Since the last time we checked in on the A-Team, the final midterm-Marketing-has come and gone. For most, the process went smoother than expected. Some groups were even able to finish early and then stand outside Aldrich, trying to freak out other teams by sadistically hollering things like, “COME ON!!!! YOU ONLY HAVE 15 MORE SECONDS!!!! RUN LIKE THE WIND! RUN, YOU FOOLS!!!”
Since seven hours of analyzing bubble-wrap strategies was enough to make anyone go insane, there was only one thing left to do after the exam was over. EAT.
Delia Vallejo and her housemates were generous enough to host the A-Team’s first International Dinner. Approximately 60 people showed up to chow down on dishes from across the globe, including, but not limited to:
French crˆpes from Karim El Naggar and his wife Virginie
New Orleans jambalaya … la Susan Rasmus
A Bulgarian feta cheese pie from Luba Atanassovska
Texan Chili, prepared party-style the night before from the Lone Star crew of Laurent Therivel, Daniel Pullin, Patrick Flood, Tina Snowden, and Conner Searcy
Korean dishes including bulgogi and kimchee from Grace Park
Home-made sushi from Asako Sakakibara
Samosas and pakoras from Charles Masters and Jatin Kakkar
Six massive gateaux courtesy of Jessica Lutzker
A basket of baked cookies from Tony Carango’s girlfriend, Arin
Belgian chocolates brought by Arnaud Ajdler
Brazilian chocolates from Rui Miadiara
French chocolates and wines courtesy of Laurent Chenot
Several others also contributed, but I am getting too hungry and must stop listing all this food. The Most Bizarre Dish Award went to the Brit’s “Toad in the Hole,” while Navin Dadlani was deemed the Gentleman of the Evening, for bringing flowers to the hostess. Entertainment was provided by Gady Lachman’s son, who performed a dance routine. A big thank you to Caroline Cake for pulling this dinner and the several lunch-time cultural talks together. Is she the school’s hardest-working International Rep, or what???
It was a good thing that we had a few days to recover from the International Dinner, for we went right back to stuffing ourselves at the Section Thanksgiving Dinner on November 19th. This get-together provided a nice opportunity to have the traditional holiday meal, mingle with our professors, and enjoy hot cider. Yum!
Nonfood-related events of the past few weeks include:
Mark Bradshaw getting red pen all over his face during class and then trying to inconspicuously wipe it off with, what else, Gatorade. Perhaps even funnier was Careina Williams thinking everyone was laughing at her while she was talking during all of this, as Mark stood dipping his napkin in his cup and trying to remain serious.
The “faulty projector” episode in LEAD, where two Media Services guys, walkie-talkies blaring, climbed up on the Skydeck, banishing poor Chris Young to the front row, while they attempted to change the projector bulb.
Ex-President Clinton’s speech, where a subset of the A-Team sat crammed in the far-left bleachers. A woman approached us and asked Javier Ewing and Ray Mertens if they would like to go and sit in two open seats in the front section. They joyfully left the rest of us behind, leaving Susan Rasmus to wonder aloud, “What ever happened to ‘Ladies first?'”
The finance class where we learned that Erik Lin is a man with no fear when it comes to risk, and according to Erik Stafford, is in no danger of becoming a “grandma.”
The infamous career services presentation on networked job searches-which caused several people to break out into cold sweats and panic attacks after hearing that some poor soul had to send out 225 emails in order to end up with 2 job offers. It’s gonna be a long, long winter…
TOM turning into LEAD. FRC turning into LEAD. Marketing turning into TOM. Is this some sort of game the faculty is playing that we don’t know about?
Pramo Selvaratnam and Kami Viswanathan setting the record straight on India’s Sweets during the Diwali presentation.
Octavio Valdes’ Mexico presentation, where we learned “Mexico is NOT just Tijuana and Cancun!!! Tequila does NOT have to be an evil thing!!!”
Anthony Carango’s Thanksgiving talk, where we learned that the holiday is just two words put together, “Thanks” and “Giving.” Deep, deep stuff.
So, what’s next for the A-Team? Thanksgiving break left us slightly refreshed, but even more eager for the BIG break coming up in a few weeks. If the past is any prediction of the future (which I know, according to Finance, it technically shouldn’t be), we will be able to keep ourselves busy and entertained until then.
