalTrend or whatever and not the JaalTrak. It's like I'm double translating myself, if that's even a word.

Anyways, total tally for the IKEA trip was a new set of sheets, a really thin duvet, a bunch of hangars, a ladle and some other household items. All for the graduate student financial pain inducing price of 48 euros.

First week of orientation...DONE!

I didn't think Orientation Week would be so exhausting but it was. My god. Within my last post I described in fairly great detail our first day, which primarily consisted of an introduction to the LEAD program.

The 2nd and 3rd day was spent offsite at La Mola Hotel and Conference Center about an hour outside of the city.

We were warned time and time again that the bus would leave EXACTLY at 8am. Of course this being Spain it left at 8:35am. Nothing ever happens on time in this country. One must know the concept of  "Spain time".

So the entire 2nd day was spent on Career Services, the coaching and mentoring available within the Career Services department and a variety of workshops on how to improve your CV. What I realized thanks to those workshops was that my CV sucked. Like really really sucked. The 2nd day at La Mola was our Team Effective Seminar. Thanks to the bright, beautiful and humid Barcelona weather this event was exhausting but totally fun. 

We were basically told to build a racecar with the limited number of supplies available to us. Design, construction and procurement of supplies was to stress teamwork. Here's our completed car. Looks fast doesn't it?

The car was powered by three person-power engine. Here we are putting the finishing touches.

Throughout the orientation week we've been utilizing the ESADE Forum for keynote speeches and presentations. The time in between some of the presentations was spent networking with our classmates. Getting to know my classmates has been really fun. You indirectly get to perfect your 30 second elevator pitch because the conversation usually starts with:

1) Your name
2) Country/City of origin
3) Pre-MBA background
4) Post-MBA aspirations

So next week classes start. It's go time.

Welcome to ESADE

I've already had a week of Spanish classes at ESADE so technically it wasn't my first day but today truly marked the start of the MBA. After gathering in the ESADE forum at 9:30 we quickly were introduced to the program(me- for you English folk), ESADE staff and finally to the various students that make up the Class of 2011.

It's cliche to state that an MBA class is diverse but it truly is. 47 countries represented, 33 languages spoken, a cross section of functions and industries from consulting, finance to NGOs and entrepreneurs. I've met a number of fellow classmates over the course of the past week but it really didn't hit me how diverse our group is.

I think what most amazes me is that pretty much everyone speaks at least two languages. I was lamenting to my non-US classmates that our language programs in the States really aren't geared towards truly learning a different language. The language classes start too late in our educational development and aren't stressed enough to promote bilingualism. I thank god that my parents were persistent enough to force me to learn Japanese. 

In any case, couple of interesting facts I learned while watching a slideshow of the each student and their background. To maintain privacy I won't name names but some interesting tidbits: one person graduated university at 19, one person completed the Ironman Triathlon and one person knows 6 languages and is fluent in 4.

A curriculum that we stared today and that I really think sets ESADE apart from the other MBA programs is the Leadership and Development (LEAD) program. To summarize, the LEAD program, through questionnaires, peer evaluation and other methodologies, provides a comprehensive overview of your learning style and tries to assist your development of the leadership skills necessary for the future. To some it sounds and is, a bit too touchy feely. It may be but I feel that there's enough to information provided that allows you to sift through all the data to find and utilize what you feel is necessary and vital for your own development.

To top off the day we got a bunch of "free" stuff, like an ESADE laptop bag, notebook, pen, folder and water bottle. I'll take some pics later for everyone's viewing pleasure. *Now updated with pictures*

Tomorrow is the 2 day team building and career services event offsite at a conference center/hotel in the outskirts of Barcelona. Should be fun. I hope we do those trust games that always end up badly.

A taste of home

If there was one thing that I was a bit worried about in moving to Barcelona, it was the potential lack of proper Japanese food. I heard that a lot of "Japanese" restaurants were actually Chinese owned and run. Hate to say it but you can never ever ever call that Japanese food. It's like calling Taco Bell products authentic Mexican food. Anyways, thanks to a Japanese classmate of mine, I was informed of a Japanese supermarket called Tokyo-Ya or 東京屋 for all you Japanese folks out there.

Went there earlier today and well damn, they had pretty much all of the food items I need to keep myself satisfied. The major downside being that it's fairly pricey. I'm not surprised considering the lack of demand compared to places like Los Angeles and New York and the high international shipping costs.

A taste of home. Now I'm fully settled.

Tokyo - Ya
Carrer de Girona 119
08009 Barcelona, Spain
934 393 040

My Spanish teach played this for us.

Humpday Week 1

Halfway through the first week of Intensive Spanish Course or Curso de Espanol Intensivo. I got placed into the little bit above beginners group, which is probably a good thing since I'm not too keen on learning how to count or conjugating ser and estar again.

The only downside of being this class is the increased amount of "homework". Our teacher has asked us to prepare a 5 minute marketing presentation on a new product, a toothpaste that only requires you to brush once a week. The presentation is going to be in Spanish and will be videorecorded. Que horible. Might as well get those presentation jitters and nervous habits out of the way now before we have to do real presentations for the b-school class.

He is always judging you

Was it absolutely necessary for this to be placed RIGHT next to my bed? I mean...come on..

Domicilio

A handful of pictures of my apartment in Barcelona.

Don't mind the pile of clothes on the couch. I ran out of hangers.They may just stay there for the duration of my stay in this apartment.

As they say on MTV Cribs "This is where the magic happens".

I realize that the coloring of the bedsheets is somewhat questionable. Okay it isn't somewhat questionable, it is very questionable but I figure why drop more money when I'm most likely moving out again in ten months or so.

The dining table, which will be converted into my primary studying area. Easy access to cold beverages, preferably containing alcohol, is a necessity when studying fun subjects such as finance or accounting.

The hallway leading to the bathroom. Now, I completely did not catch this when I was initially checking out the place but I have to go through this hallway to get to my bathroom. It doesn't sound that big of a deal but actually I have a neighbor who lives in a studio apartment. His entrance is the first door on the right. The entrance to the elevator hallway is straight ahead. So, I have to go out of my apartment past his door and then to my bathroom. My guess is that they converted a two bedroom place into one bedroom and a studio. I say this because my apartment has a full kitchen, bedroom and living room and has a door that partitions my apartment with the hallway. Kinda weird. The only downside to this confguration is that it rules out running naked to my bathroom.

I was initially irked that I totally did not realize this was the setup of the apartment but I figured A) I'm only contracted to live here for ten months and B) I really shouldn't whine about anything because I'm living in Europe for two years and C)no one wins when I run around naked.

And finally, my badass key. I felt like I was handed the keys to some treasure chest. I can just imagine a pirate with a parrot on his shoulder swinging this key around yelling "ARGGGHH MATEY"

I have yet to fully explore the neighborhood I live in, Sant Gervasi, but when I do, I'll be posting some more pics.

Oh New York I will miss thee.

The next time I see this it'll be bleak, gray and possibly covered with that white stuff that people don't snort. I don't know do people snort snow? Maybe. Steve-O snorted wasabi before.

The most awesome wunderdog, Duke. He'll be turning 13 while I'm gone. I think I'll bring him back some jamon iberico dog snacks.

Ugh. I hate moving.

The sad thing is that there's another pile of clothing to the left that isn't pictured and another rack of jackets and shirts in the back. I have waaaay to much clothes.

I love technology, but not as much as you, you see

Got the iPhone working with Blogger now so this should facilitate the uploading of random pictures. I believe the majority of my pictures will be of lamps because I love lamp.

Oops

Having dinner with my parents at Yakiniku West and my mom asked "So what time is your flight?" Now all this time I've been thinking that my flight leaves on August 21st. Hell, for the last two months I've been telling everyone that I'm leaving on August 21st.

That simple question led me to check my flight itinerary. Flight leaves August 20th and arrives in Barcelona on August 21st.

Oops.

Post #2

Howdy everyone. It's been close to 9 months since I've started this blog and I really haven't put much thought as to what will encompass the content of my posts. I'm somewhat intrigued by the purpose of blogs. Some people utilize them as a vehicle to express their thoughts and concerns. Some people utilize them as a way to disseminate useful or insightful information. I really don't know what the purpose of this blog is. Maybe I just like hearing the words I type in my head. The loner's way of fulfilling that love of hearing oneself talk. Whatever.

At first I started this blog with the intention of providing some insight for prospective MBA candidates who are looking to obtain information regarding the MBA application process. I sure as heck utilized other blogs to get a feel for the true character of a school.

So maybe I'll start off with some information regarding that. After I get that out of my system the free-for-all that is my subconscious will most likely take over and this blog will probably devolve into the ramblings of a man who's still confused as to what a blog should accomplish.