Big Game ... Stanford Loses Again ...

Picture 76903, originally uploaded by John Foong.

... finishing the season at 10 losses, 1 win (I think our worst season ever? For a pretty rich sporting school that boasted football players like John Elway, that's NOT cool!) ...

... but it was great to travel to "Cal Stadium" in nearby Berkeley to see this. It was an amazing spectacle - an 80,000 seat stadium (including about a 1000 people on "Tight Wad Hill" (see below photo post) ...

... though the team put up a decent fight, we were in it to the last minute. I went to the gym afterwards, to console myself :)

Tightwad Hill

Picture 76901, originally uploaded by John Foong.

Check em' out, at the top there.

If only I'd known, I'd be there! :)

Dublin - it's actually kind of a happening place! :)

Picture 76721 - temple bar area - a cool paved social area, originally uploaded by John Foong.

My final leg in my Thanksgiving extravaganza was Dublin, where I was in final interviews for a management position at Google. Part of the intention was to answer that question: could I actually work in Dublin? Isn't it cold, and people drink lots, and stuff?

Well, both of the above are true - though people here are EXTREMELY friendly, and the city is kind of cool. It's no London, but it's a lot more accessible than London - everything is kind of walking distance. Hmmm ....

(picture of Temple Bar - walking distance (kind of) from the Google office - and a cool part of town)

Thansgiving ... at Disney World!

Picture 76517 - in front of castle, originally uploaded by John Foong.

One of the great things about term one is that we get a one week break towards the end of the term for Thanksgiving. Seeing I'd eaten enough turkey during the year, I packed my bags for a bit of an "Air trip" around the US - with the purpose of seeing some new places I hadn't been to (Such as Florida and Indianapolis), checking out old hangouts (NYC and Seattle), and visiting Angie in Europe.

One of my conferences was in Florida - conveniently located at the HUGE Disney World, which has 6 or 7 Disney-size theme parks in the same place.

Yes, it's a tough life, but someone's gotta do it ... :)

"El Castillito" - home of "Ocean's 6"

Picture 76364, originally uploaded by John Foong.

One of the huge highlights of this years has been my housemates. 6 of us - the bestest of friends (seriously), we spend heaps of time studying and hanging out in an ad hoc way (no we're not nerds, honest) and get together every week for an outing and a time to share and pray ...

... here's the week we dressed up in Hawaiian shirts, ate deep dish pizza and went bowling. (A really good looking house member thought of the dress idea ... he's so classy) :)

I really love and value my housemates, I feel really lucky to have found such a great group of guys! (insert group hug here) :)

12 MBAers stuck in a beach house together, talking about feelings for 18 hours

Picture 76463 - support group for interpersonal dynamics, originally uploaded by John Foong.

... welcome to "touchy feely", one of the most distinctive courses at the GSB, and a very "Stanford-esque" course! We meet for 4 hours every week to talk about feelings and interpersonal interactions - and the climax is a weekend at a beach house, where we spend 6x 3 hour periods of more of the same.

This is my support group - yes, we met in groups of three OUTSIDE of the 18 hours to check in with how everyone's going.

This course is unbelievable - worth the MBA admission price alone! OK, well maybe not THAT much. But I have learned so much, it's ridiculous :)