Atumn Leaves
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Week 2 Blues and my debut for the OURFC
I was not going to add to my blog this week but after a pretty arduous week of incomprehensible lectures and a solid debut performance on the rugby paddock today, I have decided to give myself a night off. One of my housemates who has studied at Cambridge commented that there they speak of 5th week blues while at Oxford they speak of 4th week blues. Given the accelerated nature of the MBA program I have been suffering from 2nd week blues. When you consider that after two weeks I have already completed 1/4 of my lectures you may begin to appreciate the intensity at which I am being taught. Many of my classmates who have been exposed to economics, accounting, statistics or finance during their undergraduate degrees have said that what we have covered in two weeks they spent a whole semester learning. Of course, having never been exposed to finance, accounting, economics and statistics before have no benchmark to work with. Hence, the source of my growing frustration. Which leads me of course to the solution, after all MBA's are mean't to be problem solvers. I will be applying the Club Loser* 'Less is more, more or less' philosophy. This means letting go of the urge to read and summarise everything and being more targeted in my approach to learning, only referring to texts when I reach a mental road block (this week I would say the whole bloody road is closed for resurfacing). I think the key for the MBA is to stay on top of the work so I have developed the following list of priorities.
1. Completion of the remaining 11 items of assement due in the next 6 weeks - yes, I said 11.
2. Reviewing lecture handouts and notes
3. Answer question sheets
4. Read the prescribed texts only as an aid to problem areas
Hopefully, this will release some of the growing pressure that has been building and will mean that I won't be living on 6 hours sleep a night for the next six weeks.
So apart from becoming quite frustrated and then chucking my hands up in the air and saying 'sod this' what else is news. Well rugby union has been a regular theme of week two. I watched the Oxford University Blues (the name given to the First XV) play a second division club called Pertemps Bees on Monday night. The Blues got away to a good start in the first half but the Bees buzzed back in the second half and bridged the gap before the Blues closed them out late in the second half. From a spectator's perspective a great game of rugby with high scores and a close finish. Perhaps the coach might take a different view though. Tim Walsh, a Churchie old boy, was on the injured bench for Pertemps so I enjoyed having a chat with him before the game.
As the Oxford University Greyhounds (Second XV) play on Wednesday afternoon's I trained with the Blues on Wednesday night and then with both teams on Thursday night. I was picked to play in an internal game today between the Greyhounds and the Oxford University Under 21's team (they don't get a cool name). I started at number 8 and played a pretty strong game considering I have no match fitness (or general fitness to be perfectly honest). Despite not being able to remember any of the calls (they have 10 times more lineout variations than I have ever encountered before) I played quite well in loose smashing it up four times in succession off the kick off, pinching some ball, cleaning out hard and making some good cover tackles. I was rewarded early in the second half with receiving the ball from a tap penalty inorder to crash into their forward pack. This 'loosened' the shoulder that I have been unable to sleep on since I ended my season with the Woollahra Colleagues in August. I immediately stuck my other hand up in the air and walked off. I am pretty sure this is just a minor setback requiring some physio. Plus from a tactical perspective I got to play an impressive first half before my failing fitness would have resulted in a secon half of missed tackles and knock ons. See, I am a quite shrewd old bugger! I think I have earned the respect of my team mates (who still look quite stunned when they realise I am 30) and more importantly the coach. The final score was 44-15. Plus, the good news is that my torn hamstring survived the game!!!!!!!!!!!!!
With improved fitness, I hope to put some pressure for a flanker position in the Blues as they have a talented and well entrenched No. 8 with South African rep honours. They are playing two short, quick flankers like Waugh and Smith, whereas I will be hoping the coach sees the potential benefits of sacrificing some speed around the park for height in the lineout and another ball running forward.
To stick with the Wallaby analogy, I would like to play a Matt Cockbain role. Given my age and speed I reckon I could do this very effectively for 50-60 minutes each game before they let the short nippy flanker on just as the players begin to fatigue.
Apart from study and rugby my other news this week is that my girlfriend and I have booked 4 days skiing in Chamonix just prior to Christmas. I hope to catch up with Geoff Morris and Phil Davis who will both be residents of Chamonix over the winter. These four days of skiing (in my case snowboarding) will be a highlight of our two week holiday during which we will spend time in Oxford, Chamonix, Annecy, Paris and London. I am really looking forward to the arrival of my gorgeous girl. Spending time with her is the best reward I could imagine after 10 long weeks of study during the dark, wet and chilly english winter.
Anyway, that is it from me. I am icing my shoulder and will read some lecture notes before heading out to meet a mate from my course for a couple of quite pints at the Bear. After a hellish week of study and a good game of rugby I reckon I deserve that much.
*Club Loser: most of you would know of Club Loser, but for those that do not, they are approx 10 very close school mates of mine who at the age of 30 are still proving that life is to be enjoyed no matter what the cost. Lads, I hope the trip down to Sydney for the ICC Supertest was a cracker.
Cheers,
Dougie.
1. Completion of the remaining 11 items of assement due in the next 6 weeks - yes, I said 11.
2. Reviewing lecture handouts and notes
3. Answer question sheets
4. Read the prescribed texts only as an aid to problem areas
Hopefully, this will release some of the growing pressure that has been building and will mean that I won't be living on 6 hours sleep a night for the next six weeks.
So apart from becoming quite frustrated and then chucking my hands up in the air and saying 'sod this' what else is news. Well rugby union has been a regular theme of week two. I watched the Oxford University Blues (the name given to the First XV) play a second division club called Pertemps Bees on Monday night. The Blues got away to a good start in the first half but the Bees buzzed back in the second half and bridged the gap before the Blues closed them out late in the second half. From a spectator's perspective a great game of rugby with high scores and a close finish. Perhaps the coach might take a different view though. Tim Walsh, a Churchie old boy, was on the injured bench for Pertemps so I enjoyed having a chat with him before the game.
As the Oxford University Greyhounds (Second XV) play on Wednesday afternoon's I trained with the Blues on Wednesday night and then with both teams on Thursday night. I was picked to play in an internal game today between the Greyhounds and the Oxford University Under 21's team (they don't get a cool name). I started at number 8 and played a pretty strong game considering I have no match fitness (or general fitness to be perfectly honest). Despite not being able to remember any of the calls (they have 10 times more lineout variations than I have ever encountered before) I played quite well in loose smashing it up four times in succession off the kick off, pinching some ball, cleaning out hard and making some good cover tackles. I was rewarded early in the second half with receiving the ball from a tap penalty inorder to crash into their forward pack. This 'loosened' the shoulder that I have been unable to sleep on since I ended my season with the Woollahra Colleagues in August. I immediately stuck my other hand up in the air and walked off. I am pretty sure this is just a minor setback requiring some physio. Plus from a tactical perspective I got to play an impressive first half before my failing fitness would have resulted in a secon half of missed tackles and knock ons. See, I am a quite shrewd old bugger! I think I have earned the respect of my team mates (who still look quite stunned when they realise I am 30) and more importantly the coach. The final score was 44-15. Plus, the good news is that my torn hamstring survived the game!!!!!!!!!!!!!
With improved fitness, I hope to put some pressure for a flanker position in the Blues as they have a talented and well entrenched No. 8 with South African rep honours. They are playing two short, quick flankers like Waugh and Smith, whereas I will be hoping the coach sees the potential benefits of sacrificing some speed around the park for height in the lineout and another ball running forward.
To stick with the Wallaby analogy, I would like to play a Matt Cockbain role. Given my age and speed I reckon I could do this very effectively for 50-60 minutes each game before they let the short nippy flanker on just as the players begin to fatigue.
Apart from study and rugby my other news this week is that my girlfriend and I have booked 4 days skiing in Chamonix just prior to Christmas. I hope to catch up with Geoff Morris and Phil Davis who will both be residents of Chamonix over the winter. These four days of skiing (in my case snowboarding) will be a highlight of our two week holiday during which we will spend time in Oxford, Chamonix, Annecy, Paris and London. I am really looking forward to the arrival of my gorgeous girl. Spending time with her is the best reward I could imagine after 10 long weeks of study during the dark, wet and chilly english winter.
Anyway, that is it from me. I am icing my shoulder and will read some lecture notes before heading out to meet a mate from my course for a couple of quite pints at the Bear. After a hellish week of study and a good game of rugby I reckon I deserve that much.
*Club Loser: most of you would know of Club Loser, but for those that do not, they are approx 10 very close school mates of mine who at the age of 30 are still proving that life is to be enjoyed no matter what the cost. Lads, I hope the trip down to Sydney for the ICC Supertest was a cracker.
Cheers,
Dougie.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
The Beginning - Nought Week and Week 1
It it is Saturday evening 15 October 2005 and I have been in Oxford almost three weeks. The first week was spent in a state of confusion trying to establish my sleeping, eating and student administration arrangements along with various communication needs, principally email. Since I last wrote I have achieved quite alot and I am justifiably proud of my efforts. For a start I am very close to having an operational British bank account. It may not seem like much but it is a miracle of biblical proportions for a full time international student in the UK.
Secondly, some of you will be pleased to hear that I have finally bought myself a set of wheels and for the style conscious out there, you will be please to learn it is a Peugot. It is not a car but a very old and rusty bicycle which was sold to me for £30 by a 6'5 miner from Townsville called Jim. He is in Oxford with his English girlfriend who he dated for only two weeks before she continued her travels down the coast of Queensland. He told me all this over a cup of tea in his (her) flat when I went to buy the bike.
Last week is called 'Nought' week and it sees an influx of returning students, graduation ceremonies, etc. For Freshers (new undergraduates and postgraduates) such as me, it means heaps of induction activities convened by both my College and in my case, the Said Business School. Of course the most important thing that I needed to arrange during nought week was the purchase of two tickets to the Australia v England Rugby Test at Twickenham on 12 November. Special thanks to the staff of the PGA for providing my kit for that event in the form of a Wallaby jersey and beanie.
The photos at the very bottom of this latest episode are from the Graduate Dinner last Friday 6 October 2005. It was an enjoyable start to College life. Sadly, I will be so busy with my MBA studies that I will not get to socialise too much with my fellow students from College. I have become good mates with a Greek bloke called George (What a surprise, another Greek bloke called George?). He is studying astrophysics but is very laid back and would rather watch football, so I invited him along to join some MBA friends to watch the England V Austria World Cup Qualifier last Saturday afternoon. Incidentally, the group watching that game also comprised a Canadian, a Dutchman, a Russian and a Kenyan. How is that for a diverse mix? I have made so many new friends in the MBA course that it is hard to remember their names, but so far most of them come from North America as they tend to be more laid back.
The entire class of 227 is broken into three streams for the purpose of lectures. This week (Week 1) I attended all 6 lectures and to be honest it has been a bit of a blur. 6 three hour lectures per week polus a host of other seminars means that I will need to be on my game from the word go. I am already at my desk till midnight everynight as already I have two pieces of assessment due this Monday and Tuesday. Much of the assessment is done in project groups and I am fortunate to have what appears to be quite a bright and well balanced bunch of individuals in my assigned group. Rolf is an engineer turned management consultant from Namibia, Hester is a PR consultant from UK, Nikhil is an entrepreneur from US of Indian extraction and Aman is an Indian who has worked in energy production in the US for Enron and then UBS. I was completely exhausted at the end of my first week and knowing that I had Matriculation today I declined to socialise last night with my fellow MBA students for end of Week 1 drinks.
The photos with me dressed in a funny gown, 'sub fusc', are from Matriculation. This is a formal ceremony by which the new students are admitted to membership of the University. The alternative explanation for Matriculation, told to me by a fellow Aussie lawyer at St Peter's is that its comes from the Latin 'to vommit after excessive consumption of cheese'. Hence, one might say, "I ate so much vintage Peccorino at lunch I just matriculated all over the Master's shoes." I did not have too long to contemplate this definition as the ceremony was over in 10 minutes after a build up of four hourse and I needed to race off on my bike to the Oxford University Rugby Club for my first training session.
Turning up to a new rugby club is always a bit nerve wracking as you always assume everyone will be bigger, faster and better than you and you are paranoid you will cough up your first high ball. As you can see I am naturally a confident fellow, borderline cocky perhaps? While most of the players are younger than me, the forward pack was certainly smaller than I had expected. So provided I can stay fit and find some of the mongrel that I used to possess quite a deal of, I should hopefully be able to make a useful contribution to the squad. The international team that the Blues (First XV) play in Oxford this year is Tonga, so it would be quite nice to have a run against my old home land, perhaps exchanging my jersey and shorts for a traditional Tongan grass skirt.
That brings me to the present and I will have to sign off for a couple more weeks. Sadly, I already have a great deal to do and less and less time to do it in. I hope this finds you well.
All the best,
Doug.
Secondly, some of you will be pleased to hear that I have finally bought myself a set of wheels and for the style conscious out there, you will be please to learn it is a Peugot. It is not a car but a very old and rusty bicycle which was sold to me for £30 by a 6'5 miner from Townsville called Jim. He is in Oxford with his English girlfriend who he dated for only two weeks before she continued her travels down the coast of Queensland. He told me all this over a cup of tea in his (her) flat when I went to buy the bike.
Last week is called 'Nought' week and it sees an influx of returning students, graduation ceremonies, etc. For Freshers (new undergraduates and postgraduates) such as me, it means heaps of induction activities convened by both my College and in my case, the Said Business School. Of course the most important thing that I needed to arrange during nought week was the purchase of two tickets to the Australia v England Rugby Test at Twickenham on 12 November. Special thanks to the staff of the PGA for providing my kit for that event in the form of a Wallaby jersey and beanie.
The photos at the very bottom of this latest episode are from the Graduate Dinner last Friday 6 October 2005. It was an enjoyable start to College life. Sadly, I will be so busy with my MBA studies that I will not get to socialise too much with my fellow students from College. I have become good mates with a Greek bloke called George (What a surprise, another Greek bloke called George?). He is studying astrophysics but is very laid back and would rather watch football, so I invited him along to join some MBA friends to watch the England V Austria World Cup Qualifier last Saturday afternoon. Incidentally, the group watching that game also comprised a Canadian, a Dutchman, a Russian and a Kenyan. How is that for a diverse mix? I have made so many new friends in the MBA course that it is hard to remember their names, but so far most of them come from North America as they tend to be more laid back.
The entire class of 227 is broken into three streams for the purpose of lectures. This week (Week 1) I attended all 6 lectures and to be honest it has been a bit of a blur. 6 three hour lectures per week polus a host of other seminars means that I will need to be on my game from the word go. I am already at my desk till midnight everynight as already I have two pieces of assessment due this Monday and Tuesday. Much of the assessment is done in project groups and I am fortunate to have what appears to be quite a bright and well balanced bunch of individuals in my assigned group. Rolf is an engineer turned management consultant from Namibia, Hester is a PR consultant from UK, Nikhil is an entrepreneur from US of Indian extraction and Aman is an Indian who has worked in energy production in the US for Enron and then UBS. I was completely exhausted at the end of my first week and knowing that I had Matriculation today I declined to socialise last night with my fellow MBA students for end of Week 1 drinks.
The photos with me dressed in a funny gown, 'sub fusc', are from Matriculation. This is a formal ceremony by which the new students are admitted to membership of the University. The alternative explanation for Matriculation, told to me by a fellow Aussie lawyer at St Peter's is that its comes from the Latin 'to vommit after excessive consumption of cheese'. Hence, one might say, "I ate so much vintage Peccorino at lunch I just matriculated all over the Master's shoes." I did not have too long to contemplate this definition as the ceremony was over in 10 minutes after a build up of four hourse and I needed to race off on my bike to the Oxford University Rugby Club for my first training session.
Turning up to a new rugby club is always a bit nerve wracking as you always assume everyone will be bigger, faster and better than you and you are paranoid you will cough up your first high ball. As you can see I am naturally a confident fellow, borderline cocky perhaps? While most of the players are younger than me, the forward pack was certainly smaller than I had expected. So provided I can stay fit and find some of the mongrel that I used to possess quite a deal of, I should hopefully be able to make a useful contribution to the squad. The international team that the Blues (First XV) play in Oxford this year is Tonga, so it would be quite nice to have a run against my old home land, perhaps exchanging my jersey and shorts for a traditional Tongan grass skirt.
That brings me to the present and I will have to sign off for a couple more weeks. Sadly, I already have a great deal to do and less and less time to do it in. I hope this finds you well.
All the best,
Doug.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Wedding bells and Oxford smells
No it doesn't, it just rhymes well with bells.
However, I have already noted that Oxford is home to some of the slowest moving elderly ladies and gentlemen I have ever encountered. What is slower than very slow shuffling? That is 10 times faster than whatever they are doing.
Last Friday 23 September saw me trek from London to Dunkeld, Scotland for the wedding of two good friends of mine, both English doctors who studied and now practise medicine in Edinburgh. It started with a train, then a plane, then a car and then a train and then a car but I made it and it was worth it because I had a great weekend.
I was greeted by Joy McLoughlin, a relative of my mother, at Edinburgh airport and she took me to lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Firth of the Forth. Try to say that five times really quickly! Go on. Do it, do it.
From there I caught the train to Dunkeld which is in pictureque Perthshire. Dunkeld is a very pretty town with an ancient Cathedral on the banks of the River Tay and so it is a popular wedding and conference destination. Sadly neither my photos of Joy or Dunkeld would upload on this site. You will just have to take my word that it really happened.
On Friday night, I and about thirty other young guests were treated to dinner by the bride and groom at Newmiln House, a stately home where the Bride's family were staying during the wedding weekend. The night started well for Niamh's sister Kora who left the hand brake off her friends Mercedes which then slipped down a steep hill crashing through a tennis court fence.
It needed to be dragged out by a farm tractor. I sat next to the owner of the Mercedes during dinner and it turned out it was not her car but her bosses car. The damage to the car was minimal, the damage to the fence was extensive, however it did not seem to bother anyone (perhaps Mr Stone was concerned) and it was quite a memorable start to the wedding celebrations. I think I said to Mrs Stone (Niamh's Mum) on meeting her for the first time how exciting the car through the fence looked to which she replied "No, it is not". It was a surreal moment.
The wedding day was a beautiful sunny one and I sat in the sun by the banks of the river for as long as I could before I had to get ready for the wedding. It all went very quickly. Niamh and Andy were married in the private chapel on the Murthly Estate. Technically it was called The Chapel of St Anthony the Eremite but for some strange reason I kept calling it St Anthony the Excrement. Freudian slip.
There were drinks in the grounds of the Castle as the sun began to set we all piled into a large Marquet also in the Castle grounds. I had a brilliant time at the wedding and was made to feel very welcome by both the Stone (Niamh) and Lucking (Andy) family and their friends. I was seated at a special table and they even left a bottle of Bundy Rum at my table seating which was quickly consumed after the dinner was over and the dancing had begun. Much to my irritation none of the photos I have of the wedding will upload to this site.
It was a late finish and an early start on Sunday morning as the very nice B&B owners from "The Pend" in Dunkeld drove me all the way to Perth to catch a train back to Edinburgh. They had in fact driven me to all my engagements from the minute I moved into their B&B such was their high level service and did not ask for any money in return. Peter even lent me his cuff links as I had forgotten mine. If ever you are in Dunkeld, stay with Peter and Marina Braney at the Pend on 5 Brae Street, as they and their lovely West Highland Terriers Molly and Bridie will make you feel right at home.
The only thing I can recall about the train journey to Edinburgh was being forced to sit next to a bunch of teenage D&D players who would not shut up about wizards, monsters and things called Fire Penguins. Apparently you can be turned into one if you pick a bad card from the deck. Footnote 1. I will encourage my children to follow any of their interests in life, with the exception of Dungeons & Dragons, it is without question the most obvious form of social suicide known to man.
Sunday afternoon I arrived back at Phil's in Clapham and took advantage of the great weather to go for a run on the Common to test out my dodgy hamstring. I took it nice and slow but it seemed to go pretty well. The next morning I packed my gear after shouting my host a quick coffee, who I hope to see in Chamonix over the winter, I headed into Victoria Station to bus it up to Oxford.
My first tentative steps in my new home in Oxford involved reporting to the lodge at St Peter's College to collect a key to my house and room. I was met by a very nice Porter (traditional title for the blokes who man the reception desks in Oxford colleges) called Paul who was straight out of the Front Row Forward Factory (if only Australia could produce as many 20 stone gorrillas at the UK, the Wallabies would be sitting pretty). He immediately liked the fact that I was from Australia and I play rugby. My first new friend.
I then made my way to my new home in 33 St Margaret's Road, North Oxford. On arrival I was pleased to discover that the room I had been assigned was massive with large windows. I was surprised to see how small the bed was by comparion. It was something out of that wacky out of scale room in Alice in Wonderland. You know, you keep walking towards the bed and it gets smaller and smaller and eventually you can pick it up in and place it on the palm of your hand.
You may wonder why I would mention Alice in Wonderland but it is probably because the Eagle and Child, famous watering hole of Tolkien and Carroll is relatively close to where I live and I had pints there last night.
Anyway, I won't go it to too much more detail about what I have done in the 3.5 days since I have been in Oxford but it has involved loads of walking around trying to get stuff done. I now have some pretty decent blisters on my feet and so a bike may become a necessary mode of transport afterall. Needles to say I have had two out of my three evening meals so far at the Bear just so I can feel more at home in this place.
That is about it from me for the time being. I am slowly relaxing in my new surrounds and getting to know my housemates (14 in total including Britons, Russians, Italians, Americans, etc) before moving more into the business school scene with the first organised activity on Saturday afternoon. It will all then become very busy with a stream of both College and Business School induction events next week and so I will update this site again once they are all finished.
However, I have already noted that Oxford is home to some of the slowest moving elderly ladies and gentlemen I have ever encountered. What is slower than very slow shuffling? That is 10 times faster than whatever they are doing.
Last Friday 23 September saw me trek from London to Dunkeld, Scotland for the wedding of two good friends of mine, both English doctors who studied and now practise medicine in Edinburgh. It started with a train, then a plane, then a car and then a train and then a car but I made it and it was worth it because I had a great weekend.
I was greeted by Joy McLoughlin, a relative of my mother, at Edinburgh airport and she took me to lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Firth of the Forth. Try to say that five times really quickly! Go on. Do it, do it.
From there I caught the train to Dunkeld which is in pictureque Perthshire. Dunkeld is a very pretty town with an ancient Cathedral on the banks of the River Tay and so it is a popular wedding and conference destination. Sadly neither my photos of Joy or Dunkeld would upload on this site. You will just have to take my word that it really happened.
On Friday night, I and about thirty other young guests were treated to dinner by the bride and groom at Newmiln House, a stately home where the Bride's family were staying during the wedding weekend. The night started well for Niamh's sister Kora who left the hand brake off her friends Mercedes which then slipped down a steep hill crashing through a tennis court fence.
It needed to be dragged out by a farm tractor. I sat next to the owner of the Mercedes during dinner and it turned out it was not her car but her bosses car. The damage to the car was minimal, the damage to the fence was extensive, however it did not seem to bother anyone (perhaps Mr Stone was concerned) and it was quite a memorable start to the wedding celebrations. I think I said to Mrs Stone (Niamh's Mum) on meeting her for the first time how exciting the car through the fence looked to which she replied "No, it is not". It was a surreal moment.
The wedding day was a beautiful sunny one and I sat in the sun by the banks of the river for as long as I could before I had to get ready for the wedding. It all went very quickly. Niamh and Andy were married in the private chapel on the Murthly Estate. Technically it was called The Chapel of St Anthony the Eremite but for some strange reason I kept calling it St Anthony the Excrement. Freudian slip.
There were drinks in the grounds of the Castle as the sun began to set we all piled into a large Marquet also in the Castle grounds. I had a brilliant time at the wedding and was made to feel very welcome by both the Stone (Niamh) and Lucking (Andy) family and their friends. I was seated at a special table and they even left a bottle of Bundy Rum at my table seating which was quickly consumed after the dinner was over and the dancing had begun. Much to my irritation none of the photos I have of the wedding will upload to this site.
It was a late finish and an early start on Sunday morning as the very nice B&B owners from "The Pend" in Dunkeld drove me all the way to Perth to catch a train back to Edinburgh. They had in fact driven me to all my engagements from the minute I moved into their B&B such was their high level service and did not ask for any money in return. Peter even lent me his cuff links as I had forgotten mine. If ever you are in Dunkeld, stay with Peter and Marina Braney at the Pend on 5 Brae Street, as they and their lovely West Highland Terriers Molly and Bridie will make you feel right at home.
The only thing I can recall about the train journey to Edinburgh was being forced to sit next to a bunch of teenage D&D players who would not shut up about wizards, monsters and things called Fire Penguins. Apparently you can be turned into one if you pick a bad card from the deck. Footnote 1. I will encourage my children to follow any of their interests in life, with the exception of Dungeons & Dragons, it is without question the most obvious form of social suicide known to man.
Sunday afternoon I arrived back at Phil's in Clapham and took advantage of the great weather to go for a run on the Common to test out my dodgy hamstring. I took it nice and slow but it seemed to go pretty well. The next morning I packed my gear after shouting my host a quick coffee, who I hope to see in Chamonix over the winter, I headed into Victoria Station to bus it up to Oxford.
My first tentative steps in my new home in Oxford involved reporting to the lodge at St Peter's College to collect a key to my house and room. I was met by a very nice Porter (traditional title for the blokes who man the reception desks in Oxford colleges) called Paul who was straight out of the Front Row Forward Factory (if only Australia could produce as many 20 stone gorrillas at the UK, the Wallabies would be sitting pretty). He immediately liked the fact that I was from Australia and I play rugby. My first new friend.
I then made my way to my new home in 33 St Margaret's Road, North Oxford. On arrival I was pleased to discover that the room I had been assigned was massive with large windows. I was surprised to see how small the bed was by comparion. It was something out of that wacky out of scale room in Alice in Wonderland. You know, you keep walking towards the bed and it gets smaller and smaller and eventually you can pick it up in and place it on the palm of your hand.
You may wonder why I would mention Alice in Wonderland but it is probably because the Eagle and Child, famous watering hole of Tolkien and Carroll is relatively close to where I live and I had pints there last night.
Anyway, I won't go it to too much more detail about what I have done in the 3.5 days since I have been in Oxford but it has involved loads of walking around trying to get stuff done. I now have some pretty decent blisters on my feet and so a bike may become a necessary mode of transport afterall. Needles to say I have had two out of my three evening meals so far at the Bear just so I can feel more at home in this place.
That is about it from me for the time being. I am slowly relaxing in my new surrounds and getting to know my housemates (14 in total including Britons, Russians, Italians, Americans, etc) before moving more into the business school scene with the first organised activity on Saturday afternoon. It will all then become very busy with a stream of both College and Business School induction events next week and so I will update this site again once they are all finished.
Friday, September 23, 2005
Sayonara Sydney, Bye Bye Brisbane and Hello UK
Sorry for the delay in making my next entry. Leaving Australia and arriving in the UK in a semi-organised fashion has been a full time job. It began on 2 September 2005 when I finished up at the PGA after 2.5 years in the Sydney headquarters. I was completely blown away by the generosity of my work mates in sending me off with a fine lunch and an assortment of gifts. In fact througout my last week in Sydney I was treated to lunches and dinners and special thanks goes to Toddy and Kristin for Sunday Roast, Hinesy and Shuri for a quality Japanese feed, Sanjib Morgan and the guys from Team America for Sanjib's 'wold' famous 'Donkey Ghosht'. All i can say is "Durka, Durka, Durka."
My last day at the PGA was followed by my 30th Birthday weekend. This involved watching my rugby team win the minor premiership (I was sidelined with injury) on Saturday, dinner for about twenty at Tre Scalini's in East Sydney and then yum cha at Sea Treasure in Crows Nest with my sister Jane and Dad's cousin Phil on Sunday.
I thoroughly enjoyed all of these activities, however, the personal highlight for me was beginning my weekend with a romantic dinner for two at Wildfire on circular quay on Friday night with the loveliest girl I have ever met. For the sake of privacy I will keep her name out of my diary, but she knows who she is and how much she means to me.
My last activity before leaving Sydney was to lunch at Bondi Icebergs before walking from Bondi to Coogee with my sister Jane. It was great to have a good long yarn to my sister who will be returning to live in Japan at the end of September. I wish her the best of luck and thank my brother Richard and his partner Stuart for ensuring that she could make it down from Brisbane for my 30th celebration.
My almost two week stay in Brisbane was extremely hectic to say the least: lunches with relatives, dinners with friends, physotheraphy appointments for a torn hamstring, wisdom teeth extractions, weddings, Gold Coast sanity visits all squeezed in and around as many catch ups with my lovely new girlfriend that I could possibly arrange.
I am very sorry I could not spend more time with my parents during this time. I know they were dissappointed but I could not have done any more in such a limited amount of time without offering myself as a radical experiment in human cloning. In any event, I hope that any short term dissappointment is soon overshadowed by pride in what what I am trying to achieve by studying for an MBA in the UK.
I arrived in London at 5.30am on Wednesday 21 September 2005 and made my way to Lavender Hill where I am staying with my old law firm mate, Phil Davis. It is very nice to be in a part of London that I am familiar with and it was quite easy for me to walk to Michael Bruderlin's Battersea pad for a great dinner with him and Michael Schmidt last night. Yesterday was spent cruising around Clapham including some sunning in Clapham Common. The weather has been very mild so far and it is still daylight saving here. I will savour it while it lasts.
That is enough from me. The next entry will be from my new home in Oxford from where I will be able to report on Niamh and Andy's wedding in Dunkeld, Scotland this weekend.
My last day at the PGA was followed by my 30th Birthday weekend. This involved watching my rugby team win the minor premiership (I was sidelined with injury) on Saturday, dinner for about twenty at Tre Scalini's in East Sydney and then yum cha at Sea Treasure in Crows Nest with my sister Jane and Dad's cousin Phil on Sunday.
I thoroughly enjoyed all of these activities, however, the personal highlight for me was beginning my weekend with a romantic dinner for two at Wildfire on circular quay on Friday night with the loveliest girl I have ever met. For the sake of privacy I will keep her name out of my diary, but she knows who she is and how much she means to me.
My last activity before leaving Sydney was to lunch at Bondi Icebergs before walking from Bondi to Coogee with my sister Jane. It was great to have a good long yarn to my sister who will be returning to live in Japan at the end of September. I wish her the best of luck and thank my brother Richard and his partner Stuart for ensuring that she could make it down from Brisbane for my 30th celebration.
My almost two week stay in Brisbane was extremely hectic to say the least: lunches with relatives, dinners with friends, physotheraphy appointments for a torn hamstring, wisdom teeth extractions, weddings, Gold Coast sanity visits all squeezed in and around as many catch ups with my lovely new girlfriend that I could possibly arrange.
I am very sorry I could not spend more time with my parents during this time. I know they were dissappointed but I could not have done any more in such a limited amount of time without offering myself as a radical experiment in human cloning. In any event, I hope that any short term dissappointment is soon overshadowed by pride in what what I am trying to achieve by studying for an MBA in the UK.
I arrived in London at 5.30am on Wednesday 21 September 2005 and made my way to Lavender Hill where I am staying with my old law firm mate, Phil Davis. It is very nice to be in a part of London that I am familiar with and it was quite easy for me to walk to Michael Bruderlin's Battersea pad for a great dinner with him and Michael Schmidt last night. Yesterday was spent cruising around Clapham including some sunning in Clapham Common. The weather has been very mild so far and it is still daylight saving here. I will savour it while it lasts.
That is enough from me. The next entry will be from my new home in Oxford from where I will be able to report on Niamh and Andy's wedding in Dunkeld, Scotland this weekend.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
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