By Randy Zwitch - September 20th, 2010  Category: CCMBA 2010D| Final Residency: Durham!  Pulled Pork, Fried Okra, Mac & Cheese, and Hush Puppies It’s 10 p.m. and I can’t move. And I wouldn’t have it any other way!
After 2-3 days of eating at the Conference Center cafeteria, I decided I needed to get away from the institutional food and go out in search of the institution that is North Carolina barbecue. Originally, I tried to go to Bullocks BBQ at the recommendation of a classmate, but for whatever reason it’s not open on Monday.
Disappointed from encountering the dark storefront, I was thinking about giving up and just going to the Bojangles nearby (which is fantastic in a different sort-of-way), but I broke out my trusty iPhone and tried again. This search led me to Hog Heaven, which was only open until 8 p.m. Now, I’m not saying I broke any traffic laws, but seeing that it was 7:53 when I did this Google search led me to drive in a bit of a ‘spirited’ manner, because dammit, I was going to get some BBQ tonight! Luckily, I stayed at the hotel across the street from Hog Heaven when I had my CCMBA admissions interview, so I more or less knew where I was going.
Anyway, dinner was fantastic, even though I didn’t make it to the original BBQ spot…and there’s always tomorrow for Bullocks! There’s just something about that watery, vinegar-based sauce that can just make an evening.
‘Alumni’ Panel
The other highlight of the day was sitting on a Duke ‘Alumni’ panel (though only one of us on the panel has actually graduated so far!) to answer questions about our executive MBA experience. It was an interesting experience to think back on my time in the CCMBA program, especially since it was a little less than two years ago when I was in the exact same position as the Open House guests. As far as I can tell, I didn’t say anything to keep anyone from applying!
By Randy Zwitch - April 17th, 2010 Category: CCMBA 2010D| Residency 4: Shanghai The residency started off bright and early this morning at 8 a.m. with the CCL class. While I’ve complained about this class quite loudly in the past, I must say that today’s session was excellent. After discussing some of the drier, anthropological background of China, we moved on to disputing some of this panel data, and finally to discussing the overall cultural tensions in the region (specifically, Communism vs. Western Democracy). This is exactly the type of discussion I was hoping for when I came into the CCMBA program, and wish we would’ve had the same opportunity for robust discussion in India.
 Bartering is a whole lot easier when you speak Mandarin After CCL, we then moved onto the team-switching & bonding events. This activity consisted of two parts: a discussion of the new team dynamics and expectations, and the team building event. Whereas in London, we had a more physical team building activity, today we instead took the time to learn about Chinese culture by visiting a local Chinese produce market, then taking a cooking class. With 50 RMB in hand, the team set out around the market to pick up four items: chicken eggs, asparagus, Cantonese pork, and green onions. Luckily, we had David on our team, whose Taiwanese background and Mandarin language skills helped us walk out of the market with 20 RMB to spare!
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By Randy Zwitch - February 3rd, 2010 Category: CCMBA 2010D| Residency 3: Delhi Feeling better? Check. Half-day of class? Check. Signed up for a corporate tour? Nope. It’s time to see Delhi!
So after 3 days of getting sick and/or driving the porcelain bus, I had finally gotten over my ‘Delhi Belly’ and was able to venture outside of the hotel. It would’ve been an amazing irony if I had flown all the way to Delhi, seen two other cities (Agra and Jaipur), then been too sick to leave the hotel in Delhi! Luckily, I’ve gotten that out of the system.
Around mid-afternoon, Jig, Pat S., and I decided to go out wandering/shopping. At first, we decided to walk, and then reconsidered and took a rickshaw. First, if you’ve seen any of the videos on YouTube about traffic in India, you know that the roadways look like a demolition derby is taking place…yet, I still haven’t see a real accident yet. Not that they don’t take place, as I’m certain they do, but that as chaotic as it is, everyone seems to know what everyone else is doing. Cutting each other off, driving the wrong way down the street, instant U-turns across several lanes, avoiding chickens and cows and anything else roaming the street, and of course, pedestrians. Insane. What’s even more insane? The rickshaw ride cost 20 rupees on the way to our first destination, or $0.43. TOTAL, for all 3 of us.
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