April 2, 2006 at 8:51 am · Filed under Daily unimportant sh*t, INSEAD, Rugby
So I became a member of the INSEAD Rugby club: “The INSEAD Barbarians”…. Wow, a lot of work though: training, inaugural drinking, training, inaugural drinking, getting hit and kicked by big men and after 5 trainings still no clue about the rules. Then we are invited to attend the Bangkok Rugby 10’s: A tournament where teams from all over Asia compete for a Bowl, Cup or Plate, depending on the level they play…. We play for the Plate….
Arriving at INSEAD to receive our tour kit (a bizarre Chinese outfit) and the tour book I finally know what my position is: I am a Forward. These are the guys in the second row of the scrum putting their heads through the first row….we hastily go to a rugby shop to buy a mouth guard and a scrumcap: believe me you need this as second row!
After we arrive in Bangkok we go to the registration and do some initial drinking and land in our beds at about 4. At seven the alarm clock signals that it’s to be beaten up: gogogo. I just can’t eat breakfast and I feel absolutely miserable and the thought of playing rugby in a few hours without any proper training doesn’t make me feel better.
Arriving at the pitch (=the field) the guy screaming random comments through the microphone tells with a sense of proud that one of teams has Robby Kingstead in their team. I ask my team mates who the hell this guy is…. Ow, a guy who played a decade in the South African national team… and they will be our first opponents… Holy shit: I feel even more miserable.Since my current state doesn’t allow me to play I pass the most of the time of the first match on the toilet deciding if I should shit or puke and finding ways to do it at the same time.
A few hours I feel better and the temperature is a mere 35 degrees and I am on for my first game of rugby in my life. Somebody wants to reassure me by saying: “only the first tackle really hurts, after then you’re so pissed that you won’t feel it ’
Two times 12 minutes later I know he is right: It fucking hurts but what a thrill: absolutely a fantastic sport!
In the evening we went out Bangkok style and we ended up in vague bars where all other rugby teams were hanging out. The guys who tried to run you down in the morning congratulated me on a great tackle and the fact that I played my first game.
Next day we played for the loser’s cup and we defended fiercely our last place in the tournament and we even scored one try (a touchdown). It was not hard to defend the last place since we could not get more than 7 people on the field. One of us broke his finger so we ended borrowing 4 players from other teams. The rest of the players was too lost to find the pitch and showed up for the third game or some even after we were finished…
The afternoon was followed by some random temple visits and souvenir buying to make sure we had a physical memory from the tour accept for the blue spots on our bodies. In the evening we tried some excessive drinking (we passed) and I ended up missing the plane the next day. Fortunately I had a changeable ticket and Thai Airways allowed me to be in class around noon. Sitting uncomfortable on my sour ass in class I realized I discovered a very cool thing… getting beaten up by some random guys and hanging around with your rugby buddies in a string of bars in Bangkok… or bar of strings, whatever
see the pics at pic department:
January 7, 2006 at 9:23 am · Filed under Daily unimportant sh*t, INSEAD
After a tedious new years eve after whicgh I couldnt fall asleep I finally arrive at Charles du Gaulle in Paris. Just a few hours ago my mum and Peter brought me to the airport and here I am: starting my new adverture….INSEAD. It is something I worked quite hard for and now: it’s starting. Because my Math skills stem from 1996 I thought it would be wise to do the Pre-MBA course.
Three days later I felt like a freight train just ran over me. Day after day we got initiated in the INSEAD way of living… from 8 till 23 hr busy with stuff you’re unfamiliar with. Fantastic to feel the cohesiveness and friendship develop after only a few days of hard work. Now on my way to Singapore to start the real thing
November 7, 2005 at 5:36 am · Filed under Daily unimportant sh*t, INSEAD
INSEAD invites her admitted MBA candidates to the campus. I thought I would be a good idea to meet my new classmates so I went and ran into a major partyzone..
Friday evening I arrived at the INSEAD residence and after checking in I went to the bar to get some late evening snack/beer. Just after downing this lonely beer, some other admits walk in. I don’t know why but the Brittons where over-represented. Most of them knew about a party which was going on at Villecerf and suddenly a part of the group appeared all dressed up…( as banana-man Frankenstein-man, and ‘am-myself-man).
So it seemed to be a Theme party, like all the parties seem to be at INSEAD, and the theme of today was “SuperHeroes [dont drink]“. I chatted up the gay bar tender and convinced him to give me his cooking skirt. I put some red stuff on it and transformed myself to “The Butcher Man”. Who hasn’t heared of the famous Butcher Man? After some basic drinkin’ and chattin’ we went with a few cars to Villecerf.
Wow, absolutely wow. The guys at VilleCerf have a briliant place and made quite an effort to spice the place up. The rest of the night was basic, some drinks (2 much specially imported and sponsored italian beer anyway), some random dancing, meeting tons of people whose name I forgot, a lot of laughs and some amazing costumes (Superman en Spider man were normal super heroes; Silverman and Bicycle Man were a tad strange but “Naked man” was absolutely bizar… [yes he was naked like the Red Hot Chili Peppers were])
The next day there were two kinds of admits. The one who did go to the party and the ones who didn’t. One group looked and felt like shit and the other group was sorry not to feel like shit. The day was well organized with meeting all fellow classmates, some faculty and alumni as, for me, the most useful activities. I was as well very impressed by the helpfull staff of all departments wether it was regarding the languge requirements, the logistics or exchanging idea’s about joining academic groups. Never met so many interesting people in one day and to be sure we would remember this day the INSEAD staff even arranged a photographer who made a corny “My first class at INSEAD”-picture… I will keep it as as memory of the start of my INSEAD life!
In the evening there was a chateau diner ending in a bar whose owner forgot halloween was finished and who kicked us out at about 1. Then we finished the night with some random pool-shooting and some beers in INSEAD residences.
Personal conclusion of the butcher man: INSEAD is way cool and I am glad to be a part of this
October 14, 2005 at 1:52 am · Filed under Daily unimportant sh*t, INSEAD
Well, I was just preparing myself to enter yet another weekend without knowing if I was admitted or not and I was preparing for the probing jokes in the pub where my friends thought I was joking about going back to school.
Then at 17.30, the message came. I just didn’t read past the “…great pleasure to congratulate you…”. I’m in; a huge weight fell off my shoulders and I felt rewarded for all the work I did on the silly GMAT, the 15 million revisions of my essays and endless doubting about which languages to report…
Fuck it: I’m in.
Peter Bakker
INSEAD MBA December 2006
June 6, 2005 at 2:42 am · Filed under Daily unimportant sh*t, GMAT
I arrived very early at the test center in Alameda which was still closed. Being in Alameda on a sunny Satuday enjoying a Starbucks “Grande Latte Extra Wet, Extra Shot, Low Fat To go” in the blazingly hot morning sun is certainly no punishment.
Entering the center I felt confident and very comfortable because I already scored a 690 in the previous GMAT bombing run, but the tension and heartbeat quickly rose when I entered the test room.
The essays went OK but then the Quantative hit me hard. The questions were hard from the beginning and I had to guess quite a few. The Verbal went OK but I was very sure I scored lower than ever on the test. I walked up to the sentinel lady, a bit depressed I might add, and received my score…. I glanced at the paper and suddenly saw a 7 as the first figure. WOW: a 710: fiucking great: I scored above 700….Now I am proud of myself! Shawn, Thanx, we made it happen!
Lets relax and hang out in San Francisico…. “Sitting on the dock of the bay” suddenly sounds very attractive
May 31, 2005 at 1:22 pm · Filed under Daily unimportant sh*t, GMAT
After 4 hours of hard labor intensive brain crushing and massaging, I finally came out of the sweat shop they call the Prometric Test Center. I knew it went better than the last time, since I could answer most questions with confidence. But then I got my preliminary score: 690 (91st percitile with a 81st percentile on the math) WOW: I did it, I f*cking did it!
Then of you go, to San francisco. Finally a moment to enjoy this great city instead of enduring it. After walking around for 8 hours and 150 pictures later, I am sure that this is the most beautiful city in the world… or is it the suspence that makes it feel this way? I even found myself a present: a 90-300 Canon AF lens for a mere 238$! I will try to upload some pics tomorrow.
Saturday I am going to try to beat myself, maybe a 700? You’ll never know how the cow catches the hazel (= silly Dutch expression… sounds better in Dutch though)
May 29, 2005 at 6:36 pm · Filed under Daily unimportant sh*t, GMAT
This week I worked as a madman. I did so many GMAT problems and I seemed to progress moderately. But when I look at the enormous workload I went through and the progress I made, I dont think it has made a big difference, unfortunately. But the proof is the pudding, like the English say, so we will see in a few days…. the 31st of May I will do my first GMAT. Then just 4 days later June 4th I will do the second. The things that worry me are the probablity questions and my sloppy mistakes. To give an example: the last few tests I solved problems and 2 times I pick the wrong answer…. How sloppy can you get?
But I did some fun things as well…..
Last Friday I worked out with my GMAT tutor, SB, and boy, I still feel it! We did some specific calves exercises and some exercises for the lower arm and abs. Actually I was amazed by the amount of weight I still could do taken in account that I didn’t do sport for a while. But OK, I need it and I will continue in Holland to work out… Gueno made me member of fitness first So I guess she thought I need it as well.
Later in the afternoon, after I had my frustration math class, I went to Alex Min, a great guy I met at IMD, in Lausanne, Swiss. I drove to his house in San Jose and played with his kid, Arno, the Golden Retrievers Carmen and Tango, and talked to Alex and his wife untill past midnight. If the MBA class I attend is only half as intelligent and nice as the guys I meet at interviewdays, I won’t complain!
Well, Just another day to go for my first test.. wish me luck… I really need luck since my skills won’t improve in 1 day!
Cheers, Peter
May 22, 2005 at 10:49 pm · Filed under Daily unimportant sh*t, Scuba diving
Well, I was very glad I could do something else then study for a day. I chose to go scubadiving. Since I was finished diving at 12 o’clock, I went [for free, my guide works there] to the Aquarium of Monterey (very Beautiful) and decided then to go to Santa Cruz. In Santa Cruz I bought some shirts and made some awesome pictures of surfers.
I put the pictures on a different page. Eat your heart out!
PS: My love, do you mind to go to Biaritz this summer????
May 20, 2005 at 10:36 pm · Filed under Daily unimportant sh*t, GMAT
WOW, big fun, I was doing great on my GMAT problems and I was happy doing it because finally I had the GMAT vibe. Question after Question I could answer or narrow the options down so that I saw the answer. Then suddenly a terrible noise penetrated the room. It felt like my ears were blown off and I tried to go on, but my head just could’t handle the pain.
I guessed it was the firealarm. What other thing makes a 160 db noice? [Except from the fat lady next doors who gets orgasms which seem to hurt]
I walked out with my laptop under my arm because it seemed to be the asset which had the greatest value in my room. So I walked down to the reception and asked when this terrible noise was going to stop…
The girl said: “Well it set off in the managers room…” “Well that explains it” I said ironnically. I guessed my gay manager was having a pot-party…. or was I-Potting ( 
.
The search for new words , which could be strung in a new “I-have-a-gay-hotel-manager-joke”, was suddenly interrupted by the raging bells and horns of the firetrucks homing in on the hotel. This answered my question how long it was going to take…not very.
But now I knew I made a mistake: off course Bozo: BYOC…. Bring Your Own Camera! Not your laptop: it doesnt take pictures! And these American firetrucks are a symbol of “The American Way”: too Big, too Fat, too noisy; I love them! Next time, remember: BYOC
….. After 5 minutes I walked in again…isn’t it a dangerous life I’m living here….
May 19, 2005 at 5:43 pm · Filed under Daily unimportant sh*t, GMAT
After 10 days of “frontloading” grammar I am finally diving into math problems. Not a few, no sir, SB wants me to cover a few hundred in the next 10 study hours. Happy joy! Actually I really like to do this because I feel I need it the most. The sentence correction, a part of the GMAT Verbal section, is not really perfect yet, but I am improving. Shocking to see how much you actually guessed because you didn’t know the gammar at all.
But anyway: I’m positive again.
Yesterday is was raining all day…. boy, even California looks shitty when it rains. As a real Dutchman I ride my bike, no matter what weather, but you get wet, very wet. So last night, after I went to the gym and sauna, I stumbled into SafeWays, soaked to the bone, and the people over there looked at me like I was a bum, a wanderer, a guy living in a trainstation. How looks deceive I am glad they didn’t had the nerve to kick me out: I was in the mood for a scene .
Another few days and I have a day off! So what shall I do…. surfing in Santa Cruz, or diving in Monterrey (kelp forests). What do you think?
« Previous entries ·
Next entries »
