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.