The MBA is OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It has been a couple of weeks since I last updated the blog and so much has happened during this time:

Firstly, after visiting Tory in Dublin I returned to Oxford for only one night before heading to off on a whirlwind one night visit to Helsinki in Finland. The purpose of the visit was to present our SCP findings to Nokia management at its global headquarters in Espoo (yes...., funny name isn't it). That went well and was followed by some individual meetings with respect to potential employment opportunities which seemed to go quite well also.

Upon the team's return to Oxford we had only just over a week to complete our Project Report. Given our disjointed project schedule and down time spent travelling from one place to next, we still had a huge amount of work to perform. Nevertheless after many long days and late nights in the business school library we finally finished the 15,000 word report and celebrated with a break up lunch at the Bear on Friday, 1 Sept.

Tory arrived for a 10 day stay in Oxford the following day and my birthday fell on the Sunday which was celebrated with lunch at the Trout Inn, one of Oxfordshire's most picturesque and popular taverns and a walk along Southmoor before commencing a pub crawl around Oxford which took in the Jericho Tavern, The Royal Oak, The Eagle & Child, The Lamb & Flag, The Kings Arms and the Turf Tavern. London based former QUT law mates Ryan Rayfield and Paul Morgan joined Tory and I for lunch at the Trout and then various MBA colleagues joined the crawl throughout the afternoon.

On Monday Tory and cycled out to Woodstock via the canals and after realising I had been taking her in the wrong direction, then via a very busy and fast moving A something highway. We spent the night in this very pretty town which is adjacent to magnificent Blenheim Palace. We toured the palace and grounds the following morning before riding back to Oxford in the afternoon.

Wednesday was spent reviewing some strategy and organisational behaviour notes in preparation for the final assessment of the MBA program: the case note exam. One last late night and early morning followed by a trip to the exam school and two hours later it was all over. The exam went well (I think and hope) and was followed my huge celebrations at the Turf Tavern. We stayed there all afternoon into the early evening but rather than continuing late into the evening Tory and I decided to stay home to conserve our energy and money.

Friday was, as has been the case all week, a beautiful sunny day so I took Tory punting from the Cherwell Boathouse, my first attempt at punting since a day trip with friends, Bailey and AJ in 2004. We stopped for a Pimms at the appropriately named Victoria Arms Hotel. Again, we stayed home on Friday night to conserve energy for the end of course celebration.

On Saturday morning Tory and I enjoyed a champagne breakfast (Thanks to Paul, Ryan and Sarcha for the birthday gift of a bottle of Verve) and smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. It was a great way to start the day. The end of course ceremony at the Sheldonian Theatre was very impressive. A number of speeches were made (including one by the Chancellor of the University Lord Pattern, formerly Governor of HK) before we were presented to shake hands with the Dean of the Business School.

The ceremony was followed by a reception at the business school where Tory got to meet more of my MBA friends and then afterwards a small group of us had dinner at a nearby restaurant. These included course mates such as Josh, Scott, Rich and Tim. Later in the evening all the MBA's assembled at a bar called Angels where Tory and I stayed until about 1am.

Today has been a leisurely day with a walk and jog in the University Parks. Tonight we are attending a Social & Sports Committee Dinner at Keble College which will be very nice. Tomorrow, I will start the job search in earnest before Tory heads back to Dublin in the evening. It will be very hard for us both to say good bye and resume a further absence of uncertain duration.

I will remain here in Oxford until this Saturday 16th of September. At that time, one very memorable chapter in my life will close and another will surely soon open....

All the best,
Doug.