Les Hindmans En France Et Texas...

Fall 2006: Back in the United States

2007-01-20T21:53:00.000-08:00

Most of you know we are living in the US again. I accepted a job in Austin, Texas and we are nearby friends and family. Rebecca's is busy setting up her Chinese Medicine practice and I've been on the road for work.

This is Illinois and the farm where I spent much of my childhood. Though the coal mine industry is mostly gone, this pond still exists and is a wonderful place to fish for largemouth bass.

Anyway, more to come on updates since September 2006 and our time back in the US.

Tea Sugar Dreams

2007-01-14T13:39:00.000-08:00

A year in the woods completed and time for a reward. While your perception might be that Rebecca and I had a one year vacation in France, that is far from the reality. INSEAD is hard work and a challenge for both the MBA student and their partner. It is a year full of learning, challenging, exploring, testing and trading offf priorities. Would we do it again? Bien sur! So, with the academic challenges completed, it was time to celebrate and while many INSEADers headed to Tunisia for a big group holiday / graduation trip, we decided to fly East to Turkey with Tim and Colleen. Colleen, CEO of Puppy Dog Vacations (PDV), proved to be the best holiday planner around. Even Rick needs to beware of PDV. Thanks to Colleen, we discovered the magic of Turkey and would encourage everyone to visit once. So, what is "tea sugar dreams"? During our first day in Istanbul, a very nice and enthusiastic carpet salesman taught us to say thank you in Turkish. Tea sugar dreams sounds similar to thank you in Turkish. After a week of trying, I'm certain 0% of the Turkish population would understand any of us in our attempts to be grateful. Tim, we gave it our best mate.

On a PDV tour, the CEO always makes the decisions, once rocking advice has been provided.

Istanbul mixes Eastern and Western cultures From the prayer call towers adjacent to the mosques, you heard the religious ritual announced to the city. This photo attempts to capture the mix found in Istanbul...merchants in the foreground and the Blue Mosque in the background.

PDV found a perfect hotel right in the heart of the old city. Our first visit was to the Ayasofya, perched on one of the seven hills of Istanbul. Created during Suleyman's reign, this experience immediately brings you face to face with the Christian and Muslim elements of Turkey.

From inside the Ayasofya, we could see the Blue Mosque...so we made that our next stop. And this photo is from inside the Blue Mosque...

In total, we spent a day and a half in Istanbul and then jumped on a flight to Cappadocia, the land of the fairy chimneys. This flight takes you East towards Iraq and into a portion of land that really felt like the origin of civilization. Homes were carved out of rock. These rock homes were lived in until the 1950's and today, you can find a few five star hotels utilizing these same rock dwellings.

PDV arranged for a 3 day tour to expose us to the best of Cappadocia. Ramsey, our tour guide, is first class and if you ever make it to Cappadocia, ask for Ramsey.

Welcome home...

If you read up on this part of Turkey, you will quickly learn that early Christians settled here and though we don't know if they carved the original dwellings, their churches, sculptures and frescoes are scattered throughout the land. Ramsey knows all the details and will take you to places you would not find on your own. I'm typically not a fan of tour guides but this is a place you need one. Here we are visiting one of the many Christian dwellings.

After 3 excellent days in Cappacocia, we flew back to Istanbul for a few more days of touring and shopping. The Grand Bazaar is an absolute must and Colleen and Rebecca are gearing up to negotiate like the pros.

I found picture taking to be more fun. While many places in this world have aggressive vendors, we found the Grand Bazaar to be a place where they quickly left you on your own. It was a nice level of pressure...enough to get the flavor of the Grand Bazaar and the world's first shopping mall, but not so much that you became annoyed and had to leave.

And if you like gummi bears, then you need to buy some Turkish delights or Lokum during your visit...

Rebecca could not resist the spice market.

Now that I've worn you out with all the pictures of Turkey, I wanted to end here with one more photo. The Yerebatan Cistern. This was first constructed by Constantine and served as the water source for the city during times of seige or drought. Today, it is home to goldfish and truly one of the best things I've ever seen. I'll save the history lesson for you to discover on their official site.

July: World Cup Final in Paris

2007-01-14T13:12:00.000-08:00

France had a great WC run. Zizou was super and we were really supporting the French coming into the final. After the USA vs. Italy match, there was no way we could support the Italians. We organized a group from INSEAD to a nice bar just off the Champs-Elysees, Paris' grand boulevard. Notice the French flags on the cheeks.

As you know, Zizou departed the match with less grace than he started the match with. The French fell in penalty kicks and the Champs-Elysees was not the celebration we hoped for. It was closed off and the French were sad and the flags trailed along the ground.

The Arc de Triomphe with a slide show supporting l'equipe. The text says "Zizou, we love you."

July: Graduation & Goodbyes

2007-01-14T12:56:00.000-08:00

On July 6th, I graduated from INSEAD with my official master's degree in business administration. Leading up to the graduation were many dinners and countdowns to the final days of full-time life at INSEAD. My team sans Nil took time to picnic near Pedro's chateau. (Pedro lived in the guard tower of a fantastic chateau.) This nicely organized outing was one of my more memorable experiences with my P1 / P2 team. Ranjit invited Ramya and they have since married November 2006!

INSEAD graduation is at Versailles. It is about a 45 minute drive from Fontainebleau and I must admit Versailles Palace is a slightly different experience than Gregory Gym...the location of my graduation from the University of Texas at Austin.

On y va...later, we met with our village people crew in Paris for a very nice pre-graduation party dinner. Guillaume guided us to this nice restaurant. Around the table from Rebecca, me, Anne, Guillaume, Ashish, Snehal, Tim, Colleen, Gemma, and Paul. By nationality: USA, USA, USA/French, French/USA, Indian, Indian, Brazilian/USA, China/USA, Australian, Australian...back to Rebecca.

June: Presenting to the IOC

2007-01-14T11:29:00.000-08:00

Marcus, Tapan and I made a late June journey to Switzerland to present our findings to the Athletes' Commission at the headquarters for the International Olympic Committee. It was one of my INSEAD highlights and I have many to thank for it. We gave our 30 minute presentation to the committee on a financial management strategy for their global popluation of world-class athletes.

Here we are just after the presentation. Nice work team! I would love to hear an update on the IOC's next steps. Oscar?

June: The World Cup Begins...

2007-01-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

Yes, the coursework and job search must continue but...the World Cup is on. Thankfully, everyone wanted to watch the matches in the student lounge and with over 65 nationalities on campus, it was not difficult to find some home team fans. Even Trinidad and Tobago had local support in the INSEAD bar area. Come on England...

We planned early on to make two trips to Germany. Our first trip was a Cologone journey to Eilin's wonderful flat. On Saturday, Eilin arranged for a roof top tour of the cathedral in the center of Cologne. Construction started in 1248 and completed in 1880. The exterior scaffolding indicates the plans have yet to be completed.

Doctor, can you provide some advice?

If you take the roof top tour, pay close attention to the unique stones and sculptures only visible while walking along the narrow rooftop pathway.

On Sunday, we said goodbye to our INSEAD friends and drove to meet Dr. King and Rob. They had landed in Berlin and planned to spend the next two weeks chasing football matches and German sights. Sunday night in Cologne brought superb weather and crisp pints along the river. On Sunday, we picked up the lads and drove towards Gelsenkirchen. USA WC opener vs. Czech Republic kicked off at 6:00 PM (local). Kenan guided us towards this Turkish restaurant that was oh so pleasing for Mr. Bacchus.

We employed a weak strategy for buying tickets outside the stadium and firmly decided that we will pre-purchase tickets to all future World Cups. Dr. King and Rob found reasonably priced tickets but Rebecca and I went to the fan zone to watch the sad result for the United States.

We had to return to Fonty for my classes and job search during the week but the following weekend, Rebecca and I headed back to Germany to meet Rob and Dr. King in Koblenz. Following Rebecca's German instincts, she lived there for a year, we found this peaceful beer garden at the rivers junction.

The city of Koblenz is worth a visit. Like most European cities, it has a vibrant city center, rivers running through the main portion and wonderful architecture. Less touristy but worth the 1-day trip. We had one mission for Saturday, procure match tickets for USA vs. Italy. The following picture indicates the masses attending the game. Within the masses were the ticket scalpers and me with my new strategy for buying tickets. I was going head-to-head with the Italian ticket scalpers and willing to invest the time, energy and tactics required to buy tickets.

The strategy worked. Not only did I find affordable tickets for Rebecca and I to attend the USA vs. Italy match, but I also found category 1 tickets for Rob and Dr. King to attend the USA vs. Ghana match in Nuremberg. I would like to thank the friendly Italian and compassionate American for selling me tickets to this match. If you buy me a gelato then I will detail my strategy. It involves patience, humility, positioning, cardboard, negotiation and the right clothing. I am still curious to know if my Australian friend that felt a need to trail me and needed a course in negotiations ever found his way into the match.

May Brings Family

2007-01-13T20:52:00.000-08:00

Mom and Don made their way over the Atlantic after banking a few flight credits in Dallas. We had a great time visiting with them and showing them the sights and sounds in and around Fontainebleau. Besides our normal route of Fonty, Moret, Grez, Barbizon and the local restaurants, we made our way through Melun and to the famous Vaux Le Vicomte. The rumor is the man in the iron mask constructed this French masterpiece. Built in the 17th century by Nicolas Fouquet, it's magical gardens and summertime classic music festival should be on your list of things to do one day. This placed staged one of the most famous festivals in France and around 2 AM, King Louis IX had Nicolas arrested and he was never seen again.

Mom and Don enjoying the view of the gardens.

At the very end of the gardens is a massive lake surrounded by fountains. Rebecca, you look so very French ma femme.

Jason Walker and Shannon also visited us during this week but I don't have any pictures. Jason, help me out here! We had a great time with them with a day trip to Paris that was very memorable.

May: Prague Marathon

2007-01-13T20:16:00.001-08:00

One of Rebecca's goals for the year was to run in a marathon. We selected Prague since I had never been there but she had been there but been arrested (therefore, her running game should be on). Between super busy academics, the football team and job search, I did not have time to train and had decided I would cheerlead for Rebecca.

On the way to the registration tent on Saturday, we met a nice Englishman that runs 40 marathons per year. While registering Rebecca, discovered the t-shirts were pretty cool...for those running in the race. Shortly after the registration, I saw a nice pair of New Balance shoes. My math is clearly weak because I added these factors up and decided to march back to the tent, register for the marathon and buy a new pair of running shoes.

At the end of the day of touring Prague, we had a nice street cafe meal and prepared for the next day's 42 km or 26.2 mile journey.

We woke up and made final preparations for the race. I decided I should race with my jacket and camera...since a marathon is easy stuff. So, how about a pre-race photo...of our race timing chips and my new kicks.

The 2nd kilometer was the best as we crossed the Charles bridge and headed down the road. My spirits were high and we made idle conversation as we kept a nice pace. This is Rebecca crossing the Charles bridge.

After the half-marathon point, the picture taking and fun took a steady decline. The out and back along the highway did not help. It took some mental discipline to push through to the end and here we are...safe and sound in the center of Prague. The post-race massage and Czech beer were excellent but did not prevent a knee injury lasting for 4 months. In other words, don't follow my lead on this one...

Holland In April

2007-01-13T15:32:00.001-08:00

Holland beckons. Most debate two options. Option 1, run with the bulls in Spain. Option 2, tour the tulip fields in Holland. Granted, they don't occur at the same time but our band of risk-takers journeyed North. The road trip included Ashish, Snehal, Jonathan, Riza, Gemma, Paul, myself and Rebecca. Though my camera was broken during this weekend, Ashish granted rights to his digital genius maker.

On the way up, we joined forces with our Norweigen friends, Eskild and Karine. One of our favorite cities, Ghent, was the stopping point for a relaxing dinner.

The Hague was our outpost by night and we scheduled Saturday for a 10 AM start time to head into Amsterdam for a day trip. As you can see, I had to inform everyone that we missed our alarm and it would be a few minutes before we were ready to move out. Ashish, thanks for snapping this photo!

The automated train ticket booth did not work and we had the option to either board the train to Amsterdam without tickets or walk to another station with a functional ticket system. We selected the cheaper option. Four stations later, the bust occurred. We purchased our freedom and our new Dutch friends were quite patient and understanding. So, our gang posed for a group mug shot in front of the Rijks museum.

After a day of canal boat rides, strolls among tourist attractions and aligning the interests of a diverse group, we turned our attention to Sunday and the Keukenhof gardens . The bulb flowers in the gardens represent hundreds of varieties and are supplied by approximately 90 exhibitors. You can only visit in April and May during the flowering cycle. The following picture does little justice to the gardens.

On the return trip, we did what all INSEAD students and partners do at the end of a trip to Holland...head straight to the center of Arras. After taking zoomed in photos of the holy center, we ate some nice food and wandered into the main square and a very odd, very European fair. The Star Wars ride was the center of attraction mainly because of it's awful sound system, energetic ride announcer and frightening design. If your game is chain smoking, fast motorcycles and two euro wine then Star Wars is the ride for you.

I have to show the ride...may the force be with you if this is worth your time and money. I would rather bungee jump from a cable car in Switzerland....Rob.

Mon Frere et Moret sur Loing

2006-12-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

Well, I decided to add a few more photos from Nathan's trip to France. Though he only spent 4 days in our petite village, it was enough to see the sights in the nearby area. Besides Grez sur Loing, our favorite petite village was Moret sur Loing. So, to commemorate Nathan's trip and the town of Moret, some photos.

The bridge over the Loing river.

The opposite angle of the river...and Le Vieux Mulin. This chateau, arched over the Loing river, housed a few INSEAD graduate students for the year. C'est fantastique.

Finalment, mon frere sur la pointe.

Catching Up: April 2006

2006-12-26T21:53:00.000-08:00

April brought on the second half of Period 4 and start of massive amounts of job search work. With hundreds of companies coming to campus, the work load was intense which explains why I let the blog slip for a few...well, 8 months.

Our camera broke for a portion of April and we don't have pictures of a wonderful vacation with our Norweigen friends, Eskild and Karina. We made a 4 day journey to Normandy and stayed in the picturesque town of Honfleur. This classic seaside harbor-town is a must-see. The capstone of the trip was a excellent day with Marc and his family. Originally from Normandy, this ex-French foreign legion officer and family were awesomes hosts for the four of us.

One of the highlights was my brother Nathan winning the 2006 Outback Challenge in Morocco. Nathan was kind enough to fly in and out of Paris on his way to kicking some butt in Morocco. Nathan navigated and Scott drove a competition ready Toyota 4x4 truck. Not bad when you win the 6 day race by 6+ hours. Official Results

Thank you to Nathan's French colleague, Patrice, for rigging a sturdy vehicle.

Their truck, ready to rock and roll.

Here is Nathan returning from a sandy but victorious week in Morocco.

Sandy but safe.

We had two days to show Nathan around the French countryside...and the small towns nearby. This is Moret sur Loing.

Brothers in front of the Moret sur Loing gate.

Catching Up: March 2006

2006-12-26T21:37:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite classes at INSEAD was Strategies for Product & Service Design. INSEAD partners with the # 1 design school in the world, Art Center College of Design. We study jointly with design students and our semester brought Nokia to campus for joint design work on...well, I can't tell you what we worked on due to our highly secretive developments...and our NDA. In any case, we made a trip to Los Angeles to visit the Art Center and some well-known design studios in California.

Rebecca joined me and spent most of her time auditioning for Lost. During one of her breaks...

Living it up in LA.

The ladies club spent one of our LA days at Universal Studios. After winning the pose-off contest, Rebecca was offered a job on the spot. Sadly, she had to turn it down to return to France...c'est la vie?

No, that is not Dustin in the spiderman outfit. Thanks for asking.

Happy Holidays 2006

2006-12-24T22:24:00.000-08:00

Tardy. I'll update the blog this week. Finally. After much ado about nothing, I have finally taking back to the blogging business. It's only been 8 months...well, I need to finish the story of our lives in France and update the blog with the continuation of our lives in Austin, Texas. Les Hindmans with a "Yee haw".

Merry Christmas to all that have stopped by our blog. Whether you are in England, France, India, Australia, Panama, Canada, Turkey, the Netherlands, Belgium, USA or any of the other exciting locations, please know we are thinking about you and wishing you a very happy and safe holiday season.

A Toast to Being Stuck in Europe

2006-04-10T12:30:00.000-07:00

Thank you Air France! Rebecca's Mom and Aunt visited us from March 23rd to...April 4th. We really enjoyed hosting them and introducing Aunt Marsha to her first experience in Europe. The picture below is of Susan (Rebecca's Mom) and Aunt Marsha toasting at one our favorite restaurants in the world, Chez Michael, in Ghent, Belgium.

A toast to being stuck in Europe!

So, why do I say thank you Air France? Well, the French strikes caused major disruptions to travel by train and by car. (If you read today's FT, they just repealed the hotly contested French labor law.) On departure day, Rebecca left on time to take Susan and Marsha to the airport. Something she did not factor in was students sitting on the Paris ring road protesting against the labor law. So, traffic was quite bad and the ride to the airport took longer than expected. Upon arrival, Air France said 1-hour was not enough and they needed to be 1 hour 20 minutes early in order to board the flight. After proposing a flight at the end of April, the very flamboyant Frenchman finally put them on a flight 5 days later for the small fee of $1100 each. Should I mention the fact that Air France's flight was delayed and they showed no sympathy for the massive transit problems going on in Paris that day?

Fais du sport?

2006-02-20T09:39:00.000-08:00

National weeks are one of the best things about INSEAD. Period 3 is light on national weeks because so many students from my class are studying at the Singapore campus but they will be back in full force during Period 4. I'll post some national week pictures to give a better sense of it all. A couple of weeks ago, we had the national week for Britain and Ireland. Of course it rained all week and people just drank dark beer the entire time...ok, it did rain. On the Wednesday week, the islanders hosted a soccer tournament where people grouped their fellow students by nation to compete for the cup. I didn't make the invite list to the US / Canada team so we formed what we called the World Team. The mélange of people is fairly representative of what you find on campus. Nationalities from top left: Canadian / French, Nigerian / USA, Trinidad & Tobago, Egypt / Australian, Dutch / American. Bottom row, from left: Brazil / USA, Nigerian, USA. Yes, I have the least interesting background of the lot. What matters is that we won the tournament in a tightly fought match against a Scandinavian team wearing Columbian style wigs. (Final score 2-0) What better prize in France than champagne?

World Team: Champions of British / Irish national week tournament.

One final word on sport, I've become addicted to the game of squash. To my American friends, start playing soon so we can play in the future.

Ze French Wine

2006-02-19T14:21:00.000-08:00

It just so happens that some French wine is meant to smell like cat urine. I learned that in our French wine class, taught by an expert that lives in Fontainebleau. Each week we explore a new region and taste six new wines. We actually sampled a bottle of wine from Cote du Rhone and I truly thought that litter box scent was perfected. The taste was quite good. So far, we've learned to identify scents such as cherry, smoke, rubber boot, dirt, oranges, prunes, and the list goes on really. Rebecca and I find it quite fun to investigate the viscosity, aroma, color, and taste of French wines. The great part is we can go buy quality bottles of wine at the local market for less than 10 euros each. What can I say, I love ze French wine and ze French cheese and ze French bread.....

My expert French wine taster...

Period 3 Update - La Vie Rapide!

2006-02-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

I'm halfway done with Period 3 and halfway done with my MBA at INSEAD and 100% wondering where the time goes. I suppose the myth is that Period 3 is a more manageable semester at INSEAD. If you step back and think about what it means to compress a two-year MBA education into 10 months, then you know it is simply not possible to have a low stress semester. In any case, I'm taking a mix of elective and core / required courses this semester and simply loving the educational experience. If you are curious about innovation and wonder about the approach to management decisions around the strategy of innovation and lifecycle of technology, then my Innovation Strategy and Entrepreneurship course is perfect for you (& me). I'm also taking Strategies for Product & Service Development where my team is working on developing a innovative product for a company in the mobile communications industry. We are trying to address the consumer problem of always having a cell phone in your pocket because wearing it on your waist is just not...cool. My third elective is Managing Media Companies and we are honored every week by senior level industry executives entering our class to discuss the latest issues around the digital world, triple play, and the future of media. This past week, the Director of Strategy at Canal+ (French pay-tv provider) spent a few hours with us.

I'm busy but Rebecca and I are finding time for some fun. Our Grez friends, aka the Village People, continually keep INSEAD life excellent. This past Thursday, we went to Anne and Guillaumes' house to celebrate Guiullaume's birthday. We ate mussels, a typical French / Belgian dish and enjoyed wine, bread, cheese and birthday cake. Tim and Colleen joined us for the fun.

Happy Birthday Guillaume!

Rebecca and I also signed up for a French wine class, offered on the INSEAD campus on Monday evenings. Each week, we explore a new region of France and we truly have learned how to enjoy wine properly. I'm not sure we will ever be experts but we've found a few vineyards and regions that we really like. I think the smell of wine is something I disregarded before this course. I'll never be a wine snob but I am proud of the fact that I detected the smell of a rubber boot just in from the field and for some reason, our wine teacher agreed this smell was present. C'est vrai!

Our car broke down last week but we took it into the dealership and it is running again. It has something to do with the ignition system but the French word was not in my mental dictionary....thankfully, we are running again. Perhaps one of the reasons the car decided to have a problem was that we drove to the mountains again on the second weekend of classes. We went back to Les Trois Vallees to ski Val Thorens. A few notables from the weekend. First, skiing with people from Scandinavia is humbling and second, raclette is an awesome dish but it ends your taste for cheese for around 2 weeks. It was worth it...

Raclette in Val Thorens.

Skiing at Les Trois Vallees

2006-01-08T04:32:00.000-08:00

We've been looking forward to this ski trip since August when we packed our skis and boots into the Continental airlines flight to Paris. This past week, we enjoyed four days of great ski conditions in the French Alps. With the help of our neighbor and resident French expert, Guillaume, we set our sights on Les Trois Vallees (The 3 Valleys) selecting the Courchevel 1650 resort and valley for our home base. What are the 3 valleys? It is the largest ski domain in the world with 600 kilometers of ski trails. The valleys of Courchevel, Meribel, and Val Thorens are connected by summit reaching ski lifts.

After spending the night in Lyon and having a wonderful meal at a 100+ year old traditional French bistro near the train station, we arrived in Courchevel. The gray clouds and light snow kept the mountains hidden from us while we walked around the base.

The Village People. In from Austin, ski enthusiast Jill took the picture - merci.

Snow Report
Connect to the BBC news page and you will read about serious snow throughout Europe over the last couple of weeks. It is safe to say that we were lucky with the snowfall. It did not impact our drive to Courchevel and left about 15+ inches (40+ cm) on the mountain. Though we did not get ultra fresh powder on the groomed runs, the snow was very nice especially just off the runs in the safe ski areas. As you can see from this picture, snow conditions were great and you could see pretty well once you went through the clouds on the lifts.

Red, White and Blue. Saulire peak at 2738 meters.

This next picture is from the same point, looking in a different direction. We really loved the mountains here in the Savoie region of France.

Arrival point of the Telepherique (Cable car lift).

"Skiing - Old School Style"
Technology changes impact perspectives on human challenges and the best way to perform optimally. No this is not a quote from a b-school article or textbook. I'm simply reflecting on our 2-hour advanced ski lesson on Tuesday. Barbara, our French ski instructor, evaluated our skiing technique before coaching us on improvements. In order to evaluate, Barbara would ski downhill and then have each of us ski down to her position on the mountain. I went last and did my best to display my vast expertise of skiing technique. (As everyone knows, 'you have to make it down the mountain in under 58 seconds to even be considered for the ski team'.) Joining the others next to Barbara, I was ready for my praise. Over the past several years of ski trips, I've been improving my ability to keep my skis together while carving down the mountain. Her evaluation: 'Dustin, you ski like my grandfather, not my mother, but my grandfather.' Excusez-moi? Actually, I did learn to alpine ski with my Grandpa Hindman. He skied into his seventies. Barbara explained that technology advancements in shaping alpine skis don't require skiers to keep their legs and skis tightly together. In fact, her perspective was I should widen my stance and let the skis do more of the work. My only consolation is that she said Guillaume and I were twins and had the exact same skiing technique. Well, some of her other comments really helped. Guillaume and I still prefer keeping our skis close together. Dr. Carey King - you ski like Barbara's great grandfather but I still give you a 10 on your skiing technique. If you can get down the mountain in under 58 seconds, then you are on the ski team.

One of the great things about Les Trois Vallees is the opportunity to do some glacier skiing in the Val Thorens valley. They have two glacier ski access points but only the Col lift and Glacier de Chaviere was open. The other glacier point was closed due to avalanche risk. Sub-freezing temperatures and fairly high winds made the lift ride less than enjoyable. The view of the glacier and the excellent, soft powder coming down the face of the glacier made it more than worthwhile. If you can't tell, I'm super cold mildly wishing I had not removed my gloves to snap photos of the glacier. C'est la vie.

Don't ski on this part of the glacier unless you enjoy hidden crevasses.

Sunny Days
We were fortunate to have three nice days of mountain sunshine and moderate temperatures. It made the trails visible and the breaks enjoyable. If I could whistle on this blog, I would do it now...

Ski babe catching some rays near the Creux meeting point.

Outdoor ski lunches in the sun are always fun. All seven of us met for lunch on Wednesday at La Casserole. The French call it vin chaud, the English call it mulled wine and Americans call it hot, spiced wine. Frankly, what matters is that hot, spiced wine is a must for any break in the alps. C'est tres tres bon.

A rare sight, Gemma with the trail map...planning.

Catching The Blog Up...

2005-12-29T10:43:00.000-08:00

If you are remotely curious about our activities during November and December, then this blog entry is for you. The craze of my second period at INSEAD kept me from finding time to add entries into the blog. I'll try to go in order, starting with the oldest activity that I can remember and is likely of interest. Before going further, let me say Bon Fetes et Bon Annee a tout. I hope everyone had a great holiday break and has a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration and most excellent New Year.

Nov 2nd: UEFA Champions League Match: Manchester United vs. Lille.

This picture is for Rob and Carey. I organized a trip to Stade de France for about 11 people from the INSEAD football club team. Rebecca joined us on our journey to watch ManU lose to the French team, Lille. United played poorly and deserved their 1-0 loss. Lille displayed a nice level of football and scored a nice goal to secure their victory. If you are keeping up with ManU, you know their team is on a downhill slide. We can debate later as to why this is happening...

Lille vs. Manchester United: UEFA Champions League Match on Nov. 2nd.

Nov 5th: Tim Santori, our friend from Colorado, visits.

Tim and Rebecca made some day trips around Fontainebleau and into Paris. This was Tim's first trip to Europe. Since I did not have free time during the week, I was only able to join the touring fun on the weekend. We decided to drive to Ghent and Brugges (see Belgium Rocks blog entry). Ghent offers charming streets, fresh Belgium waffles, friendly people and fantastic food. If you need a sales pitch on the downtown Ghent area...

Ghent, Belgium...speaks for itself.

Nov 10th: Hosting friends for dinner in Grez s/ Loing.

We had a few INSEAD couples over for a nice meal at our house. Rebecca did a great job of preparing the food. I made homeade salsa. From left to right: Rebecca, Guillaume (French), Snehal (Indian), Anne (American), David (American), Enrica (Italien), me, Paul (Australian), Gemma (Australian, WA), Ashish (Indian).

Dinner at our place.

Nov 12th: Visiting family friends in Germany.

For those that did not know, Rebecca took a year between high school and college to live in Germany. She was fortunate enough to receive an invitation from a family friend to live and work on a German farm. Though she spoke zero German, Rebecca boarded her one-way flight to Germany and moved in with the Beckerhardt family for the years 1993-94. Ten years later, we made weekend plans to visit the Beckerhardts, introduce me, and catch up on old times. Flying into Cologne, we drove on the Autobahn to the town of Rhede and spent a lovely weekend with their family. Traditional German food, shopping at the local Turkish food mart, and getting to know Hannelore, Heiner, Christian, Marie-Katrine, and Sandra made for a very nice weekend away.

Rebecca and Hannelore in Rhede, Germany.

Hannelore talked her eldest daughter and boyfriend into joining us for dinner at the family house in Rhede. From left to right: Sandra's boyfriend, Marie-Katrine, yours truly, Christian, Hannelore, and Sandra. Rebecca and Heiner are not pictured.

Ein gutes Abendessen.

Dec 20th: Finished at last!

Three days, six finals, and a sigh of relief after we completed our second period of INSEAD. Ironic that this is the first picture of four people I've spent so much time with over the past four months. Meet my INSEAD team, a randomly assigned group of students that work together in all core courses on any team-based assignments. From the left: Pedro Domecq Marquez of Spain; Constance d'Aspremont of Belgium, Nil Kalagoglu of Turkey, me, and Ranjit Kamat of India. I already miss my team. Nil, Ranjit and I are staying in Fontainebleau for the third period but Pedro and Constance will study at INSEAD's Singapore campus during Jan. and Feb.. I'm jealous of the warm weather they will experience but...I welcome the snow and skiing trips in Europe.

My INSEAD team! Bonne Annee mes amies.

Snowy Paris

2005-12-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

Perhaps it is due to the fact that I've not had a proper winter in 14 years or so but I really enjoyed today's weather in Paris. I'm not certain everyone shared my sentiments. We woke up and joined Paul and Gemma for the 10:01 AM train into Paris Gare de Lyon. The sun was shining until we hopped on the train and the weather suddenly changed. By the time we reached downtown Paris, it was snowing. All told, it snowed about three times today. Paris is a wonderful sight under a snow fall.

Here we are at the Arch de Triumph.

We snapped the above photo after our walk past the Eiffel Tower and down the road to the Arch de Triumph. We ended our day at the Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of Paris. The Christmas tree looks really great in front of the freshly cleaned cathedral. The facade was dirty from years of pollution until they decided to clean the it. I remember the scaffolds and cleaning work in 1998.

Notre Dame Cathedral in downtown Paris. Located on an island in the Seine river.

Our Christmas Day in France

2005-12-25T12:58:00.000-08:00

We are adults now. Not only did we actually buy and decorate a Christmas tree for the first time ever, we've highly modified our Christmas gift requests. In fact, socks and underwear topped the list, for very practical reasons. High humidities and low temperatures create perfect conditions for bone chilling weather from time to time. French heating systems and home insulation are not as potent as what we've grown used to in the US so thermal underwear and "smart wool" socks topped our lists this year. Thank you to everyone for the awesome gifts that made it across the ocean and into our French barn house. After unwrapping our gifts, we decided it was play time for Roxy and Yum Yum.

Sammy, their feline cousin from the Lone Star State, was kind enough to send over a kitty present. The girls took an immediate liking to this catnip stuffed toy crab. When it comes to play time, our cats have no fear regarding heights, dangerous railings and the like.

Just a little further and I've got it.

After a late morning in the barn, we packed up a few things and headed over to Paul and Gemmas' place. They live a few hundred feet away in a very cool house that is next to the town church and the Loing river. They put a lovely Christmas dinner together and we were very happy to share the day with them.

A wonderful Christmas meal, French-Australian cuisine.

Aussie American Christmas

After our late lunch, we decided it was time to enjoy the fresh country air. Since the next door rooster was pretty noisy during lunch, we went to go check out the garden / mini-farm area near Paul and Gemmas. Just past their garden lies the livestock pen. I think their landlord keeps these animals around for practical reasons. As you can tell from the picture, the lawn mower and alarm clock are friends.

Down the road from their house...

We went for a walk in and around the little town of Grez sur Loing. Nearby and just outside of town limits are a series of lakes. We took our aged bread down there to feed the water fowl. (swans and ducks)

This way ->

Christmas Eve at our house

2005-12-25T12:53:00.000-08:00

I suppose we could claim our Christmas Eve was true to form in the INSEAD style. As you might recall, over 60 nationalities are represented in each INSEAD MBA class. It is probably the most internationally diverse graduate business school available.

A few INSEAD students and partners (significant others) decided to stick around for the holidays and we invited some over for food and fun on Christmas Eve. Rebecca made up hot and hearty chicken dumpling soup and we mixed up some hot spiced wine with the help of Paul.

Our snaphsot of international diversity is below. On the top from the left are our Australian neighbors, Paul and Gemma. In from Guatemala is Wilma and next to her is fiance Kannan, from Bangalore, India. Ranjit Kamat is next to Kannan. Ranjit is one of my INSEAD team mates and also from India. Fred, on the far right, is from Montreal, Canada. Karine, seated in front of Fred and Ranjit, is also from Montreal.

Christmas Eve dans nous maison.

Happy Holidays Everybody!

2005-12-24T05:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays to everyone. For those that were curious, we are having a few friends over for Christmas Eve. We went to a small quaint market in the nearby town of Bourron Marlotte to buy some fresh produce, cheese, and bread. It is cold and gray today and here I am just back from the market with a full bag of goodies.

Back from the town of Bourron Marlotte market, chaque samedi!

We live across the street from a giant French plant nursery so it was not difficult to buy a Christmas tree and decorations. The most interesting part of French Christmas trees is the stand...they drill a hole in a wooden log and you use this as the base for the tree. We like it and so do the little frisky animals in our house. Roxy looks like she has something in mind...

Mischief is too tempting.

Meanwhile, I've discovered that Yum Yum is possibly responsible for knocking tree ornaments around as if they are punching bags. So far, she has only knocked a few of them out and one confirmed TKO. If you look past the tree against the wall, you will see one of our heat radiators...which are also called cat magnets. We've set up cat beds and blankets accordingly...

I don't remember wrapping that present....

Period 2 Ends...

2005-12-21T14:53:00.000-08:00

The 1-year INSEAD MBA involves five intense periods (i.e. semesters) of learning. I just completed Period 2 final exams yesterday and it is nice to have the holiday break to recuperate from the hard march of the past four months. During Period 2, I took Strategy, Foundations of Marketing, Process & Operations Management, Corporate Financial Policy, Leading Organizations and Management Accounting. Though it was tough and nearly all seven days of the week were packed, I enjoyed the courses and fellowship with the other 280+ students from around the world. In any case, the six courses and jam packed cases, textbooks, lecture notes, and team assignments are to blame for my lack of blog entries...which I will correct in short order over the next few days. I have much that I would like to share...until then, happy holidays to you and good night from France.

Paris by Night...

2005-12-11T08:09:00.000-08:00

Apologies for not blogging in a few weeks. I guess the intensity of a six course semester crammed into 7 weeks is taking a toll on me. I'll have a proper entry when I finish exams in 1.5 weeks. We begin final exam round 2 this upcoming Thursday.

To update you on weather and climate, the sun is fairly set just after 5 PM. We are approaching the shortest day of the year and you sure notice it here in Paris. When I lived in Manchester, England, the days were shorter so I'm not complaining too much. Typical days are cloudy and typical temperatures are in the 30's and 40's. (5 degree Celsius today) We've had some sunny days here and there and only one day of brief snow. It is not too cold for winter football (soccer). I'm playing every Sunday with the INSEAD team.

Anyway, we did make it into Paris last Saturday, December 3rd. I snapped this photo from the Louvre looking towards the Eiffel Tower. We had a nice day at Musee d'Orsay and then spent the evening with our Grez friends.

Paris Anyone?

Belgium Rocks!

2005-11-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

This week, we are hosting our Colorado friend, Tim Santori. I guess the thought was what better way to entertain than to run from the French riots to the calm country of Belgium. Our first stop, the gothic city of Ghent....

Ghent, Belgium

Our Saturday night stay in Brugges, Belgium...more to come on this blog entry...time to learn the Black Scholes model.

Brugges, Belgium

Les French Drivers...

2005-11-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

I thought Americans were in a hurry. Not to pass too much judgement but French drivers suck. Let me qualify this statement with a few examples. The best was our recent experience at a gas station. Our French friend waiting behind us decided we were too slow in driving away from the pump after paying, so he decided to hit our rear bumper with his front bumper, multiple times. No this was not in Paris, it was at a gas station in rural France. A few days later, I was honked at for letting a pedestrian finish walking across the street before pulling forward when the light turned green. Sorry French dude. Daily, the French tailgate so close that I can't see the front end of their cars and when they pass, no turn signals and they come quite close to brushing our car. Speed limits don't matter here because they have speed cameras to control speeding. French law requires the government post a sign 1 kilometer before the speed camera to warn you of the upcoming speed trap. That's effective. Our first week in France, a Englishman said French drivers are "always on your bum" and he is right. Anyway, I guess I need to figure out a way to super charge our Volvo station wagon. The French are right, I should drive like a bat out of hell in the speed wagon.

Exams & Vacation

2005-11-01T08:15:00.000-08:00

Last week brought the joy of five 3-hour exams in 2.5 days. Fifteen hours of exams wore me out. I find out my results in mid-November. Since the scores are based on a Z-curve, my grade completely depends on how the rest of the class performed. Anyhow, with Rebecca just back from the USA and her exam in Chinese medicine, we decided to drive South to the Provence region. My Mom said we would love it down there and we did.

We had a slow start last Thursday due to my continued stomach illness but we finally made it to the INSEAD campus to meet another couple for the journey South. Ashish an Snehal are from India and we were very happy they decided to share vacation time with us. Ashish is in my section and Snehal and Rebecca spend quite a bit of time together with the partners group. (a.k.a spouse community at INSEAD)

Our destination city was Arles, located in the Provence region of France. Provence is known for beautiful lavender fields, Cote du Rhone wineries, ancient Roman sites, and the setting for many Vincent van Gogh paintings. Our first stop was this little cafe in one of my favorite van Gogh paintings. The original cafe was destroyed by the Germans in WWII but rebuilt to its original form.

Semi-famous art.

Below, our travel companions, Ashish and Snehal. Did I mention they are Longhorns? Both did their graduate engineering work at The University of Texas at Austin.

Our awesome travel companions.

The trip duration was nearly 700 kilometers so it took about 7 hours to make it to Arles. On Friday, we made our way to the massive colesium located in central Arles. They still host bull fights in the stadium on a regular basis. It is in good shape and really great to tour. We liked the rolling arch tops.

The top of the ancient Roman colesium in Arles.

On Saturday, we drove towards the mountains to visit the town of Les Baux. It is a charming town located on the top of a cliff. No cars allowed in this town literally carved out of the rock. It was a pretty special place and we wish we had more time.

Fresh candy in the town of Les Baux.

Study Hall Monitors

2005-10-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

Rebecca is in America this week to take US national qualification test to practice Chinese medicine. I'm watching the livestock and tending to a life of pure studies. Between class projects and final exam preparations, this week has been nothing short of mad. As my Australian friends would say, we have heaps to do right now. I decided to study at home last night to get away from the library stress. Roxy and Yum Yum kept a careful eye on my studies allowing only rare breaks to play the string game with them. I guess they were worn out and missing their Mom.

Max would be happy to see his cat bed finally getting some use.

Study break at Montmelian

2005-10-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

This past week was pure work except for the study break on Saturday night. About 15 INSEAD students live in a nearby chateau known for hosting elaborate parties. (http://www.montmelian.org) Saturday was the last party before finals (in 8 days) and expense was not spared on preparing for a big bash. I think their budget was something like 10,000 euros. The party theme was 'Heaven and Hell' with each person to interpret what that meant. I decided to orgainze some fellow INSEADers into the seven deadly sins. I represented sloth by wearing a torn t-shirt fixed with duct tape, sign requesting money, trucker sunglasses and a trucker moustache. Truth be told I probably also look a bit like Nicolas Cage from Raising Arizona. The green people are the husband and wife version of envy. I'll let you figure the rest out. Since you might not recall the seven sins, they are greed, lust, pride, envy, gluttony, sloth and anger. Back to my studies...

Seven Sins at Montmelian Chateau

The Sunday Ritual

2005-10-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

Is the dust settling? Between quitting my job, getting hitched to sweet Rebecca, moving to France, and starting school again, I've had a few changes in the past 3 months. It is fair to say that we have started to find a routine here in France. The weeks seem to fly by and I'm surprised to be writing that my first set of final exams are a mere two weeks away. They begin on Monday 24 October and end on Wednesday at noon. Grading is a pure curve at INSEAD and everyone is incredibly intelligent and hard working so...this will likely be my toughest set of finals ever. I try not to think about the fact that I gave up a very nice paycheck for this. :) It is an honor and privilege to study with great people from more than 60 nations. I'm not complaining and I'm glad it is not easy.

Oh, the Sunday ritual. Rebecca and I have developed a bit of a Sunday ritual that I really enjoy. Of course we feed the cats and have breakfast, just a bit later than normal. How unusual, eh? We head to the local farmers market in Fonty (Fontainebleau) to buy paella for lunch, fresh fruit, cheese and bread. Rebecca heads to the library and I head to the soccer pitch (football here) to play with a large group of fellow MBA students. We play from about 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM. I hit the showers at the INSEAD gym and then Rebecca and I have lunch outside at INSEAD. The outdoor eating area is quite nice and for now, the weather is very pleasant. Surprise, I march over to the library and dive into the books, business cases, multi-variable regression analysis, you know...that old bag. Two weeks ago, we visited "Le Bacchus", a very nice restaurant near the chateau. For those that love meat (Rob Bacchus), this will be a must stop during your visit. Tonight, we are headed to the home of Ashish and Snehal, our friends from India. (Actually, they were living in San Francisco before coming here.) They've invited us to dinner and we are really looking forward to it. I think we need to celebrate the Longhorn victory over OU. Ashish and Snehal did graduate engineering school at the University of Texas.

OK, time to return to my studies. I wanted to post a few more pictures from Belgium. Here they are.

Dinner in style. Our dinner on Saturday night in Belgium...last weekend

On Sunday in Belgium, I ran an ad-hoc fishing class with some of my fellow INSEADers. The rod and reel setup was new to most of them, especially Ranjit. He had never fished before in his life. I'm very proud to say that Ranjit caught his first two fish with me in Belgium. Using lightweight spinner baits, he landed a perch and a pike. Well done Ranjit. He informed me that if he opens a fishing vacation lodge in India, I'll get a cut of the profits.

Teaching the lads to fish...well, to cast first.

Way to go Ranjit! A Northern Pike!

Inside INSEAD - life at school

2005-10-06T00:43:00.000-07:00

To date, I've been posting details about our free time, which is very limited right now. You might be wondering if I'm actually attending classes and learning things at INSEAD. The truth is I spend most waking hours in class or preparing for class. One of my big surprises about INSEAD is that every class expects you to pre-read and do the homework before learning the new material in lecture. I favor this approach because it does enrich the lectures. The amount of reading and homework required prior to each lecture make it challenging to have all the work done prior to each and every lecture. So, I spend most of my time in the library and I thought it would be fair to show you what that looks like. Rebecca is often in the library more than me since she is preparing for a US national exam in Chinese medicine...

The Doigt library, my second home.

My lectures are always in the same room, Amphi P. I sit in the same assigned seat and with the exact same students for every class. Five classes in total and 74 students in my section. This week, I gave a presentation to our Leading People and Groups class on the subject of "Feedback in the Workplace". One of my group mates kindly took a photo of me. We addressed the issue of cultural and gender implications on feedback.

Anyhow, you can see my name tag which indicates my seat in the class and there I am giving our 10 minute presentation on feedback.

My presentation for one of our classes.

Belgium, near Habay

2005-10-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

For those that read our blog regularly, I apologize for the delay in posting proper details about our past weekend in Belgium.

Rebecca and I had the luxury of a weekend stay at a chateau near Habay in Belgium. The chateau belongs to the family of one of my group mates. She was kind enough to share it with 20 INSEAD students for Saturday night and all day Sunday. The chateau is located in the Belgium countryside well away from major cities. It is near lots of forest, has an excellent lake and multiple rivers on the property. In late morning, I hosted fishing classes for my fellow students that were either rusty or inexperienced in fishing. After casting lessons in the lawn, we heading out to the lake to try our luck.

Though the water is cold, I discovered that the fish are active. I spent all day on Sunday rowing around the lake and fishing. It took a couple of hours until I found what might be termed the "nursery". Before heading in for lunch, I caught 6 perch. We went in for a nice lunch and I recruited one of the Indian students to join me for his first fishing trip ever. Ranjit picked up skills rapidly. We had just set anchor and he started catching fish before I could get any bites. Within 20 minutes, Ranjit had landed his first two fish ever - one perch and our first Northern Pike for the day. Finally, I landed a nice one. A 5 pound Northern Pike took the spinner bait and ended up in our boat for a quick picture. Northern Pike have quite a few large, sharp teeth so I had to be careful removing the hooks and letting her go. I say "her" because I was told that the big Pikes are female.

Uh, wow.

Inside the chateau is feels like museum. Their family did an excellent job of restoring the chateau. It has a grand entrance with a massive stairway leading to the upper floors and bedrooms. The ground floor has a billiard room, parlor, and fire place lounge.

Fishing trip in Belgium?

French outdoor market?

2005-09-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

Six out of seven days per week, we have the absolute luxury of buying fresh food and flowers from one of the local French markets. You name it, they have it. Rebecca and I are attracted to the breads...& cheeses....& wines &...just about every food item sold. From our current perspective, France really does win the contest in the bread, cheese and wine departments.

Oh yeah baby...

This picture gives a small flavor of the market. This is one of many fresh vegetable vendors. The gentleman in the picture is loud and friendly. His personality would fit in at the fish market in downtown Seattle. To say this outdoor marketplace is popular with the locals would be an understatement. It is packed with shoppers picking up their food needs until the next market day. This market is in downtown Fontainebleau, near the chateau.

Bonjour Madame!

Dinner in Grez

2005-09-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of our entire time in France was a wonderful dinner with our INSEAD friends who live in Grez sur Loing. In the picture below on the left are our Australian friends, Paul and Gemma. In the center is Guillaume and on the right is Guillaume's wife, Anne, and ma femme, Rebecca. If you can't tell from the picture, Guillaume and Anne have a lovely French cottage. Our evening included foie gras and champagne for the apertif. Dinner was roast chicken with vegetables and a selection of French red wines (vins rouges).

Inside the lovely home of Guillaume & Anne.

As we are learning a bit about French culture (Guillaume is French), we went from dinner to the cheeses. Done properly, you really need to progress from the weaker cheeses to the stronger cheeses. With Guillaume as our guide and the use of their special cheese knives (good Christmas present...hint hint) we sorted through the cheeses rather quickly. If you notice, the brie cheese appears to be melting away. In fact, this is when brie tastes best. All of these cheeses came from the local market in Fontainebleau where you can find quite a few frommageries. C'est bon!

Frommage pour tout!

Our first visitors, Cathy & Dorothy

2005-09-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

The web journal entry is to give "souvenir" to our first visitors in France, Cathy Warner and her Mom, Dorothy. Proper French custom, in the days of royalty, would be to establish a room or garden area in honor of our visitors. Since we are on a student budget, we can only dedicate this blog entry. In French, the word "souvenir" means memory and this is our picture souvenir of their visit.

Unfortunately, my INSEAD studies did not allow me to join them in Paris but Rebecca spent the day with them. I've heard a few rumors about navigating the underground metro system and great times at Musee de Orsay.

Welcome Cathy & Dorothy...from San Diego! FYI: Cathy is Rebecca's stepmother.

INSEAD parties...

2005-09-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

INSEAD parties are excellent so the rumor goes. Each weekend does in fact bring a new party with a new theme. Many of the students live in one of the many small chateaus and have the latitude to use them as they were meant to be used; host fairly tame MBA parties with loads of soda and popcorn.

While I can't find a single non-American that has even heard of Animal House, this weekend's party was at Chateau de Villecerf and the theme was toga. Driving up to the chateau involved a long winding road through plowed fields and forest areas. A quick left on the D22 led to a stone gate, dried moat, and voila - a chateau housing INSEAD students. Past the cool torches and into the garden area was a multitude of intelligent MBAs wearing togas, drinking a range of beverages, and dancing like mad in the reception room.

We joined the dancing towards the end of the night. Rebecca had already removed her "nordic toga" since we were no longer outside in the cold weather. A nordic toga simply requires finding a big wool blanket and wrapping it around your body in a way that sort of looks greek...sort of.

Toga...

The dance floor / living room.

Euro-toga, INSEAD style.

Finally, a visit to Paris.

2005-09-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

In reference to the intensity of INSEAD and frequency of my studies, Rebecca and I finally found some time to visit Paris together. Rebecca went with another INSEAD partner on Thursday for the opening of an art exhibit in central Paris. I labored in the library. :(

But, I managed to skip the optional Saturday classes and we went into Paris to enjoy the sites with some fellow students and partners. It is fair to say that fall is here as the temperature abruptly changed on Friday night. We are now wearing sweaters and thinking about sock hats. Saturday was sunny and crisp and we reallly enjoyed our fall day in Paris. We set our rendezvous point at the Eiffel Tower.

Finally, a day in Paris.

This weekend is called "mon patrimonie" and is the one weekend of the year where France's government opens its doors to citizens. So, we went to the Hotel de Ville, near the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was worth the tour.

hotel de ville

A bit more Grez & WA

2005-09-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

We've become friends with two other INSEAD couples that live in the town of Grez sur Loing. Gemma and Paul are from Melbourne, Australia and live in a cute apartment right next to the bell tower of the church. Anne and Guillaume are an American / French couple that just moved from Manhattan. Everyone is great and we are sorting out car pooling to and from the INSEAD campus.

So what is WA? Our Aussie friends refer to Western Australia as "dubuyah a". We are quite keen on that term so we've adopted it. We met up with Gemma and Paul for some kayaking along the Loing river. Though it rained steadily the entire time, we really enjoyed seeing rural France from the riverside.

We close this log with another picture from the town of Grez...sorry, we did not take pictures during the kayaking adventure.

The bell tower keeps the time and adds lots of charm to Grez.

INSEAD begins...

2005-09-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the first day of official classes at INSEAD. Last week was orientation week at INSEAD. It was a tough week adjusting to the student life. All 290+ students in France have been split into sections and teams. I am on a team of five with the others from Spain, Turkey, India, and Belgium.

Fortunately, the partner (a.k.a. spouse) community at INSEAD is quite active and inclusive. Rebecca is entitled to join the clubs, gym, cafeteria plan,...everything.

The best thing about our first days at INSEAD: the cafe. INSEAD subsidizes the cafe and serves very high quality food at an affordable price. It is great, really great. Perhaps I love it so much because of the not so nice & expensive institutional cafes in my past...

Near the library on the INSEAD campus.

Grez sur Loing

2005-09-04T13:27:00.000-07:00

This small French country town probably has less than 1000 inhabitants. It is very quiet. We wake up to the neighborhood rooster each morning. Today, a Frenchman walked back into town with some fresh gourds picked from the nearby fields.

First, the main street in the town.

The main road in Grez sur Loing...

Across the cool bridge leads to a nice park and cozy sitting spots along the river.

Within a short walk from our house, this lovely park by the river. Yes Carey, there are tons of trout in there.

About 100 meters from the river is the park area. Two nice soccer fields and an open space for hot air balloon launching.

Would it really be a Hindman blog without a Land Rover? No. Nothing like using the 110 as an anchor for the hot air balloon. This field is just 100 meters past the bridge.

Our Home in France

2005-09-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

We've arrived to our final destination. For the next 10 months, we will be living in Grez sur Loing, France. First, let us introduce you to the place we will call home. For the friends and family members planning to visit, we have a spare bedroom. A brief tour....

From the gate...

Our new home in France.

Inside the gate, the doors to the converted barn. Solid stone walls and lots of stairs...

The entrance to our place.

Inside the doors, our kitchen...

Voila, the kitchen!

Upstairs in the barn, our barn door.

We love this door to the upstairs bedroom.

CLE Course Ends: Released Into The Wild...

2005-08-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

Alas, we've completed 4 weeks of intensive French class at CLE. We really felt like CLE was the perfect choice for our first month in France. Our studies focused on core grammar methodically bringing students to a speaking ability. So, we have a basic toolset in the language and it is now time for us to live in France for 10 months - hopefully improving towards fluency.

Our most excellent instructor, Christine, and our beloved classmates. Each person is learning French for professional reasons...and we were all debutants! (beginners)

Dustin, Magumi, Rebecca, Tamami, Professor Christine, Maiko, et Marie

Twice per week, Rebecca and I had private lessons. Hugues, my instructor, worked very hard to bring me to the INSEAD standard for the 3rd language.

Great instructor...aspiring French speaker. D'accord.

Bonne Anniversaire for Dustin!

2005-08-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

31 ticks on the clock. We celebrated with friends in Tours and yes Mom, I did end up having lasagna for dinner. It was nowhere near as good as yours or Grandmas.

Our fun mix of friends from CLE. My birthday dinner and our last meal together in Tours.

My beautiful wife is below. In French, my wife = ma femme.

Birthday dinner...with ma femme.

Thank you to Luis and Elizabeth for providing the triple decker Tutti Gusti ice cream. Luis & Elizabeth will be in Paris learning French until December and then they move to Switzerland for his MBA program at IMD.

Soooo good. No, I don't have enough pictures of ice cream on this website. :) We miss Tutti Gusti in Tours.

Chateau Cheverny

2005-08-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

We needed a break and decided to drive to the beautiful Chateau Cheverny. It is still owned by the family that originally built it hundreds of years ago. They lived in the chateau until 1995 so the inside is second-to-none. Wow. The family loves to hunt and I suppose they need 110 dogs to help. The dogs are half English fox hound and half French Poitou. It was quite a sight watching them eat at dinner time. The term "dog pile" was not coined by accident.

Walking towards Le Chateau Cheverny with our new European look.

Chateau Cheverny & this crazy European dude that is in our photo.

Feeding the hunting dogs. 110 of them and 1 is not following orders. See if you can spot the culprit.

The Routine: study, study, study

2005-08-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

Wait, I'm not even attending INSEAD yet and I'm already studying all the time. C'est la vie. We have a French test every Monday, homework every night and I have 4 books to read before we begin classes. Thankfully, Roxy can relate and has offered some expurrt advice.

Studying is our primary activity. Roxy is an expert in accounting.

Chenonceaux et Chateau de Chenonceau

2005-08-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

Today we drove to Amboise and rented bikes for the 13km, each way, jaunt to the town of Chenonceaux to see the "toast of the Loire", the Chateau de Chenonceau. It is a must see for anyone coming to France. We absolutely loved the day walking around the chateau, gardens and along the river. Some pictures...

Chenonceaux or bust.

A little crowded, very beautiful: Chateau de Chenonceau

Bonjour

From the other side of the river...in the hunting woods.

Groceries En France

2005-08-12T15:34:00.000-07:00

A little picture to share some of the neat products we've discovered at Carrefour, the supermarche of France. It is a learning curve to sort out what to buy at the supermarket. The products are different and the descrpitions are in French. But, we've had some luck...mostly because the cuisine in France is very good. Carrefour is like a Wal-Mart and HEB Central Market, merged. Somehow, that is possible in France. I'm not happy with the tomato soup offerings but everything else has been very good. We love the fresh, moldy goat cheese. Fresh and moldy? Yes, it is possible. Check out the little quail eggs below...we are making an omelette for mini-me.

Carrefour et le bounty

Les Chattes a Tours

2005-08-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

Nous chattes sommes Roxanne et Yum Yum. Born from the same litter, they get along quite well. They are slowly adjusting to life in France. As you can tell, our cats feel comfortable in their new surroundings. The picture below was taken in our apartment in Tours.

Roxanne licking Yum Yum

Learning French at CLE

2005-08-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

We love our "cours intensifs de francais" at the CLE language school in Tours, France. We are here in the Loire river valley region of central France. CLE, which stands for centre linguistique pour estrangers, is our month long immersion course in the beautiful and challenging language of French. With most postings, we will include pictures to add color and detail to our experience. So, below are a few shots from our first 8 days in France.

Entrance to CLE

Tours By Night

2005-08-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

Tours is a pleasant town in the Loire valley of central France. It is quite festive nearly every evening. Europeans are on holiday during August and this town is full of European tourists...many French tourists. We've enjoyed walking to the center of it all and observing the activities. Back on a student budget, we aren't eating out much at all...but we've found a few coins to purchase what might be the best ice cream in the world. Tutti Gusti is an ice cream shop in Place de Plumereau. A "Place" is a pedestrian square. In this case, it is full of cafes, people, and animals.

Tours at night.

You ain't got no ice cream. Want a lick? Sike.

A Saturday Jaunt to Amboise

2005-08-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

Aided by the trusted travel advise of Rick Steves, we found our way from Tours to Amboise. It only took 30 minutes to find the road that went to Amboise. Sadly, it is no more than 1 minute away from our apartment.

Amboise is beautiful, located on the river with the Chateau de Amboise drawing most of your attention upon approach. We toured the Chateau de Clos Luce. Leonardo da Vinci spent the last 3 years of his life in the Chateau. Worth the trip if you have time. We really loved the streets of Amboise and the violin player near the postcard stand...

A weekend jaunt to Amboise. Rick Steves? Is there any substitute? Non.

Cute town and cute...wait, this is a PG blog.

Homebase in August: Tours, France

2005-08-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

Priority number one during the month of August? Learn French. We rented an apartment in Tours, France to attend our language course. Thankfully, we found a place near the center of town and we won't have to use our car during the week. Our apartment and a nearby rue...

Oui, our little place in Tours, France. No, the cat is not Yum Yum. It belongs to our landlord, who is on holiday right now.

Within a 5 minute walk from our apartment...voila, the charming cafes and boutiques of Tours, France.

Arrival: Les Animals

2005-08-09T09:05:00.000-07:00

Our cats, Roxy and Yum Yum, demanded a year in France. The French cuisine beckoned and, of course, we did not want to be without them. So, we booked their cargo spots, bought new cages, sorted out pre-trip paperwork, and voila, boarded our flight from Houston to Paris. Argh. French bureacracy needs some process re-engineering...we landed in Paris Charles De Gaulle airport at 10:40 AM and it was 5:40 PM before we walked away from cargo area 5 with our beloved cats.

To kick things off, the highly skilled associates at the French cargo area informed us that our cats were not on our flight. No live animals appeared on the cargo manifest they had received from Continental. Hearts pounding, Rebecca and I looked at each other and wondered where in the world our cats might be. Are they back in Houston on the tarmac? Are they in Tokyo or possibly stuck in quarantine in London? A second check revealed that a separate manifest for live animals. Perhaps this was their first experience with live animals...very likely.

We took our new papers from first office (#1) to the customs office on the 2nd floor. "Veternaire" was written on our new papers and we were sent back to office #1. After finishing his enjoyment of an apple and flirtation with the office femmes, a new face in office #1 made a slow walk to see if we needed any help. He looked at the papers and said, "OK - wait 1/2 hour" and pointed to another area of the building. Time: 1:20 PM.

The half hour turned into an hour, then two then...we asked for an update. "Just wait" we were told. So we waited and waited....and at 4:30 PM, a man walked into the office with some papers that appeared to be those of Roxy and Yum Yum. Finally, we received the OK to go back to the customs office after the 'paperwork' was completed in the first office. Our friend in customs informed us that the vet only signed for 1 cat, not 2. We walked back to the first office and together, called the vet's office. (Of course, I'm not understanding a thing because very little English is spoken by any of the staff.) Time: 5:20 PM. Vet problem cleared up and 2 cats are approved. I'm still wondering why they had to see the vet when we had all of our European Union animal health papers in order. So, the documents were handed to another person so our cats would be retrieved. After waiting another 20 minutes, we had to ask when our cats would be brought out. Three people worked together in a confused way to find our papers & location of our cats. How in the world could they have lost our documents that took them over 5 hours to produce? Je ne sais pas.

Scared and curled into the corners of their cages, our cats emerged from the shipping freight cargo door. After dodging the forklifts, our cats were with us again. Their final challenge: jet lag. It is a bit hard to tell when cats have jet lag since they sleep all the time. However, their sleeping, eating, playing schedules were off enough for us to tell they had jet lag. It took about 3 days for them to get on the local schedule...we think. Thankfully, they are a-ok now.