Lmmntgmry's Xanga

Q2 Week 1

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:55:46 GMT

It's a beautiful day: After a first quarter filled with self-doubt, self-loathing, and general uncertainty plus occasional regret, I finally got some closure. After getting a somewhat ambiguous score on the econ final (how our final grades are actually calculated is a giant mystery - the final decision on whether or not a student passes is apparently made through a meeting of the econ profs factoring not only test scores but student effort), I emailed my economics professor and he told me my scores were good enough to pass. HALLELUJAH!!! Thank you for your prayers, God was clearly at work. (More on this later) I spent so much time asking other first years if they thought I would pass, and people drew all kinds of charts and graphs explaining their personal theories on how grade distributions at Wharton work, but I've learned that the only sure thing to do is go straight to the source. I got the email from my prof just as I was about to head out to a day long recruiting event, and as I walked down the street the air seemed crisper - a giant weight had been lifted from my shoulders!!!
Econ Final Exam Grade mix-up: Through some sort of catastrophic error, three hours after the econ final exam grades were posted for students, an email from faculty went out saying that the grades posted were incorrect and that the correct grades had been reposted. Isn't that awful!? It's so traumatic!! All scenarios are pretty bad: some people got high scores and rejoiced only to discover hours later that they had actually failed, and some people got low scores and were depressed for hours ("Why am I even here at Wharton") before discovering that they had actually done just fine. Personally, I think the worst scenario is getting a bad score and getting the "just kidding email" only to get the SAME score the second time ^^;; One guy in my class got a good score the first time and got an even BETTER score the second time! What a jerk. lol I missed all the drama because I resolved not to check my econ grade until after I had taken the accounting midterm, so I have no war stories to tell about The Great MGEC Mixup.
Recruiting season hits: Like fall leaves change color, so does student attire. Before recruiting, we were all dressed in flip flops and t-shirts. Now that recruiting has startd, on any given day half my class is in jeans, sneakers, and fleeces, and the other half is dressed in full suits. It's really weird.
SEPTA on strike: Philly public transport goes dark. No buses, just cabs and lots of walking. Fortunately I live relatively close to school, but people who live farther out are doing a lot of cabbing. I am pretty bitter about the fact that I am a slow walker and get passed on the sidewalk regularly on my way to school (like slow cars in the right lane get passed). It doesn't matter how athletic my shoes are and how fast I walk. I blame it on the fact that I'm short, but I get outpaced by shorter people too. Booo... XD

Q1 Highlights

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:17:25 GMT

Quarter Two officially starts tomorrow, mere seconds after Quarter One ended with a bang with the MGEC Final today. (Managerial Economics aka MGEC pronounced "magic"). MGEC: the most failed class at Wharton, and the source of endless jokes ("This is what you came to school for, to learn wizardry"). Should mention that the material covered in this class includes theory by John Nash, aka the mathematician played by Russell Crowe in "A Beautiful Mind." Yes, the one who was clinically insane, and that's why he was able to come up with the stuff that we had to learn!!

Quarter One Highlights:
- Seeing my cohortmates dressed as a) Ninja Turtles b) giant chickens c) Spiderman at tonight's Cohort Halloween Party
- Funny but unfortunate: a friend of mine who shall remain anonymous contracted H1N1 aka swine flu, and also told me that it was going around her cohort. She told me that a bunch of people were comparing symptoms, and they all figured out that they had it. (Of course, it's an awful thing to have, but it has the most ridiculous name). She told me about a guy she knew who got swine flu, and then weeks later got the regular flu!!! We sympathized but also snickered. lol
- Late night study sessions in the common room of our apartment building. A group of about six of us have been living in common room for the past few weeks studying like crazy. I've officially become one of Those Asians. Grad school requires WAY more studying than undergrad did - no more catching up the last week before the final! If you don't keep up, you will get completely left behind.
- Running into old faces all the time. I've run into my cousins twice now on the street, and a friend from UVA too! (Brandon) Life is funny, it amazes me how many of my good friends from the past are now in my life again because of where I am. (My friend Zac, who I never thought I'd see again outside of Japan!) I remember being really sad saying goodbye to some of them before, who knew when I would see them again - but I guess this just shows that only God knows what's in store for me. You never know where life will lead!

I already have homework to do for tomorrow!! Sigh. XD

Stress relief

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:04:08 GMT

Now that life has become an exercise in managing time and stress (who would have thought I'd ever be rationing out my time as carefully as I did my money?) I am reduced to... watching videos of puppies on youtube! Sometimes you just need a break. It's not time wasting if there are therapeutic effects XD

I somehow came across this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeCzOTlY1sk&feature=related

...AHAHA Ohhh Internet. What won't you do. The world has become a wackier place because of you. I can't even imagine how many people saw these videos and trained their own dogs for months in hopes of posting their own video. (If I were a dude and I had a dog I would TOTALLY do it lol)

Also, I told my roommate about the beer dogs, and my Learning Team group member's dog who stretches like a cat (actually it does the "Downward Dog" yoga position, which is fair since it is actually a dog) and her response was:

"I once knew a dog in Korea who could wink. I saw it. Our family friend paid $1,000 for that dog, and that was like years and years ago." (So basically you should discount that dog to find its Net Present Value.) LOL hahahahaha =D

Hope blog

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:51:46 GMT

Now that xanga's readership has largely moved to Facebook, I feel free to let my hair down a little XD Today I am totally exhausted from incredible amounts of work, and I didn't feel like saying hi to anyone. I looked and felt like a mess and yet I'm always behind. I hear that everyone feels this way during their 1st year 1st quarter, but that doesn't make it less rough.

I came home and watched a video from a church outreach event that I had thought about going back home for.
http://ctpchurch.org/english/?p=1270

In a nutshell, it was a testimonial skit set to Lifehouse's "Everything," about our (human) fall from grace but how because of Jesus we have hope and a defender in Him. The girl struggles with dating, feeling incompetent in schoolwork, feeling judged by fashionable society, alcohol, and other stuff too. I think I identified with so many of the things I saw in this video, I found myself crying. To be exact, the part when "Jesus" stepped forward and fought off all the troubles attacking the girl and the audience erupted into cheers is when I started crying. First of all, maybe I haven't seen a WHOLE lot of testimonial skits, but usually they are taken pretty seriously and I think this is the first time I remember seeing the audience burst into cheering. Frankly, my church is really conservative (people don't lift their hands during worship, much less burst into cheers!) so I was amazed. But of course we should be shouting for joy!!

Seeing that part of the skit was a visual reminder that in Jesus I have someone who is always on my side and fighting for me, and because of Him, I don't have to fight on my own. I'm crying out of joy that someone like me, utterly imperfect as I can, could still gain eternal life because Jesus Christ bore my punishment, and that this eternal life can never be taken away from me.

Struggling with schoolwork and the fashionable society part is me to a tee. The women in business school are beautiful, bright, articulate, well-dressed almost all the time (I don't know how people have time and energy!!) And I often feel stupid and underdressed. A lot of people here have already taken a lot of these classes before and have strong quantitative backgrounds. I am HORRIBLE at math and I wonder almost everyday how I managed to get in here (lately I don't wonder AS much, maybe like once every few days lol). A week ago, I thought to myself that someone on the application committee had missed the ball somewhere and I was a little angry that my relatively low quantitative score on the GMAT hadn't tripped any wires and safely kept me out of a hostile environment. And then I heard the vice dean (who is from India) mention that the Indian business school system screens (screened?) applicants solely based on their score on a quantitative test, and commented that it didn't work because how could a single test score capture someone's leadership ability or vision? When I heard that I wanted to cry, I was so grateful.

I need to remember what I am defined by. It doesn't matter what everyone else is doing. I am here because God brought me here for a purpose. Because of Him, none of that other stuff matters and I am free from all of it! Now that is something to celebrate =)

Here

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:39:20 GMT

It’s been awhile since my last update, and that is because things here keep me pretty busy! I’ve been here for almost two months now, and it never ceases to amaze me how suddenly and drastically my life changed when I went back to school. The other day on my way back from class, I watched a squirrel race up a tree lugging a huge piece of bread by its teeth. The squirrel made it to a branch 20 feet above ground only to drop the bread all twenty feet to the ground. Some days I feel like that greedy squirrel and I wonder if I’m going to drop it all, but other days I feel like things are all right with the world and I’m filled with the peaceful knowledge that God always provides. While there’s a lot of work here, there is still time for play. I see squirrels the size of rabbits on my way to class, and I’m sure it’s a result of the Philly food. Eating is a major activity here in Philly!

I somehow ended up on the mailing lists for the Wharton African Students Association and the Wharton Vegeterian Club, neither of which I am qualified for. It’s hard to remember what I signed up for though, since I am bad at saying no, and walking through the activities fair was like walking through a minefield. The worst is when you get roped into joining an activity because you started talking to one of the club members before realizing that they are actually part of the club that was next to the one you were aiming for!!

On the whole, I suppose things are starting to settle into a rhythm, although it seems that things move at such a rapid pace that once you get adjusted, it’s time to change again. The people here are all so amazingly talented and smart, today I totally bombed a very difficult Economics exam and the whole time I started to wonder if there had been some kind of crazy mistake. How did I even get here? Whose idea was this?? But I think I’m not alone – my classmate agreed with me: “I think about that often. Like everyday.” Hahah XD While we all wonder together how we’re going to make it through Hell Week, I am grateful for the opportunity to be here.

Pre-Term Highlights

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:11:25 GMT

So I moved to Philadelphia at the beginning of August, and I'm going on Week 3 of my MBA experience. Pre-Term is Wharton's way of making sure all 1st years start the school year in Sept. (after Labor Day) on the same quantitative foot, as it were. XD Basically it's this mad rush of networking with some classes (but no grades), so basically the emphasis is on fun. =D The first week was kind of trippy - Wharton makes you jump through so many hoops even after you've been accepted that as I sat there listening to the Convocation speech I had a moment of disbelief. Wow, this is real. I'm really here.

For the first time in my life:

There is another Pauline in my 60-person core class (Cohort), and she's also Asian. Oh nOooOES! hahah This must be what it feels like to be named "David," or "Jennifer." I hate it. XD lol Class hasn't even started yet, but the confusion is already rampant. At a speed networking event, participants had to ask questions designed to elicit embarrassing stories (e.g. "What was the worst thing you did as a kid?"), and a printer was the prize for the best story. One guy raised his hand and was like, "When Pauline was a kid, she fed rocks to her blind grandmother who opened her mouth expecting food." Everyone turned and looked at me and I was like, "NooO! OTHER PAULINE!" Other Pauline had already left by that point, and I will admit that I briefly weighed my options and considered whether having the reputation of feeding rocks to my blind grandmother for the next two years was worth possibly winning the free printer. XD
I live in a high-rise building. My windows face another high-rise across the street. It's all so Hitchcock's "Rear View." When I look out the windows I always make sure no one is getting murdered XD

Sound clips:

"Wharton is not Sparta." -Director of Student Life. One thing that surprises me is that they emphasize the importance of not blindly following career/school advice; it's important to consider what is right for you. I think this is crucial - a lot of people give advice with the best of intentions, but they haven't fully considered your priorities, or the fact that you are not them. Just because people are older doesn't mean they are always wiser.
"Don't date anyone in your building. It might seem really convenient at first, but when you break up, the guy will stalk the hell out of you. He already has access to your building!!" - Cousin Randy LOL
Overheard, a convo between three male Wharton MBAs: "If you see one you like, it doesn't matter if she's taken, just hold out for Black Friday. This is one time the friend card might actually work!" hahah zomg. I heard this story over cheese and hummus with a small group of other female MBAs at the end of Pre-Term Week 1. It was like being on "The View." XD Apparently the Friday after Thanksgiving is referred to as Black Friday because "It's the morning you're back home and realize you don't love your boyfriend anymore."
Vice Dean gives speech to my Cohort about making the most of our time at Wharton, then asks, "Are there any questions?" One guy raises his hand. "Is it true that there is an 18 year old in our class this year?" Everyone makes a face like O_O?? and looks around the room expectantly. A girl from the Philippines raises her hand and says that there was an 18 year old Filipino student in last year's Wharton class, adding helpfully that he was also also a teen singing sensation in the Philippines. hahaha

This week's evening lineup: Social Impact dinner, housewarming, Phillies' game, then Leadership Retreat in the Catskill Mountains. Hooray!

You Silly Japan XD

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:13:17 GMT

Was on the Tokyo subway last week (crowded rush hour train), and I felt something wet drip onto my bare, flip-flopped foot. I looked up and there was a sweaty Japanese guy with sweat beads rolling off his face. EWWWWW I was like GROSSS that’s the grossest thing that’s happened to me like all week!! I was like… what do I do what do I do… I tried to somehow wipe it off with my other flip-flopped foot, but only succeeded in spreading it. -_____- I then pulled a tissue out of my bag, painstakingly wiped both feet, and then… had to put the soiled tissue back in my bag. I was like, that’s it. Nothing is sacred anymore. I'm ruined. Haha. Granted, it WAS really hot and crowded and everyone was sweaty but still. zomg.

After the sweat incident, I reached my destination: my first Japanese baseball game! I sat w/ my classmates and one of them practically had convulsions when he thought the ball was coming our way and he spilled his beer all over me. hahaha He was like, "Sorry, I thought the ball was coming at us so I had to get ready to catch it. The last time I was at a Japanese baseball game I actually did catch a ball, but in Japan they don't let you keep it. I gave it to a little Japanese boy next to me and told him to run from the stadium security." ahah T.T

I saw a TV ad for the 31-legged race, a sport that could only happen in an Asian country. Thirty elementary school students tie their legs together and practice for months in preparation for the National 31-Legged Race Championship, held annually. I remember this from my last time in Japan, I watched it on TV for hours. lol There are several rounds of competition, and the kids rejoice as they make it past the qualifying rounds, but of course there is a fair amount of crying as the 10-year-olds and their huge teams get disqualified. ^^;;

The Tokyo subway system is this explosion of a municipal transport system. The other day after class I executed a mad dash from Hanzoumon Station to Tokyo Station to catch the 5:26pm Tokaido Line Bullet train (Shinkansen) to Shin-Fuji Station, Shizuoka for a weekend trip to see friends. I felt like I was on The Amazing Race. XD It's not a long trip, but I had no idea where any of the exits were, and Tokyo Station is probably larger than Tysons I since it's the hub for like > 21 different metro lines. Having investigated in advance, I knew that I had two transfers and that I would have to also buy tickets for the bullet train once I got to that leg of the trip. I knew it would be tight, but I started to flip out when I realized that my bullet train was going to depart in 15 min and I was only at the first transfer point. Ahhh!

I booked it off the 2nd train in search of the bullet train ticket machines, and found two that were being used by very slow Japanese people. XD I was like ZOMG what is that dude looking at on the screen?? What is taking him so long?? There were two people in line ahead of me. With less than ten minutes before the train’s departure, I finally made it to the machine and understood why they took so long. It turned out the machine asked me every question it could think of. Is the starting point of your trip this station? (Yes!! I’m here aren’t I?) What day would I like to travel… (RIGHT NOW! NOW!) Did I want to also buy a ticket for my return trip… (…I DON’T KNOW! SKIP!!) How many people in my party and what child/adult combination were we arranged in (there was a whole screenful of blue adult stick figures and little pink ones representing children in different groups) Reserved or unreserved seat, destination (Fair enough), Any other ticket purchases today? (NO!!!! Hurry uppp!) When the ticket finally came shooting out of the slot, and I grabbed it and sprinted through the length of the JR line platforms and up the right sides of the escalators as people stood to the left. It’s probably a small miracle I didn’t fall with a backpack on my shoulders, knapsack on my arm, and flip flops on my feet, and by the time I collapsed in my seat on the bullet train I was in a full sweat. Really attractive.

If DC Metro blew up, it might resemble the Tokyo subway system. I am a rat in a giant maze.

Haircut

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:27:24 GMT

So I decided it was high time to get my hair cut, since I can't remember the last time I got my hair cut (but I think it was at least six or seven months ago.) So I asked around a lot, and this girl I met this past week at a Wharton gathering in Tokyo referred me to her stylist. I was like, "Well, her hair looks good, so it must be ok."

So I got to the place, annnnd almost all the stylists were dudes who looked more likely to be at a skater park or backstage at a rock concert than at a hair salon. I was like uhh... the guy who greeted me at the reception had short, cropped red hair (like dyed red red), and he was wearing like, skinny jeans, a fedora (TimKots style) and possibly an earring. I took a quick look around the room. In the corner, a guy was getting his hair permed into an afro. I spoke English instead of Japanese to stall and decide if I should make a hasty exit. It's fair to judge a hair salon based on the haircuts of the stylists right??

I think I was more anxious before this haircut than I was pre-wisdom tooth extraction surgery. I decided that I didn't want to go to the trouble of finding another hair salon, and that since the girl who referred me had been going there for years, things might be ok. I tried to explain to the hair stylist that I was a business school student looking a relatively conservative haircut. (I looked up "conservative" on my electronic dictionary and showed it to him, but I think it said that I tend to vote for a certain political party. LOL)

The stylist who cut my hair was wearing a beanie-like hat (except it had no top). He was super nice. I think he could tell how nervous I was. I explained to him what kind of cut I was looking for (this is not my first time getting my hair cut in Japanese, but I never know the vocab bc I never practice it), and he responded slowly and in a soothing tone of voice. hahahaha We had the standard Japanese-person-who-I-just-met conversation, i.e. "WhoOA! You're not Japanese! AND you're Asian but you're a native English speaker!" As all hairstylists do, he noticed that the hair on the back of my head is naturally wavy, but the hair in front is straight. "You're lucky, a lot of women perm their hair so it will look like this! Embrace your natural waves!" he said, while fluffing it out lol

I'm actually pleased with results, although it's not really that different from my standard cut. I guess I shouldn't judge a hair salon by the people walking around inside. ...? haha

Japan, one month later XD

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:24:13 GMT

Woke up to an earthquake last week. Nothing big, but still trippy!

Visited the inaka aka countryside aka 鄉下 . YAY!! A much needed break from the city. Went to onsen in the mountains, nothing beats relaxing in natural hot springs amidst mountain scenery. Unfortunately, with nature comes... insects. GIANT cockroach in the bathroom, mukade in the living room (Japanese poisonous centipede - google it XD). The pastor's wife from my old Oita church was totally unfazed - she's almost 70, but she grabbed a shoe and nailed both of them without even blinking. Then I came back to Tokyo and there was a flying cockroach in the living room. Gahhhh!! I was like, "Cockroach, my old nemesis." <clenches fist> hahaha Back when cockroaches used to invade my Oita apartment last time I was in Japan, I would like, summon up a lot of anger and engage in prolonged battle with them (cockroach traps, extensive whack-a-mole style attacks using my flip-flops). However, in my cramped Tokyo apartment somehow I felt more vulnerable, like the cockroach had a home turf advantage since this place is so small and there are a lot of nooks and crannies and such lol I got a roommate to kill it.

My Japanese classes are in a very swank and high-tech building. The toilet lids open by automatic sensor so you don't have to touch them. I think if they could invent toilets that suspend you in the air so you don't have to touch anything period, they would. XD There is a shower in the top floor bathroom, and the shower walls became transparent if you flip a switch. (I think this is supposed to be so you can enjoy the sunlight while showering, but it is the butt of endless jokes about voyeurism ^^;;)

Some Japanese grocery stores have LED displays for prices on the store shelves instead of price stickers, and automatic change counters - clerks just dump the coins into this conveyor belt thing and the appropriate change amount comes out. Amazing!

Went to a corporate visit with a law firm. I felt very important standing at the top of a building overlooking Tokyo Tower haha Out of the 25-30 people in the room, there were only three women. I saw a lot of women on the way in, but they were all sitting behind the reception desk. Doh.

I'm all out of shame XD I went to a recruiting session with a huge investment bank just for the food, and I don't care anymore - I will squirrel away free water bottles when I can lol

Tokyo is fun for a vacation, but living here long term would be really taxing. It's unbelievable how crowded the subway cars get and how many people are constantly on the streets. The apartment I'm living in is teeny tiny and the walls are super thin. The flip side is that awesome and cheap food is easy to find.

Trash disposal in Japan requires patience, determination, and problem-solving skills. Before disposing of water bottles, one must first remove the label and the cap (which go into separate categories). Disposing of a plastic bento tray requires washing it out and putting leftover food in a separate pile (the burnable trash pile).

Silly Story XD

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:00:50 GMT

A true story? At the very least, a joke XD A foreign missionary came to a Japanese church and used his most polite Japanese to ask a young girl from the congregation to read a Bible passage out loud. The girl’s father later indignantly complained to the pastor of the church about the missionary’s rude behavior. “What did you say to her?” the pastor asked the missionary. The missionary replied, “I said, ‘およめになってください’” BadumCHHH!!!

What the missionary meant to say: “Please read out loud＝お読みになってください”
What he actually said, due to mispronunciation of a single syllable: “Please become my wife＝お嫁になってください” XD

The above joke/anecdote courtesy of Pastor Sono and his wife who I met while attending Oita Megumi Church during my time on the JET program. I saw them this past weekend when I visited them in Shizuoka where they are now living!