Why London?

I get this question a LOT. Why uproot myself from the states into a foreign country and embark on an international MBA when there are so many fine institutions offering world renown MBA programs in the states? Why not join the ranks at Kellogg or Wharton or Columbia, etc? Well for one, as I've alluded to in other posts, London was the natural and obvious choice for me given my international work experience and hunger to explore the world. For another thing, when else in my life would I be able to pick up and move to London for 2 years? This was quite the unique opportunity. But beyond that, I wanted to grow and the best way to truly grow is to push myself outside my comfort bubble and expose myself to new cultures, places, and people. What better way to do that than take 2 years off of work and focus solely on my MBA at the top ranked global MBA programme? This type of growth - throwing ourselves into a new world - gives us all depth and will hopefully build my character and transform me into a more interesting and unique individual. There's a misunderstanding that the UK is a lot like the US. After all, we both speak the same language... right? But in fact, we cannot be more different... something I will further discuss in posts to come. So here I am. In London. Sometimes I have to pinch myself.

I have been meeting people like crazy here. Brazilians. Chileans. Egyptians. Canadians. Parisians. Brits. Spaniards. Aussies. Kiwis. Japanese. Chinese. Thai. and on and on. The backgrounds and diversity of the class makes for a great learning environment.

The first indication that we are all so very different was the initial greeting. Upon greeting someone new, I need to quickly decide what action to take: do I shake their hand? Go in for the 1-cheek kiss? Follow the 1-cheek kiss with a 2-cheek kiss? offer a half-hug? give a slight bow? perhaps a high-five? Every culture does it differently. Since it is Europe, I usually assume kissing of each cheek upon meeting someone new, but I often need to quickly assess how the person I am greeting will expect to greet me or it can make for a very awkward encounter... like once I assumed we would kiss cheeks and this was not the case so it ended up having this weird touch of our cheeks and um, well hello, hi, we just met, but err.. this is awkward. Oh Europe...

Onto other items... this week was orientation week... aka the week before classes start and the real learning begins. This week was mainly focused on getting to know each other, lectures from key departments at the school, and meeting our study groups. We have 401 students from 60+ cultures, speaking 45 different native languages, all coming together for a common purpose: to bond together and embark on this exciting 2 year adventure. We're broken up into 5 streams of around 80 people, and from there, into diverse study groups of 6. I'll complete all my core courses during the first year with my stream and all group activities with my study group. In order to get to know each other, we all headed to Reading (about an hour outside London) for a day of "camp" at a high and low ropes course. The challenges we faced were metaphorically connected to the challenges we'll face in our study groups throughout the year... we rocked climbed, pulled each other through a spider web, completed a low ropes course, and even climbed a tall telephone pole where 4 of us clutched onto each other at the top, standing on a small square foot platform. What I thought was impossible, ended up being possible as I had to reach for the hands of my teammates, close my eyes, and trust that they would pull me up! My study group could not be any more diverse. I'm joined by a guy from Russia, a guy from Tokyo, Japan, a guy from France, a guy from London, and a girl from Bangkok, Thailand. It'll be interesting to see how our different work and leadership styles blend together (or contrast). I also look forward to learning how to work with and communicate with these different cultures. We all took a class on harnessing international diversity today which gave me an insight into what I am in for. For example, we talked about what it means to be "on time." If told to be at a meeting at 10am, stereotypically:

The German employee will be "on time" at 9:45am
The American will be "on time" at 10am
The Brit will be "on time" at 10:05am, and
The Latin American will be "on time" at 10:15 or 10:30am

It goes to show how we all interpret something so differently. So much to learn!
I was talking to my French study group member about this today and he said that he always kissed his father upon greeting him. For if he ever shook his father's hand, oh boy... he would get in huge trouble. It's a much more affectionate culture, for sure.

Anyway, sorry for no pictures today... will try to upload some soon. I'm 2+ weeks in, but it seems like I've been gone from the states for much longer considering all the things that I've done since I've arrived. I am not one to get homesick, but sometimes I do deeply miss everyone in the states. Please call! Please email! Am I busy? heck yes. but I still have time to catch up :)