what up, congress!

I've barely talked about spring semester at Columbia since its started again but I don't even know where to begin with EVERYTHING, so instead I'm going to update my trip to Washington DC!

I was only there for 3 days, but I LOVED IT!  I DEFINITELY will go back and see all the museums!!!  I also love the atmosphere, the fact that everything is walkable, the metro system is CLEAN and FAST, all the amazing coffee shops, and basically I wouldn't kill myself if I had to live here :] Mike and I met up here and stayed with a friend who lives in Dupont Circle NW, basically the trendiest neighborhood in DC!  We got lucky :] Here's the view from his apartment at 3am

I went for a jog early morning around the National Mall, which is essentially a buffet of monuments and federal buildings, like the Department of Printing and Engraving, and the US Treasury Building, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, etc etc you get the idea.  Gorgeous!

Even the houses are adorable! I would love to live in any one of these!!!

I got to visit the IMF and World Bank, and talk to SIPA Alumni about their jobs there!  Pretty freaking awesome :D  The World Bank building is IMPRESSIVE and shiny and big, but for some reason I was much more taken by the IMF and the types of projects they were working on... won't bore ya with the details!

We went to U-Street for dinner and restaurant hopped!  Cutest neighborhood filled with bars and clubs!

We only had time for one museum and I had to choose wisely, so I chose the National Gallery. But I would KILL to go back to the Natural History Museum and the Modern Art museum!  

We went to a Clippers/Wizards game which was not even close... Clippers DOMINATED!  Also, Staples Center is 3x the size of the Wizards stadium.  But their nachos aren't as good!

And the Eastern Market, which is supposedly one of the best flea markets/ farmers markets in DC, but I was unimpressed. It's got nothing on the Santa Monica farmers market!!! Or even the Union Square one!  Then we caroused some more around the National Mall and took funky pictures by the monuments and sang Mallow songs

This actually looks way more romantic than it was intended to be!  Mike was supposed to be a dork like me and stick his foot up like a ballerina, and we were so cold that our noses were runny and our faces were mushed together cuz the camera person took forever to take the picture.  But when we saw this picture we were like... WOAH, NICE JOB CAMERADUDE! 

Love the east coast :D

We also met up with a friend from UCLA who lives there now, and he took us out to a couple clubs in the neighborhood for free since he got the hookups :] We also watched the Superbowl together with AYCE sushi!  Don't ask me why two giant dudes automatically look like 5th graders when they hug like that... 

DC is gorgeous and I would totally not be opposed to living there... actually it oddly makes me want to live in Boston because I imagine Boston = better version of DC without all the negative lobbyists and politics.  Even though politics are also part of the appeal of living in DC... Gonna head to BAH-ston sometime VEEEERY SOOON and see for myself! Woah just had a thought... It;d be my dream to qualify for the  Boston Marathon!!! Sub 3:40... better get on it :]

I'll be back, DC!

NYC Round 2!

Back for a fresh new start!  Ok it's not really a start since school technically began last Monday, but I am just now settling into my schedule for Spring Semester at Columbia!

It was so nice being home for a month, and I must say that flying the red-eye from LA to NYC and starting class right after getting only 2 hours of sleep was a little hard... I was bummed about being back in NYC and wishing I was back home with all my friends and family and Baja Buds nachos.  For about 12 hours.

And then the familiar faces and brick architecture (who doesn't love that?!), the enthusiasm of my fellow classmates, the events, opportunities, EXCITEMENT of being back, and rush of NYC, took over again and I was gladly moving to the Manhattan groove once more :]

I'm pretty amp-ed up about most of my classes this semester!  I'm taking 5.5 classes, one more class than last semester... perhaps suicidal.  This may sound like water-boarding to some of you, but I'm psyched for this schedule:

Enterprise Strategy for Leaders
International Capital Markets
Emerging Financial Markets
Women in Global Leadership (Short course)
Economic Analysis
Accounting

I'm most excited about the Global Leadership course, which is a half course that ends in the middle of the semester and is discussion-oriented with a bunch of prominent female speakers.  Like a seminar.  Emerging Markets and Enterprise Strategy are also looking pretty cool.  The best thing about courses at SIPA is that the courses can all be completely practical and applicable to the real world, and are topics and situations that are being discussed globally by top researchers and practitioners.  Not like in undergrad when you wondered why you were forced to take Astro 3 or Anthropology.  Not to say those classes weren't fascinating...

The difference is that in undergrad, I LOATHED classes like management and accounting.  I think it was this weird association I had with it to frigid business suits and dry, boring spreadsheets, and greedy, corporate financial institutions.  But after working at a non-profit global venture fund and knowing how powerful the ability to read and understand financial statements and balance a budget is, I see how useful these skills can be beyond the threshold of Wall Street. My accounting course is actually really interesting!  Still not the MOST interesting... but MORE interesting!

In undergrad, I was all about IMpracticality.  I relished my literature courses, the discussions we had about ideas captured by 19th century British novels, the analysis of forms, symbols, metaphors, and meters of Romantic poetry, and every tortuous moment of composing a paper on arbitrary things like Rosa Dartle's displacement in David Copperfield.  Beyond teaching me to be able to think in a particular way, the knowledge, theories, and ideas in my literature courses were probably useless in any other setting beyond an English classroom.  I LOVED it.

Don't get me wrong, I still love it.  I don't think I will ever stop loving it. And perhaps one day I'll go back to school for it and study it for 5-7 more years.  But right now, I love something else.  I love ideas that spark and inspire, discussions that leave visible impact, movements that influence a city, region, country, or even the entire world!

We're looking at the dynamics of democracies and other forms of government, globalization, human rights and poverty, international organizations, causes and consequences of the financial crisis in the US and EU, economic growth rates across the world, fiscal and monetary policies, alternative energy and sustainable environment issues, development in third world countries, the Arab Spring uprisings, the rise of BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China), neo-colonization in Africa, political development, peace-building, social enterprises, and on and on and on... and most importantly, how all these movements and ideas are interrelated.

Maybe someday I'll get back to trying to figure out why Milton used blank verse in Paradise Lost, or if Jane Austen's portrayal of female protagonists (which were practically the same in almost all of her novels) actually contributed to progressive gender perceptions in Britain, or if I will ever remotely understand what James Joyce's "Ulysses" is actually about...

But right now, this is what we're talking about at SIPA.  This world that we are living in, and the people we are living with.  This is real life.

I love it  :)

2012!!!

I always ask everyone else, but what are your new years resolutions?!?!!?


I guess I like to know because it gets me all excited to hear that people are starting something new, making big goals, devising plans, catalyzing changes!

As for myself, I don't have anything too concrete...

Live every single day to the fullest, live every single moment with absolutely no regrets.  

That's basically it.

That in itself already encompasses a bajillion things.

Give more love to the people around me.  Show more love.  Share more love.  Be inspired.  Inspire others.  Spread enthusiasm. Get excited.  Find JOY.

PATIENCE.  That's something I will forever struggle with.

Oh, and something that I'm gonna try to work really hard on is to harness the appreciation of good food, and not eat any pastries EXCEPT for the ones I bake myself, or baked FRESH from a really good bakery.  This will encourage me to keep experimenting with baking :D and avoid craving those plastic-y neon pink frosted cupcakes that have been sitting on the baked goods section of Ralphs for 3 years. although they do look like they taste like sugar-coated happiness...

And I should probably aim for internal growth and maturity... and to be more responsible and organized.  (that one probably isn't gonna happen either).

Oh, and TRAVEL.  it's been a while since I've traveled out of the continent (cancun doesn't count) so trips for 2012 that I'm aiming for are:

Central America (Costa Rica)
Seattle
Miami
East Coast (Boston, VA, Pennsylvania, Maine, etc.)
Eastern Europe summer backpacking trip 


Those are goals that are DEFINITELY happening.


It's a chance to start over, to improve, or to continue with something solid.  New adventures, relationships, experiences, moments of happiness and enlightenment and growth... Whatever your new year is for, or even of you don't believe in "New Years", or even if you think we're all gonna die this year:

HAPPY 2012 EVERYONE, KEEP DREAMING BIG! :D