A foreigner's MBA (and related) adventures in the "Big Apple"

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Reality bites

My last Spring break is over. I did not hit the jackpot in Vegas, so I still need a job. I love San Francisco. I am back in NY. There is roughly one month to go for graduation. Time is flying. My friends are in town. The Knicks and Isaiah suck. I walk in a green park holding hands.

These are the thoughts that are coming to my mind at 125 am on this Thursday. Random? Kind of. Meaningful? I guess so. I just typed them without thinking, like a robot would do. And they seem to make a lot of sense, they gave a surprising accurate picture of my reality.

My second and last Spring break ever is over. I have loved it. I liked Vegas – spending 2 days/nights is enough anyway – although I lost a few bucks (fewer than expected, though). The Grand Canyon is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my whole life and I will never forget those views from the chopper. Route 101 in California is breathtaking: seals, cliffs, blue waters, fog…and Malibu, Santa Barbara, Carmel, Monterey, Big Sur… Road trips are great and they are even better when you embark on them with great friends. And then San Francisco. I have just fallen in love with the city – almost as much as I did with NY a few years ago, I dare say – and I can’t stop thinking about my walk holding hands in the Golden Gate Park last Sunday afternoon among sequoias and different kinds of plants and trees…It was like bringing back sensations I had not felt for quite a long time.

I have friends in town visiting and I have not had time to spend with them in the last three days. I feel bad about it. I will fix this starting tomorrow. Though I do not regret not going with them to see the Knicks playing at the Madison tonight.

And in the end I am back in the Big Apple. Three days have elapsed since I arrived and they have done so in an astonishing fast way. I guess this is gonna be the trend in the next 6 weeks. Last rush, last effort, last assignments, last meetings. Last everything. I find it hard to believe it.

And as weeks go by, time is lacking. For job search purposes obviously. Today it has been a good day and a couple of leads in the sports industry have come up. Everybody tells me to be confident, that the right time is about to start. Hope they are right. But time keeps flying and I have decided to give myself 3 months to try to make true my dream of staying in the US once I graduate. The race has definitely started.

I read over the previous paragraphs and I feel like it is just a rather accurate picture.
Later

Sunday, March 16, 2008

My last Spring break

It is 239 am and I have to wake up in one hour and 45 minutes. Vegas is looking for me and a bunch of my friends who just arrived from my city. My second and probably last Spring break. Vegas and then a road trip to LA and the Bay Area. I can’t wait, it’s gonna be just awesome.

I am really excited about this trip, not only because two of its destinations have long been awaited. Vegas is a must see, everybody says so. Probably enough for a couple of days but definitely something I won’t see anywhere else. I have been told that SF is just amazing, a great place to live, a place I am gonna fall for, as I did for NY a few years ago. But in addition to that I am happy because I will be spending a decent amount of time with some great friends from my city I have not hung out with for a time. It will be like some trips in the old days.

Speaking of the old days, today I have had a kind of revival of my college years. Two girl friends from my college years arrived in NY yesterday with two friends of theirs. They used to be very beautiful girls pretty much all of us were crazy about at some point… they still are, certainly. I had not seen one of them for maybe 5 years. It’s amazing how our lives have changed since then, though we all still feel young and unwilling to take on responsibilities. On the other hand, we have talked about the large number of our college class mates who have moved some steps forward in the personal arena, either by getting married or by having kids and so forth. We still think more about going out, randomly hooking up with somebody or about why we keep jumping from one relationship to the next. Although a long time has elapsed since the college times, I have felt like if it had been yesterday. The vibe has been great, and I have loved that.

One hour and 20 minutes wake up. It is gonna be painful…Until next time!

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Visit time

Wow, it is impressive to see that March is here already. Two months to go! And as time keeps rushing, friends are starting to fly across the Atlantic to render long-awaited visits. In the next two months I will have more than 10 people coming over. It has taken them some time but, since I do not know where the heck I will be from June 1 on, it is the only time they have left to justify a trip to NY.

The first one to visit has been one of my former roommates back in my country. The great “White Shark”. He had promised to do so and so he landed with her girlfriend yesterday evening. Today we have hit Café Havana in Nolita for brunch and we have caught up over an iced mocha from Think Coffee as we walked around Stern and Washington Square. I have enjoyed listening to what is going on where I used to live, how people are doing and so forth. Things seem not to have changed much. It is been two years now since I left and I feel like I could come back tomorrow and I would be happy. On the other hand, I still want to expand my NY experience.

It has been a rather quiet weekend, although I went out 'til 4 yesterday night. I attended the MBA media conference on Friday. I was able to re-boost some contacts I have in the industry, which is good for the job search. At the same time, looking at how many people are interested in entertainment and media, the landscape looks pretty competitive in terms of potential opportunities…and that is obviously bad.

On Thursday night I went out to a party organized by LABA and I run into a good friend who graduated from Stern last year. I had not seen him in ages. He came over with his mates from the bank where he works. When I told him that I am not going out that much he said: “You have to!”. Real life is around the corner and I feel like I should be partying a little more. Actually, I have not written a late night after-party post for a while. That is something that I will have to address soon, within the next week hopefully…

Before finishing, let me recommend you “Juno”. I watched on Friday night and it is just great. You will love it!
Ciao