It just so happened that the years I graduated, there were also some sort of recession or global financial crisis going on.
In 2002, I finished my undergrad and it was almost impossible to get a job then. 9-11 happened a year prior to that and in NYC, businesses were cutting back and going through a hard-time. Even people with years of experiences were out of job and the competition was fierce. There were huge lines at various job fairs and we couldn’t help but hear how unemployment rate was going up in the news. My internship paid off as it put me ahead of my fellow students when it came to hands-on experience and during interviews. Crain’s New York Business actually conducted a brief interview as I happened to be one of those few who managed to land a job despite our so-called disadvantage of requiring someone to sponsor us for a job visa (H1-B). Things went smoothly I have to say…
It took me about two years to take GMAT (a standardized entrance exam for business schools) as I slacked off with tons of excuses. Meanwhile, I saw my classmates already in grad schools as they couldn’t find a job and continued on with their studies.
Finally, I got in one and took me about 5 years to finish the whole program. This time, I went only part-time and even took a semester off in between as I was switching jobs and stuff. I found myself surrounded with a whole new set of students. I didn’t find such drastic difference in grad and undergrad as far as studies and workload were concerned. Well, that’s not true. Two things were obvious. One, we ran the risk of public humiliation if we slack off as we had to do presentations in front of the whole class in every single class. Second, I found the students way smarter. While I was undergrad, I found myself average or maybe even a bit above average. If I didn’t do well in a test, I would still come off with a decent grade; not in this grad school though. I had to really ramp up.
Well, now that it’s over I was wondering what’s next. The economy has been in recession since last year and haven’t heard much great news yet. In the meantime, I was thinking maybe I will continue trying out some free online courses to keep abreast with current matters. I found a few useful options and thought I would share them here too. I tried a few courses from UC Berkley and love ‘em.
Check this out:
http://www.mytwodollars.com/2009/10/15/how-to-get-a-free-education-online/
Podcasts and Webcasts of UC Berkeley: http://webcast.berkeley.edu/
MIT open courseware: http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
Yonge Street
Yonge and Bloor intersection now has all crossing. Woo hoo! As a diligent pedestrian, I couldn’t be more pleased that they decided to put one more all crossing there. Yes, we can now cross diagonally. First, they did it at Dundas Square and it was advertised heavily – in the news, on the radio, talkshows, etc. This time, they just put it there without much publicity. It’s all good.
Google voice is allowing free Canada calls. My friends in the States now can call me FREE and I can actually call them free too. Just needed a few tweak – i.e putting my number in the to-be-ring-back-to slot. Pretty neat. 
Google map now has the street view of the city. So, if you search for say – dundas square, toronto – in the search box and drag the little man to the street, you can see the pictures of the street. Use the little arrow on the pictures to go around. You can take a virtual tour of the city. The pictures were taken recently and they show a great view of the city. Some like it. Some hate it. I love it!
US dollar is getting weaker compared to a few months ago and loonie now is worth some more. Glad to see it going up once in a while.
Well, it’s about time we move on to Fall. After all, it’s getting dark at 8pm and even required a winter coat to step outside today. Thanksgiving holiday was over. Yeah, it was on October 11 and it certainly didn’t feel like Thanksgiving. Too early to be thinking about one.. Nevertheless, I thought I would just share some summer events that went on.
The last time we tried going to the center island, it was on labor day weekend. The line to the ferry was impossible even at 8am. So this year, we took an out of town friend to this Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) instead. It has a lot of ethnic food, fun rides and shopping area for stuff from around the world. This is one of the places we can certainly see how Canada is really promoting multi culture. I went there last year as a guest as someone local here took me there. This time, I get to be the local. Not bad, eh?
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CNE
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CNE
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TIFF – Dundas SQ
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At CNE – it took a few moments to decide where to dump the trash
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TIFF – Free Movie
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TIFF – Free Movie
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TIFF – Free coffee
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Free Horror Movie at TIFF (Dundas Square)
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Toronto Film Festival – Director doing a QA session
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Yonge Street – near Dundas Square
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CNE – ice skating show
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CNE – ice skating show
We went there using a streetcar – those that run on rails. And they were all jammed packed. We happened to go there on the last day and there were about 8 cars before we could get on one. After seeing the ice-skating show and all the exhibition, it was all worth it. This time, we didn’t try any ride.
Then, there was a Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in early Sept. I didn’t know what that was about until I tried one. Apparently, a lot of hollywood movie stars came to Toronto to promote their films and these films are brand new which weren’t shown anywhere else. Normally, it costs about $12 for regular movies and for movies during the event, it’s about $20. Even with the marked up price, all the shows were gone by the time we decided to go. Only then did I learn that we had to get the ticket in advance to get a movie that was popular. The great ones were all sold out even before the event! Just for the sake of it, we tried one. We just grabbed one that were available and it was not even in English but with some English subtitle. The director of the movie introduced the movie before and afterward he came out and did some Q/A session. The particular movie we saw was totally stopped in the middle. At least that’s how I felt. He said it was open ended and it’s left for our own interpretation.
One great thing though is that it brought a lot of people out on the streets and around the cinemas. At Dundas square, they held a few movies free out in the open. I saw a horror movie and it was a unique experience. I enjoyed it even more. A few vendors such as starbucks and some soda company were giving out free drinks. The city was lively and we could feel the excitement in the air.
I guess, the events are pretty much over. It’s hard not to think about the looming freezing weather. Oh well.
