drifterdiaries

Hello, friends. As many of you are well aware, I don’t have a personal life (I don’t think I have a heart either), so all my effort goes into my future career prospects. If you’ve had any interaction with me in the past couple of years, chances are it involved me stressing about getting a job. Is it weird that I’ve been having dreams about this? I don’t really like that about myself, I feel like I am way too focused on that one thing and it’s a little unhealthy. But at the same time, I can’t say that I don’t have a life, so I guess as long as I have other interests (like…peanut butter cups and working out and cats?) I should be…fine?

I believe it all started with some giving back and good karma: I gave my $20 to the Senior Gift (check this out, I am on the Honor Roll for $20, it’s kinds sad http://www.brynmawr.edu/giving/annualgiving/seniorgift/donors.html). After months of grueling search and exhausting inconclusive interviews (I don’t know about the rest of the world, but the economy here sucks guys, like big time), I ran into a wise man who asked me whether I gave my Senior Gift. I was like “pshh NO, I’ll give when I have a job and Bryn Mawr has not been terribly helpful with that”. But then I realized. This is what I am doing wrong. I am putting so much extra pressure on this by ending all my sentences with “when I get a job”. I will get a haircut…when I get a job. I will dye my hair…when I get a job (actually, that one’s spot on). I will lose 10 pounds…when I get a job (hopefully I will now since I don’t have to stress-eat myself to sleep anymore) etc etc. So now I am a firm believer in good karma. And everyone should give to the Senior Gift! 🙂

Now a little bit about where I’ll be starting mid-July. Geographically in DC (not a fan, to tell the truth, but DC grows on you). I will be starting as an Analyst in Analysis Group, a top economic consulting firm (sorry, I had to be obnoxious about this one). It really is a great cultural fit, a small office (about 50 people – perfect size). I interviewed with a couple of other econ consulting firms, but Analysis put me up in a nicer hotel (sign!), and I enjoyed the process a lot more. The decisive factor is how you feel during the grueling 5 hours of interviews and how you come out of it. I really enjoyed speaking with everyone, and even though the process was still stressful (it’s bound to be), I felt really good about it and enjoyed the cases and simply great conversations. Anyways, I was literally jumping up and down when they called me, that’s how pathetic my life is. We popped a bottle of Moet that night. My parents were probably doing vodka shots back home…

Best things about AG:

1)      Connections with academia (affiliated experts include Robert Hall, Glen Hubbard, and I think they also used to work with Larry Summers. How cool is that??)

2)      Grad School/B-school options (18% of analysis go to HBS, that’s an amazing statistic and I am hoping to be one of them in a few years’ time)

3)      Amazingly smart people, all managing directors (and above) have PhDs in Econ

4)       Lots of interesting (or so it seems) work, lots of different cases across industries etc.

5)      Nice pay and I get 3 weeks off 🙂

Bottom line is, not a lot of people can boast landing something close to a dream job out of college, and I am extremely excited about mine. (Are you guys still reading? Is this over-the-top obnoxious?)

It’s kind of hard to process that it’s over. It feels strange, too. When you work really hard for something, and then it finally happens, and you’re ready for the next quest, but there is none. At least not in the near future. For now, I’m really glad I can focus on being a student for the rest of the year. I really need to concentrate on conquering my two theses. Winter break at home promises to be fun: I will most likely end up spending most of it writing for the French thesis.

I think I’ll give everyone a break and some time to vomit in your mouth as you read this. And I am totally getting the Most Obnoxious Post of the Year award. Hey, no judgment, it’s not a crime to be proud of something, especially considering how self-deprecating I am most of the time. Most of the time 🙂

Love you

There is something about warm summer nights that is very conducive to romantic encounters. But as you are all well-aware, I have a rock in place of a heart, so I chose des rencontres cinématographique instead. Which are, I must admit, in a number of ways a lot more satisfying. There is a small chain of artsy movie theatres in Old City with a very unassuming name “the Ritz”. They happen to show all the summer pieces I want to see: to Rome with Love, the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom, Easy Money, Ruby Sparks, Beasts of the Southern Wild, lots of French dramas (in French!) including Marcel Pagnol’s gem the Well-Digger’s Daughter, 360(degrees), Ai Wei Wei Never Sorry, the list goes on. 360 in particular sounded like a cinematographic orgasm. Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, Vienna, Euro-Zone instability, Arab Spring…the movie was a bit of a disappointment, mainly because my expectations were hyped up with all this mouth-watering Euro-Zone instability business. Actually, the sexiest part was left out, but overall worth watching, if only for some Anthony and Jude. I did not get around seeing Never Sorry yet, but I am looking forward to it since I kind of got hooked up on Wei after his exhibition at Louisiana in CPH.

“This is Bridget Jones for Sit Up, Britain, back to the studio!” (Please forgive me, for all of you who are not yet aware of my extraordinary ability to quote all of Bridget Jones and Mean Girls by heart.) Olga (who I met in Paris last fall) honored Philadelphia a visit, and I am doing my best to ensure she leaves with a good impression, which is somewhat challenging for a first-time visitor of Philathadelphia. Like a friend of a friend mentioned after visiting by himself and not having anyone to guide him around “it smells and too many black people”. Great. The fact of the matter is, I started appreciating this city having lived nearby for almost three years. They say Philly is the new Brooklyn: if you want the atmosphere but don’t want to pay the rent, move to Philly. Which I wholeheartedly agree with, it has a very hipsterish feel too it. Tonight is Olga’s next-to-last night here, and we will finish it off with a badass Monday night outing at Morgan’s Pier. Until next time.

Hello again. I turned to writing again in an effort to recover from my recent devastating break-up. I just separated from my longest partner. No, not a bottle of wine. NBC and I have been together for the past couple of weeks following the Olympics. I secretly wish it were Yannick Agnel. As my good friend noted, how will I ever fill the void in my life?

A brief summary of what I have been up to these days. A couple of weeks ago we took off to the biggest music festival on the East Coast, “Firefly”. Naturally it took place in godforsaken Doverfuck, Delaware. Thankfully we had a driver on our team so we were no longer threatened to be trapped in Delaware overnight. The day was epic, sort of like a modern-day Woodstock meets Urban Outfitters fashion nightmare. We got tickets for the day the Killers were performing and I must say they are amazing live. Pictures are coming.

This past Saturday we went to see Real Madrid vs. the Celtics in Philly. I still don’t understand how that happened, but naturally got tickets right away. I mean, for real? The game was a little slow since clearly none of the teams cared, but it was still a lot of fun. All Celtics supporters were carrying Irish flags and being merry (fyi they are Scottish), but naturally most people wouldn’t know the difference. Only in America. I love this country. Pictures are coming as well. I made extensive use of my 18x optical zoom.

To mix up all these fun and uncultured events and live up to my bourgeois self, I went to see the Visions of Arcadia – the most recent special exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It explored the concept of Arcadia, Paradise on Earth, Eden…whatever else you call it. There were a couple of my favorites, including Rousseau’s and Frantz Marc’s Dream, a couple of new discoveries like misty, dreamy and slightly Brothers Grimm-esque Corot. And of course a few Gauguins. I get a bit tired of his repetitive motives, but his color scheme is mesmerizing. Also, did you know that Henri Rousseau was a freaking toll collector before he turned to painting at the age of 30? Well, maybe I am not a lost cause. In my twenties I feel the urgency to do something “important” with my life, but hey, I could still be the next Rousseau, maybe. Maybe not.

Oh, right. There was also DC (again). I finally made Maddy go kayaking with me (pictures of Maddy conquering the Potomac are coming) and saw the Miro exhibition in the National Gallery. I automatically think of him and Picasso as Spanish artists who were influenced by the civil war and the world wars the most. I am sure there are others, but most of their work during those periods is seriously disturbing. I will stop my bourgeois art-lover nonsense here. Ciao.

This week has been marked with many firsts. First Fourth of July in America. First baseball game. First Carrie Bradshaw-esque party on a rooftop in downtown Manhattan. Sounds like a fantasy. More often than not I enjoy finding faults with this country and rant about how Europe is so much better, but I think I am now officially emotionally attached. Of course, New York or Philadelphia is as much America as Moscow is Russia (not), but the sheer diversity of the city bathed in morning sunlight is truly mesmerizing. Here we were, an Indian (who I met in the US), a Russian and a Mexican (whom I met in India), having brunch in a French patisserie in the Financial District. We all have ups and downs, down and outs, but for now I just like to say…God bless America.

I am spending a relaxing night in after my first day at PFM. It is just me, rosemary olive oil potatoes, smoked salmon with a touch of lemon, sautéed aubergine & zucchini, and my new favorite Oyster Bay Sauvignon from New Zealand.  I know what you are thinking. Baked potatoes and zucchini do not seem like a big deal, but it is for someone who barely cooks, like me. Having survived on baguettes, yoghurts and fig jam for four month in France, I am making an effort to eat smart and healthy, without excessive fat, salt, or Sauvignon.

First day at work went well. I participated in training in the Philadelphia office, which has a fabulous view on the City Hall and the Fine Arts Museum. Mostly an 8-hour Excel overload with little time left for anything else.  However, I am glad we went over this since I have not really used it since last summer and my shortcuts definitely leave much to be desired. Tomorrow I am spending the day in Harrisburg, the asset management headquarters, otherwise the saddest place on Earth. A bit apprehensive, as usual, but I am looking forward to it.

A tout à l’heure.

P.S. Apologies for such a prolific day, I never publish things as I write them. 

On Saturday me, Duong and Charles went to a pub to watch the great Russian humiliation. Seriously, we have a bullshit group and we cannot even make it into semi-finals. On the bright side, I made a couple of Russian friends, including a mildly attractive Merrill Lynch employee. Denmark vs. Germany and Netherlands vs. Portugal was a huge disappointment as well. I have long been rooting for Netherlands (they do deserve better) and although we were mostly ambivalent about Germany and Denmark, it would have been interesting if the underdog made it for a change. Especially since Sweden is most likely out and I have no more tall blond men to watch.

A typical Sunday night, painting my nails with a work-appropriate polish rightfully named ‘Eternal optimist’ and finishing a third season of Sex and the City rerun before my first day at work. Oh, about that. The past two weeks have been absolutely nuts. As you may remember, my work authorization was delayed for a ridiculous amount of time and for a fittingly ridiculous reason. By the time I finally received it, the Federal Reserve figured they could not possibly wait for my authorization to clear and hired someone else. Meanwhile, I was fighting to death with US Immigration Services and devising a plan B. After some networking efforts and digging up past offers, I was facing a choice between three respectable firms: Public Financial Management, Brean Murray Carret & Co LLC, and BrandywineGlobal. A gist just to give you a better idea of what I was looking at.

Brandywine is a (relatively) big fixed income shop expanding to Singapore and London, with approx. $38 billion under management. They want me in the Client Services group, where I would be dealing with…well. Whatever comes up: ad-hoc projects, client reports, research. They have a fabulous office and a plus is that everything is in one building, including portfolio managers and traders, which provides a possibility to familiarize oneself with other aspects of the business.
PFM, or Public Financial Management, is the biggest fixed income shop in public finance. Public finance is literally what it stands for: their clients would be state and local governments, institutions, healthcare etc. as opposed to high net worth individuals. Their business is divided into Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The worst thing is that their Asset Management HQ is in Harrisburg (about 2 hours away from Philadelphia). They are proposing 3 days in Harrisburg (whenever there is a lot going on), and 2 days in Philly. In the Philly office I would be sitting at the Quant desk (I have no idea where this came from)as well as working on independent research projects for Asset Management. In Harrisburg I would be with the structured products group which mostly does refinancing. The good thing is that it looks like a pretty hands-on experience. Another plus is that structured group’s cubicles are in the same room as the trading desk, strategy etc. – same idea as Brandywine. On the cons side, it is very conservative and does not deal internationally.

Brean Murray and Carret is a mid-sized investment boutique in New York. I have been in touch with them in the spring, but turned them down since I already had the Fed under my belt (or so it seemed). I was proposed to be in Equity research covering resources and utilities, which is actually mostly public finance. I went up to NYC to meet the team, but it did not leave a very good impression, and I had a feeling that I would not learn as much. And this was the end of my brief affair with glamorous life in New York City:).

After a lot of careful deliberation, I decided to take up PFM’s offer. The team seemed very committed to educating interns, and although I am not sure I would like to stay in public finance after graduation, the most important thing at the moment is the learning opportunity. Another sell was one of their MDs, an amazing guys from the Philly office I had dinner with once back in the spring. And so PFM won:).

All in all, I do believe that everything happens for a reason. Sigh. Fuck career, sometimes I just want to have an easy life.

I hate this emptiness that ensues once the semester is over, everything is packed, sorted out, and I have nothing to obsess over anymore. I end up staying up in the wee hours of the night listening to Sad.fm and feeling…well, empty. Tired. Tired of looking forward to everything. Can’t I just move to Lisbon and open a grocery store. And make love potions and poison. And own cats. A lot.

In two days I will be in Moscow, and the hamster will start running in a barrel again. Meetings and greetings, hellos and goodbyes, family vacation, another move, work, GRE. Senior year. Theses. Jobs. Grad schools. Life is happening. Stop listening to Sad.fm Yulia, everything will be alright. I thought I packed it all but I forgot my heart. God. Sometimes I just want to hit myself.

It has been pouring all day and after a three month hiatus, I return. Unbelievable, but this semester will be over in three weeks. Arguably the most boring semester I’ve ever had. But then again this is not very constructive, it’s just post-Paris. I will be home on May 11^th for about a month, and my family is planning to go on vacation (finally) to the Red Sea (our default option). I’m salivating, cannot wait to fry on the beach with airport fiction. Ah the tingling sensation of salt on my sun-kissed skin. Note to self, stop salivating.

A preview of my summer life in downtown Philadelphia. I will be working in the Old City, next to the Treasury, the Constitutional Center, the Independence Hall and all that great stuff:). I have been apartment-hunting these past couple of weeks, and I must say thank god I gave up the idea of moving to NY for the summer. That would have been hell. Housing in central Philly is not super expensive, which is a plus, but then again you would not want to live anywhere but center city due to perpetual fear of being shot (yes, I am referring to the shooting incidents in Western Philly a couple of my friends went through last summer). Sigh. We all love Philadelphia, but it does have the highest murder rate in the country. Or was it DC? Either way. So I was targeting studios and max. 2 bedroom apartments to share with a roommate. After contemplating a place in South Philly for a reasonable price (but shared with 3 guys) I found a real gem on 2^nd and Front, a 10 minute walk from where I will be working. It’s right next to the Avenue of the Arts and awesome Old City nightlife scene. Kudos to Duong for accompanying me (again, due to perpetual fear of being shot and/or abducted).

Right. So the most important part is actually my job (duh). Having gone through hell searching around and interviewing these past couple of month, I ended up with a somewhat unexpected offer. I will be working with the Economic Research department in the Federal Reserve (it’s like a Central Bank but not quite). The word “Federal” is misleading, since the Federal Reserve system has nothing to do with the Federal Government per se (they are a subsidiary of the US Treasury, but that’s that). Which in my opinion is probably the smartest central banking system I have ever encountered, even though a lot of Americans do not share my view. It is independent of the Federal Government, even though the Chairman has to testify to the Senate on a regular basis. Basically, the brilliance of this solution is that economists do not have to meddle with politics and their policy decisions are not driven by the most influential factor in politics: reelection. Which prevents occasional policy blunders like raising interest rates in the middle of a recession. However, the Fed has no control over fiscal policy so the system often gets a lot of criticism on inconsistency grounds. Anyways. I will be working with a team of really cool people. Apparently the Philly Fed is very international (the guy I will be working for is Japanese, and the Research department itself is from all over the place), with over a hundred visiting scholars. The best job for Economics PhDs who do not want to teach. Or…well, I take it back. The best job is probably Economists in IBs. But let us not go there, I still feel traumatized by my IB experience.

Lastly, if you every visited Philly in the summer, it’s like you’re in the tropics. Sticky scorching heat. And humidity. Overwhelming humidity. Thank God for AC. I should probably stop now. Is anyone still reading?