WHAT A LONG, STRANGE TRIP IT'S BEEN!

I was driven to JFK in an Escalade, drank $10 cups of coffee in Tokyo, jumped off a perfectly good tower in Macau, was involved in a car accident/pee incident in Beijing, got kicked by a elephant on Thanksgiving in Bangkok, met the Deputy Prime Minister of Education in Kuala Lumpur, drank a Singapore Sling in the bar it was invented in, got chased by a group of teens in Indonesia, bribed a cop (multiple times) to enter and stay in an underground bar in Bangalore, drank with Bollywood stars in Bombay, visited Mosques, hung out with the Hare Krishnas, visited an orphanage, stayed in the same hotel as Arnold Schwarzenegger, learned the true value of a stale Oreo, took a flight at 3:25 a.m., watched entirely too much cricket, slept one floor under the King of Morocco,... all while learning a bit more about myself, appreciating other cultures, and successfully avoiding the Bird Flu. I think I also recruited a few great student to Wharton as well! Is this a great job, or what??!!

Note the soccer ball painted on the nose of this airplane at the Frankfurt International Airport. Germany is getting set to host the World Cup next year, and they are going crazy already!

FRANKFURT

I had a five hour layover in Frankfurt. With typical German efficiency, there is a train that departs from the airport and takes you to the city center in 15 minutes. They had a Christmas village set up, which put me right into the Christmas spirit!

This is an area in Mumbai where the residents get paid to clean clothes. On a typical day, over 2,000 people are working in the cement bins you see. The job is difficult, and only men work here. On the day I was there, it was sunny and 85 degrees - I can't imagine how difficult this must be when the temperature soars above 100.

...I'VE BEEN AROUND THE WORLD, BACK FROM BOMBAY.

You know you have a great hotel when a King sleeps on the floor right above you, and it's not the Burger King!

You are looking at the main entranceway to the building I was using to interview candidates here in Mumbai. The design on the floor was created with colored powder and is an offering to Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge. Saraswati represents consciousness and wisdom. It's appropriate, because this is a management training center; an institute of learning for this organization.