The quest for wisdom, from France to China, of an HEC MBA & Tsinghua MBA dual degree student (class of 2011)
Author ArchiveMany things have happened during the past two weeks and I have to admit that my self-assigned discipline of writing here at least once a week is starting on a wrong foot… Here are a few noticeable things we did. Negosim The second week of classes, basically after a first week of cheering and hugging, we got onto business with a business simulation game called Negosim. We were all dispached into groups of 4 to 5 people and our task, as the board or directors of a B2B company, was to compete with others. It was a fantastic experience for those two main reasons:
Classes We were assigned to our sections (I’m in the bilingual section) and classes started for real on the 3rd week, along with group work and case studies. By the way, one of the reasons why I could not post my article on Negosim last week was because we had a Marketing assignment due for Monday 8am. This week, I started to realise how crucial good planning is. After reviewing my class schedule and making a quick estimation for class preparation (reading material + preparing cases) I found that I’ll need to spend around 60 hours weekly on studies. Basically, my key is that for each class, I’ll have to spend once to twice as much time for preparation. Holidays are finished for real now… Integration week-end This week end we went on integration in the Loire Valley. It was a mix between cultural visits (to the châteaux here and there), partying (with the regional wine, of course) and fun fun fun :) I feel that by now, I know 80 to 90% of my intake by name. Tags: Academics, Assignments, HEC events, Social, Students One week has passed and we are now fully into our MBA. We have had a few academic classes so far and I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised by their quality so far. But before I go on and on describing my life as a student, I wanted to share a few facts about the September 2009 intake:
I like:
Tags: Students Today was my first day at school. After the welcome breakfast, we were quickly dropped into more meaty action with an “ice-breaker”. Lunch happened in the Hall d’Honneur, with a staff presentation and an excellent buffet (incl. wine). Afternoon was for presentations about procedures: medical, visa, IT. French people (who don’t need visas to study or work in France) started working on stereotypes about… French people. Tonight, welcome party :) Tags: Students Yesterday was the day when I checked-in to HEC. Youpi! :) I also got the keys of my room at Expansiel (see pictures). The whole administrative process took me around 2 hours. Back to student life again! Tags: Logistics A week has passed, and the tension starts to build up before classes start. More students arrive in Paris from other countries. As a result, I could see new faces during another HEC get together when we went for a picnic on the Pont des Arts last Friday (Aug 28th). In total, I could meet people from UK, the US, Japan, Hong Kong, Brazil, Columbia, and of course France. On my side, I’ve started figure out what I could bring into my room and I think I won’t be able to do without renting a utility car for moving in. To be continued… Tags: Logistics, Social I haven’t written much since I came back to France (beside a page about interviews). Indeed, as the day when school starts (September 7th) beckons, more students are gathering in Paris. So last Friday (Aug 21st) we had a nice event where we had drinks and a few of us continued for dinner in the Montorgueil area. All good stuff :) Tags: Social So here I am. I came back home to Paris a couple of hours ago after a 7 weeks holiday trip which brought me to China, Japan and Tahiti. And last week, while in Tahiti, I learned I have been accepted to the TEC On-Campus Program that I had applied to early this month. Everything’s good :) Tags: Assignments, Travels On Monday I received my room contract from HEC. So I’ve been officially attributed a room at the Expansiel residence on the HEC campus! Yay! One of my future classmates posted a link on the Facebook group to a few photos that a previous student took of the on-campus rooms a couple of years ago. Check this out: Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3. That reminds me of the dorms I used to live in when I first left Tahiti to study for Prépa… Tags: Life on campus, Logistics I’ve finally finished (and sent) the essays for the TEC On-Campus Program. Tags: Assignments, TEC On Tuesday, during a trip to Kyoto, I was visiting around with some friends and as we grew tired of walking, we started to look for a café to sit down and relax for a bit. The café we found by the imperial palace was like nothing we’d seen before. At first, we didn’t understand how to behave at the Free Café Harimaya Station. It seemed like just any self-service café in Japan, only with the exception of cashiers. Indeed coffee, tea, juice and even rice crackers were completely free of charge. This concept, we later found, had been developed by a successful confectionery company to “give back” to society and promote traditional food, in their case rice crackers (senbei), and environmental awareness. The café wasn’t a place of only benevolent goodness as a small shop counter was conveniently located a few meters from the free café. By instituting this free café, Harimaya Honten managed to attract people, make them feel good, and even buy their product and offset their running costs! Their philosophy also caught my attention as they were careful of making rice crackers in traditional, and more environmentaly-friendly, as opposed to sterile industrial ways. Pictures of their factories showed them more like Japanese country houses with beautiful gardens than the typical concrete blocks. Since I’ve visited this café I can’t help but think of how this new model for marketing a quality products could be applicable in other circumstances. Could this café exist in Western countries or in any place outside of Japan? Tags: Travels |