Allen in Austin

Out of Austin, New Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 13:03:46 PDT

Off to Barcelona (BCN). I won't be updating this blog anymore. Check out alleninbcn.

I got up this morning at 4:30am to throw everything out, pack up, and catch a 7:40am flight. I put together a video of all the places I used to regularly haunt while in Austin. This is more for me to remember than for anyone else.

Goodbye, Austin.

MP4
MOV
WMV

ESADE Ch. 1: Down the Rabbit Hole

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 14:45:59 PDT

When I was at lunch today, I was talking to one of the MOT students about ESADE. He casually mentioned that he didn't want to apply there because it was run by Opus Dei, which in his opinion was a cult. He may be thinking about IESE, because from what I can see, ESADE was established by Jesuits. If you crawl esade.edu, there are no references to Opus Dei. ESADE is pretty open about it being a Jesuit school.

Still, it sounds like the whole business school ethos is not going to be that popular in Barcelona, which might have been part of my friend's complaint. If you look at the forums online, a lot of Spainiards are concerned with the fact that ESADE is a private institution devoted to business (rather than a public university). The derision of the "ESADE snobs" is pretty funny.

ESADE Wikipedia entry

ESADE Law School's vision of the future is one in which multi-stakeholder dialogues and responsible self-regulation by business will usurp government functions and the welfare state - a nightmarish prospect for many.

I'm guessing that the "many" here refers to "many Europeans". Actually, I think they culled the above from the Texas state moto.

As far as I can tell looking at other sites online, there is a pretty clear separation of academia and religion, although several sites do claim that the program emphasizes Christian values. The only thing I've found that was a little unexpected is their onsight religious guidance, ominously acronymed SAR. So far, nothing I've read about Opus Dei, the Jesuits, or ESADE really bothers me. In fact, I support their idea of using business to make a positive impact and would like to do the same myself. As afraid my European counterpart was of ESADE, after reading about the religious connection I'm actually more intrigued than anything else.

...to be sure, this generally happens when one eats cake, but I had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way.

Dinner and Lunch with the MOT Students

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 13:37:20 PDT

On Tuesday night I had dinner with the class at the Clay Pit (great Indian food). Today I gave my final presentation (my last official act at UT) and meet with the class at Scholz's afterwards. Both outings can be seen here.

MP4
MOV
WMV

Pictures from the Clay Pit:
Swapna
Moreno, Alex, Peter
Keyvan, Michael, Christian
Sung, Sylvie, Allen
Alex, Moreno, Julie, Mar

Moises' wife, Moises, Keyvan
Serge, Pierre
Didier, Tilo
Swapna, Sylvie, Giselle, Mar, Julie
Julie, Moreno, Alex
Didier, Julie, Mar, Sylvie

Acceptance Letter In, Tuition Paid

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 11:57:52 PDT

I sent my acceptance letter into ESADE today. I finally got the tuition issue straightened out. For those playing at home, or anyone else applying to ESADE, I did the following:

I went to Sallie Mae and signed up for the MBA loans
The funds were disbursed directly to ESADE
On the acceptance form, I ticked off the "Proof of Payment" section and wrote in a note that the funds had been disbursed

This was actually easier than wiring the money (fewer steps). The down side is that I can't pick up the rest of my cash until I get to Spain in September.

20 Days in Vegas

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Wed, 31 May 2006 07:13:03 PDT

The trip back home to visit Lisa. It's about 3.5 minutes of video. I transferred the President's office of my nonprofit to a Director on my Board, so I am no longer running Nevada NETS. Now I'm going back to Austin to finish out my MBA. I also have to work with the Spanish consulate in Houston to get a student visa. I got my internship back, so in July I'm going out to San Fran to work for a month. After that, I've got a month to get ready for the move to Spain.

Video:
MP4
MOV
WMV

SLYFF Fellowship Award

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Wed, 10 May 2006 12:29:15 PDT

I have been awarded a fellowship that will cover about 1/3rd of my tuition at ESADE. Great news.

Generally known as SYLFF (pronounced as "sylph"), The Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund Program was launched in 1987 by The Nippon Foundation (formerly, The Japan Shipbuilding Industry Foundation or The Sasakawa Foundation). The goal of the SYLFF Program is to nurture future leaders who will transcend the geopolitical, religious, ethnic, and cultural boundaries and actively participate in the world community for peace and the well-being of humankind. Under the SYLFF Program, The Nippon Foundation donates an endowment of one-million U.S. dollars each to institutions of higher learning, from which fellowships are awarded to graduate students enrolled in social sciences and humanities fields at the respective endowed institutions.

Now I need to send out a letter thanking the foundation. The funny thing is that the acceptance letter from McCombs asks me to send a "Thank You Letter to Japan". I'm sure the intent of that statement is to send a thank you letter to the foundation in Japan, but just in case, I send my heartfelt appreciation to the entire island-nation of Japan.

Website.

Officially Accepted at ESADE

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Mon, 08 May 2006 07:53:56 PDT

I just got word that I was officially accepted at ESADE. I had to give up my internship to accept my nomination from UT Austin, so the last month has been high stress for me. At this point, it is more relief than elation. For posterity:

I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to ESADE’s Double Degree MBA programme beginning in September 2006. Congratulations!

You have been admitted to a rigorous, demanding and innovative programme, designed to provide you with thorough management knowledge as well as to develop the managerial competencies that will be most useful for you in the future.

You will become part of a community of people who share a strong desire for personal and professional growth via the exchange of diverse ideas and values among each and every member, comprised of students from all over the world creating an international atmosphere of learning, fostering an ongoing exchange of personal experiences and enriching the course content.

You will shortly receive written notification of your acceptance to the programme as well as information about the matriculation process. Meanwhile, I invite you to visit our site where you will find plenty of information about the MBA community, ESADE and Barcelona.

Congratulations on your acceptance! All the people in the MBA team are looking forward to welcoming you to ESADE next spring.

Now, I just need to find a job.

Nominated for ESADE

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 09:29:22 PDT

I just got word from McCombs that they have nominated me for the ESADE program in Barcelona. This is the culmination of about a year and a half of work. This means that I probably will be in Austin over the summer, and after that I will spend the next year in Barcelona. At the end of that I would have an MBA from McCombs (top 20 school in the US) and an MBA from ESADE (top 5 school in Europe).

Website.

ESADE Celebration

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 10:30:50 PDT

Thursday night, after learning about my ESADE nomination, I went out to a Think & Drink with some friends. Fittingly, we started at "Barcelona", then "Six". That's not my cookie by the way.

MP4
MOV
WMV

Kitty in a Trash Can

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 14:01:49 PDT

Cosmo in a trash can. He loves hanging out in there. MOV

Philip K. Dick's Android Head is Missing

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 10:49:38 PDT

The android head of Philip K. Dick is missing. Last seen in the overhead bin on a commercial flight.

"That would be a really strange ending," Hanson says, "if the head of a Philip K. Dick robot wound up being exploded by another robot."

Article.

Vegas in a Minute Plus

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 10:44:37 PDT

Quick trip to Vegas. Marche Bacchus and a house party with showgirls and showboys.

MP4
MOV
WMV

OPV: Other People's Videos

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 20:08:23 PDT

Some videos that other people took on the trip.

MP4
MOV
WMV
WMV 640x480

Day 16: The Final Countdown

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 10:19:19 PST

Our trip home. Through Prague, Amsterdam, Memphis, then Austin.

MP4
MOV
WMV

Day 15: A Visit from the Kauers

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 05:27:50 PST

Friends of the family stop by and take me on a tour of Prague. Martina is our young tour guide and Barbara is another resident and friend of the Kauers.

MP4
MOV
WMV

Day 14: Skoda, Dinner, and a Night on the Town

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 22:51:37 PST

MP4
MOV
WMV

Day 13: FINEP, Concentration Camp, and a Bar

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 09:19:38 PST

MP4
MOV
WMV

Day 12: Andel

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 08:58:44 PST

Business meeting at Andel.

MP4
MOV
WMV

Day 11: Cesky Krumlov, Cesky Budvar, Prague

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 08:49:00 PST

MP4
MOV
WMV

Day 10: Salzburg

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 08:36:09 PST

I'm writing this one in advance. It will go something like this: stayed in room, watched TV.

Day 9: Kitzbühel Ow Ow Ow

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 23:55:31 PST

MP4
MOV
WMV

Tried snowboarding. Dislocated my shoulder. Walked down a mountain. Can't type.

Day 8: The Trip to Salzburg

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 21:11:34 PST

We got going at 3pm and took a 3 hour bus ride into Salzburg.

Keep an eye out for the cat chocolate. Made of real kitties?

MP4
MOV
WMV

Day 7: Wien-Bratislava-Wien

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 20:49:54 PST

MP4
MOV
WMV

Also, check out this Washington Post video posted the day after we left (open it with iTunes or Quicktime).

Our bus stopped at a gas station just outside the Austria-Hungary border. There was a band of gypsies standing around a broken down car and another one in the WC downstairs who just seemed to be wandering around staring at us as we used the facilities.

I found some Krusovice in a can, which I later found out is Czech not Slovak like I had thought. Even in a can it is better than any other draft beer in the world. I don't understand why they don't export this stuff.

By the way, as you go through the video, for those Germanically challenged, Wien is Vienna.

We stayed at the Hotel Ananas. I knew that we were going to have a long night, so I immediately went in and slept until about 7pm. Sitting in the hotel room waiting for my friends to return, I watched German MTV. They've got a lot of videos that we don't have over here, and watching them gave me a gut wrenching sense of nostalgia for my former life over here. In some ways, what the problems we were about to have that night were for the better. It helped me temper some of that longing for the past.

We took a cab to the train at around 8:30pm. The night started out badly when we accidentally insulted our cabbie. Scott King and I were talking about how awful Bucharest was. It turns out our cabbie was Romanian and he made a comment. Ugly Americans.

I had been inside the train station we left from the last time I came to Vienna, but I had completely forgotten about it. The night was full of a lot of deja vu moments. There was something uncomfortable about being back. Like I shouldn't have been mixing my old life in the East with my new life as an MBA. I think it was mainly because this time around I was exactly what I used to hate: a group of loud Americans who were acting like these people's homes were our playground.

On the train, I met a young Slovak named Suzanne who was a DJ and fashion designer. She gave us the insight on where to go and invited us to her gig that night. She also recommended I try burovice, which is a pine-tree based alcohol. I did at some point during the night. It is somewhere in between gin and vodka. It is interesting because it does smell like pine cones but the taste and fragrance to the American palette tastes like drinking Pledge, so there is not much chance of exporting it.

There were some things in Bratislava that I didn't remember from my previous visit, like UFO, the restaurant perched atop a bridge that looks over the enitre city. Other things, like the Hotel Carlton and Michael's Gate only came back into my memory a few seconds after I rediscovered them.

We stayed at the Botel Marina (Boat-Hotel presumably). They made us register at reception, which I don't think I had done since Bulgaria several years ago. We had an uneven number of people so we snuck Diego Rubio in unregistered.

We went to a bar called Medusa. we should have stayed there, because everything went downhill after that. Suzanne's gig at Sub Club underneath the castle wasn't what my friends were looking for, so we left for Circus Barok (a disco boat) which was empty so we got in a cab and took the driver's suggestion. This was a mistake because the cabbies are all tied to the mafia and take you to the mafia bars.

The first one we came to let a couple of us in ($10 cover) but when Charaig (Indian) got to the door they wouldn't let him in. When we told the bouncers that he was with us, they threw us out too. Slovak hospitality.

We tripped around to a couple of other less than memorable places and drank way too much. We went back to Circus Bartok and were generally rude to people.

After that, we got back into a cab and asked where to go for food. As soon as we got out a bunch of mafia guys stepped in front of the front door and told us we were not allowed into the restaurant. I think by then we had already decided to get out of the country and not stay the night.

Our cab had left, so a mafia guy pulled up his cab. I started arguing with him about the price because he didn't have the meter on and he pulled over and told us to get out of the cab, while repeatedly threatening us. As we walked away he waved us back telling us that it was Ok and he'd take what we offered. The surreal part was that he gave us all candy, which we took out of fear. I think it was meant as a peace offering for having threatend our lives. I made idle chit-chat as we went along, hoping that he wasn't planning on dumping our bodies in the river, but there was a translation problem between my bad Polish and his Slovak.

We got home at day break and checked out. we hadn't really needed the extra hotel.

In Vienna, we grabbed breakfast. The dining hall at the hotel was packed with groups of well-rested Westerners whose biggest problem was that there weren't enough eggs at the buffet. I think I had some inkling of what it must have been like for American soldiers who took R&R in Saigon after spending weeks out in the bush.

Day 6: Budapest. CEU presentation, Puccini: La Boheme

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 14:16:40 PST

We started out at about 1pm at CEU to meet with our European counterparts (fortunately allowing me to sleep off a hangover). We did the presentation and effectively closed shop on this class. Now all I have to do is make sure I don't get arrested and I should do fine in this class.

That is Husam El Amin and Martin Kopchev in the video.

Afterwards, we went back home and I fell asleep again. At about 6:30pm we took a bus to see La Boheme. I was there for the first thirty minutes but I was asleep the whole time. I walked out during the intermission and went home. I'm ready for Bratislava.

MP4
MOV
WMV

Day 5: Budapest. Visteon, Wine Flights, and Karaoke

noreply@blogger.com (Gregory Allen Edards) — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 13:48:33 PST

Visteon isn't actually in the video. One of the workers was concerned about me taking pictures, so I'm not posting anything taken inside their plant.

The plant is in Szekesfehervar, about an hour drive from Budapest.

About three hours after we got home, we went to the Castle district. There we spent two hours drinking Hungarian wines at the House of Hungarian Wines. Here are the crib notes: Hungarian reds are awful, some of their whites have a lot of personality and are actually good, Tokaji is a decent white dessert wine.

After that we went to Morrison's and sang karaoke until about 4am.

MP4
MOV
WMV