September 16, 2007

I suppose it's time for me to write about my new life at Kellogg. It's been an absolute blast so far, and writing about it will surely take me days at least.

Here is an email I sent to my ex-workmates (slightly edited to make a little bit of sense):

I got to the US fine, and had a good, relaxing family roadtrip around a few northeast states. One of the highlights was going to Maine, where fresh lobster and wild blueberries are freely available at insanely low prices. After the roadtrip though, it was time for me to get into school mode... or so I thought.

I moved in with relative ease; my apartment here is school-owned and well fitted out for students. It's got computer/printer/scanner/fax/photocopier lab (even laser color printers are available free of charge), and a gorgeous student lounge with ping pong, pool, and foosbal tables. Since the units come furnished and with all the utilities (including internet) connected, it was a matter of dropping my bags in and unpacking. The downside is that the rooms are relatively small, but as you're about to find out, I don't spend that much time in my room so it doesn't even matter.

"School" started with the pre-term trip to Mexico, which was an absolute blast. There were 25 people in my group, and they were all nice, down to earth, friendly people. The sleep deprivation started there though - we would either be up playing flip cup (a beer game whereas you empty a cup of beer and try to flip it upside down before your opposition on the other side of the table does so), dancing, generally partying, or even just talking, until 4-5AM in the morning every day. And we would have Mexican activities (ziplining/flying fox, tequila distillery tour) at 8-9AM the morning after. Suffice to say that by the end of the trip I was exhausted and in need of a 12-hour-long sleep!

Not that I got any, of course - the day after we got back from Mexico, orientation week started, and boy was that exhausting!! The class was divided up into sections, with about 70 people per section, and we would have section bonding activities as well as social events for a full 2-week period - including late nights, early mornings, and weekends - we literally spent 20 hours per day together. We had bonding activities such as the "Olympics day" where we would compete against other sections in dizzy bat, where you run up to a baseball bat, stick your forehead to its butt, stick the other end to the ground, and run 10 circles around the bat with your forehead in place, and then dizzily run back. We also had scavenger hunts and "Amazing Race"-style races around Evanston and Chicago to help us familiarise ourselves with the landmarks and popular spots - definitely more exciting than a tour!

Social events are definitely in the life and blood of Kellogg students. The one pub here (appropriately called "The Keg") that is worth visiting is always packed with Kellogg students, no matter what time of the night (or morning) you visit. Unlike the pubs in Melbourne though, it's got people from any kind of nationality and country imaginable - Cuban, Jamaican, Nigerian, Norwegian, you name it.

Classes started this week, and I've already gotten through 2 assignments without even realising it, because the topics are just so intriguing. Our next class discussion is about organisational culture and reward system.

They were not kidding when they said that these 2 years would mean chronic sleep deprivation. This has been the best decision I've made though - I've learned more and met more intriguing people in these few weeks than I did all through university.

05:48 PM