What day is it?

Monday morning... don't ask the date, I'm lucky I realized it was Monday!

After barely sleeping, I woke up and showered and killed some time, waiting to go to breakfast. Breakfast was delightfully delicious (it was Western) and I enjoyed seeing my classmates. We had a lecture to attend at 8:30 about "Doing Business in China." The lecture was very interesting. After that, we loaded onto a bus to head out and do some sight-seeing before our afternoon corporate visit.

(By the way, pictures are coming, the internet connection is too slow at the hotel!)

First, we went to the Jade Buddha Temple. When we got off the bus we were hassled by street vendors (Pen! Rolex! Purse!) which was very reminiscant of Mumbai (except they were hocking Rolexes instead of large latex balloons). The Temple was gorgeous, as only the pictures will prove. Unfortunately it was rainy and dreary, so the pictures are rather dreary.

Our next stop was the Yuyuan Gardens. The Gardens were once a private residence, but now all the Gardens are Government owned, as all the land is Government owned. The Gardens were gorgeous, I wouldn't mind having a house whose rooms were layed out in a intricate, maze-like garden. The landscapes were gorgeous, and once again... pictures will tell a better story.

We then went through the Yuyuan Market, where I will probably return on Friday to do some souvenir shopping, and arrived at a traditional Chinese restaurant where we would be served our lunch. Everything is served "family style" with all the dishes being placed on the Lazy-Susan in the middle of the table. Luckily I can use chopsticks, because there was no alternative! I was semi-adventurous and tried most of the meat and vegetables (after my trusty taste-tester, John tried it of course). I refused to eat anything that had bones (that you were supposed to eat) or shells (that you were supposed to eat). I also avoided anything with the head still on. Eating one small bite at a time as things are passed, makes you full surprisingly quickly though! So I was "stuffed" after my tiny plate of food was consumed.

We piled back on to the bus after lunch and headed to Scientific Atlantic (recently acquired by Cisco in 2006) for a corporate visit. It was interesting, but I was pretty tired at this point and feeling the jet lag. After the visit, we headed back to the hotel where I managed to stay awake until about 6:30, when I fell soundly asleep (oops!). (I have yet to have dinner in Shanghai)

Are we there yet? Shanghai

I finally made it to China! I left my house at 7 am, EST on Saturday morning. I checked into the hotel at 10 pm (China time) on Sunday night. Where does the time go!?!?

My flight from Dulles to Tokyo was uneventful. The food was surprisingly decent (as I started finessing my chopstick skills) and I watched Fool's Gold, 27 Dresses, and Penelope (all quite entertaining). I slept for a little, but was only able to stretch my legs once during the 14-hour journey that's to the gentleman in the middle seat who insisted on taking up a little of all three seats (I also choose the window seat so I can lean against the window to sleep). (I really hope this is the last international flight I have to fly Coach, because presumably the next time I would fly international, a company would be paying for it). I flew ANA (All Nippon Air) to Tokyo. I arrived in Tokyo, switched terminals, and prepared to kill the 3-hour layover waiting for my flight to Shanghai. I pretty much just walked the terminal and sat there (I did read the rest of the US Weekly I bought in Dulles) as I didn't have any Yen to buy a snack or drink.

The trip to Shanghai was about 3-hours, and at this point I was wiped so I pretty much slept the entire time (which would for jet-lag's sake, probably prove a poor choice). I arrived in Shanghai, got through Immigration, exchanged some money, collected by checked bag, and stood in line to get through Customs. No problems. Went outside to catch a taxi to the hotel and wound up haggling (thanks to India) for a cheap cab fare to the hotel. I did get momentarily nervous when the gentleman's cab wasn't in the queue, but once we walked to the parking lot I saw it was an official taxi. The ride to the hotel was about an hour, and the trip was alarmingly similar looking to India until we got into the city proper. Shanghai is a beautiful modern city, lit up like Vegas.

I arrived to the hotel, checked in, and made it up to my room where I was greeted by Mitika (my roommate for the Shanghai-portion). After putting my bags down and brushing my teeth, and greeting a few other classmates, I fell soundly asleep until ... oh about 3 am. Then I napped, badly. Oh jet lag, how you torture me!

Oh right... Home

In all the excitement of arriving home, I forgot to say I arrived home. I made it home, after 144 anxious days. I had a slighty anti-climatic arrival as my parents were stuck in traffic on 95 and couldn't greet me, but it was all good. I made it to the car where my big fluffy pillow and snacks were waiting for me.

The holidays were fabulous and it was great to see everyone and share my Indian gifts with them.

School started back up on January 10th and my classmates couldn't even recognize me! This semester I took: Cost Accounting, Investments, Risk Management, Multinational Management, Operations Management, and Entrepreneurial Finance. I also had my EMC (Enterprise Management Consulting) Project where I worked with an Israeli Cardiac Surgeon on proving the market for his medical device (a mitral valve repair technology) and presented him for funding at the Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures Venture Fair.

I was able to travel to Tel Aviv, Israel in March to visit my client, and that was a fabulous trip (http://picasaweb.google.com/lbarteld).

The semester was long (with an almost 2-hour commute each way to class) but it was great to meet the Paris cohort! It was also nice to be home for the semester, and as a bonus, I met a local boy in my backyard ;-)

So now... I am in the midst of the final chapter of my International MBA.