mbat (paris!)

partners make a great cheering squad

Howie and Houssam schooling the opposition

mbat- i have no idea what it stands for, but means something about mba students pretending to be athletes for a weekend and competing against all of the other european mba schools.

team strategy- easier than accounting?

celebrating after the win

paris? kind of. the mbat event was hosted at HEC Paris. Which, is not really "in" paris at all. apparently HEC hosts this event every year but uses the event as an opportunity to teach their students about operations or some other business-school related stuff.

IMD had the best team spirit!

Nisha and Lois brought Shakira with them everywhere

Caroline, Howie & Hannes cheering on badminton players

so the IMD students organized themselves into teams, made arrangements and set off to the mbat for a weekend. many of the partners joined as well, hoping to get a glimpse of their husbands, wives, girlfriends, fiances etc. for a few hours while they were on this short 4 day break. this was my plan as well, including hopes for seeing paris again after about 10 years since the last time.

as much as the weekend was a disaster, it was also great fun. i enjoyed cheering on Howie at his basketball games (they won one game!) as well as some of the other sporting events. i also enjoyed my short time in the city- i had forgotten how amazing the street life is in paris.

another glimpse at the Pompidou center

good memories

the disaster part is the fact that our hotel was even further out of the city than HEC, even past versailles. the event was so poorly organized that there were no shuttle busses corresponding to the schedule, and parties were so horribly done and difficult to get to that we went to none. it was even difficult to get around campus as many of the events were spread out to other venues.

paris has amazing street life

despite the run-around, it was great to have a weekend off, some time with howie, and great food in paris! we're definitely going back to that amazing city.

Howie and Rali

enjoying a drink after an amazing dinner of foie gras & duck!

Cooking: Chinese steamed dumplings

Yes, it is true that I, Alison Ruth Markowitz Chan, gave a cooking lesson. I'm sure any family members right now reading this are rolling on the floor. They always tease me about my lack of cooking skills, but when you've got a husband who loves to cook you don't have many opportunities to practice! (poor me.) Also, lets not forget the amazing sweet potato casserole that was the hit of our thanksgiving dinner. Well, this year is different and I've already been cooking a lot, both simple everyday dishes and a few more complex. 


Here is a blog post I wrote about the recent cooking lesson for some other partners on the MBA partners blog. The post contains the instructions for cooking dumplings. And, if you're interested, check back on that blog to find out what some of my new friends are writing about throughout the year. 

Iyerida, Junko, Sharon, Maria, AMC, Verity & Nora

i'm a "partner"?

The last two weeks have been so busy, it feels like its been many more! Howie has been working hard on schoolwork already, and the partners group has begun with so many activities to coordinate. It has been a flurry of names and cultures and I’ve tried very hard to remember them all. Still working on that. To be perfectly honest it has been a little overwhelming. I came to Lausanne with a fairly clear set of goals in mind and already I feel like I should be doing more to accomplish those goals- professional and otherwise. (A year goes quickly!) But somehow I have become the running group coordinator, cross country ski coordinator and cooking class coordinator. I also will participate in some other events/classes (such as: Bollywood dancing, clothes making, and cycling) and whew, there went my free time!  But, having friends and things to do wins every time. It’s a matter of balance, planning and plenty of chocolate. 

a little gift for my hubby:

Blondel chocolates- the best in Lausanne

first day of school!

we both started school this week. Howie to the real thing, IMD MBA, me to the partner group! here is howie on his way out the door- day 1.

and here is me with the group of lovely ladies (and a few gents) that i'm starting to get to know.

finally feeling a bit busy, which is nice for a change.

also went exploring yesterday, more good stuff to come!