Frog to Dragon: HEC MBA & Tsinghua MBA Blog


The quest for wisdom, from France to China, of an HEC MBA & Tsinghua MBA dual degree student (class of 2011)

This blog in English Ce blog en Français

Posted by at 1 November , 2011

My apologies on the previous post were clealy short lived and I left my blog unattended for a while (again).
Blame it on holidays…

Commencement ceremony of the HEC MBA

Commencement ceremony of the HEC MBA

As planned, I graduated from the Tsinghua MBA in late June and from the HEC MBA in October. The latter is due to the fact that Dual-Degree candidates are awarded through the September jury at HEC, once all credits are verified. Just a formality really.

I still managed to attend to both my graduation ceremonies: at HEC on June 17th and at Tsinghua on June 28th. Square hats, photos (many of them) and commencement speech, at HEC with François-Henri Pinault CEO of PPR, and at Tsinghua with Annie Wu who founded the first Joint-Venture in China.
Of course, what we were all most interested in was to party together as a last act before everyone moves on.

I’m still fascinated by China and have decided to stay for a bit to improve on my Mandarin. I’ve registered to the HSK Level 5 in December, yay! (Not bad for someone who could barely talk to taxi drivers 15 months ago.)
Wish me luck :)

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Posted by at 7 June , 2011

First I would like to apologize for leaving my blog for such long period (over 3 months!) without any updates. Of course I could say I was busy and then recovering but it doesn’t justify much…
m( -_- )m

During my second semester at Tsinghua, on top of classes, I have been busying myself with the MIT China Lab program and my Tsinghua graduation thesis.

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Posted by at 22 February , 2011

Chinese new year is the most important public celebration in the Chinese calendar. It is also a holiday opportunity which allows everyone to return to their families in the respective regions.
This long vacation also allowed me to work on this new blog and plan my job search (I’ll write an article).

And class started again yesterday with, in particular, one class which may well be one of the most interesting of my MBA experience and which tells me that coming to Tsinghua for double degree was really the right choice.
I’m talking about the class of “China and the World Economy” of Li Daokui.
To have the opportunity to follow a class with someone as important is always a great chance, but here I think I could not have dreamed better to learn about the mechanics on China’s economy.

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Posted in: 3. At Tsinghua MBA | 2 Comments »

Posted by at 13 February , 2011

This year has been a very dry winter in Beijing with what could well be the worst drought in a century.

Pouring snow at the Qinghuayuan crossroad

Pouring snow at the Qinghuayuan crossroad

It’s particularly worrying for farmers in surrounding regions as no water means no crop, and no crop means lesser / more expensive food, and that means, well you know, very big troubles…

So it is with relief that we saw snow fall twice this week. Apparently it was helped by could seeding canons used by the government to provoke snow fall. (See more here)

I, like other people, felt a great sense of joy when I saw my neighbourhood blanketed in white. It’s great to hear the children play snowballs.
But, wow, snow in Beijing is really something!

PS: You may have noticed but I changed camera… My pictures will now be in a 2/3 format.

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Posted by at 11 February , 2011

Welcome to my new blog!

I’ve decided to change the name of my blog to better reflect the reality of my activities since I’m now following the second phase of my cursus in China.

As you may have noticed, the website has undergone a major layout update.
Please let me know what you think!

And update your bookmarks :)

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Posted by at 3 February , 2011

As you noticed, I have sort of let down my blog since I arrived in China. The reason is that I had dificulties, intellectually, to write a feedback about China and Tsinghua in a blog titled HEC MBA.

Setting up fireworks

Setting up fireworks

So here’s the start of a new blog which will take into account both sides of my story.
“Frog to Dragon”
like my transition from France to China.
“Frog to Dragon”
like my quest for asian wisdom.

I hope you’ll keep reading me here :)

And what a better day to start this new blog than the Chinese New Year ?
Here in Beijing, it’s truly a celebration of the people where everyone is invited to light their fireworks. As a result, firecrackers and fireworks non-stop for the past 24 hours, and still going… And, yes, it’s loud…

Hail to the rabbit!

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Posted by at 18 December , 2010

This week was the last week of class at HEC for the students of my intake.

On one hand there are those who have found a job and who are ready to enjoy the holidays before starting their new post-MBA life, on the other hand there are those who are still looking for a job end getting a bit anxious. These days there are many farewell celebrations at HEC to wave goodbye to studies and Paris. 16 months have gone past at such an incredible speed.

My situation is different because, as a double degree student, my curriculum spans accros 2 full years and will end in June 2011. As a consequence, there’s a gap between my current mindset and the one of my classmates following the normal cursus.

Indeed, even though I’m conscious that my studies are coming to an end, I’m not yet fully ready to face the professional world…

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Posted by at 12 August , 2010

I arrived in China last Saturday and I’m in Japan since today, on holiday, until the Tsinghua registration on August 25th.

Wudaokou station by night

Wudaokou station by night

In the length of 5 days, I managed to open a bank account, visit 14 flats in the Wudaokou area and finally sign a lease for me to move in when I get back on August 24th. I also met about 15 of my new Tsinghua classmates, and then I couldn’t help but think of when we did the same thing with HEC admits, a year ago.

What can I say about these 5 days… It felt like being ran over by a truck!
Of course, it was self inflicted toughness, giving myself just 4 days (while massively jet-lagged) to find the flat of my year time. But, hey, this is China! And not exactly the sanitized expat China from Beijing’s East side. I dare say that my 5 senses were exposed to the experience.
The Beijing I’ll live in for a year is crowded, noisy and smelly. It was cold and humid, as summer is there, and I heard winter can be really cold. I also found that Beijingers love their chillies.
I think I’m in for a challenge ;)

But the internet connectivity in China is so damn slow!

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Posted by at 5 August , 2010

Walking out of HEC

Walking out of HEC

I can’t believe it’s already been a month since my previous post.
As I’m preparing my big move to China, time has really passed without me noticing anything.

Before I go and start the second chapter of my MBA experience, I wanted to reflect back on what I have learned and what I’ll take away from it.

3 classes I enjoyed:

  • Marketing (with J.N. Kapferer)
  • Corporate Finance (with P. Quiry)
  • Luxury Strategy (with V. Bastien)


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Posted by at 6 July , 2010

Last night at Expansiel: heavy packing going on...

Last night at Expansiel: heavy packing going on...

Tonight is my last night at Expansiel.

So I’m packing all my belongings and getting ready to move back to Paris where I’ll stay for a month before going to China.

I spent my last evening at the Piano Bar watching the football game between Uruguay and the Netherlands (Netherlands won 3 vs. 2). It was a great match but now I’m back in my room, packing my remaining belongings. My window is open and I can hear the youngsters from the Grande Ecole partying and laughing out loud, as usual.

It feels a bit strange to say goodbye to a year I spent here, with all the good memories I accumulated.

Bye bye HEC ~

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