CS @ HBS

Yes, I know, I disappeared for a while. By now my internship is almost over (this week is my last one) - I still need to do my final presentation to the SVP but that’s about it. The summer has been great - I became friends with some of the other interns (even though they weren’t all from HBS :)) and we went on trips exploring Seattle and the area, as well as Seattle’s restaurants and bars (with a strong preference to sushi). Work was good, too.

What they say about Seattle is true - in the summer, it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever lived in. The weather is a perfect sunny 25 degrees almost every day, and within less than 100km from downtown there are lakes, waterfalls, glaciers and mountains (and good sushi restaurants). Too bad it’s like that only for the summer… You can skip to the end of the post to see some pictures.

We start second year at HBS after labor day weekend (first week of September). I’m excited about the second year, it’s supposed to be much better - at least easier - than the first one. Here are some of the differences between them:

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For some reason every state, city and public bathroom in the US has a nickname. So the “Emerald City” is, apparently, Seattle - the nickname is a result of a contest (!) held in the 80s and refers to the “lush evergreen trees in the surrounding area” (thanks to Wikipedia for that incredibly useful information).

At any rate, this is where I’m going to be for the summer. Landed two days ago (still ridiculously jetlagged) and going to be here till the end of August for my summer internship in a large technology company that sells stuff online.

The same technology company was also nice enough to set me (and the other interns) up in a great apartment complex right in downtown Seattle: Harbor Steps. I think the location couldn’t have been better - 2 minutes walk from Pike Place Market, Seattle Art Museum across the street, 5 minutes walk from the shopping district and tons of restaurants, coffee shops, art galleries and whatnot literally downstairs. Not to mention the waterfront being 2 minutes away (that’s why it’s called Harbor Steps…). I can almost say it’s better than where I used to live in Tel Aviv…

The apartment I have is a fully-furnished one bedroom, which means that when I got here on Saturday this is what welcomed me:

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I came back to Israel right after the semester ended, and a week later started the HBS Israel Trek (aka The Most Amazing Thing You Can Do While at HBS :)).

HBS Israel Trek
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Hard to believe but it’s OVER. Today was the last day of classes and while we still have three finals next week, I’ll be doing them online in a warmer, better place (aka Israel).

I’m flying tomorrow with some mixed emotions - but mostly happy. It’s been a great year, I had lots of fun, but it wasn’t always the easiest. I’m looking forward to almost a month in Israel with my family, friends, and some HBS friends (more about that in the next post), and to the rest of my summer in Seattle.

But I want to dedicate this post to something else…

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After a year of blogging (woohoo!), here’s some funny and interesting statistics about the blog, courtesy of Google Analytics:

Number of visits: 12,441

Absolute unique visitors: 6,819 people, coming from 107 countries.

Number of page views: 35,606

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This week I went to hear Greg Brenneman, HBS Class of ‘86, who came to speak at HBS. Since I took digital notes anyway, I thought I’d just post them (so it’s not that I’m sitting here writing posts a day before my finance final exam…).

Some background - Mr. Brenneman is currently CEO of TurnWorks, a private equity firm specialized in turning around troubled firms, and president and CEO of Quiznos Sub (sister - this one’s for you :)). He’s also on the board of Home Depot. You could say he specializes in turning around distressed companies - he was the CEO of PwC Consulting, CEO of Burger King and President & COO of Continental Airlines and helped “reviving” them.
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No, not to me…

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Weather Update

After endlessly complaining in my last post about the foul weather here, we had a few amazing sunny days of more than 15 degrees and the forecast for the rest of the week is sunny, with temperatures well above 10 degrees. The trees finally start to go out of their naked cemetery mode and there are even birds here. And they’re chirping.

Conclusion? complaining works!

On the other hand, it’s Boston, so on the very same sunny day of >20 degrees, at around 4pm there was a crazy thunderstorm, complete with lightning, thunder and rain. However it was one of these lucky days when the storm started exactly 5 minutes after I returned home from walking around and taking photos:

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<warning: looooooong!>

I’ve disappeared for a while, maybe it was Hibernation (”Shnat Horef” :)). I think it was also because of the job search process, which was frankly quite stressful and depressing at times.

Job Search

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In the meanwhile, check out these photos from Spring Break in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, with 50 people from my HBS section.

Here’s a sample:

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