The Tube

The London tube. I think it's fair that this picture (dead of morning - first run of the tube) is the only time you'll ever see it this empty. During rush hour it's packed like a sardine can - and some people have body odor, let me tell you.

I used to ride the tube on occasion - maybe the weekends - but now I'm a regular commuter. I travel to work twice a week. The tube is a wonderful source of transportation; I would never own a car in the UK. But the tube lines are often delayed ("person under a train" means suicide, FYI) or shut down completely. If the tube was more reliable, and/or ran 24 hours per day (it stops at 12:30am), it would be perfect. I find that riding the tube is a good way to become proficient at iPhone games.

Europe's finest nightlife

Only in Europe...




And no, I do NOT know him.

Santa pub crawl - December

I realize that it's March - but! - it has been a very busy semester for me. Next semester may be even more so. Classwork has proved to be easily manageable, but my internship is a big drain on my time. I really enjoy the work so I'm not complaining. But I am a busy, busy bee.

These pictures are obviously a bit dated. But I wanted to share them anyway, because this was a blast. One of my school's biggest social traditions is the Santa pub crawl that we do right before our December exams. Hundreds of people dress up in Santa suits and walk around London - from the tube, to an amusement park, to bars and eventually a nightclub. It's chaotic! It pretty much stops traffic / pedestrians / everything as people stop and gawk at us going by. Oh, and naturally, we're singing carols.

"The Local"

A common expression in England is, "my local," or "the local." It is inevitably a reference to the pub that is closest to you, generally within just a few streets, and that you patronize on a regular basis. It's cultural here that you go to the pub regularly - and almost expected that you'll support your local business.

For me it's almost too easy. The Hobgoblin is just 100 yards away. I can always find a free seat (sometimes it's downstairs) and the beer prices are fair. But the big thing - and the real reason I go so often - is the Thai food. A Thai family has set up shop downstairs and cooks fantastic food at super-cheap prices. They can bring your food upstairs to the pub or you can get it as take-away, which me and my roommate often do. At 6-7 pounds per entree, it's a price and convenience that can't be beat in my neighborhood.

Culture! Class!

This is just a quick post to say, yes, I am getting my share of proper London culture in. This is a pic from a trip I made to watch the Kensington Philharmonic Orchestra play in the Chelsea old town hall. My friend Genevieve is both a Masters in Finance student at school and a musician in the orchestra, so she got a bunch of us some discounted tickets.

Even more impressive was my more recent trip to the Royal Opera House for a performance of La Boheme. I had awesome seats on the left hand side in the lowest balcony. Ok, so this is obviously a stock photo - but you get the idea. It wasn't really a "take lots of flash photography" kind of event - in fact, no pictures are allowed during the performance.

La Boheme is the most popular opera of all time. I think this is largely attributable to the fact that it is truly funny. I laughed out loud on a regular basis. And it's a little ribald, which reminded me of Shakespeare. I guess if you want to stand the test of time, you have to appeal to the masses, and to our lewdest sense of humor.

The opera was wonderful - it ran three and a half hours but felt like it ended too early. The actors/singers were amazingly talented - what else could you expect from a ROYAL opera house? I can't wait until I can go again.

The Christmas Spirit in London

London gets REALLY dressed up for Christmas! Far more than Atlanta ever did. This holiday season saw a remake of Disney's A Christmas Carol, an animated movie voiced by Jim Carey. Which also happens to be modeled after a British book by Charles Dickens. So there was a natural tie-in for them to sponsor Christmas decorations all over Oxford Street, a major shopping and nightlife area in London. It was great!

But it was Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park that really put me in the Christmas spirit. It was a HUGE winter carnival. I had never heard of a winter carnival before, but it's very much like a normal carnival, except there are more bratwursts and hot chocolates and mulled wines. I had a thick hot chocolate with a shot of Bailey's in it, and enjoyed it next to a fireplace; absolute perfection on a cold day.

Strategy Exam

Strategy was one of the tougher exams that I've taken, bar none. It took 12 hours. Yeah, that's right - it was a scheduled 12 hour exam. We went from 9am to 9pm.

It was also a group exam. I took it with my 7-person study group, some of whom are pictured above, celebrating the end of the exam. From left to right: Steve (Korea), Beto (Mexico), me, and Natalya (Russia). Sheena (Singapore) took the picture, and Anais (Italy) and Robustiano (Argentina) also weren't pictured.

We had the case (on Zara / H&M / the Gap) ahead of time, but didn't know the questions. Even so, we were able to do some prep work in advance. And thank goodness; we wouldn't have finished in 12 hours, otherwise. During the exam we split up the work into sections and charged ahead. We took turns editing / reviewing each other's finished sections. In the final hour we cobbled everything together. We all got along well, which was great given the stressful conditions, and our final grade was a solid A.

In the end, our school bar was full of fellow MBA 2011's ready to celebrate the end of Strategy.