Anonyma Eine Frau in Berlin

This is a new German movie released early this year. It is about the mass rape committed by Soviet Red Army after Berlin fell. This piece of history had been rarely publicized until British historian Anthony Beevor revealed the horrified stories of these women in his book 'Berlin - The Downfall 1945'. In order to avoid being raped, some wise Berlin women fraternized with Soviet officiers. They offered themselves as mistresses in exchange for protection from rapacious Soviet soldiers, who were eager to avenge Russian suffering at the hands of the Nazis. Most of the raped victims led haunted lives afterwards, suffering all kinds of psychological trauma for years. Stifled from speaking out of their ordeals, some were not able to bear the shame and committed suicides. The mass rape was documented in an obscure WWII documentary published in 1959, but the then bellicose disposition toward the Nazis muffled the voices of these miserable women. Not until recently attention has been rekindled for their stories due to the renewed hostility between Western Europe and Russia. Talking about political convenience here.

Depeche Mode

There are only few legendary synth-pop bands from the 80's that are still active today. Depeche Mode is definitely one of them. It is the pioneer of synth-pop music. Over the last 28 yrs since founding in Basildon, the band's sound has morphed from light-hearted ditties to solemn tunes with pensive lyrics. Songs like "Just can't get enough" and "Personal Jesus" have been re-made by numerous artists including Saturday, Johnny Cash and Marilyn Manson. I grew up listening to Depeche Mode. From the beginning, I could tell this band is not just another teenage garage band. They were going to make history and shock their audience, reinventing themselves with new sounds and recording techiques in every new album release. However, electronic music has not been given a fair share of review since its birth. Critics don't consider it real music. Because of that, Depeche Mode has never achieved the same level of recognition and fame as other contemporary bands did. But they have earned a sizable international following, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe. After a 4 year hiatus, the band had released the new album "Sound of the Universe" and launched a world tour on May 6th. The tour was sidetracked when Dave Gahan fell ill and contracted gastroenteritis, but fortunately he is recovering fast. The tour will resume on June 8th in Leipzig, Germany. Julia and I have bought the tickets for the Sept 5th show in Fort Lauderdale. We are so excited about seeing DM and celebrating our 5th anniversary.

Personally I hope one day Vince Clarke will play with the band again.

Jackfruit

I really admire this Viet-American guy. He twice trekked through South America on his bike. He deliberately avoided developed areas, exploring places where tourists normally won't go. His blog about his journeys is fascinating (Click here to his blog
http://davesnewadventure.wordpress.com/). He even published an online book called "Jackfruit" about his adventures, detailing his contact with native tribes in the Amazon jungles. Look it up on amazon.com. He used to distribute it for free, but later I think a publisher got interested in his book, so I suppose he pulled it off line.

I wish I had done something similar back in the college days.

Facebook Account

I finally created my Facebook account. I felt reluctant to join the FB craze. The reason I gave in because FB allows me to reconnect with lost classmates from high school. Email accounts get disconnected when the persons change jobs or ISP providers. I have found several old classmates from my secondary school in Hong Kong and English boarding school. They formed old boys and girls groups on FB, posting pictures of good ole' days. I have a nostalgia while looking at those pictures. They remind me of my early teenage years when I was not so sure of myself. The aspirations that we had in those days changed with time. I had aspired to be a mechanical engineer, but ended up working in the semiconductor industry in Silicon Valley.

Facebook is very popular with people in their mid 30's and up. It helps tracking down lost pals, relatives, classmates, and co-workers. Not only it is a great social networking site, but also it is increasingly popular for business networking. College graduates put their FB accounts on their resumes, so that potential employers can get a broader view of their qualifications. Nowadays companies check job candidates' FB accounts to get an insight of their background. They want to see to whom the candidates connect.

Facebook is a microscope that can expose the finest details our social lives to everyone on the net.

New Regulations For Credit Card Industry

Today Congress just has passed a bill to tighten up the criteria for issuing credit cards. President Obama is expected to sign it on Friday. This bill arrives at a critical moment and will affect the way we consume. America's economy has overly relied on credit card transactions and we are 2.5 trillion in debt less mortgage. Getting a credit card won't be as easy as before, especially for small businesses and young professionals. Next time we visit our neighborhood coffee shops or restaurants, we might need to pay cash. Paying with our debit cards is still possible, but generally merchants impose a 50 cent fee per transaction. I think overall this new bill will teach consumers to spend responsibly. Our economy is fed by our unquenchable appetite for things that we don't need. America becomes the biggest economy by overspending through the roof. Here is the dilemma though. If we stop spending like the way we used to, would America lose her status as the biggest economy. Would foreign investors stop investing in the US and divert their capitals to elsewhere?

238cm Chinese Giant

Can you believe how tall this guy is? He is taller than Yao Ming, standing almost at 7'8".

Train Uncle (Cousin of Bus Uncle)

I suppose HKers are under too much stress and have no outlets to blow off their steam. This guy is outrageous, bullying a mother and her kid on the train. I hope MTR will pursue this incident and hunt down Train Uncle. He deserves some jail time. At the end of the video, the guy takes out a handkerchief and demonstrated the "chivalrous" way to cough in public.....all after having blasted so much profanity at the helpless mother and her kid.

Internship with American Diabetes Association

I have been recently hired as an intern with American Diabetes Association (ADA) in Miami-Fort Lauderdale. I told my future supervisor that I could start in the first week of July. Julia will start her position at Cleveland Clinic Weston in Mid July. As I mentioned in my previous entries, I planned to travel to Argentina to take a Spanish course for foreigner. Well, I need to defer my study due the internship. Internships are hard to come by today, so I don't want to pass it up. It is a very interesting internship. Besides, how can I turn down an internship in sunny Miami-Fort Lauderdale area?

I will get to work with people from Julia's employer, so I can have lunch with her on some day. The position is fundraising for special events. Due to credits drying up, the Fed has cut funding for ADA researches. They need to explore other funding channels. I am glad I can help them solicit.

Do you know that there are currently 180 million people with diabetes worldwide? There are type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The most common one is type 2 which is developed in adults later in life. Type 1 occurs at birth or in early childhood.

Weatherhead Student Clubs

There are many student clubs in my MBA program. The most active ones are Finance, Health, Marketing, Net Impact, IT, and International Student. I was elected the president of the Marketing club for the next academic year. Last year due to the economic downturn and other factors, our club did not have as many events we would like to. Next year I want to invite some local professionals and affiliate ourselves with American Marketing Association (AMA) Cleveland Chapter. I am still thinking how to recruite more incoming students to join our club. I think the affiliation with AMA is a good idea, but I need to test it first. I already submitted my request for volunteering for AMA this summer. I am still waiting for their reply.

Weatherhead Full Time MBA Program

Hi, in my first post I said I would talk about my experience with Weatherhead FT MBA program so far. Here is the low down.

Weatherhead has a modest MBA program for those who value more interaction and time with the professors. About 100-120 students are taken in each incoming year. The program requires a minimum of 57 credit hours to graduate. Like other MBA programs, the first year is required to take the core curriculum. Electives are taken in the second year. But you can adjust your schedule to your own pace. Weatherhead charges a flat tuition rate for full time. So you can take between 12 and 21 credit hours for the same bucks.

I think the Weatherhead program is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered. The quality of the professors is remarkable. One of my favorite professors is Prof. Richard Osborne, a feisty octogenarian, who has been recently voted the most favorite teacher by students. He teaches CEO leadership and entreprenuership. His classes are unconventional and require students to think out of the box to solve problems.

Weatherhead is renowned for its OB (Organizational Behavior) courses. Every student must take the core course LEAD in his/her first year. It is taught by Prof. Tony Lingham. The opinions for this class are sharply divided. Some students loved it, and the others felt skeptical. I feel that this class is more like a life philosophy. It is useful to plan for your long term career and family life.

That's it for now. I will talk more about Weatherhead MBA program in the next posts.

Centro Universitario de Idiomas

CUI (Centro Universitario de Idiomas) is a language center affiliated with UBA (University of Buenos Aires). It offers many courses in foreign languages as well as Native American languages, such as Quechua,Guaraní and Mapuche, which I find interesting. Compared to its neighbors, Argentina has a small native population. I wonder how many students are enrolled in the native language courses. I have been to Argentina twice. Actually, I went to Buenos Aires only. I didn't see many Argentinos Indigenos. The ones who looked native were either Bolivianos or Peruanos.

Most of the foreign languages taught are European languages. There are East Asian languages courses, such as Chinese and Japanese. Reciprocally CUI specifically designs a Spanish course for Chinese students who come to Argentina to learn the language. After the financial tsunami, Argentina has been increasingly looking beyond North America and Europe for trade alternatives. Recently, China has agreed to a $10B currency swap with Argentina. This deal is a follow-up deal after President Hu Jingtao signed a $20B investment agreement with then Argentine Preisdent Nestor Kirchner in 2004. It's too early to tell whether all these deals will benefit the local Argentine people or not. But the news itself is exciting to a lot of people, especially among such a downturn.

I have inquired about their Spanish course as well as other Spanish courses in other institutions for foreign students. If things work out, I will enroll myself in the August class. Hmmm...I can't wait to feast myself on those delicious Parillas Argentinas. Yummy

Thermalin

Thermalin is a design project that I worked on with my classmates in the fall semester last year. One of my classmates, Dr. Michael Weiss, is the creator of Thermalin. The heat resistant insulin can maintain its potency up to 40 degree celsius. The current insulin is NOT a drug and not meant to be taken as such. Also, it has a low temperature tolerance which requires the insulin to be stored at room temperature. In addition, it has a short shelf life and must be consumed within 3 weeks, or otherwise be disposed. The high temperature tolerance of Theramlin can benefit the poor in developing countries where refrigeration is not common in households. It is designed to be taken as a drug and have a much longer shelf life.

The first year is over....

Welcome to my blog. This is my first post. If you have read my profile, you know that I am a FT MBA student. I have recently finished my first year at Weatherhead School Of Management. I still can't believe the first year is over. Before I know it, summer is here now.

The next post I am going write about my experience at Weatherhead so far. It has been a fun ride and I have met many interesting folks.