Penang 2 July

Yesterday while I was updating my site the system had problems. I have a meeting in 10 minutes so here is a quick summary from yesterday (July 2)

Things are moving along quickly. Yesterday I thought that I was going to teach Organizational Behavior. An urgent e-mail went out to my colleagues at NCSU. This morning I had received syllabi and comments. Less than 24 hours later I learned Organizational Behavior wasn’t on the schedule so I will teach Policy Design and Analysis. It is a subject I am more comfortable with but no more prepared. An e-mail went out to another set of colleagues. An opinionated reader of this blog is invited to send their suggestions – cases/exercises/readings will be gratefully accepted.

A major task today was to get more comfortable with the campus and the city. I deposited a check and withdrew money to pay for my accommodations. Running around with a stack of bills still isn’t comfortable, but at least I knew where I was going and the stack wasn’t as high. I took a bus to go get bus maps and check out food options. I took the totally misnamed Penang Rapid Express. When I first read that Penang had “a rapid express” I assumed that it was rail system. It is a bus which has to maneuver the traffic like the cars and motorcycles. The bus information was moderately successful – I got sheets with the bus routes, which is okay but still challenging for the newcomer. I asked a person at the Tourist Bureau (BTW on the 56th floor great view - sorry I was too rushed to take a picture), but I would have preferred to pop into a ground floor office.

I asked if there was a nearby food court. I was directed to a grim looking place that seemed more similar to a school cafeteria. So far Penang doesn’t measure up to Singapore or KL, but it has a great food reputation. I was clearly looking in all the wrong places. (On the other hand breakfast cost the equivalent of a US$1 and dinner about $2.50 and both were satisfying)