We've got a new President

The election night, last Tuesday, was followed with high expectations by all the Americans.
It would be an historic day no matter what (either the first African-American president, or the first female vice-president).

Everyone gathered around a TV, either at bars, at home or out in the streets. And the anxiety levels were at their peak minutes before the polls closed on the west coast.
We gathered some friends at Gal's place, and followed the counting very closely. Anne Eidelman was perhaps they happiest person in NY when the results were finalized, she jumped, screamed and called everyone in her address book.

Obama was elected new president. Let's hope this means a brighter future for the country and for the way it deals with the rest of the world.

When I got home (122nd street) there were crowds of people coming from 125th street (the center of Harlem), celebrating and shouting. The excitement was quite similar to when Benfica wins the championships (humm...ok, a little bit less).

Breakneck Ridge Hike

Last Sunday the Outdoor Club of CBS decided to organize a hike outside of Manhattan (Breakneck Ridge, New York state) to watch the impressive and beautiful colors of the American Fall Season.

Besides telling you that we walked in the mountains for 5 hours, I don't think there is much more to say as the pictures speak for themselves.

NY Knicks vs Miami Heat

The NBA season started last Wednesday, with the NY Knicks playing against the Miami Heat.
As the game was here in NY, at the Madison Square Garden, me and some friends decided to go.

During the 3rd part, the Knicks were winning with a 20 point advantage, but a the end, they only won by 5 points, so the game got quite exciting at the end.

Phil Collins was there watching the game (the cameras spotted him).

Here are some pictures from my cellphone.

Trip to the nature ... ended up in the wrong place

Gal (from Israel) had talked about two weeks ago about going out of NY for the weekend after the exams (the exams ended last Tuesday). The plan was to go hiking in the mountains and watch the autumn colors.
Well, yesterday at departure time we checked the weather forecast, and realized that it was going to rain all weekend, and hiking during rain is not a very comfortable sensation.
We put a shirt and some shoes in our bags, and decided to go to Atlantic City.

Atlantic City is a "Las Vegas wannabe" on the East Coast (about two hours away from NY). A city by the sea that only has an avenue full of casinos. Nothing else!
It was a fun night out.

Michael got the hooters haloween costume! Not the girls though...


They said at The Hooters restaurant they would give us free drinks if we could hula-hup for 30 seconds...of course we didn't manage even 5 seconds.
Gal didn't learn enough about moving hips in the Israeli army.

But the most memorable moment was when a Portuguese, an Israeli and an American decided to make a race on the beach. In shoes and jeans...



Anyway, we have a hiking trip planned by the Columbia's Business School Outdoor Club for next Sunday. Let's hope we don't end up in Atlantic City again...

Cool People

The MBA class of 2010 has some people who have done things in life that I think are just impressive

1 - Darren Bounds (he's in my cluster)
Darren is a former Navy Seal. The Seal's are the special elite force of the American Navy. Those are the guys that jump from helicopters to the sea, and dive under boats to put bombs.

2 - Avantha Seringhe (he's in my cluster too)
Avantha is from Sri Lanka, and was playing soccer at the beach when the tsunami beat southeast Asia in December 2004. Avantha and his friends survived the tsunami by climbing up to coconut trees and hanging there until the water levels went down.

3 - Keeth Smart
Keet won a silver medal in fencing ("esgrima") this year at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Cluster Cup

Our whole MBA class of 2010 is divided into several clusters. I am in Cluster E, which has 68 students.
Among all the clusters there is a competition in several sports and activities, the Cluster Cup.
The volleyball games have been the first activity, and my cluster has won all four games it has played.

Central Park by Sunset & Night

Back to the 80s

Yesterday New York went back in time, more precisely to the 80s.
We all dressed up in a retro style to watch a concert by an 80s cover band from San Francisco, "Tainted Love", at B.B. King's in Times Square.

Beer pong champion!

For those who remember the post where I talked about the drinking games (beer pong and flip cup).
Well, yesterday, to celebrate our first test (statistics), my cluster gathered at the Gin Mill bar for a happy hour. I partnered up with Luke from my cluster for beer pong, and guess what? We played for two hours because we won consecutively. Not bad for my first time.
These guys must watch out! Portuguese power is on its way!

Wall Street is shriking!

Columbia Business School has a strong connection with Wall Street, the Financial Sector and Investment Banking.
The recent news on Lehman Brothers, Merril Lynch and AIG have been turning up the heat at the school. The impact of this crisis is present in many ways:
- former MBA students that are unemployed
- perspective for a job in the financial services is harder
- the other areas of recruitment are also getting harder because people from the financial services are trying them
- jobs for international people are also getting harder, because the USA is very protectionist

Today the Dean of the School made a speech to talk about his assessment of the situation, and to talk about alternatives that we should consider for recruiting.

Let's just hope the situation does not get any worse, and that things recover soon.

Rui

PS - I actually had an email from Lehman Brothers, sent last week, to invite me for their corporate presentation at CBS. Not gonna happen...