What is different about Southern California?

We've had almost two months to digest SoCal life. So many of you are wondering "what is different about So.California and its inhabitants?" especially relative to Canadians.
1. In my observations there are two types of Californians: the laid back Californian and the intense, "in-a-hurry" californian. The laid back are often clueless to there surroundings, they just move slow, talk slow, and are pretty easy going. The intense Californians have no clue anyone else exists. They honk as soon as the light turns green. Not passing judgement on either. Each have their charm.
2. Believe or not, Orange County, especially where we are (Irvine), is not very pedestrian friendly. The main roads are six lanes or more wide (every one) and the lights change very quickly. This is not a place for people to retire and walk the community.
3. I don't know why but valet parking is a common site in the larger malls. The OC is so anti-pedestrian, they don't like to walk from their parking spot to the mall.
4. The landscape is fantastic: Rugged hills, beautiful beaches, and cliffs overlooking the ocean.
5. The weather is perfect: hot in the sun; cool in the shade. Warm during the day and cool at night. Best of all, no sticky humidity. I don't miss London in this regards.
There are more and I am sure I will revisit the issue later.

First Mid-Terms Approaching

Well, it is mid-quarter and that means many projects are coming due and many exams are scheduled. In my semester programs, homework ceased around exam time to let students prepare. It appears this is not the case for business school. They keep us busy right through. I guess after a few years of work, they fairly expect us to be able to juggle a full work load.

My accounting is up first this Thursday. Then Stats the next Tuesday. My last exam is IT management the following Wednesday. They are good about spacing them out avoiding a hell week for us students. I am not too worried. After all a mid-term in a quarter system is only about a month and a half of class. Nonetheless, tension is up, but compared to law school the tension is like a Carribean holiday.

Taco Tuesdays!

Every once and a while, Lindsey and I find some energy to go out and have a good time. One such time was Taco Tuesdays at El Ranchito in Newport. The place offers all-you-can-eat taco (and taquitos, quesadillas, etc..) for $5. The food is really good, but very messy. It also features some of the best $4 margaritas you will ever have. Taco Tuesday opens at around 6pm and people get juiced and around 11:30 they hit a small dancefloor to dance to top 40 rap and dance tunes.

The only drawback is the lack of chairs to sit. Lindsey wore her uncomfortable shoes, so she was pretty aggressive in finding an open seat. For awhile I thought she went for tacos or to the washroom, only to discover she scored a seat.

Overall, we highly recommend El Ranchito for Tuesday night fun!

How are Classes?

The question I most often hear is "how are the classes?" It is a difficult one to answer because we only about one month in and my classes are the from the first semester, which generally are "foundation" classes. These classes set the foundation for the remainder of the term. Therefore, they are generally not overly challenging, but are very important because if I don't understand these courses it could hurt future courses.

The best way to describe the classes is that there is a lot of quantity, but the quality is not very challenging. This is not to say the quality of the classes are not excellent. They are great. It is only that they don't push your mind to the next level (as they shouldn't). The homework keeps me busy; the workload is very similar to a full time job. Thankfully, coming from the business world and being an entrepreneur I am easily keeping up with the work demands.

Overall, I am enjoying my classes. I am learning about finanical statements and refreshing my statistics knowledge. It is great to get some fundemental knowledge that links to my work experience. There were many times when I looked at a client financial statment and knew there was something wrong with an area. Now, I am putting some theory behind my instincts.

Our New Home

UCI has been busy building new student housing. We were placed in the newest family housing area. Our apartment is little more than a year old.

On the inside, it is difficult to fit 1100 sq ft. of condo items into 850 sq ft of new diggs. It is especially difficult to fit our living room furniture that was choosen to fill up a room twice the size of the room where it now sits. Oh well, 2o months or so.

Outside is really nice. There are quite a few buildings in the complex. The area is wonderfully landscaped. There are charcoal BBQs near each building and two big gas BBQs outside of the housing office, a few minutes walk from our place. Each evening bunnies run rampant around the common areas. It is quite cute.

The inside decor is a bit drab: White walls, thin bluish carpet. The kitchen is a nice open design, but we are hurting for closet space. The apartment has the mark of rushed contractors as the floors have evidence of being laid over a few pieces of wood leaving the occasional subtle bumps. As I said, 20 months or so; we'll make due.

Residential - 3 days and 3 long nights

The Merage residential is our first credit course of the year. It is a 3 1/2 day condensed introducting into strategy and team dynamics. The days start at 9am and they end late into the night with a due assignment.

The main purpose of the course is to teach team dynamics. The assignments were no more than a vessel to teach the teams team skills. We are introduced to our small group with whom we will be completing all group assignments in the first year. Instructor's were around to ensure we were working well with our team. I found that my team went through some growing processes. At first we were a bit excited upon our assignment. Then, as the assignments came, we experienced a lack of trust among all of us in our team mates. It was very hard for me to let go and trust my team mates. Two assignments into two late nights will not make a great team, but it is a start. Today, I see a lot of growth from where we started that weekend.

The final night is late because it is a party. The evening starts with a formal meal and pairs of groups performing sketches. The jokes were very inside and a bit nerdy, but we all loved it. Afterwards the partying begins. Flare ups of shouting and music arose in various areas of the hotel. It ended in someones room with me leaving around 3am. Overall, that was a pretty great bonding experience.

Needless to say, I was exhausted and again poor Lindsey, who was left alone in our apartment (although I left her in a furnished apartment and I got her a TV the night before), was met with a tired husband. I think the spouses really got the raw deal from the Orientation.

Orientation - Week 1

The first week of orientation was incredibly hectic. It started 9am Monday with a speech from our dean. It ended early the next Monday morning after completion of a 3 1/2 day residential course locked in a hotel. In between were a series of orientation sessions designed to introduce us to Student Services, Careers Office, and academic expectations.

I think the sessions did a pretty good job introducing us to the school and its resources. The one thing missing from the first week was that memorable social event that introduced to us to a bit of the area and got us interacting with the class off-campus.

The week after the residential was pretty relaxing. I think we had 2 - 1/2 day sessions. This allowed me and Linz to catchup, unpack our delivered furniture, and set up our apartment.