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Last Sunday, we lost one of the most inspiring professors in Haas - Bill Sonnenschein.

When we just arrived to Haas, we could sign up for two modules in the pre-school summer camp. One was math/finance/accounting introduction, and the second was Communication Workshop. We didn’t really know what exactly to expect from that second workshop, but I decided to take it anyway in what turned out to be one of the best experiences I could have before Haas.

Bill was the professor leading this workshop and he immediately captured us with his unique approach to communication, public speaking and people in general. The workshop was full of activities that allowed us to get to know each other better, while improving our ability to communicate regardless to our country of origin.

Bill was also our professor in the Leadership Communication course during fall A, and here too he managed to create a learning experience that was unlike any I’ve had before. He built a wonderful team of GSIs (Graduate Students Instructors), which were second-year students that practically led the class and I don’t think there is even a single person in class that didn’t become a better public speaker by the end of the semester.

Bill spent the last few months in Madagascar as a communication consultant for the government there. He was extremely excited about this opportunity and told us lots of great stories in class. unfortunately, after only few hours of intense gastric illness, Bill passed away last Sunday in the small village of Maronsetra on the East coast of Madagascar.

We will all miss him at Haas, his great sense of humor, his unconventional way of thinking, his ringtone (Hendrix’s solo in All Along the Watchtower) and most of all his genuine passion for people and for experiencing life to the maximum.

Last week we had our Fall A finals (in Stats, Micro and OB). To celebrate the end of a sleepless week, Our group of close friends from the Village gathered together to an afternoon tour at Scharffen Berger chocolate factory here at Berkeley.

We started at the factory’s cafe with a great lunch and even better deserts.

We then moved to a very entertaining session about the factory’s history. Scharffen Berger’s history is not that long actually, as the factory is 11 years old. They specialize in dark chocolate on various percentage categories (less percent means more sugar!). We also learned about some of the internals of the chocolate making process, the machines, the different ways to grow it etc. We also learned that we prefer the cheap, unbranded milk chocolate over the expensive quality dark one.

The event concluded with an actual tour in the factory, which was a bit disappointing, as no chocolate was involved. No chocolate rivers, candy bar trees or even big bowls filled with steamy, thick cacao. Just many many iron machines. Nevertheless, it was still lots of fun, the company was great as usual, and it was exactly what we needed after final’s craziness.

Around 5am last night, deep into my (short and unsatisfactory) sleep, I started hearing noises coming from the area of the cats door - which is installed on one of our walls that heads to the porch. As our cats are new to Berkeley they are not going out yet. Still, they are extremely interested in opening that door and take any opportunity to try and do so. Naturally, I assumed they are simply trying to open it again.

I woke up all dizzy and went there to make them stop so I can go back to sleep. To my surprise, both cats were sitting in front of the cats door, giving it their “hunt look”, all charged and ready for action. I was even more surprised to hear the noises continue even though the cats were not causing them.

At this point I became a little scared. I was pretty sure there’s a thief trying to break into the house (well, not a very talented one considering the level of noise he was producing. Coming to think of it now, he had to be a really tiny thief if he tried to break in through the cats door). I turned on the light on the porch and looked out. I was amazed to see a beautiful animal staring right back at me - a raccoon! A real raccoon at my porch! Here’s one thing that would not have happened to me in Israel…

We stood there for about 20 seconds, just staring at each other, not sure what to do next. After recovering from the shock I ran for my camera, but when I came back he was already gone. My landlord explained to me that the raccoons learned how to open the cats door and were using it occasionally in the past to sneak into the house and steal some of the the cat food. Quite impressive, isn’t it?

Finally, the day has arrived. After 3 weeks of living at my extremely nice and welcoming neighbors’ place, I moved this weekend to our permanent rented home in Berkeley.

UC Berkeley has a really nice place where married graduate students can live. It is called the UC Village, and it’s a huge neighborhood of town houses owned by the university, with large apartments for such students to come with their families. Living in the village is way cheaper than any other alternative, and it includes all utilities (electricity, water, internet, cable-tv etc.). It also has a great community of students as your neighbors, which is great.

Unfortunately we couldn’t live in the village as we were bringing our pets along, and pets are not allowed there. We quickly discovered how crazy the real-estate market in Berkeley is. People actually have to dress up and bring financial history, resume and recommendations to the meeting with the landlords. Situation is even worse when pets are involved, as there are literally no places that allow pets.

That’s why we were so lucky to find our home, which is owned by a lovely Israeli couple who are also pet-friendly. There aren’t enough words for me to describe how wonderful our new home is. It is an old Berkeley home, with 3 bedrooms, wooden floors, a flourishing garden, a nice deck and lots of light and green all around. It really is beautiful and we were extremely lucky to get it. Naturally, I was looking forward to the day the house becomes available and I can move into it.

When that day arrived, the first challenge was to move the cats. While Nimitz went into his moving cage unaware of any surprise awaiting for him, Fry was much more reluctant to cooperate. It took me about an hour, lots of treats and a few scratches on my arms to move him to his new home as well.

Sagy from my class and his wife Moran joined me then to start moving my stuff from the old place to the new one, and make sure we leave the former basement clean and tidy. They were absolutely amazing (thanks, guys!) and with their help we could finish the move in less than an hour.

Since then I’m arranging stuff, and helping the cats (and myself) get used to our new home. As you can imagine, they were not happy with the move, as it was their second in less than a month (cats don’t like changes). The first night here was a nightmare of Meowing, but I think they are gradually getting used to the place. Each found a spot he enjoys and they are more quiet and relaxed. We’re now all looking forward to Daphny and Noozie (our dog) joining us next month.

Today was my 5th day in Berkeley, and although it’s a bit early, here are some first impressions:

The city is absolutely lovely. Green, sunny and clean, but still keeps a feeling of a place that’s a bit off the standard. It’s the beginning of August and the days are sunny, but not extremely hot, and the night are rather chilly (which is quite a shock coming from Tel Aviv at this time of the year). The most appealing thing about the whether is that there is no humidity, so even after a long bike ride (and there are many of those), you don’t sweat too much.

Everyone rides bicycle here, and there are tons of stores that sells professional bicycle equipment. I think yesterday I rode more than I did my entire life.

There is also an extremely high sense of ecological awareness that can be seen not only with the city recycling program, but also with the amount of hybrid cars and solar houses.

People wake up early and go to sleep early. Most coffee shops in one of Berkeley’s main streets were closed by 9:30 (!) on friday (!!) night.

And there are also spiders. Tons of house spiders (the small ones with the little tummies and the long legs). They’re everywhere.

Expect a dedicated post for each of these impressions in the near future, but all in all, it seems like an amazing place to spend the two years of my MBA degree in.