V is for Venerability

When the new year 2012 started, it felt like things were crashing down. I ended up with a few disappointments in the job search process, made a decision or two that I regretted, and in general didn’t have much focus on where I was headed. But as we move into the new lunar new year, things have suddenly started looking up.

• I received a spring internship offer in equity research! Out of over 25 applicants, I was one of the four that were selected for the program, despite my relative inexperience with following the markets and stock analysis. I’m super excited for this; the program seems to be very well put together and eventually I might be able to publish some materials myself. The entire program is virtual, so I can do it from the comfort of my own apartment.
• I also received a spring internship offer in investment banking, primarily doing market research (as opposed to modeling, I guess?) for a fairly young boutique bank. This one is actually on-location, so I’ll be going in for extended hours on Fridays (I’ll be missing some recitations, but I would deem the experience worth it) and 2-3 hours after classes during the week. It’s also in the Back Bay area, so about a 20-minute commute time.

I’m still interviewing for potential summer internships and/or full-time positions, though, so we’ll see if anything full-time crops up in the coming months. Fingers crossed! On a related note, the MIT Sloan Master of Finance program recently opened up a Round III of applications, due March 15. I am actually considering applying, but it would require me to cram-study for the GMATs in February; I’m not sure if the invested cost will be worth it if I can’t guarantee at least a 760 (perhaps even more, considering my lack of experience and less-than-average GPA). Regardless, I do need to eventually take the GMAT, so I might just do it as a “practice” round at the end of February, and if scores happen to be fairly good, then I’ll send them in with my MFin application.

Today, I also went to the Wang Fitness center on campus and took a Zumba fitness class as part of my final group of PE requirements (440 minutes of group exercise classes). It was pretty fun, although I have to admit that I’m definitely not as in-shape or coordinated as I used to be — I was gasping for breath by the 30-minute mark! The good thing, however, is that I have a group pass, which means unlimited access to fitness classes. There is cap of 2 hours per week for the PE requirements, but nothing is stopping me from taking extra classes for personal entertainment. And to be honest, I’ve been eating way too much lately (especially with all the leftovers from the Chinese New Year party) and definitely need to lose some of that weight…

When I was young, Chinese New Year at my house was super fun time. We didn’t do the Asian-dinner-party thing with other families, but I always loved and appreciated the time that my parents took to make CNY a good experience back at home. I would play Timi Zhuo’s videos and sing along to her festive tunes; my father would prepare the chicken while my mother prepared the other dishes for our 團年飯 (Tuan Nian Fan). Since my parents are also Buddhist and participate in ancestral worship, there would be burning of paper money and ritual prayer in front of our altar (follow, inevitably, by my siblings and I sneaking bites of the candies on the table). I mainly remember the food, but I also remember the beautiful scent of incense, getting dressed up in a traditional Chinese outfit, and more. Most of all, I remember it as a time when my entire family would sit together and eat.

It’s really a pity here in college — no one actually sits down and eats while having a decent conversation. Yesterday’s dinner party was evidence of that; I’m not quite sure why young individuals don’t have the capacity to sit down and have a complex conversation. Maybe I’m asking for too much. Or maybe I’m too old-fashioned, and things like that should be reserved for when I’m older and have to force my children to attend my sophisticated, uptight dinner parties, haha. Either way, we’re going to make another attempt tomorrow – I’m hosting my own Tuan Nian Fan at my apartment with some of my close friends. And of course, I specified “semiformal” on the invitation, so hopefully everyone is respectful of that.

I actually just got back from Chinatown, where $50 got me a lot of food for tomorrow’s party. I really should go to Chinatown more often for groceries; not only is the food more delicious and healthy, but the prices are amazing compared to modern supermarkets like Shaw’s. Here’s a small preview of what’s going to be at tomorrow’s party:

• Chinese tea eggs
• Luo Han Zhai (vegetable dish)
• Fish, shrimp
• Fried tofu
• Dumplings
• Tang yuan
• Persimmons and oranges
• Mango pudding <3
• Some type of soup (haven’t decided what)
• and of course, vermicelli and rice

I’m not a cook by any means, but I think hosting so many of these apartment parties has helped me practice my cooking skills a bit. Of course, I’m still a major klutz when it comes to cooking meat of any sort, so I instructed Jocelyn and Jason to take care of that, hahaha.