A friend recently wrote us a nice, long email (hint hint, nudge, nudge). At the end, she asked us all kinds of questions as to what's going on with us, and it made me realize that there are a few basic things that we haven't wrote about yet - we meant to, but then too many other things started happening and we either wrote about them, or didn't have time to write. So here is my answer to her, published, because I thought it would be interesting to everyone.
Hey!
It was so great hearing from you. Everyone keeps asking us how we're doing, and not telling us what's going on back home. So it is really great to hear what's going on there and feel that we're still "in the mix".
Here all is well. I recently started my 2nd quarter, which means 3 new courses. It seems that this semester will be a bit harder. Not only are the courses harder, but we also have a lot of other things going on. Most importantly, we have to really intensify our job search. After this quarter ends, we have a break for winter (more on that later) and then when we come back interviews start for internships. So that means that we need to start figuring out which companies we want to interview with and start reaching out to them so that we actually do get invited to interviews.
Also, we have all these things going on with clubs we have - bringing in lecturers, going to events . Last but not least, I'm also involved in something called "Big Red Incubator" (BRI for short). This is a school run program that gives us the chance to do real life consulting. I will consulting for an Italian Restaurant in the area. It seems really cool, but will also be pretty time-consuming.
At the point that I'm in now, it seems like the end of the quarter is really far away, just because there is so much that will happen, but the truth is that it's not far away at all, it will just be really intense. The quarter ends mid-December. And, in answer to your question, we will both be coming home for a visit. I'm really looking forward to it.
It will also be nice to get out of the cold for a couple of weeks. Autumn has started here, which means that it's as cold here now as it is in winter in Israel. You would think I'm exaggerating, but I'm really not - yesterday I wore one of my heaviest sweaters from home.
What else did you want to know?
What do we see from the windows? Well that's probably the 2nd most depressing part of this apartment: from the front window we see the stairs to the upstairs apartment, and from the back windows we see the fence of the golf course and then trees. It's part of the reason the apartment doesn't get much light. Hopefully it will also keep the cold away during winter. However - after those trees and that stair case, Ithaca has amazing views. Here are some pics that Uri and I took last week:
What are we eating? Well - we're certainly eating more meat and less vegetables, but not that much more/ less. The meat (and fish) is much cheaper and tastier than back home, and the vegetables are much more expensive. In vegetables/ fruits there are a lot of things that we have here that we don't have at home - like a million varieties of apples and pears and all kinds of veggies. There aren't a lot of things that you can't find here, but it might be really expensive (like peppers) or really not tasty (like mango). I think probably the biggest change in our diet is that we're eating a lot more sandwiches, because that is the most common thing you can find here, and more often then not, the only thing you'll find on the menu.
You also asked about our neighbours - but I think I'll leave that to the next post. Apparently there are people who think that I write too much...
Love,
Me
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
More Pictures! Yey again!
This time around, a few more words. It's been a busy two weeks or so. Uri came back, and then Lior came, and now my mom and aunt are here.
I tried my hardest to do as much work as I could while Uri was in Israel, and just before he came back I hit a low point when it seemed like despite my hard work, I was getting as much (or as little) done as everyone else. Well, in the last week I discovered that it wasn't so. I did, somehow, magically, manage to be ahead of the game. This let me go hiking with Uri and Lior, and go shopping with my mom and my aunt. Yey! for me. Now, the pessimist in me has to say that I'll see if I'm, ahead of the game or not when I actually get my grades back for the finals I have this week... but the fact is that I did feel I can take the time off. Let me tell you - it was fantastic! Now I'm back to studying hard - 3 finals in 3 days is a lot. after that, Uri and I will head to The City for a few days, and then I'll be back for the 2nd half of the semester.
What about Uri you ask? Well, he should have his new computer in a few days, so he'll once again be able to write. In the meantime I will say that he is really enjoying his new PS3.
I tried my hardest to do as much work as I could while Uri was in Israel, and just before he came back I hit a low point when it seemed like despite my hard work, I was getting as much (or as little) done as everyone else. Well, in the last week I discovered that it wasn't so. I did, somehow, magically, manage to be ahead of the game. This let me go hiking with Uri and Lior, and go shopping with my mom and my aunt. Yey! for me. Now, the pessimist in me has to say that I'll see if I'm, ahead of the game or not when I actually get my grades back for the finals I have this week... but the fact is that I did feel I can take the time off. Let me tell you - it was fantastic! Now I'm back to studying hard - 3 finals in 3 days is a lot. after that, Uri and I will head to The City for a few days, and then I'll be back for the 2nd half of the semester.
What about Uri you ask? Well, he should have his new computer in a few days, so he'll once again be able to write. In the meantime I will say that he is really enjoying his new PS3.
Pictures! Yey!
Lior visited us last weekend. It was a great weekend of gaming, cooking, eating, hiking, coffee drinking and picture taking. Here are the results, straight from Lior's Flicker.
PS - Lior, who for the sake of the following statement, is a coffee expert said that while on the east coast, it's worth coming to Ithaca just for the coffee
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Blogging isn't easy
Not to complain - but... this thing isn't easy.
Without going to into the time thing again, it's hard to describe life and share my true thoughts without:
a) Being afraid I'll offending people
b) Feeling like I might be over-sharing
I think (b) is pretty easy to understand, but I will say a few words on (a). It's not that I think offending thoughts, it's just that in my head everyone is always potentially over sensitive. You never know what will offend someone, especially when your in a place that is culturally different. And while I don't feel alien to the culture here, there are small idiosyncrasies that make me unsure of what is the right way of behaving. This obviously goes both ways.
BTW - new addition to the "Foodies of Ithaca Unite" section of the blog.
Without going to into the time thing again, it's hard to describe life and share my true thoughts without:
a) Being afraid I'll offending people
b) Feeling like I might be over-sharing
I think (b) is pretty easy to understand, but I will say a few words on (a). It's not that I think offending thoughts, it's just that in my head everyone is always potentially over sensitive. You never know what will offend someone, especially when your in a place that is culturally different. And while I don't feel alien to the culture here, there are small idiosyncrasies that make me unsure of what is the right way of behaving. This obviously goes both ways.
BTW - new addition to the "Foodies of Ithaca Unite" section of the blog.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Comments for someone elses future doctoral thesis
So apparently, one of the upsides of paying so much to go to school is that he school has enough money to pay a lot to the Professors. I’m studying accounting from the guy who literally wrote the book on accounting. So, strangely enough, I’m actually enjoying accounting. Let us not confuse enjoyment with complete understanding, but still…
So here is a little bit of accounting info: It turns out (Prof. Libby uses this expression a lot) that while a company accounting for its assets, has to report the cost price of the factories, machines, land, natural resources etc. that it uses for the running of its operations. It also has to account for their depreciated value. That means that it has to make an estimate of how long it will be able to use whatever it is and then divide the cost by that estimated number of years, and each year take that sum off of the book value.
So, when I got sick of doing accounting exercises, my mind started wandering, and sadly this is what it wandered to: How many years of useful life do oil companies estimated for their oil wells? Has this changed over the years, and if so, how has it changed over the last few years during the debate on the diminishing crude oil reserves? Have companies re-estimated? If so, have they changes the estimation to be higher or lower?
Professor Libby, despite his great accounting wisdom, didn’t know the answer but did acknowledge that was an interesting question. He also added that, from an accounting perspective, it’s interesting to note that companies who own natural resources might at times change estimates from a resource depleting itself to suddenly having value again. An example is natural gas. In the last few years, gas prices have risen enough and technology has advanced enough that it makes economic sense to go back to a field that previously was shut down, and drill again. This in some way has to be reflected in the books, despite the fact that the book value of the natural resources has already reached zero.
So here is a little bit of accounting info: It turns out (Prof. Libby uses this expression a lot) that while a company accounting for its assets, has to report the cost price of the factories, machines, land, natural resources etc. that it uses for the running of its operations. It also has to account for their depreciated value. That means that it has to make an estimate of how long it will be able to use whatever it is and then divide the cost by that estimated number of years, and each year take that sum off of the book value.
So, when I got sick of doing accounting exercises, my mind started wandering, and sadly this is what it wandered to: How many years of useful life do oil companies estimated for their oil wells? Has this changed over the years, and if so, how has it changed over the last few years during the debate on the diminishing crude oil reserves? Have companies re-estimated? If so, have they changes the estimation to be higher or lower?
Professor Libby, despite his great accounting wisdom, didn’t know the answer but did acknowledge that was an interesting question. He also added that, from an accounting perspective, it’s interesting to note that companies who own natural resources might at times change estimates from a resource depleting itself to suddenly having value again. An example is natural gas. In the last few years, gas prices have risen enough and technology has advanced enough that it makes economic sense to go back to a field that previously was shut down, and drill again. This in some way has to be reflected in the books, despite the fact that the book value of the natural resources has already reached zero.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Comments for my future doctoral thesis (2)
The upside of Uri not being here is that I can focus my non-study time on writing and not on Uri. At the risk of being kicked out of the MBA program, I want to share with you another observation I recently had.
To put it in context, and let you in on a bit of or semi-social life, last Saturday Uri and I participated in a school tradition called Johnson Night Out. This is a school organized event in which School Faculty and 2nd year students host 1st and 2nd year students for pot-luck dinners. Pot-luck is the American expression that means, everybody brings a dish for everyone to share. We were assigned to go to Prof. Charlotte Rosen’s house and invited with us was one 2nd year student and 2 other 1st years.
We got into a conversation about “the job market”. I won’t go how we got to it, but I at one point said that I think it’s sad that the world has come to a point where an MBA is so (over)appreciated, and a PhD is so under appreciated. How do I put this delicately? I guess I could call it a faux-pas.
Everybody was shocked at my statement and proceeded to state that there are a lot of vital skills taught in an MBA program that a PhD does not necessarily have. Now, let me say what should have been obvious to everyone there – I am in an MBA program. Therefore I am very grateful at the business world’s faith in such program to determine success in management position. And I do believe that this will help me reach my short and long term career goals. However, I am also able to step aside and look at this system with a bit of criticism in order to say that more than anything else the MBA program is a long screening process. It’s about getting into a club and being “one of the gang”. Most jobs, at least the high-profile ones, have some sort of training in order to purchase the main skills needed for the job. And these are jobs that a person who is smart and has good deductive skills can do, at a starting level, without much experience. I do not doubt that an MBA does a good job in training for this. I just wonder when did it become so that a PhD (and it doesn’t matter in what) isn’t an indicator for these things?
So back to the main point, I was really surprised at the fact that this was such a faux pas. Is it an American thing? Is it an MBA thing? I don’t know the answer. Hence the title of the post.
To put it in context, and let you in on a bit of or semi-social life, last Saturday Uri and I participated in a school tradition called Johnson Night Out. This is a school organized event in which School Faculty and 2nd year students host 1st and 2nd year students for pot-luck dinners. Pot-luck is the American expression that means, everybody brings a dish for everyone to share. We were assigned to go to Prof. Charlotte Rosen’s house and invited with us was one 2nd year student and 2 other 1st years.
We got into a conversation about “the job market”. I won’t go how we got to it, but I at one point said that I think it’s sad that the world has come to a point where an MBA is so (over)appreciated, and a PhD is so under appreciated. How do I put this delicately? I guess I could call it a faux-pas.
Everybody was shocked at my statement and proceeded to state that there are a lot of vital skills taught in an MBA program that a PhD does not necessarily have. Now, let me say what should have been obvious to everyone there – I am in an MBA program. Therefore I am very grateful at the business world’s faith in such program to determine success in management position. And I do believe that this will help me reach my short and long term career goals. However, I am also able to step aside and look at this system with a bit of criticism in order to say that more than anything else the MBA program is a long screening process. It’s about getting into a club and being “one of the gang”. Most jobs, at least the high-profile ones, have some sort of training in order to purchase the main skills needed for the job. And these are jobs that a person who is smart and has good deductive skills can do, at a starting level, without much experience. I do not doubt that an MBA does a good job in training for this. I just wonder when did it become so that a PhD (and it doesn’t matter in what) isn’t an indicator for these things?
So back to the main point, I was really surprised at the fact that this was such a faux pas. Is it an American thing? Is it an MBA thing? I don’t know the answer. Hence the title of the post.
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