MBA Cutie...

Life on the road to Ross School of Business at U of M... GO BLUE!

Monday, August 28, 2006

Where is it easier?

Everyone always says "make sure you meet a guy in school, because once you're out, it's nearly impossible!". Now that I've had a solid week of drinking and socializing in the b-school, I do wonder if this really holds true.

First of all, yes it IS easier to meet men in Business School. After all, there are 66% of them and only 34% of Cuties running around. However, whether this really increases the odds of meeting the RIGHT man I'm not so sure about. The huge advantage of being in school is that you have a well defined social network. People go out all the time. They are everywhere! And everyone is trying to meet everyone else. But I wonder what will happen once everyone knows everyone else. There are only 410 people per class Ross, a good sized portion of whom are already married or in a relationship. That means that eventually, every single person in the class will know of every other single person in the class. Of course, we have to consider the available individuals in the class above ours. It's a shame that business school is only two years! That means that there are only two classes of people, or around 850 individuals (350 of which are most likely unavailable).

So, if you don't meet someone in your school, how is it easier to meet people when you are in school? If anything, wouldn't this almost limit your social network as you only hang out with those in the school, and have little exposure to those outside the school. I would think this actually has put a huge damper on mate-meeting potential, as before, while in the workplace, going out and exploring new cities meant an indefinite number of men. Suddenly, there are less than 400 now available.

Perhaps the advantage lies in including the whole university community? If so, it seems to me that we're in the same boat we were in before we went to school. Maybe the real advantage for academics is because of the social nature of school. I know I'm much more likely to go have a drink after class on a Thursday afternoon now than I was to go to a bar on a Thursday night after a twelve hour work day.

Who knows? Looks like the dating game finds a way to make a fair playing field for everyone. It's likely to be hard to meet the RIGHT guy any where, including in school. But then again, if the RIGHT guy isn't necessary, b-school is probably a great place to spend two years.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Wrapping up the Week

My first full week at Ross has come to a close. I haven't gone out this much since my LA days. The class is incredibly fun, and there are quite a few other Cuties! It makes things that much better when there are other cool people around.

Yesterday was our first day of Orientation (you can find out more about how that went on my other blog), so afterwards quite a few people met up at Scorekeepers to start off the night with $1 long islands (YES, such a thing really exists!!! However, they aren't exactly good.. but they are still pretty potent), and $2.00 pitchers. My roommate and I headed over there at around 9ish. The weather in Michigan is so unpredictable! After a semi-cloudy day, the evening turned into insane thunderstorms. The rain was coming down in sheets. Thankfully, we were able to snag a ride over to the bar so we didn't get soaked walking in the rain.

I chatted with Microfinance Girl , and a few other cuties. There is quite a large California and New York contingent at Ross. We all were busy sharing our M-Trek experiences (some people went on some amazing ones.... Costa Rica, Belize, Thailand and Bolivia... to just name a few), move-in horror stories, and information we had gathered regarding the availability of guys at U-M. General consensus seems to be that the law school guys are the ones to go for, that dating within Ross should be delayed for as long as possible to avoid awkward situations, and that a few evenings a week, if we get to the "diag" at exactly the right time, we can see a bunch of cute, scrub-clad medical residents scurry across on their way to the medical center for their night shifts. After Scorekeepers, we all wandered over to Rick's, which seems to be the place to go after 11pm.... thankfully the undergrads have not hit campus yet, so Rick's was not too crowded and quite a lot of fun. Waking up for orientation this morning was brutal.

On our way out of orientation today, our Campus Tour Guide put up a sign ... we have another drinking night ahead of us... Saturday is our b-school picnic, followed by a house party... and then Tuesday is our "Welcome back Happy Hour". It will be a miracle if my liver makes it out of Ann Arbor alive!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

KEGGER!

Now that I'm settled into AA, I can give the low down on what really happens out here in the midwest... Boy, are those of us who call the coasts our home are totally missing out.

Pros of a Michigan Social Life (GO BLUE!)

(1) You NEVER have to get dressed up. You can toss on whatever, because everyone is so chill, and just head out the door.

(2) You NEVER have to worry about what there is to do, because there is only ONE thing to do: DRINK!

(3) Beer and Alcohol are cheaper here than in any other city I've ever lived in.

(4) People are so very nice! And everyone likes to have a good time. (NO more NYC stick-up-the-you-know-what types.)

In just the past six days I've managed to drink awesome Sangria at Dominicks, have home brewed ale and in-house distilled vodka at Leopolds, learn to play beer pong, learn to play dice, learn how to make a luge so I'm ready for winter-time, attended a kegger party and have taken my first suck at the beer bong. I guess I did a few school related things too, but if you are interested in reading about that, check out my other blog. Supposedly by the end of my time at Michigan, I will be immune to alcohol.

It's interesting what excessive alcohol and reduced sleep can do to a person. It certainly leads to some interesting conversations. My current question of choice is does having fake boobs automatically mean that you cannot be intelligent? Last night at the kegger I was wondering around with my classmate, Goonie (his self inflicted nickname), searcing for a bathroom. No luck, so I get ready to head off to the b-school to use the bathroom. I turn around and run right into Goonie, who decided to just use the bushes. Whoops. Well maybe there are some advantages to being a guy. But then again, maybe not. ;)

Monday, August 21, 2006

Never a lender or a borrower be...

To take a break from the trip posts for a day....

I've always wondered, when you loan someone an article of clothing, and they get complimented on it, should the wearer be obligated to mention that the outfit is not theirs? I am not sure. I think it depends on the circumstance. For example, if the item is a ball gown or cocktail dress, and is worn to a formal where the original owner is not present, then no, the lendee should not have to say anything. But, if the item was borrowed and worn out to an event where the lender is present, it is almost rude to accept compliments on the item without mentioning the item doesn't belong to them. Once I loaned a brand new dress to a friend of mine. She wore it out to a party and everyone loved it. Then I wore it to another party. Everyone said they loved it, but do I know that so-and-so has the same one? grrrr.....

Although, this brings an important point... when an article of clothing is complimented, is it the actual piece of clothing that is being complimented, or the way the wearer is wearing it? If it is the former, then the rights of the compliment definitely belong to the owner. However, if it is the later, maybe the compliment should have been "you look really great in that shirt".

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Day 4: Travel to Bangalore

After breakfast, we checked out of Le Royal Meridian, and then headed over to Anna Airport for our flight to Bangalore. We were on Jet Airways. This is the first time I've ever flown Jet. First of all, the stewards and stewardesses are attractive! Not at all like the Indian Airlines ones (who really are NOT attractive!) The flight to Bangalore was so short but they still served us lunch.

The traffic in Bangalore is HORRENDOUS. Absolutely HORRENDOUS! Once we got to my grandma's house in Methekere, we went for a quick shopping trip to Maleshwaram. Lots of things were available.. not as good as commercial, but definitely a better buy.... We also visited Iskon temple, and the huge Hanuman temple, where my mom did a vada-mala puja.

We got home around 9pm, had dinner, and went to bed.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Day 3: Vitheeshwaran

The day commenced at 4:30am. After a fitful sleep, we all woke up, bathed, and rushed off to meet our driver. We had a 5 and 1/2 hour drive to Vitheeshwaran from Chennai. Okay, so here's the deal with South Indian Temples in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. They open early in the morning at like 3 or 4am, and then they shut by noon. In Kerala, lots of them shut by 9am or 10am. Then, they don't reopen again until the late afternoon. So, if you don't make it to Vitheeshwaran by 9 or 10am, you won't get darshan (seeing the deity) unless you stick around until the late afternoon.

For the most part, the road was good, and made great time to Vitheeshwaran (passing through Chidambaram, which also has an incredible temple and is home to my dad's undergaduate school, Annamalai University). Vitheeshwaran is famous for it's temple and it's Nadi tradition. A Nadi is a fortune teller, many of the most famous nadi lineages can be traced back to Vitheeshwaran. Despite the prodding of family members, I decided to not have my horoscope given. I know that if I had it, I would be thinking about it and would not live my life.

So, we got to Vitheeshwaran fairly early, and managed to secure an abhishekham (ritual bathing) for 12pm. I wandered around the temple, ate panchamritham (a nectar made of five or more ingredients), read about the historical lore of the temple, dipped my feet into the bathing pool, watched volunteers counting the temples' gold and money stores, and witnessed a few babies have their heads shaved and ears pierced. By then it was noon. Vitheeshwaran is a very old temple, but it is not well maintained. There is graffitti and it's quite dark and dingy. During the abhishekham, a HUGE cockroach flew and landed on my brother. I SCREAMED and jumped up and ran away. Everyone laughed at me for being afraid of a cockroach. It was HUGE though! And still, GROSS!

By the end of the day, I was definitely ready to get back to the Le Royal Meridian....


Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Days 2: Chennai

Chennai used to be the main entry point to South India a few years back. Now, as Bangalore has become the Silicon Valley 2, and Kerala tourism has exploded, there are other entry points. However, even though most of my family no longer is there, we still came to Chennai for two reasons: (1) To see an old family friends who had successfully completed 13 chemo treatments for lymphoma and (2) To go to my father's side's family temple, Vitheeshwaran Koil.

We woke up Wedsnesday morning and had the most fabulous breakfast at the hotel. I have to say, I love the juice in India! They actually grind up real, fresh fruits. And watermelon juice is such a special treat that I've never been able to have anywhere else. Nestle also makes this totally awesome mango yoghurt. I wish it were available in the U.S. too. We decided to use the day to visit friends and shop. We headed out to my dad's collegemate's factory where he set us up with water, coffee, soda and a personal driver to take us around all day. We saw our family friend, and then she took us shopping in T Nagar and Mylapore.

In T-Nagar, we went to Varsidhi, where I ended up buying 3 saris... and they were not cheap... not even by indian standards! But they were absolutely gorgeous! Don't buy from the website unless you have to.. the actual store prices things in rupees. We went to Mylapore to buy some jewellery for a girl that is a Bharata Natyam dancer. After that, we went back to the hotel, slept a bit, and then had dinner at Navaratna, in the Le Meridian. We went to bed... we had to wake up so early to go to Vitheeshwaran in the morning.

Day 1: To India

It's been 7 years since I've been on Singapore Airlines. Things have changed... Raffles class and First class have gotten better, but coach has totally gone downhill. The addition of the Wiseman entertainment system has been great, but you would think that the selection of movies would be better. After the 13 hour trip to Hong Kong, where we transited for one hour before getting back on the plane for another 4 hours to continue on to Singapore, I was ready to stretch my legs. The food was awful, and I even made sure to pre-order indian vegetarian meals. We got into Hong Kong at 5am, so nothing was open in that airport. I did discover something interesting in the bathroom... a spray that you use to personally disinfect the toilet. That is a good idea! They should bring that to the U.S.

We stopped for nearly 8 hours in Singapore. I went out into the city to visit my mom's cousin. We also went to the Jurong Bird Park, which was interesting, although geared more for young children. By the time we made it back to the airport to catch our flight to Chennai, I was totally exhausted. The fligh to Chennai was uneventful, I slept the whole way there.

We got into Chennai at 10:00pm. Chennai airport is still not that modernized. Oddly enough, we had to screen our handbaggage to exit the airport into the baggage claim area. I didn't bother to change into indian clothes in Singapore like my mom did, so I went through security wearing a sleeveless top and skirt, and was stared at like crazy by the security guards. I felt totally uncomfortable, in addition to cranky and tired. The main guard stared so much, he didn't bother to stop my mother, or the guy after her, when they both walked through the security gate and set off the metal alarms. Weird! I have to admit, the staring phenomenom in Chennai has reduced considerably! After we were out of the airport, things got infinitely better.

Our room in the Le Royal Meridian was awesome! It was nice to finally relax, unwind, take a shower, and go to bed, after the 30 hour trip.