Cricket!

Cricket is an interesting game. After the Strategy final, we all gather at the parking lot behind the P&C for a cricket match. Except for one Irish and the South Asian gang, we didn't know anything about the game. I looked up on Wikipedia with my iPhone, it looks much more sophisticated than baseball.

We newbies learned the rules while playing. My swing was awkward, and I almost threw my arm off trying to bowl (pitch). Juan and Nathan, though, looked like a natural with a bat in their hands. At the end, I misplayed Drew Lee's popup at the second match, leading to the most exciting finish in cricket: the last batsman faced the last ball with a one-run deficit. Drew came through and hit a liner to the left for a two run walk-off shot!

Imran Yousuf is going to start the Johnson School Cricket Club. Upon official approval, it will be the first club started by this AMBA class. Kudos to Imran for the initiative and leadership! I'll be the first to sign on.

Cricket is not the only sport we participate. We are probably one of the most social and active AMBA classes. Although our schedules are filled with course work, career activities, and projects, we have taken advantage of the summer in Ithaca playing soccer, football, freebies, jogging, swimming, and of course, golfing as much as we can.

They wish their game were as good as their looks (L-R): Saurobh, David, Jimmy (class photgrapher), Pavan, Drew, Raj, Shang Yan, and Brian.

A Wonderful Break from Classes

(I wrote this three weeks ago, but didn’t post in time. I apologize for the delay)

The Fourth of July Saturday was the first day since we started the program, there wasn’t anything scheduled on my Outlook calendar. I went over to the Commons to soak in all the holiday spirit before having an excellent lunch at Moosewood. The house salad was a little plain, but the North African split pea soup and multigrain baguette were made to perfection. This restaurant is the pride of Ithaca, known for its healthy, natural vegetarian gourmet cuisine. It’s located at the Dewitt Mall, a renovated historic brick school building in Downtown. The place was filled with relaxed, happy people. Quite a few of them stayed around the lobby and purchased souvenirs and the world famous Moosewood cook books, which I strongly recommend.

In the afternoon I joined in a group of classmates to the Treman State Park just a few miles from the campus. There are more than 100 waterfalls and gorges around Ithaca. We have explored Taughannock Falls and Buttermilk Falls. The Lucifer Falls at the Treman Park was just as impressive. As we hiked up the winding, wooded 3-mile trail along the gorges, there was a beautiful waterfall at every turn. The scenic gorges however looked completely different on our way down from the other side. When we reached the Enfield Glen at the Lower Park, Pat cooled himself off by diving into the 62 degree water and swimming to the foot of the waterfall. I chickened out.

The highlight of the day was a trip to Americana Winery, one of Nicu’s favorite. The winery is 15 minute drive away just off 96. Although the winery was closed for the holiday, we were treated with a warm welcome and an excellent meal at the Café. Michel, a sales manager at Wines of Chile before coming to Cornell, is the wine expert in our class. In his opinion, due to the weather in the Finger Lake area, the local whites have better quality than the reds. At Americana, the Riesling was a little sweet for my taste, but the Cayuga White was fantastic. The food was even better. It was the best meal I had since I left California. The salmon was great, and the “lamburger” I had was delicious!

Chilling at the Amaricana Winery (L-R): Camel, Drew, Katy, Sophie, Yours Truly, Pat, and Nicu.

I wish we could have more time to experience the summer in Ithaca, to explore the many parks, trails, and wineries in the Finger Lake area. The holiday weekend was a well-deserved break from our studies. I was recharged and ready for the second half of our summer schedule.

The EISS Program

The EISS Program

Little did I know, a number of first year MBA students are already on campus. They are in the Cornell English for International Students and Scholars (EISS) program, a six-week, full-time English intensive English language program. It also provides academic, social, and cultural orientation to the United States and its institutions.

I was invited to its International Dinner and Culture Sharing Night at Maplewood Community Center, where the students served ethnic food and educated one another on their own cultures. The room filled with laughter and excitement, and of course, the aroma of yummy food. I had an opportunity to speak with a number of students and instructors, who are among the nicest people I’ve ever met. Mary Redmond, Director of the program, kindly forwarded web links to this program:

http://lrc.cornell.edu/english/eiss/Welcome
http://www.sce.cornell.edu/exec/eiss/summer/index.php

The Johnson School has a vigorous core curriculum in the first semester. Some international students have to adjust to the new life and a new language very quickly. EISS offers an opportunity to make the transition smoothly. Kelvin Chen is an incoming first year MBA from China I met at the party. He told me EISS gave him a jump start. Following points are quoted form his email to me (you can see he now writes better than I do):

• EISS is very useful to international students especially those who has no any idea about how American College runs.
• It provides 6 weeks lessons focusing on Presentation(very important to B-school students), Listening/Speaking, and Writing(you will learn how to use the tremendous resources of Cornell library). You will do a lot practice on that such as writing research paper, making presentation every week, listening logs
• Getting familiar with all resources in Campus, your classmates(Johnson students are the majority of EISS program)
• You will get a lot extra-curriculum activities: interesting lectures arranged by Summer School every week(presented by very famous people), concert, Tourist Trip arranged by ISSO
• Settling down yourself more easily before the opening of Fall semester
• It's a great time enjoying Ithaca’s summer season.

A number of international students are required or recommended to enroll in this program. The tuition is $3,375. In my opinion, all incoming MBA students whose native language is not English should give it a try. It is well worth it.