In this episode Nick and Anthony talk about more advanced patterns in technical analysis such as wedges, triangles, and island reversals. Anthony will break how these trends forecast future price movements. Also we go over news stories such as the iPad, troubles with Toyota, and dubious economic indicators.

Book of the Week:
The House of Rothschild by Niall Ferguson

Book of the Week: The Master Swing Trader by Alan Farley

Book of the Week: The Bond Book by Annete Thau

Dear Readers,

With all the experiences I have had and lessons I have learned, I have decided to publish my story into a book. It will be a hybrid combination of a travel guide and a novel and if you liked these posts, you will love the book.

The main addition to the book edition of Nick’s International Adventures will be my upcoming adventures through Central America and the Panama Canal. There is no reliable internet on my ship, so I will save those times for the book.

The book will include all the posts uploaded on the internet along with some completely new European bonus posts and content that I did not include in my posts along the way. It will also feature a variety of appendices, from country reviews, to travel advice, and some writing from the perspective of other people featured in the book. I will also rewrite the entire book to improve its literary quality.

Last, but not least, I will add some more pictures that I took along the way including pictures of myself, because I did not feel like sharing my identity on the Internet.

The book should be released sometime in early 2010. It depends how long it takes to find a publisher (or in the worst case scenario, I will self publish it). I cannot announce a specific date, but the goal is to get it out there by March. I have not decided on what I will title the book (not Nick’s International Adventures), but if the readers have any suggestions for a title or bonus content, please comment on this post.

-Nick

Unfortunately I had to sit towards the back of the plane. During the beginning of the flight I talked to Pennsylvanian man in the export business about travel, European economics, podcasting, and generation theory. I have learned from my four months overseas, wherever I am, that the best way to have a positive conversation about travel. Anybody with an ounce of culture, loves to talk travel and has something interesting to say about where they have visited. This topic can also segway to almost anything and can present positive aspects of yourself without sounding like you are bragging. For the rest of the flight I watched Madagascar 2 which ended up being funny like the first one. I then spent the rest of the eight hour flight writing and editing this book.

Country #13 United States of America

I landed at JFK airport feeling grateful to be back in North America. It felt good to be back in the states, but this was in reality the halfway checkpoint. Customs were easy and they did not even care that I declared food products. Since there were no other place to get a cheeseburger, I ended up going to McDonalds again for lunch. When I get back to California, one of the things I want to do is eat a good quality cheeseburger, but it had to wait at JFK. My phone now worked again so I called my family and some of my friends during the layover. I then waited at the terminal to find out that my flight was delayed thirty minutes. We finally boarded the flight around 4:00 eastern, and I sat at the very back on the plane. This flight was agonizingly boring. I could not sleep on the plane do the vertical seat and both my computer and iPod died halfway through the flight. American Airlines also played a stupid teen movie called Bandslam that I did even bother to watch along with NBC sitcoms which I disliked as well. I do not understand hoe people watch TV outside of live events. It’s very predictable and not entertaining. The only television programs I watch are sports, Glenn Beck, and the occasional documentary on the History Channel. Then at 7:10 PM Pacific, I landed in LAX, and my long day of travel was over.

Destination #23 Newport Beach/Greater Los Angeles, California

Even though the flight took off nearly an hour late, I landed in LA twenty minutes early. I power walked through the gates. I then grabbed my luggage and found my mother and my brother waiting for me at their car on the side of the curb. It was great to see my family again and back home. However, my time at home will not last for long. Within four days, I will board a cruise ship to the Panama Canal. The idea of Christmas on a boat will be strange, but exciting as well. Until I embark to Panama, I am just going to catch up some business and enjoy my brief return to Newport Beach. This book is about my international travels, so I will spare you the details (I may add it to the book if requested).

I then left the classroom knowing I had aced the test. My stomach grumbed and I decided to go pick some calzones. I ordered two freshly cooked calzones and paid for the, by grabbing a handful of change out of my pocket and placed the change on the counter with authority. With my drawer filled with worthless one, two, five, and ten cent coins, I counted up my coins and stuffed the coins into my jacket for the next morning. Some exchange students (along with me) were impressed that I was able to make something out of small pocket change.

After lunch I continued studying for my upcoming more difficult finals. When I did not feel like studying, I read two books that my Uncle Recommended me called Generational Dynamics for Americas Future and GD for Historians. The author explains that a neo-Malthusian population program, along with lost wisdom from previous veterans of war and economic crisis. As a result, one of these “crisis periods” occurs approximately once every eighty years (human lifetime). What spooked me out about these books is that the next crisis war is expected to occur with fifteen to twenty years. Although there are some flaws with his theory, the author makes a compelling and grim point on the predictable causes of historical events. The book also explained how long term trends can help supplement technical analysis for stock market timing.

However, the most intriguing part of the book is my introduction to the concept of singularity. Technological singularity is the idea that since computing power doubles every eighteen months, there will be a point between 2020-2050 where computers will be smarter than humans and produce even smarter machines that they were. The author then explains the science behind it which makes it seem possible, but my philosophical views on the definition of intelligence and consciousness make me skeptical. Singularity began to dominate my imagination and I ended up finding a terrific idea for a science fiction novel. I realized with my ability to write this novel length book in such a short time, I actually have the discipline to write books and will begin my side venture as a novelist when I return to UC Santa Barbara.

As the week went by, it was getting closer to my highly anticipated return to America. I can’t wait, but I still have to focus on my studies. Straight A’s while traveling across Europe and Morocco is a pretty productive semester. I occasionally get distracted by Tiger Woods related humor and reading about geopolitics, but I hit to the grindstone and eventually finish studying. Bocconi sent me a pleasantly surprising e-mail that I get a four hundred euro deposit back from my rent. I retrieved my money from the bank, and try to acquire dollars, but a fifteen cent bid-ask spread was too pricy. I also had my last meals of my favorite Italian dishes. I went out for pizza margherita bufala, gelatos, and fresh pasta. My favorite dish of the weeks a combo of rigatoni Bolognese (tomato meat sauce) and carbonara. I spent an evening walking around downtown for the last time. Milan goes all out with Christmas lights and I saw various light shows and decorations around the duomo and the Galleria Vittoria. My second midterm ended up being easier than expected and I aced that one as well. I get the best feeling in the world when I just feel certain that I did well during a critical situation. This enjoyment comes most often when I just own a test or from intense competition (such as Diplomacy). No emotion in the world feels better than winning, especially winning big. Unlike drugs and alcohol, I can relate to how people enjoy gambling, but I personally like to actually accomplish things through my efforts rather than put my money and life to chance.

Snow covered the city while I walked to my last final exam that Thursday. Only two hours until I’m free to go. I go into the test a little more uneasy. From studying all economic theory from Aristotle to Keynes I knew the gist of the material, but not every detail. When I received the test, I knew how to answer every questions, but for some questions, I did not have the precision in my essays as I would have liked. Depending on how tough the professor grades, I could have gotten either an A or a B. I left the test feeling good about being done, but anxious about ruining my potentially perfect semester.

After the test, I relaxed and watched some movies and said good bye to Chi. I wrote an appendix, but felt to lazy to finish the section. I planned on going out to a nice restaurant I went to the first day I arrived, but when I went to retrieve my cash, the safe locked me out again and I had to sit and wait to get it fixed. It was probably caused by mistyping the code, but I was frustrated about missing my dinner. I ended up picking up another bufala pizza, and then tried to go to sleep for an early morning. During the night before exciting events such as traveling, I always have problems falling asleep.  This was no exception as I stayed up long enough to only get a few hours of rest before a long trip home.

The weather has plunged consistently in the 30’s. Snow will be arriving starting Sunday and I’m not looking forward to it. The cold weather has also made me more sleepy and hungry as now I always want to eat. I have to restrain myself to save money and calories.

Speaking of money, the FOREX has been trading in my favor for the first time due to Greece’s default risk. The euro is down from 1.51 to 1.46 dollars per euro in one week. Too bad I have no reason to withdraw money and will actually have to convert some euros back to dollars on a dollar uptick.

I have finished up my groceries, so I am going to treat myself my last week here and go enjoy authentic Italian food for the rest of the time here. It will be a while before I return to Italy and the food has been one of the best bright spots of my travels. I’m also fortunate that I’m done with grocery shopping is because my fridge broke down a few days ago. It’s the only place in the dorm that is not cold.

Usually I do not care about tabloid related stories, but the Tiger Woods shenanigan has piqued my interest. I always thought Tiger Woods had character, but  I guess not. It is amazing how far he has fallen since I saw that news flash of the car accident on the news in Cannes. It seems like another mistress or two, a lost sponsor (I really like the Gatorade Tiger drink, oh well) plus some strange thing at his house happens daily. To be honest, I find this whole Tiger debacle to be hilarious and it may become the next Mike Piazza joke.  Other news in sports I have noticed are the ten game winning streak of the Lakers (my favorite sports team),pathetic Pac-10 basketball, and the ridiculous decision to have Boise State play TCU in the Fiesta Bowl (at least let them play a BCS conference champion).

For the past few weeks I have been counting down my return to America (even though it will be short lived). There is a laundry list of things I want/need to do before the next leg of the international adventures (the location[s] I reveal later to keep readers in suspense). I need to visit my father for Christmas, cut my hair, talk about American sports (including Tiger woods jokes), politics, and financial markets, play some tennis at the tennis club with my sisters, get my Swiss passport, make my Euro adventures into a book for a Christmas gift, play golf, eat some BBQ, Mexican food American snacks, and more of my non-Italian favorites, catch up with my friends and family, see the Newport Beach boat parade, watch the Lakers/bowl games, play some video games with my brother, go swimming, and experience warm weather. Basically I want to get back to doing everything I wanted to do for four months that I have been unable to do in Milan (except the beach which I will be able to at my next destination) along with some errands. I just hope I can get it all in there in a little over four days.

Right now I’m just going to lock down and finish my studying. Straight A’s and traveling around Europe is not too shabby of a fall quarter. There will most likely be nothing notable happening between now and when I fly back to the US, but I will have some supplementary travel guide post coming including how to spice up your travels by mixing up your modes of transportation and the best ways to save money while in Europe.

I then reached the base of the hill again and crossed the road to visit the Acropolis museum.  The Acropolis museum had the largest collection of Greek statues I had ever seen and a lot of the old friezes that were torn off the Parthenon during the Byzantine and Ottoman eras. I then walked towards the temple of Zeus. However, once I reached there, I realized it was same place as the Olympic grounds I visited on Friday night. It had been long day and I grabbed a pork gyro for lunch. The gyro would have tasted good if it was not for the mayonnaise like sauce that made it taste terrible.

I turned around to go hike around the national park adjacent to the Acropolis. It contained a forest filled with authentic Greek plant life and some nice hiking trails along cliff top views of the city. Historical sites in the area included the prison cell of Socrates, and old Greek theater, an observatory the hill of the muses with a philosopher’s monument, and the Pynx the world’s first monument to democracy and common meeting place for Greek politicians. I hiked there for an hour while listening to some jazz and R&B on my iPod.

Since the day was not over I realized I had time to hike Mount Lycabettus (technically a hill only 980 ft.), which I saw at the dead end. It stood on the other side of town so I was able tour the outer neighborhoods of the city along the way. I got lost a few times, but I finally reached the base of the hill. I took the short cut of steep path that cut through pieces of the longer path that encircles the hill. I was able to climb up the mountain quickly, but speeding through the climb wore me out. The summit was white marble cap with an Eastern Orthodox shrine, a bell tower, a massive Greek flag, and a trendy restaurant slightly below. After shooting some pictures I sat at the summit and watched the sun set behind the Acropolis. There is something about hiking that gives you a sense of accomplishment. I like the feeling of being on top of the world that I get when looking down at the scenery below from a high place. Similar to the view from an airplane, the world looks like a much more peaceful place as the chaos below is disguised by the altitude.

Beginning my descent to dinner, I walked down the less risky path to avoid tripping in the dark. I reached the city, but something was odd. The only people on the street were policemen. This was not like your normal police. It was like an army equipped with gas masks, large shields, and a cavalry of large armored vehicles patrolling the streets. This large police presence made me feel uneasy and I when walked towards the center of town, it turned into a war zone. I saw bus stops and trash cans torn down, broken glass over the sidewalk and the university building filled with anarchist symbols and graffiti on the columns that spelled out the word ‘resist’. I felt I thrust into a war zone. I then saw the police confront a gang with emo like garb and one of the cops was suspicious of me as a member of the gang. I ran to the other side of the street to get out of the scene. I then took some pictures, but the police then came to interrogate me. I found out that it is illegal to photograph the police, so I deleted pictures with them in it and went on my way. As I left the scene, I felt a little less tense, but what kind of country lets it capital city deteriorate to a state of regular riots, trash on the streets,  a stray dog problem, and crumbling buildings. It is Mediterranean Mexico.

After returning to the hostel, I first tried to write my blog post. I grew tired of staring at the screen and wrote some a summary on my note pad. I then decided to spend my last night in Athens back at the rooftop bar. I met a UC Berkeley alum named Vikas. We chatted about travel and other stuff and then I went up at the rooftop bar and talked to some new hostel mates. The strange thing about hostels are that 90%+ of guests are from Anglosphere countries (US, Canada, UK, Aussies, etc.). I then went to get a midnight snack a Greek place with the group. I tried some Greek feta cheese and it was delicious, but the Greek kebab was terrible. Greek food is probably the most unhealthy tasting food in the world. I feel like I am giving myself a future heart attack when I take a bite of a gyro or a souvlaki I then left to get some sleep. The next morning I woke up, checked out and wrote this massive post. As soon I finished writing, it was time to go to the airport and I returned to Milan.

A loud car alarm woke me up at 7:30. I tried to sleep a little more, but a hostel mate kept ranting to his friend about how we so drunk that he got lost inside his own hostel. So I got up and dressed at 8:00 AM and began my day.

Breakfast was simple and meager, a few small slices of bread and fruit juice. after shaving and flossing my teeth (could not bring toothpaste on the plane), I headed off on my walk of history.

The first stop was Hadrian’s library. The nice thing about touring the ruins on Sunday is that all the monument and museum entrances were free. I walked around Hadrian’s Library for a little while and moved onto the Roman Agora. The Roman Agora was Athens center of commerce and trade during the reign of the Roman Empire. Looking how much little of what previously was downtown remained it made think what Wall Street would look like two thousand years from now and if tourists would go visit the ruins of the NYSE. The Roman Agora stood at the base of the Acropolis hill, so I began my ascent up to the Parthenon.

Areas surrounding the Acropolis are littered with preserved history. My first detour was visiting a Byzantine/Ottoman public bath that was now preserved as a museum. This museum was rather dull, so I walked through it quickly. As I climbed further up the hill, I made a wrong term and headed to a dead end in a residential area. While at the dead end I saw a mountain higher than the Acropolis in the city limits. It had  what looked like a church on the top and a large flag and would have made a good climb if I had time.

I turned around and ran into the Ancient Agora. I was given a large bottle when I sick yesterday, but I did not drink very much of it so I kept it for my current hike. However, it grew annoying lugging around when I was not thirsty and when taking pictures. So, I dropped off my water bottle at the entrance of the Agora and explored the area. The Ancient Agora was the downtown of the Athens in the classical Greek era. However, other than roads, all that is left is rubble. The only freestanding buildings that remained were an old hilltop temple, a Byzantine church build one thousand years later (600 AD), and a newly built museum featuring a variety of Greek artifacts. I walked around the park that where the origin of democracy took place and viewed the old Greek pots, coins, and statues that were held in the adjacent museum.

Heading back to the entrance, I picked up my untouched water bottle and ventured onward. At the base of the Acropolis plateau stood a solid stone hill known as Aeropagus hill. This was a great site to get a picture of the Acropolis and also a historical site where Saint Paul converted the first Greeks to Christianity.

I climbed down the hill and finally reached the Acropolis plateau. The first site there was a large amphitheater known as Herod’s theater. I then walked up the steps through the temple of Athena-Nike. After that I reached a Parthenon. It was significantly larger than expected and was an impressive sculpture. However, the fact that it heavily supported and covered with modern scaffolding took away from its luster. I then walked down the steps to see another minor temple in the area.  A large Greek flag pole stood nobly on the north edge of the plateau as well. I then decided to sit at a ledge on the wall of the plateau and relax. I thought about the legacy of the Greeks and Parthenon as a stark reminder of mortality and the fact there will be a time in the world when I die like the ancient Greeks. While Rome is the eternal city, Athens is a like a funeral ground for the Greek civilization. I then hiked down the east side of the Acropolis and saw some more structures and visited the theater of Dionysus. The funny thing is the seats at the 2,500 year old amphitheater are more comfortable than lecture halls of Bocconi.

Friday night I tried to fall asleep, but I couldn’t. As I was trying to rest, my stomach start to bloat with pressure. Then it grew stronger like boiling pot trying to thrust out water. I also began to heat up and profusely sweat. Then all the sudden, I felt like a had to vomit and hopped off the bunk and ran to the toilet. I vomited four fifths of the food in my stomach until I could finally control myself. I thought it would be done and I went back to sleep. After being semi-awake for two more hours, I my stomach felt upset again and I the rest of my food was thrown up. Some other people saw me at the toilet that night and asked me if I was OK. I said I was fine, but asked for some water. I drank a few sips of the water and tried to go to sleep. The after taste of vomit is the worst taste imaginable (except maybe squash) and it bothered me throughout the night. However, an hour later, I had to throw up the water I just drank. I felt horrible, excessively warm, sick. and tired. I was not going to go to Delphi in this condition, so I turned off my alarm and went to sleep.

I woke and still only felt about forty percent. I rested and listed to a Peter Schiff podcast and the cleaned up and got dressed. It was pouring buckets of rain outside and I was still feeling the affects of food poisoning. I decided not to eat anymore Greek food period and not eat anything at all for breakfast or lunch. However, instead of sitting in bed, I decided to at least be productive on this sick day. I did a lot of the studying and downloaded a bunch of ebooks before my one hour of internet expired. I then finished two thirds of my finals studying and decided to some reading. My reading speed even surprised myself as I finished three books on Saturday: F.A. Hayek’s Road to Serfdom, Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt, and The Accidental Investment Banker by John Knee. In the late afternoon, I drank some water to test my stomach. My stomach churned a little, but I did not have to vomit. I was hungry after not eating all day so I found an Italian restaurant and ate some hollow spaghetti with bacon and marinara. It tasted great, but I lacked an appetite because of what happened Friday night. It was still pouring outside and I did not feel well enough to go out. For the rest of the night, I decided to do more reading and pre-write some e-mails and other projects I need done when returning to Italy (and internet access).

I woke up too early again for my flight and ended up at the easyjet gate one hour early. The plane ride was smooth as I watched more of Niall’s documentary and read a little of a finance book that Roman lent to me.

At 2:15 Athens time, I landed in Greece. The airport was modern, yet it was strange to be a first world country that does not use the Latin alphabet. At first, the Greek text looked very foreign and misaligned, but then I realized most of the differences in the lettering are common symbols I see in math classes and the walls of frat houses. Eventually I could even read some of the signs (still did not understand them though).

The next trek was the metro and it ended up being the longest subway ride in my life. After 40 minutes I got to the center of Athens, by my hostel. I checked in and dropped off my stuff and began to explore the city.

My first impression of Athens and Greece is quite negative. The city resembles a strange blend of Milan and Marrakesh, taking the negative qualities of both. Other than train stations, government buildings, and churches, the city is dilapidated like a third world country. Pot holes and chipped off pavement is on every sidewalk, there are piles of trash sitting in the middle of squares and walkways, buildings are in varied conditions from decently stable to more ruinous than the Parthenon. What’s strange is that the interior of the buildings are actually modern and renovated, but look hideous exteriorly except for a few shopping pedestrian streets. The most common shops seemed to be Greek versions of footlocker and army surplus store nearly every block in the southwest side of town. It is also quite common to see swat trucks and policemen carrying shield as if a riot can up rise at moment. The economy may also be worse in Greece, because I saw a lot of a vacant retail and office spaces. Broken glass was also a common sight on the sidewalk.

I then ate a chicken soulvaki for lunch. It was tasty and reminded me somewhat of Portuguese food. Food is not cheap in Greece, as it was 10 euro for about 6 euros worth of food. I then went on a walk; I first went through a flea market with various shops which reminded me of an upscale Moroccan souk. Then I saw the former grounds of the Temple of Zeus, which where two Orthodox churches currently stand. I walked by the churches, and then headed the other direction. I strolled through some mainstream shopping streets which were busy due to Christmas. I then reached the parliament building where the changing of the guard was displayed. I ventured further right on that street to reach a neoclassical building that was labeled a Congress, but had an art gallery inside: strange. I then visited the ruins of the ancient Olympic site, which were just a few standing columns. Out of nowhere, it started to pour rain. I went under an overhang to check where I was, when an old Greek man asked me the time and some things about myself and my father. I then found a place in the Plaka district for dinner. I ate some lamb and sat in a relaxing couch while eating. I then headed back to the hostel while getting lost on the way.

That night I went up to the rooftop bar of the hostel. A cool thing about Athens, is that the ruins are brightly lit up at night and can be seen from just about anywhere in the city. The view of the Acropolis from the hostel roof was great. I met some people from Chapman studying abroad and talked a little bit with other people staying at the hostel before I went to sleep. I had an early journey to Delphi tomorrow.

I am now also back in class. Due to public holidays next Monday and Tuesday. I only have two school days to go before final exams. On Wednesday, it was the first time I returned to my history of economic thought class since I ditched both classes during Thanksgiving week. I did not miss much and heard great news that class was cancelled on Thursday. His class is very boring and the most boring class I had since Asian American studies freshman year (yawn).  It is not really his fault as the history behind the theory of marginal utility does not even interest those who care about either economics or history. Now about only half the class shows up to lecture and that has relieved my guilt somewhat for ditching last week. Tomorrow I am going to Athens Greece, so I am excited for that.

In this episode, Nick talks about investing in China. Is China really all it’s hyped up to be or a bubble waiting to burst. Nick analyzes the positives and negatives that affect China’s economy and what pitfalls can cause a correction in the country’s growth.

Nick also reviews the news about Dubaiworld’s default and surging gold prices. He also explains the economic concept of fractional reserve banking.

Country #11 Monaco

Destination # 21 Monaco

After a short ride, Roman and I arrived in Monaco. After exiting the train station, we walked around Monte Carlo. The country is the most densely populated in the world as the wealthy from across Europe buy up properties to escape income taxes. The country is very clean and sophisticated as it filled with yachts, private banks, country clubs, and fancy apartment buildings. Roman wanted to test his luck with poker here and we tried to find the Casino. Roman found a sign that said Casino which actually ended up being the name of a local grocery store to his dismay. We then hiked up a steep hill in Monaco to see the prince’s palace and old Monaco. The view from the palace allows to see the whole country from the top of the cliff. We then climbed down and went to the Jardin Exotique, a botanical garden before finding a map and turning around.

After hiking to the top of another hill, we went to the Monte Carlo casino. We needed sports jackets and a 10 euro cover charge to get to the tables so we left. There was a more Americanized casino I showed to Roman, but he could not find a poker table there either. Frustrated, Roman decided to bet 5 euro at a random slot machine. He ended up winning 20 euro after the first spin and I convinced him to cash it in before he could loose it all. We left to head back to the train station and catch our train to Milan. However, we arrived over twenty minutes early. Wanting to press his luck, Roman decided to use this time to gamble some more and took off to the casino. I’m worried that I have given him a future gambling problem.

I decided to wait at the train station. I got some sour gummy worms from a vending machine and listening to a NBA podcast. It was five minutes until the train arrived and Roman was still not back from the casino (Thankfully I made him fork over the tickets before he left). I was worried about if he did not get back in time and how I could rationalize leaving him behind. Thankfully, it did not come to that and Roman made it on time from the casino to get on the train and we returned to Milan.

We got back at 11PM and Roman and I were starving for dinner. Since Roman wanted pasta we went to a past place by Bocconi. I had spaghetti which was especially “al dente” (harder/less cooked). After dinner, we went back to my dorm, and snuck Roman in so he would avoid another night at a hotel. Since I did not have a second bed, I made a makeshift one out my sweatshirts with a towel as a blanket. We watched a little of the movie Wall Street until I fell asleep. Roman watched the rest of the movie and had a hard time sleeping on the makeshift bed/cold hard floor.

That morning, Roman and I woke up at 6:30 for his early flight back to the US. I walked him to the metro station and said goodbye. I was still tired after four hours of sleep, so I returned my dorm and pretty much slept the rest of the day.

It was nice to have Roman come and visit me for Thanksgiving. I was able to have a family member and good friend of mine here for the weekend. Homesickness has really started to creep in and it was nice that somebody from my life at home also visited and we had a fun time in Milan and the French Riviera.   When Roman was here, I also realized that I have burnt out from living overseas. Ever since I returned from Morocco, I have slowly grown tired of the foreign experience and the struggle associated with it. I have had a great time here, but I feel ready and anxious to return stateside. I have one major trip left to Greece this weekend and then final exams, so I am still somewhat busy until I return.

I have also learned that I would prefer not to work overseas after graduation (especially outside the Anglosphere or Switzerland). I love traveling and seeing/experiencing new things, but living abroad is a totally different story. Even though I dislike American politics, I love just about everything else about my home country and a lot of the things I enjoy the most out of life relate to my home environment (my deprivation of them has caused the bouts of depression/homesickness). Traveling will still be a large part of my life and I plan on visiting at least thirty more countries and many regions within countries I have already visited during my lifetime. However, I plan on keeping my permanent home in a warm weather part of the US unless if an opportunity on Wall Street comes up or other investment management entryways in the northeast.

While Roman was in town, I also found out that one of my applications to Morgan Stanley was “accepted” for the strategy analyst position in New York. I have received no e-mails from the firm, but I will call them today to find out if I have an interview or position with them. That would be a great opportunity to break into Wall Street and I hope something comes through.

The day started out with some breakfast at the hotel. As Roman checked out, he was tacked on with a 70 euro charge for having me over for the night. Now Roman knows the European tradition of nickel and diming  people. We boarded our train at 11 AM to Nice and it would be a long ride. The rail line broke at Ventimiglia (a small border town in Italy) and we had to get off of the train to catch a bus to Nice. The parking lot was chaotic. There were six buses lined up and none of them had signs to where they were going. After pushing to crowds to talk to the bus drivers, we found our bus to Nice. The was ride was smooth until we entered Nice’s city limits. Traffic built up to a standstill and the delay caused Roman and I to miss our train to Cannes.

Country # 10 France

Destination #19 Nice, France

While waiting on the bus, the traffic delay ended up being caused by some teenagers who decided to park their car in the middle of the street while eating at a Moroccan restaurant. They took their sweet time to move the car and it reflected the arrogance I have previously seen with French people. A few minutes later there was another care parked in the middle of the street, but the bus was able to get around it. Although we missed our train to Cannes, the trains ran regularly so we caught the next one fifteen minutes later.

Destination #20 Cannes, France

It was around 5:30 when we finally arrived to Cannes. We first checked into our hotel directly across the street from the train station and dropped off our stuff. We had not eaten since breakfast, so Roman and I looked for a good place for dinner.  We walked through the shopping streets and towards the coast. There was Christmas village on a square next to the harbor which featured varies gift shop booths shaped like Swiss chalets and creperies. We then saw various restaurants. Roman would not eat there because they were empty, but this was due to us eating early (for French standards) not the quality of the food. We also went to walk inland but got lost. We bet a crepe about which side of the street where the hotel was located. Roman won, and now I owed him a crepe for breakfast on Saturday. After finding where the hotel was, we walked around the blocks in that area and found a lively French cafe with plenty of steak. Since I only had pizza on Thanksgiving, this was my default Thanksgiving dinner. I ate peppered steak with fries and fresh bread while Roman went extravagant, ordering duck liver and lamb shanks.

After dinner we walked around a little more and stopped by a casino. I’m not a gambler, but Roman wanted to play Texas hold ‘em poker. Unfortunately for Roman, the only poker option was tournament with a $400 buy in which was too expensive for him. We then went back to the hotel. I watched a little BBC (the only English channel) and got frustrated with the leftist green propaganda that filled its programming. I then read a little bit of a finance book that Roman lent me. Roman was considering bailing on a family trip a week early to work for my Uncle Chris. I try to convince that he missing out and that why would he put himself through working in a crummy situation to avoid international travel. I then went to sleep.

The next day we slept in and ate crepes at the Creperie in the Christmas village. We then went on a walk up the coast and looked at prominent hotels and yachts from everywhere from Los Angeles to Austria (landlocked which is strange). The crepes were not filling so we got some lunch at another French cafe. Roman ate steak tartar (which I thought tasted strange) and I had a sirloin steak. We then realized there was not much left for us to do in Cannes, so we boarded the earlier train to Nice. Once in Nice, we realized we could catch our train to Milan from Monaco, so we hopped aboard a train to Monaco and decided to spend our afternoon there.

After having a difficult time sleeping on Tuesday night, I overslept Wednesday morning and did not have enough time to get ready and get to my class that morning. When I got out of the shower, I studied the powerpoint for that lecture until it was time to meet Roman at his hotel.

Roman is my cousin that came to visit for Thanksgiving weekend who goes to Lehigh University. I know him the best out of any of my cousins and we have similar interests in finance and sports. We also have a similar ambitions and outlook towards life. However, Roman can somewhat be a workaholic and ties almost every conversation topic back to investment banks. However, this also makes him perhaps the most focused and driven person I know.

I walked towards his hotel called Hotel Greenhouse on the far southwest side of town. I got lost on the way to the hotel, but I found a metro that took me directly there. Arriving much earlier than Roman, I ended up waiting in the lobby and surf Wikipedia until he arrives.

Roman arrived at the hotel and we headed off towards a pizza place on the way to my dorm. We stopped at a grocery store, so Roman could buy salami and kept going. However, it seemed like we were walking for a long time up a canal and I did not see the Navigli which is right next to my dorm. We stopped at a local pizzeria and the pizza was tasty. However, when we saw some traffic signs, we realized were in the suburbs and not even the city. We managed to catch a bus that took us back to the metro and I found my way back from there.

After arriving at my dorm, I rested while Roman checked some things on the computer. We went downtown to get dinner at a good pasta place. On the way I showed Roman the galleria Vittoria and the Duomo and there was some display of giant pink snails on the sidewalk to remind people to relax. The pasta place I wanted to eat at was closed, so we wandered around until we found another place. However, the pasta was sub par for Italian standards. I think it came out of the microwave because I saw something stuck in there while waiting for the food, and the pasta was served suspiciously too quickly. I then got a gelato for desert and headed back to Roman’s hotel. Since Roman had an extra bed at his hotel, I decided to sleep there so I can sleep without being freezing cold (no heat at night in the dorm). After arguing about random things with Roman about random things such as China’s manufacturing and James Loney’s ethnicity, I went to sleep.

Thursday morning began my Thanksgiving, which did not feel like Thanksgiving at all. I ate breakfast at Roman’s hotel and then headed back to the dorm to get ready for class. I gave Roman a Bloomberg umbrella I received from a recruiting event as an early Christmas present and then went to class. My financial markets class covered the operations of commercial banks. Roman fell asleep and it felt strange to have a class on Thanksgiving.

After class, we went to a local place for lunch. I ordered a ham calzone and Roman ate spaghetti. We returned to my dorm and watched the movie The Boiler Room about a fraudulent brokerage house. It was a pretty good movie. After that we went to Pizza OK for dinner. We both ate buffalo mozzarella pizzas, but Roman said that pizza is better in New York than Italy. Roman often compares thing with New York City as his benchmark (even more than I do to southern California). I packed for the weekend trip to Cannes back at my dorm and tried to Skype my family for Thanksgiving, but they were not there. We then went back to Hotel Greenhouse to get some sleep before Friday’s train ride.

When I arrived in Levanto, I found out I had to wait another hour before I can catch the train to any of the towns the Cinque Terre. Instead of waiting around, I decided to explore Levanto. There was not much to see there. One block was particularly crowded because a funeral mass just ended as I was walking by, but other than that it was empty like a ghost town. The only things there old houses, a soccer field, and rows of deciduous trees. When I took a picture of a house, an old woman with metal teeth told me not to take pictures of houses.

Destination #18 Cinque Terre National Park, Italy

I then returned to the station and caught a train to Riomaggiore, the southernmost town of the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre (Italian for the Five Lands) is a series of five small towns and the surrounding national park that is famous for being one of the most scenic hikes in the world with the five towns connected by hiking trails that follow the Mediterranean coastal cliff side. In my opinion Cinque Terre lived up to its hype. The rustic Mediterranean flora along with the scenic cliffs against the sea is an incredible scene and a relaxing vibe. The weather was excellent as well with it being sunny all day and temperatures between 65-75 degrees. The town resemble old Genoese fishing villages and bring a time capsule of pre-industrial Italy. November was actually a better time to come here compared to the summer as I avoided humidity and crowds. After having my pass validated, I began my hike.

The first step of the hike was the Via d’Amore between Riomaggiore and Manarola. It was a really easy 10 minute (estimated time on sign 20 minutes) and it provided some nice views.

By now I was starving.  Since it was off-season, almost all of the restaurants were closed. I was left to choose between two pizza stands where the pizza looked really crummy and a nice seafood restaurant. I chose the seafood place and my lunch was delicious. I had a freshly caught Italian lobster and linguine with tomato sauce for around $20. It was delicious and one of the better meals I had eaten in a while (good deal as well). After eating, I was off to the next town of Corniglia.

The hike to Corniglia was a little longer and tougher, but was still not rigorous. It provided a lot of great photography options (including the picture above) and took me about 40 minutes to get to Corniglia. At the edge of the town there stood a large staircase that led up the cliff to the village. I climbed it and reached Corniglia. Since I wanted to maximize my hiking time before my train headed back to Milano, I only stayed in Corniglia briefly and went on to the next leg of the hike to Verranza.

This was the toughest leg of the hike. It provided both steep inclines up and down along with some tricky fork in the roads. There were a small amount hikers going the opposite direction that assured me I was not lost, but not enough of them to bother me. This hike took a little less than an hour and a half and ended up being somewhat strenouous.

When I arrived in Verranzo, I realized I did not have enough time to reach the last town of Monterosso, so I spent the rest of the day in Verranzo. I walked around the town, visited a church and a shoreside castle, and sat on the rocky edge of the shore for a little while. Then it was time to go and I headed on a train back to Levanto and then to Milan. Overall, the hike was great. The combination of the scenery and the fact that it was not to strenuous of a hike (not longer than 6 hours or too steep) made it one of my favorite hikes of the many trails I have blazed across the world.

I returned to my dorm to find out where I will be living when I go back to UCSB, so I don’t have to worry about that anymore. I also learned about some good political news that hurt the credibility of climate change. After that, I talked to my dad on skype and chilled the rest of the night.

On Thursday when returning from class, I got another package in the mail. It came from my Aunt Nini and family and contained two Swiss white chocolate bars, passes to the Cinque Terre trails, and 20 euros.  The Cinque Terre are a serious of five villages and the surrounding coastal area that make the supposedly best hike in Europe. I was pleasantly surprised by its arrival as in an e-mail three days ago, she told that it probably did not make because it was sent a month ago. One month to send a package 135 miles, that beats out the USPS in inefficiency.

The package really cheered up my mood. Since the weather is getting colder by the day I decided to go to the Cinque Terre on Saturday where its still a mild 66 degrees on the Mediterranean coast. It also gave me something to look forward to for the weekend. Whenever I have been in Milano for more than a week at a time straight, I start to get in down mood. Whether its the urban jungle, the bad weather, lack of things I enjoy doing, or other factors, Milan is a pretty depressing city to me. Unfortunately, I have become a little bit more pessimistic in general recently. It might have to do with my recent effort to pay more attention to American politics again and the imminent socialization of America. If the US becomes socialist as well, I might as well stay in Italy or Switzerland. The Europeans can do it a little more efficiently than Americans (Swiss have lower tax burden as well). Hopefully that’s not the case.

On Friday, I slept in and bought my train tickets to Levanto, the starting point of the Cinque Terre. I first waited in the shorter line for twenty minutes, and told me they could not help me with what I needed so I had to go to the main ticket booths. I usually go to the travel agency line and pay my one euro per trip commission to save an hour’s wait, but this I could not do that. So about an hour later I finally got my tickets. The rest of my time, I have been just going to class and chilling out.

After an inexcusable hiatus from the show caused by traveling, I am back with more fervor than ever. In this episode I discuss the growing asset bubble that spans across all assets. A “bond bubble” created irresponsible fiscal policy, near zero interests, carry trades, and other factors. I talk about what causes this bubble and the economic fundamentals that are bound to talk about. I also address the recent economic releases and define the concept of carry trades.

No book this week

Download and subscribe to the show on the iTunes music store. Search for “Wall Street University” to find it

Pros of Study Abroad:

1) Spend more time in Europe and in a country of particular interest- On a normal vacation or cross continental trip, you are always on the move and can only see big cities and resorts. By living in Italy, I have been able to explore the entire Italian peninsula which I found significant and would have been able to do this if I just rushed through the usual triangle Venice, Florence, and Rome (I did spend time in all of these places though).  I have learned a lot about Italian culture and been able to explore major sights along with hidden gems off the beaten path (San Marino, the bone church in Rome, etc.). I have also had time to go to a variety of Italian restaurants and try a variety of incredible dishes of new varieties of food for the first time that are not available in America.

2) Learning a Language- Living in a country outside the Anglosphere serves as a great environment to learn a foreign language without the pressure of grades. I am not the most gregarious person, but I have increased my Italian skills to basic understanding and competent reading, writing, and speaking abilities. I cannot have a conversation about the merits of Plato versus Aristotle, but I can do basic things such as navigate the city, order food at restaurants, read pamphlets, signs, and other things and speak with a basic vocabulary. When I was accepted into this program, I did not speak a single word of Italian, now due to being surrounded by it all the time, I have caught a lot quicker than I learned Spanish with four years of classes.

3) Saves Money/Time in Transit- Since costs usually are similar to the levels of tuition at my home university (for readers this depends where you go to school), basic expenses such as food and shelter are not an additional costs. Therefore my only travel costs ended up being flights, a eurail pass, activities, and lodging.

4) More of a Learning Experience both in and out of the classroom- Study abroad provides a chance to learn about cultural differences between your host country and your homeland (the US in my case).  You also learn a lot about yourself and your inner character based on how you adapt to new series of challenges you handle every day. I also learned what I valued the most of my life in America and what truly is important to me in life. My classes also teach economics from an international perspective. Seeing how the rest of the world views American policies and culture also provides interesting insight. I have also learned a lot in the same ways from my travels outside of Milan.

5) Getting to know local people- Even though I am a bad example of this, study abroad provides an opportunity t expand your network to people from around the world. If your language skills are poor or are somewhat introverted, this may be tougher than expected.

Cons of Study Abroad:

1) Being separated from friends and family for a long time

2) Schoolwork- Traveling and time studying in Europe is not as carefree as a vacation. You still have to study, take tests, worry about grades, and possibly have homework to deal with. At my school, grades are solely determined by exams, so I did not have to worry about papers or projects, but some of my friends such as Matt from Rome had to write essays for his classes. If you plan your studying right, this should not be a problem. However, students already are prone to procrastinate without opportunities to travel across Europe.

3) Shorter durations of travel- Since you are restricted by school days and exam times, your time in a individual place is limited. However, this is not that much of a problem because three day weekend are common in European universities so you have at least three days per destination. Also there are breaks for midterms and state holidays that can give breaks from five days as long as two weeks depending on the break. Overall the combination of weekends gives plenty of time of travel, but usually in smaller increments. This may also limit destinations that require connecting flights, because the time getting takes too long for the destination to be even worth going. This is one reason I chose to go to Marrakech, Morocco instead of Istanbul, Turkey.

Recommended Cities for Students to study abroad to maximize travel opportunities: London, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Dublin, major cities of Switzerland, Brussels, and Berlin. These cities are major hubs for discount airlines that can take you pretty much anywhere in Europe for under $180 round trip (usually $80-120). Also they are close (3 hours or less on train) to a lot of closer destination within their country or surrounding neighbors. Even though, I’m not the biggest fan of Milan, but its role in European business has allowed me to go anywhere from Morocco to Greece at a reasonable price.

Pros of Eurotrip:

1) Spend times with your friends- It is more fun to travel with your friends versus going on your own or with strangers. Fortunately I know people who live/study across Europe and had visitors from the states to travel with, so my solo journeys were limited to Portugal and parts of Northern Italy.

2) Possibly cover more ground – A Eurotrip depending on the traveler’s budget, will be able to cover a significant portion of Europe and several countries over a few weeks. With no central place to return to for class, you can simply take one way flights, and trains from Portugal to Turkey. During my time I have been able to cover a significant amount of countries (see blue and purple colored nations on map below)

3) No need to worry about academics- Since you on vacation, you do not need to worry about school, work, or really anything. Being carefree is a nice and relaxing way to travel.

Cons of Eurotrip:

1) Costly in both time and money- Traveling across Europe is not cheap, especially if you have no prior reasons of being there. First it is difficult to find a block of time where you can be gone for several months at a time. Second, it’s not cheap to get to Europe, find places to stay, and transport yourself all over the place. A weak dollar only compounds  this. Many Eurotrippers force themselves to slum it and sleep in only the cheapest and crummiest lodging and live off of Ramen, fast food, and beer. What’s the point of travel if you have to spend your whole time slumming it along the way? It is also nice to have a home base at where you attend class, so you don’t always have to be walking around with a huge backpack and constantly wander like a Mongolian nomad.

2) Lack of time in one place to immerse yourself in a culture- Eurotrips are intended for those who have not traveled to try to see everything in their single opportunity to visit the region. Therefore you don’t have the time that an exchange student does to really experience a particular nation’s culture or learn any language.

3) Spending too much time in transit- A Eurotrip if you are not careful can become a blur of train stations and airports. Often in the desire to maximize the places one can see, people often just try to breeze through the continent in the short few weeks in the summer they have time to be there. By studying abroad, I have been able to spread out my travel at a less breakneck pace. Also its not enjoyable to sit in planes and trains all the time.

Recommended Eurotrip Route (If I was going to do this and did not go to Bocconi and had a large budget) : London-Marrakech,Morocco-Lisbon-Madrid-Barcelona- French Riviera/Monaco- Provence-Paris-Brussels-Luxembourg-Zurich-Other parts of Switzerland-Venice-Florence-Rome-Naples/Pompeii-Sardinia-Sicily-Malta-Puglia (Southern Italy)-Dubrovnik, Croatia-Athens-Greek Islands-Istanbul-Vienna-Berlin-Copenhagen-Stockholm-Bergen, Norway-Home

Another option is to combine the two. Spend a semester abroad and after finals, go spend a few weeks on a mini-Eurotrip. This can possibly provide the best of both worlds.

Extent of my European Travels (as of December 8, 2009 including future trips)

Blue= Countries I visited the first time during my time here

Purple= Countries I revisited during my time here

Red= Countries I visited from previous times to Europe

Gold dots= Cities I went during my time here

Things that I have done here this weekend include more reading, oversleeping, teaching myself more about geopolitics and finance, and going on a walk on Saturday night. I also started auditing a Stanford class about geopolitics through lectures recorded on a iTunes U podcast. It’s amazing how much information prestigious universities give away for free as I did this also with a Berkeley class about the Roman Empire when I lived in the Best Western. Geopolitics is a topic that I find interesting and the knowledge I learn about it also helps with international investing decisions. Overall, that can summarize my weekend.

How do you readers feel about taking a Eurotrip versus Studying Abroad? Please share your opinion by commenting on this post.