Crazy (Fun) Week

The midterm week finally finished. Since I had only two classes in 1st module and only one of them had midterm exam, this week became crazily fun week for me!

During this week, I played golf 4 times, One time in regular course, three times in short course!

Also, I played poker at the night before midterm exam, and although I was so lucky that I won the most at that night!

After the midterm, we went to golf (I almost got a hole-in-one), 燒肉, and then Karaoke. "Tamaen" in Torrance was so dili. Singing with friends is still one of my favorite activities!

Other than these, finally, my car has run more than 30,000 miles, and I went to car service, Ontario Mills (while waiting for my car,) and Costa Mesa (Book-off & Mitsuwa).

Finally, I bought the driver that I have been wanted to buy, and a pair of golf shoes. Although I have no idea how much time I need to practice before I can use the driver well, I am motivated by the purchase and eager to play golf more!

We also went to go-cart racing. This is really fun and tiring! I still can't move my arm even two days after playing this. However, I do find I am not a competitive person in this game. Although I was the 1st place in the 2nd tier group, because I bumped other people during the race, I felt a bit guilty at the end...

Well, it's still a great experience though. I enjoyed racing with so many friends. I am glad I went there!

I renewed my Disneyland annual pass in this week, too.

It's a pity that we didn't go with Disneyland expert this time, but we found we learned something from her. Even though it's Friday night and the park is extremely crowded. We took several rides and had a nice dinner in the park without waiting too much. I was still scared while taking Splash Mountain, and still feeling good while taking Pirates of Caribbean.

Today, thanks for the invitation from A & H, we went to Little Tokyo restaurant together. Luckily and surprisingly, we met K's family there. Of course, with this group of people, the meal would be amazingly good. We had not only nigiri sushi but also a lobster sashimi+nabe. This meal is so good that I almost couldn't stop eating even I was so full...

With this happy ending, I finished the happy week. And from tomorrow, the 2nd module will start, and I will be crazily busy again with tons of homework to do. However, I am glad to have so colorful life here. Claremont is the best! Drucker School is the best! My friends are the best!

Apple's new lineup for the holiday season 09

Apple just announced their quarterly report yesterday with profits surge 46% and record breaking Mac & iPhone sales.

Today, Apple released the new products for the holiday season 2009.

I have always been amazed by the way Apple introduces their product in a short video.

This iMac is a refinement of previous product.

On contrast to other computer companies, Apple is not trying to put a touch screen on the iMac, but build a multi-touch mice instead.

The reason is simple: "To add meaningless feature is never a good thing."

Differentiation is not just being different. Whether consumers perceived the value is the key of product success.

The following is the introduction video from Apple:

NSHMBA 2009

This is the 2nd time I attended NSHMBA career fair.

The event is one of the biggest for MBA in the US, and I have always learned a lot by just struggling in the career fair and talking with people.

Finding a job under this economy is really difficult even for Americans, not to mention for the international students.

As international students, it's just the reality we are facing.

In fact, I do think going back to Taiwan is also a good option. However, I also want to learn more in the US, since I really feel the diverse cultures here in California inspire me a lot.

Last year, the NSHMBA conference was in Atlanta and I went there with many classmates. Senior students taught me how to network with people, and we even debate whether trying to make friends with strangers is a necessary thing to do. The experience really shocked me because I had't understood how difficult for me to find a job in the US.

This year, Drucker School had much fewer students going with us even school is aggressively trying to send us there by sponsoring hotel fee. Several of us still went, and I felt it's totally worth it. The event is actually a bit smaller than last year. Companies are offering more internship but maybe not as many full time jobs. I practiced talking with recruiters again, and I realized I improved. My improvement really makes me happy, although it may be very little.

Also, this year, my brother joined me in job hunting in the US.

It's great to share with him and try to help.

The NSHMBA event itself may not be too much fun, but going there with friends, learning from practicing, talking with all kinds of different people, and confirming my own understanding of myself all are really useful for me.

I am glad I joined again this year. And I really enjoyed this trip with friends and my brother.