The view outside my room at dusk, after a good rain.

Maman and Arthur on Arthur's birthday. Arthur went to schoolies so we had a quiet celebration over breakfast, holding gifts back for later, while Arthur waited to go. He's now down on the Gold Coast with about 50,000 other school leavers, all eager to party hard, drink more, sleep less, and seduce as much as they can.

The start of the ceremonies for Arthur's high school graduation: a mass given at the school. We then went to the valedictory dinner, and in the morning to the final assembly.

Valedictory dinner: Arthur having a bit of a chat to the school captain after receiving whatever he was given.

Arthur's house lining up for photos with a flattering photo of some poor kid in the background.

Arthur and his whole class singing their song, loudly, proudly, and for the last time. All in all, the spirit this school showed was amazing. Way beyond what I have seen at public schools.

View from the house, looking NE

Brisbane at dusk, taken by Thomas

Picture from Marika 1: This is Warszawa. I haven't been there, but friends sent me this picture after a recent trip. I thought it was nice enough to put up.

Picture from Marika 2: the Krakow old town

Random #2: A classroom shot. I am asking questions to a group that has just finished their final presentation. The classes were run using the Socratic method. Students were constantly participating. Apparently they do this, because they've found that other students remember 95% of what students say in class, but a much smaller percentage of what professors say.

American wrap-up

My time in the United States has come to an end. I arrived back in Australia two weeks ago, after a day spent enjoying Taipei's typhoon. I spent the last two weeks after my last post studying, partying and relaxing in Palo Alto's summer weather.
On the last week, we were asked to prepare a group presentation on a business subject of our choice. My group decided to focus on the rise of Starbucks, and of the role of Howard Schultz in its success. The topic was well geared towards an audience of young and hopeful business oriented professionals. The students enjoyed hearing a story of success, and we got a good response from them. Well besides the odd comment of about Starbucks and corporate America.

After the presentations, on the Friday night, we had a graduation dinner, followed by a night out. They had hired out a limo bus to get us to the bars. The evening was fun, more because everyone was bent on having a good last night, than because of anything else, but attitude on these occasions is everything.

Saturday night, I left the US for Australia via Taiwan. There was a typhoon in Taipei, which put an end to my plans of visiting the town. By the time I got to Australia, I wasn't feeling well. It took me a week to get better, and university had already started. Since then, I have been going to class, while trying to ensure that I will graduate at the end of this semester. A tough task, since I am not taking any engineering classes.

I am still going to use this page for the odd trip or photos, but until Africa, it is not going to be quite as active.

The final dinner was the start of the final night's celebration. We all made our way to alumni centre, where we enjoyed truly gourmet food, and good company, before we headed out for the night. The night finished late as we all stayed behind, avoiding goodbyes.

That's me getting my certificate, second in line, by alphabetical order. Half the people hadn't realised the presentation had started, but at least I was out of that line quickly.

Kashfia and myself. Kashfia was nice enough not to wear a collar that night. She is from Bangladesh, and she's invited me there. I told her that I could only come for a few months. Her agreement didn't seem so keen after that.

Just about everyone dressed up for the final dinner.

From the right: Jill, Tom, myself, Chris and Elaine. I had many good laughs with these people, especially the blokes.

Random shot #1: This is a post Mist Trail in Yosemite shot. This shot, and most of the ones I posted today were taken by someone else. Hence the late post.

A rather dogy shot of the last night out, but this photo has people I spent a lot of time with. Tobias on the left, Holda under me, and Marika on the right all started a Coupling craze. We had a nice following among the Americans and the internationals for the show. On our last week there, we ended up watching it a lot.

A nice shot of a building on campus.

We went to a Giant's game the weekend after Yosemite. The park is rather pretty, overlooking the Bay. When Barry Bonds plays, there are people in their canoe, waiting beyond the park, to catch his home runs. This game was also my last time in the city (short for San Francisco).

Right on the point of contact. The batter ran a double.

This weekend, I went to Yosemite, a well known National Park. The place was absolutely stunning, and the company of my group was very enjoyable. I spent a great couple of days.

Oh man, so much power.

I have to show some pictures of myself. After I reached the top, I started to explore, climbing rocks and logs. I quickly returned to get others to come with me. Seeing someone do something they didn't think they could do is great.

A couple of friends I hiked up with.

At the top of the fall.

Lovely.

And there was paradise. It is hot, I am drenched, tired, out of breath, and short of rest, but there is what I see to comfort me. It was worth the climb.

Pretty but steep.

Isn't it just wonderful?

A repeat of the previous. I don't know which I prefer.

The start of the Mist Trail. The wind blows a lot of water onto the trail, drenching us on the one hand, but creating a beautiful environment on the other.

The river is this strong for the whole ascent. This is summer, and the winter saw a lot of snow.

Half Dome and the Yosemite valley. Half Dome is the symbol of the brand: The North Face. The wall is very popular with climbers.

It looks like a golf course, but it is just a meadow created by the river. Down below, tourists swarm the place. Up here, things are more peaceful.

Upper Yosemite Falls. It took a little while to get here, but it was worth the effort.

Exploring some rock near our hotel.

Stanford -- here follows a little series on the campus itself. And how appropriate is it that I show you a proud American flag on the fourth of July. This building is Stanford's most famous icon. The tower you see obstructed by the branch can be seen from the whole campus. If I open my blinds, I can see it too. I walk past it everyday, usually lost in conversation with someone new.

Stanford is a very big campus, especially when one factures that it has only 7000 undergraduates. Concrete, asphalt, and grass are laid freely and abundantly between the buildings.

Okay, so perhaps I am the millionth person to take this picture, but it gives a good idea of the architecture of the campus.

Whitney, a great girl, poses on the way to class. Every day, after breakfast and lunch, we stream out from our dorm to the classrooms, walking through the very pretty Stanford campus.

The GSB, or for the ones not in the know, the Stanford Graduate School of Business. We usually have three or so classes there per day. The room I am in is one of the best lecture theaters I have learned in. It is small enough that I hear everything, and big enough that it fits seventy people. It is always full, everyone going to their assigned seat. We have name tags so that the professors can call on us.

At night, we meet with a study group and go over the work for the next day. Business schools like to cold call, so we try to be prepared. I started bringing wine to my group, and since then, we always stay a little longer.

On our first weekend, we went to Santa Cruz, where we explored the beach. I tried skim boarding (fell in the water), played frisbee, talked, hung around, basically 'chilling' California style.

A Luna Park on the beach. Chris is looking at the camera now, as we're packing to go home.

Stanford

After DC, after New York, and after Davis, I arrived to Palo Alto, a city known for its university: Stanford. I am doing a program with the Graduate School of Business; they call it the Summer Insitute.

Stanford is rich, oh so rich. Tuition here comes to around $40,000 for a full year, and signs of this wealth are apparent. One of my professors drives a Porsche, while another advises the President on tax reform. The campus itself is a pretty thing, but not prettier than, say, the University of Western Australia. Even if not so aesthetic as UWA, Stanford spends a lot of money on its students. Dorms are luxurious compared to most other universities: mine features a bunch of grand pianos, foosball and ping pong tables, kitchens, lounges, courtyards, and even a network of catwalks. Staff is available for all our needs, be it related to computer issues, or career counseling. Food is good, some might even say tasty and healthy, a rare combination in this country.

The program itself is very well organised: we take a number of classes a day, and meet up with a small group of students later to discuss the morrow's questions. Professors believe in the socratic method; they constantly ask questions, and the class participates. Really, the program seems bent on teaching us a way of thinking rather than a set of testable material. But it is the people that make the program: the students are outstanding. I still don't know how selective this program was, since it is only the second year they ran it, but whatever they have done, they have put together a number of very diverse students. This diversity encourages challenging discussions, and at night, good times. Yesterday, I brought a bottle of wine to my study group. Soon after, I was somewhere in a bar having a great time. This morning, I was focusing very hard on strategy principles.

This program makes me think that I probably should have applied to some of the world's best schools straight out of high school. I had the marks, but not the drive or the knowledge. Not to say that I didn't meet great people in Perth and Brisbane, but that they aren't as many there as here.

I will publish some pictures when I take them. Alright, I am off to dinner.

New York City, Times Square. I was there last Thursday before I moved out of DC, across the country to California. New York is an amazing town, full of life. And the life here isn't monotonous; no, it is diverse, as diverse as I have ever seen it. But at the same time, it is very accepting. Jews are jews, Blacks are blacks, Poles are poles, Italians are italians, and they all live together, with hundreds of other groups. I only stayed briefly but it was a fascinating experience, a taste for more to come.

Times Square II.

This wheel is inside Toys 'r' Us' Times Square store. It is pretty well know around here.

This is a very typical street in New York. Unlike Australia, the CBD is gigantic, and buildings get very tall, very often.

Coming in to Central Park. The park is massive. It is lined with glass towers, sporting some very expensive real estate.