Back in Iowa City, for a while.

It's been a couple of weeks since I returned to Iowa City, after finishing my internship in Washington, DC and Milan. It was an awesome, though hectic, summer but towards the end I found myself missing IC!
It's been only a year since I first came to IC, but it already feels like home. Like I belong here.

The last couple of weeks were pretty chilled out - and that is exactly what I needed! The new batch of MBA students are here now - the Class of 2010 just had their IMPACT week (Read my earlier post on IMPACT here).

And it is still to sink in that I'm halfway done with my MBA!! It has been a fabulous one year - I've learnt a lot, met amazing people, made some great friends and expanded my horizons. I feel truly amazed at how much I've grown over the last year. Which is why I'm feeling a little nostalgic right now, as I start packing for my exchange semester at RSM (Recap: I will be spending this fall semester on exchange at the Rotterdam School of Management)

I leave tomorrow afternoon and though I'm very excited, there is a lingering little thought... of how I'll miss this place. So I guess its a nice coincidence that I get to be at a tailgate before I leave! The Hawkeyes play their first football game of the season tomorrow and since my flight is in the evening, I get to enjoy the first tailgate!! :)

Time to pack..

A sleepy coastal town...

We spent a day in Chioggia (pronounced 'Kyo-jia'), a small coastal town near Venice.




And as we sauntered around the streets, we came across two people shrink-wrapping a car...




We just HAD to stop and see what the whole deal was about.
Apparently, there was a wedding inside the church..





And the shrink-wrapped car was their gift!





So finally, after a lot of effort..



And they lived happily ever after.. (Hope so, at least!)




And then we sauntered off again. In a sleepy little town called Chioggia.

Italy pics - 2 (Venice)

Italy pics

The Duomo in Milan -




Stained glass in The Duomo -




The real thing :)




Lake Como -

A sojourn in Milan

After three weeks in DC, I left for Milan. Accompanied by a couple of my new colleagues from the DC office, we set out to create an internationalization strategy for an Italian IT firm. The next few weeks were spent at the client's office - meeting, interviewing, presenting et al.
It felt good to be able to use stuff I learnt a few months back at Tippie to solve a strategic problem in the corporate world. In Italy. :)

A few weeks later, when we gave our final presentation to the client's executive team, I felt much more comfortable and relaxed than I've felt while presenting during the Marketing class at the Tippie MBA!! And my consulting gig during the spring semester definitely helped a lot.
After our final presentation (which, by the way, was very well received), I worked on my next project - an international acquistion deal.

I worked on the strategic analysis of the deal and helped in the intial business diligence. An awesome experience, especially since I got the chance to be involved at the very highest level. During this time I worked out of my company's office in downtown Milan - located at Corso Venezia, we were right at the heart of the city! A few blocks from the beautiful Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral) and the very trendy street of Via Montenapoleone, it was definitely a great place to work!

Amazing food, excellent coffee, great wine.. all in a vibrant, fashionable city - Milan just stole my heart. It was an excellent experience to be submerged in a totally different culture and I feel that this brief stint has definitely helped me grow - both as a professional and as a person.

An awe inspiring monument

The Lincoln Memorial

Standing at this vantage point, it is difficult not to feel overawed. And dwarfed.

Summer chronicles... contd.

I spent the first three weeks of my summer internship in Washington, DC. During this period, most of my time on the job was spent in getting to know the firm, the people and the clients I would be working with during the summer.

Over the last few years I have come to realise that work-culture, and the people you work with, are as important (if not more important) than the actual job itself. And my summer experience was made even more memorable by the fact that I worked with an absolutely fabulous bunch of people. Not only did I get to do some really good work, I had a blast doing it!

And DC is an awesome city! Of course, it was great to see the monuments and galleries, but DC in summer seems to have a unique charm of its own. Lounging on the lawns of the National Gallery of Art on a Friday evening, listening to jazz and enjoying your drink... aah... I can't think of a better way to spend a summer evening. :)

Another discovery that pleasantly surprised me... tucked away on Massachusetts Ave, opposite the British Embassy, is a memorial park dedicated to Khalil Gibran. One of my favorites, Gibran is a Lebanese-American writer/poet/painter/sculptor. (His book "The Prophet" was the bestselling book of the twentieth century in the United States, second only to the Bible!!)

Some pictures... :)