Eugenie, Mum, James and MBA mate Josh at the Bear...
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Hello family, Goodbye Oxford
On Saturday I closed a chapter in my life by graduating from St Peters College, Oxford. It was great to be able to share this unique experience with some members of my family and in addition to the graduation ceremony (delivered entirely in latin) I have enjoyed a lovely few days guiding my parents, eldest sister and her children around Oxford since their arrival in the UK last Wednesday.
Activities have included watching the Oxford Blues defeat the Major Stanley Invitational XV which included Pat Howard for twenty minutes of sheer class before he hobbled to the side of the field, an open top bus tour of Oxford, lunch at the Turf Tavern, Thanksgiving Dinner (coinciding with Dad's Birthday) at Dad's old college, Exeter college, post graduation drinks at the Bear and so on. I would also add that Tory made yet another trip across to Oxford from Dublin for an extended weekend and enjoyed seeing my family members also. She assures me that she is now very fond of Oxford, but I am pretty keen for us to holiday some other place in future!
Prior to their arrival last Wednesday, I had spent a week in Dublin staying with Tory. She is alot more settled in her house but is working hard and is setting a good example for me in my job search. To demonstrate some of her fine work, I have attached some recent photos of a society christening that she was heavily involved in designing and staging. My visit coincided with the Wallabies v Ireland rugby test. While the conditions favoured the Irish, the Wallabies performed the worst I have ever seen, live or televised and with a personal viewing record of 4 autumn tour games for 4 losses, I have officially decided that I now have better things to spend my money on than a ticket to the rugby.
Prior to my week in Dublin I spent a week with Jeremy, an MBA friend from Canada and probably one of the smartest characters in the programme. He was a warm and generous host and like Josh, Chris & Jon in the other MBA house, is living only one block from Hyde Park.
That is the past, now for the future. I am still waiting to hear whether I have been shortlisted for the IRB role and should know next week. Irrespective, I need to increase my efforts to secure work elsewhere and continue to send off applications on a daily basis. Jobs with some form of legal focus still seem to be getting the most traction in the eyes of recruiters and may be a short to medium term solution while I search for alternative avenues.
My family moves to London this Friday having used Oxford as a base for day tripping and so I will see quite a bit more of them over the next few weeks.
That is all for now. All the best.
Doug.
PS> Please note that since my Oxford tenure has come to an end, I will endeavour to change the name of my diary, although a permanent change may need to be deferred until after I have a set job and a location. One thing is certain, like many things in life, this year in Oxford has left an indellible mark on my memory and hopefully my outlook on life. I think I will carry this place with me everywhere.
Activities have included watching the Oxford Blues defeat the Major Stanley Invitational XV which included Pat Howard for twenty minutes of sheer class before he hobbled to the side of the field, an open top bus tour of Oxford, lunch at the Turf Tavern, Thanksgiving Dinner (coinciding with Dad's Birthday) at Dad's old college, Exeter college, post graduation drinks at the Bear and so on. I would also add that Tory made yet another trip across to Oxford from Dublin for an extended weekend and enjoyed seeing my family members also. She assures me that she is now very fond of Oxford, but I am pretty keen for us to holiday some other place in future!
Prior to their arrival last Wednesday, I had spent a week in Dublin staying with Tory. She is alot more settled in her house but is working hard and is setting a good example for me in my job search. To demonstrate some of her fine work, I have attached some recent photos of a society christening that she was heavily involved in designing and staging. My visit coincided with the Wallabies v Ireland rugby test. While the conditions favoured the Irish, the Wallabies performed the worst I have ever seen, live or televised and with a personal viewing record of 4 autumn tour games for 4 losses, I have officially decided that I now have better things to spend my money on than a ticket to the rugby.
Prior to my week in Dublin I spent a week with Jeremy, an MBA friend from Canada and probably one of the smartest characters in the programme. He was a warm and generous host and like Josh, Chris & Jon in the other MBA house, is living only one block from Hyde Park.
That is the past, now for the future. I am still waiting to hear whether I have been shortlisted for the IRB role and should know next week. Irrespective, I need to increase my efforts to secure work elsewhere and continue to send off applications on a daily basis. Jobs with some form of legal focus still seem to be getting the most traction in the eyes of recruiters and may be a short to medium term solution while I search for alternative avenues.
My family moves to London this Friday having used Oxford as a base for day tripping and so I will see quite a bit more of them over the next few weeks.
That is all for now. All the best.
Doug.
PS> Please note that since my Oxford tenure has come to an end, I will endeavour to change the name of my diary, although a permanent change may need to be deferred until after I have a set job and a location. One thing is certain, like many things in life, this year in Oxford has left an indellible mark on my memory and hopefully my outlook on life. I think I will carry this place with me everywhere.
Friday, November 10, 2006
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