WINNER

I am the official winner of the Fuqua Stache Bash "Most Impressive Growth" award. Thank you thank you all my adoring fans. Unfortunately I could not be present at the awards ceremony due to a My Morning Jacket concert, which sucked anyways.

Here is the winning face

Donate money for my Stache by Friday

click here.

$10 is the median donation - not too much for making me creep everyone out for the next week.

Choices

Which one should I go for? I'm thinking Tom Selleck is the mustache icon. I have solid growth and could pull it off, but the Orange County Chopper guy's style is tempting. I see myself as more traditional, though.

Tomorrow the beard goes...

But the mustache stays

Stache Bash

I am growing a beard to raise money for a scholarship that helps MBAs working for nonprofits (of course, I applied for the scholarship). The rules are that next week (after two weeks of growth), I've got to shave it into a mustache.

But, to raise money, I need sponsors. If you'd like to donate, click here.

Here are pictures of me after 6 and 8 days. My growth is strong, and I think I'm winning. From my dad: "I think that your beard looks quite nice. The moustache alone would also look excellent. "

1 week before I shave into a mustache. 2 weeks until I go back to normal.

Soccer Films

Last weekend I saw a public screening of a new documentary called Pelada (which is what street soccer is called in Brazil). The premise is that two ex-college soccer players (one from Notre Dame and one from Duke) travel the world looking for pickup soccer games. Very cool movie, but it's not available on DVD yet (though the website has a cool trailer).

Another soccer movie I enjoyed is Kicking It, which documents the Homeless World Cup (seriously). You can watch the entire movie here. Even though it's narrated by Colin Ferrell, it's a very good documentary. Highly recommended.

Jamie Dimon

I saw Jamie Dimon (CEO and Chair of JP Morgan Chase) speak at Fuqua today. I didn't take notes, but a couple observations from memory:

- very frank. Doesn't bullshit around. But from the guys I know at JP, they say he's a nice guy... could have a beer with him
- has three daughters, all of whom went to Duke
- Loves "Too Big to Fail" - great writing. Says the author got his part correct.
- He reads voraciously (and ticked off about 10 publications he reads regularly, including Foreign Affairs and some other policy papers).
- When talking about leadership, he said "get rid of the assholes." Our dean asked "what's an asshole?" And Dimon responded "everyone knows an asshole when you see them. You all know who I'm talking about. It's the guy in class who speaks and then everyone covers their faces because they know what's going to happen. And the funny thing is, he doesn't KNOW he's an asshole. That's an asshole for you."
- 10-15% of the world are bums who can't be straightened out.
- Dimon said that there are a lot of smart people in the world. The real differentiator is those who can clarify issues. From my Leadership class, this is "contextual" leadership - simplifying issues and bringing coherence of purpose and task.
- Big proponent of taxing the hell out of energy to change consumer behavior. Or a de-politicized cap and trade. Dimon says "one of these two things must happen."
- Predictable answer: "greed was a part of Wall Street, but greed is a part of everything."
- And of course the obligatory: "do what you love. Don't go for money. I remember graduating from HBS and agonizing over whether to take the $37K job that I liked vs. the $42K job that I didn't. TAKE THE 37K - the money DOESNT matter."
- Dimon is in favor of a "catch all" financial regulatory agency.
- Our dean asked Dimon "some people have called you a socialist." Dimon responded with a quizzical look "I am definitely not a socialist"
- Dimon's entourage was relatively small to the other big whig CEOs that come to Fuqua. I like his style.
- Extremely harsh about ethics. Said he would fire someone for fudging an expense report. Then again, he HAS to say this as the CEO.
- "The problem is not our politicians. The problem is you (pointing to the crowd), or rather 'me'. We vote these guys into office, so unless we decide to vote competent leaders up to Washington, then we're to blame."
- On campaign finance reform and whether or not corporations should be able to lobby: "it should be fair, whatever the solution is. Unions can make campaign donations. Corporations can't. Is that fair? People on the left get upset about people on the right about the same things. The two sides should just shutup and get over themselves."

It begins

Arrive at Bangkok airport. Go through VIP security. Board double decker bus with police escort to the best hotel in Bangkok. Ginger soda waiting for all of us, along with banners for Duke University. Tomorrow we meet with the owner of BoonRawd Breweries, have lunch on his yacht to his brewery.

Tomorrow will be:

A post before bedtime

I slept 10 hours this morning to catch up for many lost hours over the past few days. Well worth it. I need some sleep tonight so I will keep this brief for now:
- Hoi An is a touristy town, but there is a legitimate local vibe that keeps things in balance. The town is famous these days for tailors. Speaking of which..
I bought a custom made: suit, tuxedo, a few shirts, and two blazers. All high quality. All low cost. I won't tell you the final dollar amount, though. Thank you for funding my educational trips to Asia, dad.
- The resort we're staying at is first class. Cabana style, great beach, small number of patrons. Perfect, and the group is in good spiritis because of it.
- Sophia, a vietnamese student, took some of us on a local tour of rice patties, then a vegetable farm where we tasted mint, lemon grass, and took a bunch of pictures. Our transportation for the day was riding on the back of motorbikes. It was a very authentic experience, and I think Sophia was proud to show off her country.
- The rest of the time has been spent getting fitted, re-fitted, again and again until the clothes are just right. I look damn good, I must say.
- Matt, Sam, and I did a lot of walking around the town. Saw a liquor drink with a cobra and scorpion in it. Ate a sandwich called Bahn Ma which made Matt sweat profusely and made my mouth feel like a fireball. Sam was able to stand it.
- Tonight Sam, Matt, and I (and Yoshi later on) sat in a cabana on the beach and relaxed. Tomorrow we'll get up for some beach tai chi, pack up quickly, then hop the plane to Saigon. Nobody wants to leave Hoi An. It is a very special place - nice people, small, cheap, beach nearby. I am going to make plans to return sometime soon.

7:30 AM Tuesday (Durham time). Singapore time: no idea

On Monday morning at 4:30am I left my apartment (on a Super Shuttle with a few other classmates to RDU airport) for a 13-day trip to Singapore, Hoi An (Vietnam), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), Bangkok (Thailand), Khon Kaen (Thailaind), back to Bangkok, and then back to the States. By my watch we’ve been in route for 28 hours now, but my internal clock has no idea what to think. We’ll arrive in an hour in Singapore at 11:00pm local time and probably be in bed by 1:00am. I’m hoping that with the help of Ambien I’ll be able to sleep 6-7 hours and my internal clock will then be readjusted. Wishful thinking.

Everything has gone smoothly so far. I slept sporadically (and poorly) for the first few hours of the 15-hour flight from Chicago O’Hare to Hong Kong, and then realized that without any sleep on this route, I’d be wiped out for days to come. So, I took enough Ambien to knock me out for a few hours, which did the trick. So I’d say that on the entire trip here I’ve gotten about 7 hours of sleep.

The woman next to me just passed out on my shoulder. Awesome.

My seat-neighbor from ORD-HK was an interesting guy. He’s Vietnamese, but has lived in Florida since 1978. His father was in the South Vietnamese navy, but was discriminated against by the N. Vietnamese integrated forces, so the dad emigrated by piloting a boat to Thailand, where the family was in a refugee camp for 6 months before lucking out and accepted into the States. The most interesting part of the conversation was when he talked about what he likes to do in Ho Chi Minh City when he returns – find nice girls. He warned me to only find nice girls at the bars instead of the street. I asked him if there was any chance that you could meet a girl in a bar in HCM who is not “working” and he said chances were quite slim. Apparently $20 can get you far, and $40 goes all night.

Update: the woman next to me woke up and got off my shoulder, then decided to return. Thank you.

Our stop in Hong Kong was brief – just enough time to have dinner with Dave and Chris. I had some bubble tea (a milk-like tea with tapioca that you suck through a straw) and a floating pork soup. What? I ordered the soup (which looked like a non-soup dish in the picture) and the waiter said (I quote) “are you sure you want that one?” I said yes, it says pork chop and egg with noodles. What came out was a bowl of broth with noodles and a floating fried egg and pork chop.

The scenery in HK is pretty dramatic – flying in felt like we were in a James Bond movie. I would have loved to stay in HK, but we’ve gotta get on to Singapore. Flying over any iconic city – especially at dusk – has to be one of the coolest things to experience.

Our professor, Bennet, is up in business class while the common folk are down below. A few of the stewardesses (I think I’m supposed to say “hostesses” or “attendants” but don’t want to) snapped at Matt when he tried to visit Bennet up in business class. 35 minutes to touchdown. Gotta sign off. Goal for tomorrow: take pictures. I only took a few today, but was reminded of how much I enjoy taking them. Even if I don’t know what I’m doing, I can luck into some pretty good pics.

I’m crossing my fingers that everyone made it on the plane. I took role after Chicago, but then left everyone to be adults and get themselves on the right planes.

Random thoughts:
I downloaded a bunch of podcasts to my iPhone before leaving:
Ricky Gervais podcast: hilarious
The Moth podcast: very good but it put me to sleep. Maybe another time
This American Life podcast: classic, but 1-hour is too long. I need 30 minutes.
KEXP Music that Matters podcast: an old fave of mine… great selection of northwestern-focused music. Not too pretentious.
NPR’s All Music Considered: I’ve never gotten into this podcast. I find it too inconsistent – singer/songwriter stuff one minute, classical the next. I’d prefer consistency.

Music – Playing Eddie Vedder’s Into the Wild soundtrack right now. One of my all-time favorites. I had this CD in my car disc changer for two straight years.

Reading. I did none of my pre-work today. The only reading I did was of a Singapore newspaper, and half an article about Zeng He (sp), the Chinese Admiral who led the famous 7 voyages in the 15th century. I’m fascinated by the aura of the Chinese’s regional power. I remember after I took the GMAT last year, I walked to the National Geographic museum to celebrate, and they had an exhibit on Zeng He. His ships dwarfed contemporary ships made in Europe – very dramatic.

Feeling good. Glad to be out of the US and doing something that I love – travel. Feeling anticipation (this trip) is a hell of a lot better than dread (constantly worrying about internships). It feels great to be with 35 good people on this trip.