Moving to France!

Yeah, big news! In few months will be moving to France to join INSEAD's MBA program. To say that I am excited will be an understatement. I am literally floating in the air.

The school is quite renowned and is called business school for the world; and why not, students from more than 83 countries will be in my own class. But academics apart, this should be an interesting experience. INSEAD is situated in the picturesque river side town of Fontainebleau just 40 KM (yes kilometers :-) from Paris. And then there will be opportunities to study both in Singapore (which I am planning to) and Wharton (not planning). I am hoping to stay in one of those amazing Cheatues next to the forest, which is frequently the venue for the famous INSEAD parties. But I wonder how much of it will I be able to enjoy? This will an intense one year program with 2 months of summer internship, and in between there will be "study" tours to such far away places like Cambodia, Chile and India (yey!). I have also heard about alumni events in French Riviera, job fairs in London and New York, graduation parties in Paris, and .... Oh! I am dreaming again. I wonder why I never think about the crazy 100hr work weeks, which incidentally INSEAD is more famous for ... Sigh!

But the move itself will be anything but easy. First of all I have to wind up my life in USA - sell house, car, furniture, turn in my resignation, say goodbyes (this will be most difficult) then fly to India and hopefully do some traveling, and towards the end of December fly back to France.

Although intentional, this will be a big change. Few months ago, when I started applying to the business schools, I was very confident that this is what’s next for me. But now that business school is suddenly a reality I am slowly realizing what a big change it will be. Going back to a poor student's life will be just one of the challenges. Moving all the way to France brings whole set of other issues - understating new country, learning a new language, customs and experiencing the famous French snobbishness. But this is what I signed up for when I sent in my INSEAD application.

The next couple of months in USA are completely booked. My condo just came on market today. Check out the pictures, the place looks absolutely fabulous. The photographer did a really good job :). Hopefully this will close soon and I will be able to wipe my hands of one more (fingers crossed) successful investment. After that will probably fly to San Francisco to get the French visa ... damm! I hate my Indian passport; no country would let me in without having me go through the painful visa application process.

Anyway, one good thing I did was to give away my TV and DVD player to a friend. Instead of wasting time watching Comdey Central, I am actually doing something more useful, or am I? Huh!