龙门　　：：　Dragon Gate

So, the first stage of next year is arranged. Last year I read an excellent book called 'A Fortune-Teller told me'. The main text of the book was pretty fascinating, but what really gripped me was the coda, in which the author describes a meditation course he attended in Thailand. Based on the information in that chapter, I did a bit of googling and came to the conclusion that he must have attended a Vipassana course. I had some experience of meditation when I was in my teens, but I was too young to really appreciate it then, and basically dismissed it as hippy rubbish. (Imagine Cartman giving an opinion on meditation, and you're pretty much there....) More recently, I've begun to realise the benefits of it, and had been meaning to get back into it - but you know how it is, when you're trying to do something new like that without any support, it's almost impossible to stick at it. Anyway, my impending 'employment-challenged' status gives me the ideal opportunity and, as it happens, they are offering a course near Bangkok at the ideal time for me, So, I'm off to Thailand in January for a 10-day introduction to meditation. They fund themselves through donations from ex-students, so the course is free for new students - which means I just need to pay travel costs (although I should be able to give a donation at the end, I guess).

A correction: of course, I meant All Tomorrow's Parties, not Idoru, in my last post. I'm slowing down: I've only bought a couple more watches since then, but there are a couple I think I'll acquire this weekend...

This is supposed to be an MBA applicant blog, but it's not easy to find MBA-related things to put in when all I can do is wait. HKUST have been advertising their course, and I see that Business Week's MBA Journals has someone from CEIBS - I considered both. Still, there are very specific skill sets that I want to acquire, and only NTU offers the right set of courses. I would prefer to re-apply next year for the right course than go to any old college just to get those three letters after my name. NTU don't guarantee an answer until June, though for July entry, which doesn't really leave me a great deal to talk about on that front.

That's a pity, not least because my employer and I will go our separate ways in a few weeks. It's been inevitable for some time, so no biggie. It should be fairly amicable, as long as nothing blows up before I leave. I've got things I can do until July, but my life is going to be pretty peripatetic in that period. It would sooo help me plan things if I knew where I was going to be in July! Plan B hasn't advanced much, but doesn't need any action until May. Plan C has made a little progress, so I know that I'll have to make some decisions about that in March - but even then, I'll still be able to go to NTU if I hear from them.

In the meantime, it's still fun reading other MBA blogs. Lucky has almost finished, but has passed on the INSEAD torch... Bruce Smith has dropped out of sight... Joey not happy with his GMAT... and Martin Lloyd is back on line. Yay!