Long time no see!
So much has happened over the last few months that it is going to be a real challenge to try and capture some of that in this little blog!
SIP
Just before Spring Break, we had the usual one week SIPs – the Sloan Innovation Period. I had written about this before but in short the idea behind SIP is that unlike the 13 week long semester, Sloan has a 6-1-6 semester where during that one week in the middle, students are exposed to workshops with industry speakers and also the cutting edge research from world renowned faculty of Sloan. One of the research seminars that really stood out for me was one called CSI: Economic Investigation. How to Uncover Race and Gender Discrimination, Discrimination in Healthcare. Professors Doyle, Rigobon, Stoker and Suri talked about their own research in very different areas and showed us very interesting and counterintuitive ways of uncovering underlying information from pure data. It was a brand new experience and actually it was after this SIP that I understood why MIT Sloan consistently ranks the highest on any kind of management survey on “research”.
And a leadership SIP that was very interesting was under the name of “corporate governance: will it work this time?”. The instructor was Michael Armstrong, the former AT&T chairman and CEO and a current Director of Citigroup. Since I had no previous knowledge on the subject, this one and a half hour interactive lecture for me was very educational. Mr. Armstrong talked about the function of boards and its committees in companies, regulators in the finance industry and how they interact, and the job of a chairman. Hearing Mr. Armstong’s perspectives on these, who has been the chairman and has sat on the board of countless institutions was amazing.
Spring Break in JAPAN!
After SIP week we were off to spring break. I traveled to Japan with around 220 other of my classmates. Yes the number doesn’t have an additional zero by mistake or anything it actually really was over 200! Adding to the excitement of traveling with over 200 Sloanies was the fact that I’d never traveled to Asia before so I was really looking forward to Spring Break coming after a very busy first part of the semester.
After a 14 hour! flight (not even counting the transfers…) which would have been devastatingly boring if it hadn’t been for the 50 or so Sloanies who were on the same flight with me, we landed in Kyoto.
Some of the highlights: In Kyoto, we visited the beautiful Golden Pavilion, best known temple in Kyoto and highly likely in Japan, too. It was built in 1397 to be a retirement villa for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, one of the well known generals in Japan. We also visited a very beautiful traditional “Japanese garden” in a Buddhist temple and at every point from the temple that we looked; the sight was an amazing picture as if out of a postcard. Another highlight in Kyoto was the sumo fights! We were lucky enough to be visiting during the national tournaments and I bet we were a sight to see ourselves – cheering and shouting for (or mispronouncing for that matter…) the names of the fighters we were betting on... Turns out I have a natural tendency to pick winners; bet 6 times (among Sloanies of course!), never lost and made 600 yens! I know $6 is not much but hey it was enough to pay for my beer : )
After a one night of traditional dinner (accompanied with geishas) in Kyoto, we headed off to Hiroshima. Hiroshima was far but very worth the trip because when we got there we not only visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum but also had a chance to listen to the talk of one of the survivors of the atomic bomb. I think that was one experience that none of the 200 Sloanies who sat in that room will ever forget.
And Kyoto was where we got introduced to Japan for the first time. One thing you notice on the streets immediately is the vending machines, but they are practically at every corner, every 10 meters you can find one and they even serve hot cappuccino! And Japan is the home of the “green tea ice-cream” that I grew addicted to, it was so delicious… And another addiction I developed (I think im speaking on behalf of a number of Sloanies here) was karaoke! Our wonderful organizers took the bulk of us to a karaoke place where you get into these small rooms of about 6 people, then… well the then part is a different experience for everyone I guess. You can enjoy sake and Japanese beer and sing along to what your peers are singing in a very mild manner or… just as likely you might take out that inner rock star in you : ).
After making a pit stop at Hakone (famous for its hot springs) for a day and seeing the beautiful Mount Fuji (highest peak in Japan) on the way, we arrived at Tokyo. After Kyoto’s calm atmosphere, Tokyo was definitely a big change with its amazingly fast pace. In Tokyo we were lucky enough to arrive during the time of the cherry blossoms and I’ll let the pictures do the talking for that.
The fashion districsts in Tokyo are very numerous. There is one area that is very characteristic of teenage style, another where you can find the world renowned designer brands (in the biggest stores that I have ever seen them in!) and many more. Just walking on these streets can take one whole day… - no wonder Tokyo is named as one of the fashion centers of the world.
And I have to tell you about our 5am breakfast with raw fish, what did we do? Of course we went to the fish market! At this early hour is when the fish get auctioned off and sold to wholesalers who sell the fish to the restaurants. After touring the market for about an hour, we went to the best sushi bar on the periphery of the market and I had the freshest and the best sushi I had ever had.
Well before I wrap up this insanely long post there is one more thing I have to say. I know I’m speaking on behalf of everyone when I say thank you to all the Japan trek organizers for doing an amazing job, especially given the fact that we were over 200 people, we’ll never know how they managed to make everything run so smoothly : ) You guys did an awesome job!
Oh and by the way, the opening series were being kicked off in Tokyo while we were there and our love of Sloan and red sox was enough to get us famous!
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/gallery/03_26_2008_fans/?p1=emai
