INSEAD – not only a business school but also home to social events

This blog entry is going to talk a bit more about INSEAD, Simon’s educational home for this year. The primary reason for Simon to choose the school over others, as mentioned before, was its very good reputation and the international network. In his first few terms, he did have a lot to work – it was really like a full time job with hours only a bit less than in his consulting work. On top of that it turns out, however, that it is also a lot of fun. INSEAD is hosting a number of social activities and involves the student’s “partners” (girlfriend / boyfriend / wife / husband) quite well. Some of the activities have already presented to you in this blog, be it the Heart of Europe national week or just travel events with a number of students.

The INSEAD cabaret

Twice a year, the artistic talent of the student body is brought out in an impressive way. INSEAD goes cabaret. A big organizational team put together a show that ranged from music performances to choreographic dances or even slapstick comedy. The most amazing parts of the cabaret were the creativity of the 13J students (the ones graduating in July) for whom it was the final social activity and they re-texted some popular songs to fit into their INSEAD experience. Also, the group of students from the Indian subcontinent would have an amazing dance prepared and the Chinese students had practiced a Panda dance, including a fun video that was rolling in the background. The highlight is every year the men's ballet. The choreography was actually taught by a student with 10 years of ballet experience... The execution was left to the male students graduating in July 2013. This activity will be repeated once in December before Simon’s promotion graduates – Ana and Simon are already looking forward to that now!

The MCs

INSEAD's infamous men's ballet

National Bidding Day

The concept of the national week was already presented to you in the Heart of Europe blog. Well, these national weeks are really a big thing and in order not to interfere with the academic activities too much, there are a limited number of possible weeks per year. Since there are more nationalities / regions that are interested in presenting themselves, they need to lobby for student support which is done on the National Bidding Day. When it happened, the students from Lebanon, the Indian subcontinent (“DESI”), Portugal, Eastern Europe (“Soul of Eurasia”), the US, Canada and Africa would present themselves with stands on campus, serving national food and having several exhibitions. Especially the crowds from Lebanon and DESI were very loud and optimistic, having a large number of students from the respective countries and they even had a belly dancer who would give a spectacular performance. When it came to the actual voting, each country had  10 minute time slot to present themselves which was normally done with a video and some sort of dance. DESI really hit it off with a whole “Bollywood” type soap opera produced as well as dancing on the stage. Afterwards, we had some more national drinks at the courtyard at INSEAD – a great way to spend a Friday.

The Portugese team

Jalla Lebanon

The three Spanish ladies (too few for a team) just dressed up nicely anyhow

DESI - Pakistani and Indians finally united!

The INSEAD Olympics

Furthermore to the academic and the fun challenges at INSEAD, there is also a competition involving sports. A consulting firm sponsored event, the BCG Olympics, is held on a Sunday in Sentosa Island, the weekend getaway island connected to Singapore via a bridge. On a large beach area, students from all sections (the “classes”) would get together and compete against each other in events such as beach volleyball, swim relay, beach soccer and dodge ball. Simon helped the beach soccer team to secure a second place whereas Ana helped on the swim relay.. There were also a lot of fun activities for “extra points” such as building a human pyramid. At this stage, the “mascot” of Simon’s section needs to be mentioned. One of his fellow students was in Singapore with wife and kid. 2 year old Ike would be involved in almost every INSEAD activity during the day – also at the Olympics. So no wonder that at the end, he would be on the top of the pyramid lifted up by his mum. Simon’s section ended up winning the overall competition with great support from Ana which they celebrated with a trophy in class.

The winning pyramide

Where are the people from? (Roughly a globe)

People would get quite competitive!

The DASH

A tradition on the Singapore campus developed years ago that saw a few students dressing up in costumes and going to school like that for a day. Well, it really becomes fun when 95% of the students are doing that and are always motivated to beat the spirit of the prior class. In 2013, this meant that people would hire the most spectacular or just plainly ridiculous costumes. A group of students was dressed as the Angry Birds, the whole Star Wars saga was present and some characters were not quite recognizable but fun nevertheless. They would all meet around 7:30 am in front of one of the apartment blocks were most students lived and then make a procession to school – much to the amazement of the Singaporeans that they passed, including a number of school kids since they were passing a high school on the way. Sounds a bit weird? Well, it definitely was but much more fun if one participated in it. Also Ike, our section mascot was helping his dad look great. The most random costume though was a student dressed like a shark with a very, very big head... and do not forget it was still 30 degrees Centigrade and quite humid...

Ike (our section mascot) with his dad James

Just another day in class

INSEAD angry birds

Sharks crossing

All in all, INSEAD is not only the “Business School for the World” but also a very fun experience for both, Ana and Simon.

Borneo!

One of the less well-known travel destinations in Southeast Asia is the Eastern part of Malaysia. Malaysia is situated on both sides of the Strait of Singapore with its capital Kuala Lumpur and more than 75% of its total population living in “peninsular Malaysia”, the Southeastern part of mainland Asia. The Eastern part of Malaysia then is situated on the third largest island of the world – Borneo. Borneo is also the only island that has three countries on its surface: Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. The southern part of Borneo-Malaysia then is located around the multicultural city of Kuching – the destination of one weekend travel adventure for Ana and Simon.

Borneo is not only the third largest island in the world but also contains the oldest still-existing rain forest. This is home for populations of the Orang-Utans, besides Chimpanzees and Gorillas they are the closest relative of the human in the animal kingdom. Close to Kuching is a wildlife reservation for these Orang-Utans that are endangered by the excessive use of their habitat by humans and this is one of the main draws for visitors. Ana and Simon went there on an early Saturday morning with their own Malaysian tour guide. The reservation has two feeding hours per day and when you are lucky, the visitor can see up to 10 different Orang-Utans coming for bananas, pineapples or carrots. The sight of the Forest People (literal translation of the name Orang-Utan) is quite impressive. They are very gracious and athletic, moving from one tree to another or also just climbing up and down on one trunk. Ana and Simon took many pictures and it is probably best to let the pictures speak.

The facial expressions of the Orang-Utans and their social behaviors among each others really resemble humans. Their arms are much longer in relation to their body and they can also grab onto trees or branches with their feed, effectively they have 4 hands. You may also see one of the Orang-Utans hanging down from one branch with its two feet grabbed firmly around the tree and eating a banana hanging upside down; impressive. There were also a number of baby Orang-Utans that would hold tightly to their mothers and be pretty ok with any movement from one side of the jungle to the other.

Another stop on Ana and Simon’s tour of Borneo were the long-houses. These places are inhabited by the original people of Borneo and are basically houses about 2 m above the ground on long palisades to prevent animals or occasional floods to enter the living area that are joined to each other and thus may form a row of houses a few hundred meters long. Ana and Simon imagined these houses to be a bit more rustic as in fact, the “benefits” of civilization (esp. TV and beer) had already made their way through the jungle. It looked a little less remarkable. However, the drive to the long houses was a scenic ride and their guide would show them a pepper plantation on the way – quite nice to see where the pepper comes from!

Raw pepper

And processed

A creek in the jungle where most of the longhouses were located

While Ana and Simon were only in Kuching and surroundings for a bit more than 36 hours, they quite enjoyed the relaxed and multicultural vibe of the capital of Sarawak (the Malaysian state). Interestingly enough, Kuching and Sarawak were part of a “private kingdom” until World War II that was founded by the British adventurer James Brooke in the 1800s and run as a monarchy of the so-called “White Rajahs”. Only after World War II, it was governed as a part of the British Malay colony and gained independence in the 1960s. Kuching had a great history as a trading port with a lot of Chinese influence. Besides the Malay population, there are also a lot of indigenous people from Borneo living there. While Malaysia is a primarily Muslim country, Kuching has a number of Chinese temples and Christian churches and while this may be reason for troubles in many parts of the world, it creates diversity with a laid-back charm that Ana and Simon found unique in their Southeast Asian travel adventures. They enjoyed delicious seafood in one of the hawker centers, beers on the promenade at a Lebanese restaurant and they even listen to Un Canto a Galicia from Julio Iglesias (Galician music!!!) in one of the colonial bars. 

The state parliament on the Sarawak river

Entrance to Kuching Chinatown

Spot the European (hint - she's a bit taller!)

If anyone looks into the off-beaten path of traveling in the region, Kuching should make it to your travel list.