Sunday May 26th

It's Monday. I'm back in Texas. These are some pictures from italy and switzerland because I didn't get a chance to put them up for the blog before. Overall, the trip has been very educational. It has reaffirmed my interest in cultural diversity as a research interest for my PhD in OB. I think I'm going to panhandle this summer to get some money because I'm too scared to look at my credit card statement. I'm also very excited to get back to America. I wonder why that is. I've always loved traveling, for months and months. However, this time, I'm excited to be back in the states. Not to say the trip hasn't been fun because it has been awesome, but I'm exhausted! I think I am more interested in going to developing countries though. The cost of living is usually cheaper and the food is better. I was a little disappointed in the food in Europe.

I have to say Switzerland was my favorite place because of the hiking. I've learned that the Swiss, although ranked #1 on the happiness scale, has a really really interesting culture. They were VERY different from people in Italy and France. I also think they are less accepting of foreigners.  I need to look into this, but I would guess they are a collectivist country. I ordered a Salad buffet in which they scolded me for putting too much on my plate on 1 trip to the buffet table (keep in mind that we are only allowed to go once, no more than that). So i'm not really sure what buffet means in Switzerland. However, they were very quick to educate me that this was not how things were done in Switzerland. The place seems very peaceful. They seem less interested in what other countries are doing and just focus on what they want to do. Their standard of living and subjective well-being scale is amongst the highest in the world. However, I can say that I would not want to live there. People seem more uptight there. Even the customer service was really poor. However, I can see why the Swiss are happy with their country. They are definitely doing it right.

Saturday May 26th

Sight seeing in Paris was awesome. So much history. On a very interesting note, we went to a "free" walking tour that Josh's wife found for us. Since I am interested in Social Psychology, this was a learning experience for me. At first they said it was free. 10 minutes into the tour, they said they took tips at the end of the tour. This is a very powerful strategy. They even mentioned that the average tip was 5 euro for the hour and a half tour. These kids use the powers of influence very well.  At this point, especially with a large crowd, 100% of the people will tip. They also won't leave the tour because they want to appear consistent. They also will tip 5 euro if not more to conform to social norms. Brilliant. 

On the train, Fayne was approached by a musician who began to perform for her. This is another similar strategy of influence. He began playing for Fayne without asking her for permission. Strictly speaking, she did not have to pay him anything. However, after he played his piece, he held out his cup. Although Fayne felt really uncomfortable, we still paid the man. Compare this guy's strategy with another guy who asks for permission. It is clear who would actually make more money at the end of the day. Other French passengers were immune to this man's strategy because they see it everyday. To combat this power of influence, you need to understand the underlying motive. For us, it was far too late.

I'm not going out tonight. I am absolutely exhausted. Got a train to catch tomorrow to the airport. Perhaps I will go the gym and buy a bottle of wine and keep it low key. Nite.

The UNESCO visit was amazing. This is always the kind of stuff I wanted to do. It actually made me reconsider my PhD in Organizational Behavior and perhaps look into getting a PhD in Public Policy. The presentation given by UNESCO was so intellectually stimulating. I spoke to the lecturer afterwards and got a  business card. I also asked if strict salaries prevented UNESCO from hiring the best and brightest people and they agreed that I had a good point. It's always frowned upon by organizations such as these to invest money into marketing and salaries because it creates a negative visceral reaction from people. But given that UNESCO's projects are so specialized, still many bright experts will volunteer there time and skill. This is something I would like to research in the future. I wonder how cultural diversity affects prosocial behavior.

Our street visit was fun. We went to a couple pubs and asked the local people there what kind of technology they used. It was very interesting how open the French are. I hope we didn't appear obnoxious. They were willing to help us on this school project. However, it seems many of them use the same social apps we do. Less on this for now, I will write a 1 page with more detail later.  Paris is very culturally diverse. I wonder how this cultural diversity affects business given that diversity is known to create barriers rather than innovative ideas

Thursday May 23rd

The lecture on entrepreneurship was good because Rickie was a great lecturer, but the content didn't impress me. I guess I've heard too many lectures on how entrepreneurship comes from the gut and how professors are there to give us the tools and skills to utilize our own ideas. An interesting lecture on entrepreneurship needs to come with something more unique than that. One thing I realized was that the guest speaker mentioned working 16 hrs a week and investing and selling his businesses. Personally, I felt this was not the life for me. I guess I'm just not the entrepreneurial type. Work-life balance is a key motivator for me, and although the degree of WLB is unique for every individual, I really learned that I will settle for nothing less if I must work 80hours a week. I can only do something I am passionate about.

On another note, it was Chester's bday. On the train ride, Rahul looks completely exhausted from the lack of sleep. Funny. I can't believe how crazy Paris traffic was. We didn't have time to get Chester a bday cake in Paris, so we got him a basket of fries instead and used ketchup as "fire". That's a pic of him blowing out his birthday fries. Time to sleep. It's great to have internet. Excited for UNESCO tomorrow.

Wednesday May 22nd

Today I decided to rest. Due to sleeping 2 to 3 hours a night for the last 2 weeks, I developed the flu and got a cold sore. This is the worst. I didn't pay $1,500 to sit in a hotel.  Alas, I am able to work on my PhD applications to stay productive.  However, after resting all day I wanted to grab dinner with some of the cohorts. While eating dinner, I found out Chester's dad had a stroke. I am going to help him get a ticket out of here as soon as possible.

It's a good thing I had Rahul record the lecture for me at EMLYON. I will listen to it when I get back to the states.  That's it for now...gotta rest this sickly body of mine. I want to attend class tomorrow.

Tuesday May 21st

On our 2nd day in Lyon, I really enjoyed our first lecture on European Business Systems. The professor's research interests actually matched my own (Corporate Social Responsibility). However, when he spoke about diversity, he failed to mention functional diversity. I planned on asking how different nations in Europe having unique industrial expertise affects unity and diversity, but I did not. I regret this. I've learned that I should be more ready to voice my opinions and questions. Dr. Powell actually asked several good questions. 

At the company visit at Aldes, I got to see a manufacturing facility in France. Having manufacturing experience myself, this was very different from what I was used to. In China, everyone has the appearance of being busy and productive, even though this is rarely the case. In France, given that wages are so high and workers typically are "lazier", the manufacturing plant was structured so well that I felt as if productivity was very high. This is exactly what the tour guide told us as well.

I seem to be getting the flu, but I still wanted to go see things in Lyon that night so we went out to look at the ruins. It was a pretty cool site. You could see many couples just walking around. I think that is more rare to see in America. 

Monday May 20th

On our first day in Lyon, we went on a guided tour. I didn't realize how old the buildings in France would look. I had the assumption that Europe's infrastructure was as updated as in other developed countries. The alley ways and brick and mortar buildings were really aesthetically pleasing, but perhaps this was because we  felt as if we were on vacation. I would imagine living in a place would be difficult given we are used to much more modern facilities. On another note, walking Lyon at night was very beautiful. The city seems like a great place to live. I immediately saw places I would like to go jogging in if I hadn't broken my ankle. One thing that was striking to me was how many people were so fashionable. I had the assumption that if average disposable income was lower, people would be purchase less trendy clothing products, but this seemed as if it was not the case. Perhaps fashion is more highly valued in France than it is in America. Given that these clothing items are more expensive to buy in Europe, we asked some students from Lyon and they said that dressing appropriately is especially important in France because it is important in business.