new google earth flags...

I added some google earth flags form my trip to Greensboro. Check it out on the right sidebar...
Furthermore, I also uploaded a video I took out of the car before I went back to the airport. It shows a medium road from the highway towards my former apartment.

weekend in Greensboro with unexpected layover...

Last weekend I went down to Greensboro, North Carolina where I spent a six month intern in 2004. My schedule was full with visits of co-workers and people that I got to know at that time. I first visited my old workplace and talked to a lot of people - some of them have left, but all in all Novartis Animal Health has extremely expanded. Business has been ndoing very well over the last three to four years. After the afternoon visit, a couple of my co-workers and I went out for a beer at a close bar (forgot to take pictures, sorry). On the same evening I then headed to Winston where I met with Lawren (co-worker) and her husband Jigar. We went out to a great restaurant, talked a lot and enjoyed the evening. I could also stay over at their place from Friday to Saturday, which was just great. Thanks again :-)
On Saturday I then drove east to Hillsborough to meet with Laurie also a former co-worker. She has had her first baby (Katie) just a couple of months after I left and she is going to give birth in about three weeks again. It was also great to catch up with her again... When I was talking to Lawren and Laurie I didn't feel that it has already been 3 years since I left!
On the same day I headed back and visited also two friends (Donavan and Donavan) I knew from outside work. We also went out for dinner and they also put me up for one night. We also played ping pong for an hour and had great fun. The next morning I went to see my landlord at my own apartment and his house. It was also cool to catch up again and it was great to see that they both were very well!

Well and then everything did not go how it was supposed to be: due to bad weather over 500 flights were cancelled at Chicago's airports. Leaving thousands of people stranded. Unfortunately, I spent about 10 hours at the airport... but the plane was either not allowed to leave due to the bad conditions in Chicago or because the crew was not allowed to fly anymore (too long air time)! So after three security controls (they finally recognized me when I returned the last time!) and a lot of annoying hours lying on the floor, reading the newspaper etc. I ended up in a hotel for the night. I had a seat and was to leave at 7am next morning. My flight got to Chicago with a delay of 45 minutes. There I had to run to another terminal - fu**** far away! - and try to get on the next plane on stand by. I finally was lucky since some other guys did not show up and I could make it to Minneapolis! If I were not boarded on that plane, I would might not have made it until very late the same day... so I was lucky.
It is funny, though, how people bend together if left in the same situation - I have talked to so many different people over on Sunday like never before...

network breaks for MBA's...

We had a unexpected break (at least for me) yesterday during my Corporate Finance class: It's called network breaks for part time MBA and takes place twice a semester. The school offers all part time MBA half an hour to network with free snacks and drinks. Here are some impressions.

weather forecast only for iexplorer...

I have noticed that the weather forcast picture is not shown in firefox only in iexplorer... I have no idea why, but I try to fix it.

something to add to Carlson...

... I forgot the best here at Carlson: They provide Norton Anti Virus, Windows XP and upcoming Windows Vista for free for Students!... That's customer orientation :-)

That's something the HSG should start... I think I need to talk to Bösch or the Dean when I am home ;-)

classes at Carlson...

Meanwhile, I have been here for five full weeks of the term and I feel like giving you an impression of how the classes are structured and differ from Europe:

- every week I have to prepare a Harvard Business Case for Corporate Finance and Strategic Alliances... sometimes solve book questions (which sucks...) or present a Minnesota based company...
- The presentation class requires a mini-presentation every week with focus on certain issues like introduction, transitions, and so on...
- there is generally a lot to read... quantity matters ;-)
- participation in class is graded...

As far as non-material stuff is concerned:

- on the first day, the professor introduces him-/herself personally to everyone...
- they provide even their cell phone number in case of questions...
- you can use the first name of most professors when talking to them... so for example: "Tom, could you please explain...."
- today we had a negotiation on a Harvard Business Case. After the case we went into a bar with the professor having a beer and enjoying a nice talk not relating to university... that was kind of cool, though, since I think that the relationship between professors and students are much closer than at the HSG.
- classes are very interactive. Due to that a lot of different experiences around a business problem emerge in the classroom and are shared among the students. This makes the class lively and interesting (lately we discussed the Iridium case and one student told about his experiences using the phone in Afganistan's mountains...)

Furthermore, you can pick up every day the New York Times, US Today or the Herald for free... Printing is also free (I hope HSG will catch up!) and you can access the whole school via wireless internet. Important books are available online, so you don't need to reserve it and pick it up at the library - just great if you need only some pages for the master thesis for example...

So I hope all HSG-Students reading the blog got an impression of some differences to the style at home. :-)

Soccer intramurals - second game...

Today we played our second intramural league soccer game, and we won 5:2 this week. Yeah! All the guys showed up this week, whereas last week some did not get informed in time. So right now we are a pretty cool bunch of people... I actually wanted to take some pictures during the game, but I forgot the camera... furthermore I wantet to go out for a beer after the game, but everyone seemed busy (I am probably the only one only taking 12 credits ;-) ) I guess it could be due to the mid-term exams that take place this and next week. So I unfortunately hat to put off the 1$ pitcher for one week :-) Well... next week I try to post some pics of the game at the fieldhouse and hopefully of the drinkt after the game...

downtown Minneapolis...

Here are some pictures I took during my visits of downtown Minneapolis. So far, it was just too cold to take the camera with me when I went out in the evening. If the temperatures rise a little, I will take some pictures of bars and clubs and keep you in the loop of the places around Dinkytown, Uptown or Downtown.

Soccer intramurals - first game...

The intramurals soccer league started yesterday. I signed up for one soccer team in the intramural league. So at 9.15pm, 6 girls and 4 guys lined up that the Fieldhouse for our first game. There was a French, a Brasilian, a Turkish guy, five US-girls and a US guy and finally me in our team... a pretty international team though :-)
It was a lot of fun and we played twice 25 minutes... I was exhausted afterwards, but I really enjoyed it. By the way with all the fast food I eat more than at home, it is wise to go to the Rec twice a week and join a football game every Tuesday :-)
We finally lost 2:5 but enjoyed a great evening. I will keep you in the loop about our standings and will post some pictures later...

XLI Superbowl...

This Sunday was probably one of the days in the US where everyone talks only about one thing: The Superbowl. Well the Indianapolis Colts finally won over the Chicago Bears... No nipples or Timberlake on screen this year ;-) , instead Prince was entertaining the people during the half time show. As usual you could watch the funniest, greatest and also most expensive advertisement clips... Click here if you want to see all commercials. My favourites are the Bud Light - Rock, Paper, Scissors Commercial or the GM - Unemployed ad ...
We spent the whole afternoon at the Library bar in Dinkytown, drinking beer (bottle 2.50 USD!) and eating great burgers... I will post some pictures from bars and clubs some times later when it gets a little warmer... By the way: This weekend was the coldest I have ever experienced in my life... the temperature went down to -24 degrees Celsius, but with the wind it felt like -36 degrees Celsius! Just unbearable...

the Mall of America...

Shopping in the US has always been fun so far: enough parking space, big shops, friendly sales people and very reasonable prices compared to Switzerland - especially during sale. So I decided to go to the biggest Mall in America, located in Bloomington near the airport about 12 miles south of Minneapolis, to get some new clothes...
The Mall of America itself offers in more than 520 stores about 235'000 m2 retail floor area (total area is nearly 400'000 m2) and is considered to be the biggest US Mall and the 20th biggest Mall in the World. For a comparison: The "Glattzentrum" near Zurich offers about 42'000 m2, the "Shoppyland" near Bern about 32'000 m2... The Mall also offers over 50 restaurants, around 13'000 parking spaces on the west and east side of the Mall (and in Bern the VCS complains about 200 parking speaces more!!!) and employs around 12'000 people. In the middle of the building there is a huge amusement park that offers a variety of roller coaster and places interesting for children and teens. It even has a wild water roller coaster... There are also 14 cinemas a Lego-Land, a dinosaurier museum and an underwater aquarium. In phase II they plan to integrate a whole water amusement park, a dinner theatre, a ice rink and three hotels (!) ... just crazy!!!
So here you go with a little taste of "the Mall"...to locate the building, download the Earth Google flag in the sidebar.