First Day of School

Yesterday, Monday, was my first day of school at the Indian School of Business (ISB). ISB is similar to Darden (which is the name of my graduate business school at the University of Virginia) in many respects. However, there are a lot of differentiating factors. First, 93% of the students are from India - there was one class where I was the only white person. Second, their program is one year long, while it's two at Darden. Third, the school is one giant compound. While Darden is part of the University of Virginia and students don't live on grounds, ISB is its own school and everything is within a gated community. All students live in dorms and everything you need is a five minute walk away.

Everything went well on the first day. I am still trying to get my classes in order - they have a terribly complicated course registration and bidding system. All of the classes are in English and some are taught by American professors. The workload seems similar to Darden, if not a little easier. Classes are two hours long each and meet two days a week. There are about 600 full-time students and 40 exchange students. Of the 40 exchange students, I would guess that about 25 are from the U.S., almost all from Darden's peer schools. One of my classmates from Darden, Woodson, is on exchange with me this quarter.

The temperature here is perfect. Parts of Northern India, near Delhi, were a bit chilly. It has been between 70 and 80 degrees, day and night, so far. As such, all of the American students wear shorts to class. However, as I found out, buying shorts in the U.S. in December is a bit tricky as they are not in season. Woodson learned that the hard way and decided to turn some chinos into shorts... or "chorts", if you will.

Woodson's "Chorts"

One of the highlights of the day yesterday was learning that the library at school has a large collection of English DVDs. This resource will definitely come in useful. To celebrate finishing our first day of school, per Woodson's suggestion, we drank cheap whiskey and watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - the one where he goes to India and battles a witchdoctor. Cultural sensitivity at its finest.

Villain from "Temple of Doom"