Really?

A conversation I just had at the French consulate when trying to get my visa for January.   -You are too early.  It would be better for me if you came back in late November or early December.   -Sorry?  What do you mean it would be better for you?  Can you not do it [...]

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[I should have worn less mascara on this] trip down memory lane

When I first moved to a city that would be my home for many many years, I would walk across this long bridge on my way to and from class every day.  The bridge had all sorts of graffiti on it, but one in particular, I loved seeing every day.  Written in fading two-foot-high Helvetica [...]

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Un bras d’honneur for Campus France!

Let me preface this [rant] by saying that plenty of my ex-pat friends from China and India have given me absolutely no sympathy on this.  When I complain about Campus France, they roll their eyes and ask, “do you have any idea what it took to get into the US?”   I’m at the moment [...]

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[Getting my panties in a bunch over] women’s role in management

When the INSEAD Dog and Pony show came to my town last winter, a very perky cheerleader-type spent about an hour telling a room full of men how hard INSEAD is working to recruit women.  The current class has somewhere just south of 30% women in the class, a several point improvement over the previous [...]

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[The nightmare of] financing an INSEAD MBA

In the same cheery e-mail that informed me of my acceptance at INSEAD, I also learned that the non-sponsored students (those like me whose company is not about to foot the bill) would be paying a tuition of 50,000 EUR.  Actually, that’s not quite right.  The extra special nice touch is that the original e-mail [...]

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Blending in with the fashionably competent

Some years ago my friend Leonard and I were browsing through some racks at American Apparel.  Leonard is a fashion whore.  Every 2 months or so he’s talking about needing  a new suit.  Because to say that you want a new suit is less legitimate than to say you need one.  Leonard has needs, not [...]

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The long road to INSEAD

I know.  It’s over 2 months before I move into my villa (read: French for college dorm), start my classes, drunkenly stumble into a fountain at a chateau party, hit a boar while driving home, but I’m already joining the throngs of bloggers who write about their experiences. Already bored in my pre-tirement, I’m looking [...]

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