Its all about fun and work here

…and the twain do meet at INSEAD, its just a matter of employing the concept of “tradeoff” (we learn that a little too early here, much before our first class of “prices and markets”).

Anyways, my consistently ignorant punjabi brethen in California posted this video last year which basically made fun of a certain sect of people:

Though I condemn it, I have been told that it was made in good humor. And one of the casts is actually applying to INSEAD to refine his temperament and to hone the faculty to appreciate a different culture.

I like French better than Americans + bonus: first few minutes at INSEAD

So I guess I’ll have to explain the title in detail. I am about to leave for my first round of introductions with fellow Fonty INSEADers. I am excited. I found this opportunity to fill in my blog because I know I am going to be influenced by this experience of meeting for the first time, people from 70+ countries in a single day. So, before this effects the content of my journal, let me quickly give you my “top 3” for France vs US:

1. The French are soft spoken. I heard an occasional “wei” but at the airport I did end up appreciating how quiet and respectful the French are towards other people.
2. France is undeniably more beautiful.
3. Unfortunately, France still derives its entertainment from American movies and a little bit of music too. Throughout the airport, I saw French versions of trailers of popular Hollywood movies. But the French have still retained a liking for their own music.

That’s all the insight I can give you right now, this is only so much I have gathered through my limited stay here. Yesterday, around the same time, I went out for a stroll to see my neighborhood, and hit the Veneux Les Sablons train station. Lo and behold, there it was just 2 stops away – Fontainebleau. My woes actually started when I reached Fonty and was told that INSEAD was not walking distance from the station. So I waited an hour for the bus. When I finally got there, I was surprised to find a lot more Dec 07s had come to visit Fonty before our opening day. More surprised to see that most were Indians. I met 2 Jul 07s who were jovial and fun, maybe because a harder part of their MBA was over. They gave us great insight as to what we can expect to happen in the next few days. Made me wish I had not been lazy and actually done a bit of pre-reading.

Then I met some more – who else, but Indians! After introductions we decided to head out for Lunch. Again, it took us quite some time to figure out an appropriate place to get lunch. There were 2 ladies leading the pack – one Indian and the other American, and I guess that was part of the reason why we went hungry for a while. This was also the first time that I realized that maybe I shouldn’t have come because I was freezing to death (remember, I intended to be out of my apartment for a stroll and ended up at INSEAD)