training for 2005 capital markets analysts at Lehman Brothers started on Monday and it’s already Friday. three of the last five days have been here, in jersey city, where Lehman’s IT and payroll departments reside. they have a large classrooms where we hope to learn all we can about financial services before beginning our specific job functions. it’s been interesting so far – some days have been very educational and other days have been less interesting.

the commute to jersey city has been pleasant, especially because most people commute in to the city rather than out of it. after picking up my coffee from dunkin donuts, i make my way over to Port Authority where i take the E down to the World Trade Center. i take a quick glance at Ground Zero which is visible through the partitions, and take the escalator down to the PATH where i take a Newark or Hoboken bound train to Exchange Place in Jersey City. it’s nice to walk along the Hudson River for a few minutes before entering the Lehman building. it’s not a large building, but it’s fairly new, as with most things in this area of Jersey City.

i’ve processed a few thoughts throughout the week which might be of some interest:

* as much as i told myself that i would be open to making all sorts of friends at Lehman – and i’m sure i’ll have additional opportunities once the real work begins – it’s been much easier to make friends with people of my own race and/or ethnicity. like in high school and college, i find myself hanging with a crowd of asians dotted by the one or two white guys who are comfortable being in such a group as well. it’s been almost as easy to make friends with african americans than with whites. it’s a strange feeling; as much as i’ve heard whites talk about how all asians hang out together, i feel the exact same way about white people. why is it that they always have to hang out with each other? but i guess that’s an irrelevant question to ask if the majority is composed of whites.

* along similar lines, i learned that Lehman Brothers is very proud of its diversity program, which, statistically speaking, does seem to have made strides in changing the workplace demographic. i noticed that there is a group called Lehman Brothers Asian Network, which is one of the various groups that holds events and networking opportunities for minorities. i’m sure LBAN does great things and i’ll probably become an active member, but i always balk when hearing anything “Asian” in place of “Asian American” or something more specific. such group names seem to take on a white-centric view of Asians and bunches together people who might not necessarily have much in common. but talking with some other analysts, we told ourselves that diversity programs, as idealistic and forward-thinking as they may seem, are corporate practices to deter lawsuits (i can’t think of the specific legal term for this), and are most oftentimes starting points rather than an end-all solution.

* the food in the cafeteria of jersey city is subpar. i miss the good food of NFL’s Huddle Cafe. i know that Lehman is serviced by the same Restaurant Associates, but i wonder if they have the same quality control that Buzzeo put on the staff at NFL. then again, when you’re serving thousands of people rather than hundreds, quality is bound to go down in some capacity.

* i’m looking forward to the weekend; with free time more precious now, i think i can start being productive in my free time. i keep thinking about specific movie shots i can shoot – in b&w – and hopefully i’ll have the patience and drive to make it happen. one shot, if you can imagine, is a tired Andy Ni (my primary actor) coming home from working, sitting in traffic and just waiting while John Mayer’s homelife plays in the background. maybe we can have a noir throw-back and make him an insurance salesman. ha.

alright, class – Intermediate Excel 2002 – will be beginning shortly. another day, it seems. and yet, the paycheck makes it all bearable.

the weather has been suprisingly mild the past few days, at a time when New York is supposed to be unbearable with humidity and heat. i remember the torturous walks back from work last summer when i could feel my back covered with sweat by the time i made it four avenues over from park ave. to broadway. i feel that such misery will return next week when i begin training at lehman brothers.

it’s late (early), which is nothing new whenever i find motivation to write in this blog. i live on the 36th floor of my building and yet, i can still hear the garbage trucks beeping and chugging along outside. they are loud and prevent me from enjoying the light breeze. i remember in elementary school, i learned somewhere that garbagemen make a decent amount of money with good benefits. i realize now that to wake up this early every morning and handle the foul-smelling loads each time is not such an easy job and should defnitely be compensated well.

it’s sad to hear that people died in london due to another terrorist attack, but i didn’t have much of a reaction when i saw it on television and read about it on nytimes.com. i guess after 9/11, it’s hard to care for news that isn’t right in our backyard or directly related to someone i may know personally. my only relevant moment today was watching my roommate rich come home early from training because the salespeople at Bank of America had to field calls from london and cancel their speaking sessions with the new analyst class. from reading headlines about Britain’s “pragmatic response” to the attack (as if it had been well-rehearsed) as well as global money managers’ assurances that such events are unlikely to have a direct impact on the financial markets, i feel as if these attacks are becoming a part of life in the 21st century. just best not to be around whenever the next one happens.

i performed an oral surgery on myself of sorts. two days ago, i came out of the bathroom coughing, irritated in the throat region. i told melanie that it felt as if a piece of hair had been stuck somewhere in my throat. i had been unable to cough anything up and saw nothing when i looked in the mirror, but it felt so much like a strand of hair was bristling against the back of my throat. melanie suggested that it was probably just a scratch and that it would go away soon. i tried not to think about it and ignored the strange feeling for the next two days. it didn’t cause pain at all, but every now and then, i felt as if something was definitely stuck. today, feeling especially irritated in the throat, i opened my mouth wide and looked at the back of my mouth once again. this time, i spotted a thin black line at the back on one of the tonsils. i tried in vain to take it out with my fingers. i wished for metal tweezers, but ended up trying the hooked part of my glasses and my toothbrush. i actually started bleeding on one of my tonsils. i eventually gave up on the idea of picking the piece out and instead, i pressed my index finger against the back of my mouth in order to slide out the piece of hair. after many unsuccesful tries, i finally caught a break and slid the hair out of my throat. it was about an inch long and it was lodged right in a crevice on the right tonsil. whew.

i would write more, but it is really late and i am really tired. i am still thinking about wednesday night when wook, me and melanie went to tartine, a cute little BYO french bistro in west village. we purchased a pinot grigio and a 2000 bordeaux at a liquor/wine store before we got there and i must say, i was very pleased with the bordeaux. this wine expert i know told me that bordeaux and other southern french wines had a great year in 2000, so my eyes lit up when i saw a 2000 bordeaux for sale. the drink was very smooth and left a subtle aftertaste. it went very well with my cold poached salmon entree. good food, good wines, good people. pleasant thoughts to take to bed with me. adieu.