Finally, my new life will start.

After long and serious consideration, I decided to come back to Taiwan and start my career here.

This decision was against the intuition of most Taiwanese young people because we kind of believe that working in the US means better career. I did have chances to work in California, and I liked the opportunities there, too. However, thanks to the suggestions from several friends, who are now my personal board of directors, I realized how important to chase my dream job and career, instead of choosing a job by only salary or location.

Eventually, I weighed different options and found that I will be able to do what I love in Taiwan with a good company. Now, I'm back to my hometown, and ready for the new challenges.

These two years in Claremont were so great that I really feel I chose a right school, right place, and right program. The friends I met in Drucker School are one of the most valuable parts of the whole experience. Even one month after I came back to Asia, I still think of them and the life in Claremont all the time. I truly hope we can meet once a year or two years in the future.

Well, my new working life will start soon next week.

Good luck to all my friends and myself!

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!

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.

Parents' visit

The 1st week of semester, my parents came to visit me after their trip in Boston with my brother. Although they stayed 5 nights, I feel we couldn't have enough time to talk.

We played two golf games. The weather was a bit weird because of the huge fire in the West. However, we did enjoy and I have never felt so nice while playing golf with them. Even I still played terribly, we enjoyed playing together. That's the most important thing, right?

I took them to Solvang, a small Danish style town near Santa Barbara. Although my dad does not drink alcohol at all, while we tried a bit wine tasting, he smelled the wines. I appreciated that. Also, I missed the days we traveled together with my brother.

Of course, we ate some good food. In Solvang, the dinner in hotel was so delicious that we were a bit surprised. Also, we went to Ojiya, Shin-sen-gumi, Mitsuwa for all kinds of Japanese food. I am really glad to see them enjoyed here.

I am so lucky to have them visit me, and I am looking forward to meeting my brother in Oct. when we attend some career fairs together.

Well, I do love my family. I do.

My second 4th of July in the US

Last 4th of July, thanks to I-Place in Claremont College, I attended the parade and watched the fireworks in Claremont. That was an amazing experience that I could see the real Independence day traditions in the States.

This year, thanks to Nick, several friends gathered in Santa Monica and had a wonderful BBQ party in Nick's house. I was really glad that Kazuma and Yoshi both could come and bring their families. Also, it made me happy that Edward and Julie joined us and we walked around the beach and shopping area. The weather was perfect. The food was home made (Nick-made) and really delicious(I love the chicken!) After not seeing all these friends for a while, it's a pleasure to play with everyone and having such a nice day together.

Thank you, Nick, for hosting the great party for us!

Happy Birthday to the United States!

Taiwanese

Nothing can change the fact that I am a Taiwanese.

No matter which language I am using or trying to use, no matter what kinds of events I am trying to attend, no matter how hard I am trying to be not only a Taiwanese, I am and will always be a Taiwanese.

Sincerely, I am hoping Taiwanese can achieve more and collaborate more.

When can I step out and do something?

Really, I am so weak... Taiwanese is so weak....?

根

最近一直接收到同樣的訊息, 我從哪裡來, 又該往何處去?

從小對於出國唸書就有著一個幻想: 想著在國外唸書, 英文變超強, 然後在美國找到很好的工作, 之後頂著光環回到台灣, 之類的種種不切實際幻想...

儘管許多長輩不斷給我建議: "你終究不是美國人, 還是要知道自己的根是在哪裡, 誰會提拔你, 誰會給你機會, 不要不切實際" 但我總還是抱持著原本的想法, 從申請學校的essay, 到美國來之後找的intern, 一個個動作都表明了我想在美國找工作, 想證明自己在這邊是有辦法生存的...

經過了八個月

可以說我終於漸漸夢醒了

姑且不論我實力根本就不夠, 就算在這邊找到工作又如何? 能有多大發展, 學到多少東西?

和我在學校的mentor聊過, 一些台灣來的前輩聊過, 自己花了好幾個月找尋工作之後, 漸漸我發現, 我必須要承認, 在這邊找尋工作的難度, 尤其在這個經濟狀況下, 實在是不容易實現的目標, 而且, 即使真的可以在這邊找到工作, 能夠為自己增加多少能力, 我真的是相當懷疑...

亞洲才是我的根

但 即使是和台灣人最容易相處的日本人 語言依然是個隔閡 文化依然是道牆

要如何跨越? 是接下來我應該好好思考的問題

anyway, 繼續學習日文吧!

海鮮丼を作った

Finally, Michie, Sean, and I made the "Seafood Don." The materials were all bought in Marukai supermarket.(map is attached) We bought the sashimi seafood, such as salmon, scallops, sea urchin, etc. Michie cooked the 玉子燒 and I put everything on the rice. After Sean made the sauce, we had a great dinner. It's so lucky that we can even make 海鮮丼 here!

View Larger Map

Meeting old friend is always a pleasure.

Coming back from San Francisco, the pleasure of meeting Edward still makes me feel good.

It's been a year since we met in Philadelphia. Time goes fast and we are at an age without certainty. No one knows he will be in the US or in Taiwan at May, and no one knows I will be here or somewhere else in summer. We both are struggling for our future. Because of a career fair, I found a reason to go and meet him. It's a nice trip, we went Napa, Stanford, and Apple headquarter. Of course, we did try hard in the career fair, too. I am really glad I went on this trip. Although we grew up together, now there is few chance we can meet and understand each other more.

This time, we met in San Francisco. Last time, we met in Philadelphia. Where will I see this guy next time? I have started looking forward to it!

Welcome my brother in Claremont

Last week, Sean came to the beautiful city, Claremont, to visit me. He will stay here for a while and apply school as well as lean English here. It is not common that two brothers are staying together for a long time at this age, but I feel I am lucky. Since I regard the experience being here would actually develop and help Sean in certain way, it is my duty and pleasure to make it happen. 

There is one thing that I am happy about. Sean told me he is surprised that I got so many great friends who are eager to help me in many ways here. It's impressive to him, and, in fact, to me also, so I still want to say thank you to everyone who helps me and is being my friend. I love you all. Thank you!

Skiing & Super Bowl

Thanks to Paul, my first ski experience was so nice. He picked the Super Bowl day, knowing that no body will go skiing on that day, and we almost didn't need to wait for the lift. Although my balance was not so good and this was really the first time I put on the boots and skis, I enjoyed a lot and did not fall in the last time. 

One of the most amazing was that I can even ski without my gloves and it was totally not cold. To ski with such few clothes on was so special and memorable, not to mention this was my first time!

After skiing, I joined all the friends who were watching and betting on the Super Bowl game in Dan's house. This was also a nice party with exciting game which made me understand how interesting American football can be. That was a long day, but it's worth it!

I wish I can go skiing again soon!

Long Trip

I just finished a long trip. To where? Back to my home, and my most familiar foreign country: Japan. Now, I am in beautiful Claremont, California again. This time, I felt totally different emotion from 8 months ago.

May, 2008, I was a stranger to Claremont. The traffic here was terrifying, the sun was amazingly shining, and the language and culture were so special and interesting. Jan, 2009, I am a returned student. The traffic here is more acceptable than Taiwan, the sun is so warm and charming, and the language and culture are not so fresh to me anymore. The biggest difference, surprisingly, is that I miss Asia much more than last time.

In Taiwan, many friends were so nice that they arranged to meet with me even they were busy. The period I stayed in Taiwan was very short and I was almost meeting friends every day. Finally, I could play games until sunrise with them again. Finally, I could sit in the noisy tea shop and chat with them. Finally, I could lay on the sofa in Scott's home and watch movie with them. Finally, I talked about all kinds of stupid words and gossip all night again. It is somehow meaningless, but I miss it a bit.

My family and I went to Japan again. This time, we had four people together, no one missed. I could finally take the photo for them again, for three of them. 

Japan is still such a nice place to go for vacation and hot spring. This time, finally I tried a new Onsen hotel, 藏群, which is in Otaru and has a bar with free drink(including  kinds of alcohol). We revisited Otaru and ordered sushi with my poor new learned Japanese. As a result, we had one of the most amazing experience of eating sushi in Japan.

Thanks for Michie, the Tokyo part of this trip was enjoyable as well as tiring. Kamakura(鎌倉) and Yokohama(橫濱) now have different images in my mind and these two places are really really beautiful. The dinner, Isakaya(居酒屋), and cafe we went with Sean's friend, Mariko, and Michie were all special. I am glad to have some different experience and places to go in Japan.

In this long trip, I did a lot I have wanted to do for a while, but there were also many things I could not do. I met some people but I also missed some people that I could not meet or talk with this time. There is always no perfect trip. That's why the trip is always beautiful in memory and perfect in planning.

My wish in the beginning of this year: my family can be healthy and happy, my brother can get admission from the school he wants, my friends can be successful and cheerful, and I can get an internship.

X'mas party, Little Tokyo Restaurant

To be honest, sometimes I feel I get confused that I am studying in the US or in Japan. Since I like Japan so much already and now I have so many good Japanese friends, it's not surprising that I always eat Japanese food. One of our favorite sushi place near Claremont is Little Tokyo. It's about 10 mins by car from Claremont. The Chef Tomy San is a kind, interesting, experienced sushi chef.

Today, "Little Tokyo" restaurant had their X'mas party. They prepared buffet style Japanese food and 太鼓 performance, which is really interesting to see in the US.
I went to the party with Michie and Ryo. We ate unbelievably tremendous food and enjoyed talking with Tomy San, drinking with huge sake cup, and great unlimited sushi. Looking around the party, I saw Hispanic, Chinese, Japanese, and American. Everyone enjoyed and was friendly. I am really grateful that I can stay in such a mixed-culture places so that I can meet so many different people who understand and respect each culture and opinion. Although it's just a X'mas party in a small Japanese restaurant, the experience made me feel I really learned a lot here. 

Anyway, we ate and drank a lot. Next year, probably we will come again with more people. haha~

(Sorry to everyone that could not come with us. Next time, let's go together!)

International Fellows Program Graduation Day

Since I started school in June, I have been learning English from four kind professors in IF program. I met many kind and intelligent Asian people, who are from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China. We learned together, drink together, poker together, and now celebrate the program graduation together.

Yesterday, 15 of us finally graduated from this language program. In the beginning of the summer, we were so afraid of talking in English, and were so new to here that everyone was busy settling everything. Now, we worked so well. Even in OB class, comparing with American students, our presentation skill, analysis ability, and participation were all beyond the average. Of course, we need to thank IF program for the progress and all the help they offered.

I really appreciated IF program and I believe it is really a helpful program for international students. Of course, without it, we can still survive, learn, and perform, but it's like a buffer for me. After almost two years empty(military + school application), I was very close-minded and even stupid. However, during the two months in summer, IF program was so intense and the instructors were so aggressively demanding hard-working from us. I was totally recovered in the summer and prepared for the fall semester.

In short, thank to every great member in IF program, including faculty, staff, Drucker staff, and of course, my favorite classmates. Because of you, I gained a ton of great memories and improvements. Thank you all and let's cheer to our future!

The message.

Sometimes, I feel life is delivering some messages to me, and in order to let me really understand, it expresses its ideas by different people's words and attitude. 

In college, I realized the importance of open-minded from Chinese Medical class, Mathematical logic, and a very good American teacher, Steve Wallace. These classes and people did not tell me, "You should be more open-minded," but they inspired me through the power of open-minded attitude.

Yesterday, I talked with one friend and we discussed about my future career a lot. By his experience, the glory of getting into "marketing devision" may not be necessary a good thing. Since everyone has the pride of being a part of the most competitive devision, in his experience, working there reduced his life quality a lot. He suggested that if he got into some "top-ranking" MBA school, he may feel high pressure and can not really make good relationship with people because everyone thinks they are the best.

When I applied MBA schools, I did try to apply by ranking on major magazines. However, I really felt I was wrong. I somehow feel this is my fate to come to Drucker, although it does not even attend most of the rankings because of small size and short history. 

Since I was in Taiwan, one of my high school friends has strongly suggested me to choose Claremont because of the location and small size. At that time, I worried about the ranking and reputation of school, so I could not easily decide to come here. Now, I know she was right. 

I was told by one of our Taiwanese American classmate that in top ranking schools, only the top students got the benefits. That makes sense. Who will want to hire the worst performance student in any school? Also, the huge class size of traditional top ranking MBA school leads the atmosphere not intimate and not close. These are not the qualities I am looking for in my MBA.

There is one friend, who is also working on  her MBA, told me, "it take something to make my MBA's top ranking." when I suggested her to maintain healthy life style. To be honest, I felt I am lucky to be here because Drucker School matches my priority of life choices.

To know Japanese students is also helpful for me to understand myself. It's obvious that Japanese spend more effort and time on studying and working. I really admire and respect this attitude. However, when this leads to irregular or not enough sleeping time and little time for eating, I really can not agree.

In short, there are many choices in life. People choose what they think is right. However, there indeed is nothing right or wrong. Only one thing is for sure, different decisions lead to different results. I am grateful that I chose Drucker School and I hope everyone makes the choice that he(she) really desires!

This is the one of the messages I received recently...

Watching College Basketball

Today, I went to watch the college basketball in Honda Center, Anaheim, but we got an conclusion that the basketball game was just the entertainment for the cheerleader.....ha~

I am grateful that MBA office arranged this event. Although this is not NBA and there were not so many people attended, I think it's worth to see and college basketball is exciting.

One thing that I was happy about is the quality of my camera. We sat very far from the center but I took some good photos.
Anyway, it's a good experience and I enjoyed a lot. Next time, I should go to see the Lakers! (but it's so expensive....  >.<)

Move to CGU Dorm

Finally, I moved to CGU dorm.

Since I first contacted with housing office before I got here, the information they provided has already been doubtful for me. Based on their suggestion, I did not try to register for the new dorm because of highly competitive application. However, last month I suddenly got the information that there is a one-bedroom apartment available in CGU dorm. I immediately decided to move.

The process of checking the availability is a bit troublesome, but staff in housing are in fact pretty nice people. Although the working efficiency has been always a complaint of the students, I do believe they tried their best to serve us.

Anyway, finally, I moved in.

It's great that some friends are just as near as a few steps away from my room. The short distance from school is a great benefit that I can walk or ride bike to school easily. The only problem of lacking of internet has been temporarily solved by my kind neighbor who let me use her internet for free.

I would like to thank everyone who helped me to move here.

Since the plenty of moving experience in military, I know that if there are enough people helping, the moving process can be very fast. However, usually it's very difficult to gather people. I am lucky. All the friends here are so kind and so helpful that even during the final projects weeks, Kazuma, Ryo, Hiroshi, April, Naoto, Tian, and Michie all were helping. I really really appreciate and want to say thank you again.

Now, I stay in A104 in CGU dorm. I will try to create more memories and happiness here. This is my comfortable nest in California!

給 哲瑋 姿伶: 新婚恭喜

恭喜了 兩位!

終於進入人生的另一里程碑 

兩個人攜手共度快樂與艱辛一輩子

需要多大的決心 現在的我是無法想像的

兩個好友能有這樣美好的結果

我由衷感到開心和祝福

抱歉無法前往當面祝賀

在這邊 祝福兩位 早生貴子囉!

下次見面不知道是何時了 到時候再好好聊聊吧!!

Utah trip - Arches National Park

Thank Ryo & Kazuma, I enjoyed  a great trip to Arches National Park during my first Thanksgiving holiday in the US.

We arrived at night after a long long driving. The lodge we stayed was so nice. I was surprised when I knew that we can even use free wireless internet in the room. The scenery was also amazing there! I felt we enjoyed the nature and luxury at the same time. 

After a fun discussion about the plan of the next day, I fell asleep because of tiring long driving. It's really tough to drive more than ten hours a day. However, the experience is totally worth it. Some of us went horse riding on the second day. Riding horse on the trial with amazing view is a fantastic experience. My horse was very stable and cute. I was glad it was not so eager to eat nor too lazy to move. This was my first time to ride a horse and cross a small string. We took some great photos and everyone was satisfied with the guides.

We took some time in Arches National Park. The trials are enjoyable and the weather was good. We were lucky because it's cloudy but not rainy. If the rain came one day earlier, we could not hike anymore. Anyway, the Arches are unbelievable and we hiked a bit so that we could enjoy more in the dinner. 

The dinner was in Moab brewery. People said it's good, and they didn't lie. After dinner, we came back lodge, chatted for a while, and played poker. Everyone was so tired that the next day no one could get up!

The rushing morning was also fun. We all were surprised that no one woke up before 10:30 a.m. and we almost could not check out on time. Obviously, we enjoyed a lot.

The driving was terribly long but also interesting. Especially when Kazuma's car suddenly showed up besides my car. We also ate two meals in Vegas and gambled a bit. This is a great trip with great partners.

Thank you all for traveling together!

Lucky Guy

This post is just about some recent feelings.

 

I am such a lucky guy. And I always know that.

The best thing that keeps happening to me is the great people & friends I meet.

My family is so supportive and understanding.

There are so much solid friendship from my elementary school classmates. 

My high school friends know me so well and our relationship are so deep and long.

Now, I am here. Again, so many kind, knowledgeable, and helpful friends are around me.

I learned how to enjoy golf. I received so many help for my job hunting.

There are so many great people trying to make me a better person.

How can I let them down.

Last night, I met my alumni mentor, who is trying to find me an internship more aggressively than I am. Is the luck from my name: "The one who get great people's help, guide, and support"?

The only thing I can do is to achieve my goal, to show them their help is worth it, to demonstrate I do learn from them, and to honestly present my heart to them.

I wish all my family and friends the best.

You are not wasting your time on me. I will not let you down.