Snowboarding or studying...? Tough choice!

Studying in Canada has the disadvantage that it is freezing cold but at the other hand you can enjoy wintersports easily. Where else can you be on the ski slopes in less than an hour driving? Montreal is surrounded by small and larger ski resorts. The closest is Bromont. I spent last night there learning how to snowboard and enjoying the fresh snow that just starting falling this weekend. Mondays are not too busy so there's not much line. The resort is quite large. I was expecting something smaller. Nothing compares to the resorts that you would find in France or Switzerland but it's perfect for a day out. Great for beginner as for experts!
Most of the slope are lightened up which allows people to go skiing after work or even during the night. On some days, they organize ski night from 7pm till 3am. I'd like to go to one of these. It's meant to be very popular for the young crowds.
Downside from the early stages of snowboarding is that you only start feeling the pain from falling the day after and I'm afraid that tomorrow will be even worse. Anyway, the fun snowboarding was well worth the aftermath pain. Awww....

MBA Christmas party

We had our MBA Christmas party last night. It was setup as a Wine and Cheese slightly formal party where the teachers, academics and partners were invited too. I haven't see many teachers nor partners. Only the friendly ones were there. Quite frankly, i didn't feel like talking to teachers during the party anyway. I'm quite fed up with them and the workload they give us.
Wine and cheese parties seem to be very popular in Quebec. The wine is cheap and the cheese too but still since cheese is so expensive here in Canada and that you could compare that to caviar for us Europeans, people jump on the cheese plates as soon as they arrived and if you're not doing so too then you won't eat, let alone taste much of the cheese.
It's fun though and the cheap wine make you become drunk very quickly so everything becomes perfect, even the cheese!;-)
Our chinese delegation presided by Nicole teached us so more Mandarin. Well some rude words and expressions this time, much easier and exciting to remember than the usual vocabulary. It was so funny to try these words on random chinese students to check if our pronounciation was correct. In the beginning, they didn't actually realise that we're speaking chinese but once they did, they freaked out so I guess the pronounciation was accurate.;-)

MBA in a nutshell

NetMBA Business Knowledge Center Another great knowledge database where the main theories and notions key to the MBA are summarized and clearly explained with a few examples. Ideal if you need to work on something and that you don't have your books around to remind you the theories (OR if you haven't had time to do the readings...;-)). I find the marketing and strategy parts really helpful.

Girlie afternoon gossip & dinner

Yesterday, me and Little Tree went to S.’s flat to get some training on how to make sushi and chinese dumplings. We arrived late there because we couldn’t stop making pictures on our way there posing with random snowmen and making naulghty HEC building shots (that I’m afraid we’re not allowed to show to public audience…) then we had a few snowfights too. In short, we arrived late, frozen and wet from the melting snow.
N. teached us the Sushi bit, she’s not japanese but she’s so smart that she figured out herself. S. teached us the art of making dumplings. I managed to make three of them (while LT and S. made almost 30 of these) but mine were really bad and opened while cooking so Shiny forced me to eat them to punish me..., well they were delicious anyway! Sushi were absolutely delicious too.
S. is the best host in the world and also the poshest MBA student. She’s got a pool at the top of her building with view on HEC!!! and a sauna as well. Next time, we’ll come back for a dip in the pool and spend the afternoon studying finance in the sauna. Who said that MBA life was tough???

My yearbook text

As it is customary for HEC MBA graduates to select someone in their graduating class to write a brief note about them for the yearbook, we were asked to find classmates to write a notes for them.

R. & S. wrote some lines for me, they are both so sweet and nicely written. It is so interesting and sometimes surprising to see how other people see you and for them to summarise that impression in a few lines. I had to write a few texts too myself for my classmates and I have to say, this is a very delicate and stressfull exercice but so relieving and enjoyable once you finally put down on paper the representation of that person that is usually very close to you.

Case studies

The Times 100 UK: Marketing Theory, Business case studies: Wow! I found this FREE educational resource for students, teachers and lecturers of business studies. 'The Times 100 brings business studies theory to life with case studies on real companies, written by leading business studies textbook authors and linked to all exam specifications. "

It's excellent and there's a lot of cases regarding major companies illustrating interesting marketing and business concept. You also get to see the analysis of the case and all that without having to register nor pay. It's extremelly useful for MBA's student!!!

Freak

Man hid in wardrobe to avoid work: "A German man who did not turn up to work because he fancied a day off was found hiding in his wardrobe."
Poor man! Amazing how going to work can become scary for some. Never thought of hiding in the wardrobe though...lol!

Graduation Picture

Today, we had our individual graduation pictures taken to appear in the MBA class of 2003-2004 mosaic and yearbook. It was so funny, we had to pose with the graduation cap and gown, as well as the diploma just like if we were already in September 2004 graduated and done with the MBA.
Well, I was quite difficult after a course and with all the workload we're going through right now to express the joy and relief that will be on my face once I actually finish this MBA.
I remember the day that I was graduated in Psychology, I think it was the happiest day in my life and I still remember that day that I sweared that i would never go back to school again because i was so fed after 5 years spent at the University. Well, here I am again in a business school this time and for one year only but intensive. I can't wait to be at graduation day, I think I'll cry of hapiness to be over such a stressfull and intense year of labour. I'll be proud of me though!;-)