Paris

While at the MBA Olympics we had the chance twice to go into the city. After a brief bus around the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Trompe, Saturday night we went into Paris to a famed night club near Sacre Coeur and the Moulin Rouge area. We then returned to Paris Sunday after the closing ceremonies. We had crepes with nutella and wandered around Notre Dame before catching our flight back to England.

Salsa !

(left - pics from after the performance)

Adding to my list of trying new things this year that I have never done before is salsa dancing. At the MBA Olympics, there are lots of non-traditional sports like tug of war, chess, ultimate frisbee and a salsa dancing competition. I just began learning about a month ago and was lucky enough to compete with the Oxford team. I have not danced in front of crowd since 3rd grade ballet! It was really a lot of fun learning the dance and spending

countless practice hours with the team. The competition was tough as the teams from Spain had a slight advantage over us “Brits”.

Cross Country

(French Country-side where we ran)

I filled a last minute vacancy one of the cross country teams (at the MBA Olympics) for a 7+ K run through the hills of the campus. I did not think that “country” part was serious and envisioned a flat track – nope. Not this course. It was serious trekking at a personal best speed for me. The other Oxford team received a silver medal. Our team was disqualified when one member was not able to finish. But it was an accomplishment for me, as I have never ran in a race for speed before.

The “best” part was when I crossed the wrong finish line. I sprinted to what I thought was the finish only to arrive and find I had to do one more lap. At the time it was not funny, but now I can only imagine how silly I must have looked!

(after the race, johannah, kelly and me)

MBA Olympics

This past weekend was the MBA Olympics. We stayed at the HEC (Business School just outside Paris). Over 1700 MBA from 10 schools (Cambridge, London Business School, IESE, Mancester, Rotterdam, etc) with students from 59 countries participating. We placed 1st out of the mid-sized schools with medals in rugby, swimming, cross country, basketball and volleyball. But mostly it was just a blast to be with over 100 of my fellow classmates for 4 days - SBS was nice enough to rearrange our classes so we wouldn’t miss lectures.



Nb. Clearly I was able to resolve all the passport issues of last week – as well as purchasing a new camera). Let me just suggest say how great the US Embassy in London is for Americans.

"Awful Beautiful Life"

(Sometimes the lyrics to a country song say it all.) The last week has been a bit of a rollercoster for me.
Up - fabulous trip to Cologne - Germany's oldest city. I met up with 2 friends from UT who are now in an MBA program that has a few international programs each year. We cuised the Rhine and saw beautiful little villages dotted along the river bank and castles nestled in the hills. We also sampled a fair share our the local beer!
Down - passport and camera get stolen/lost at London airport on return trip! so Im stuck here for now and have no pictures to share - yet.
Up - Sunday, I ran a 10K for charity. A personal accomplishment, as I have never run that much before (6.24 miles). My friend Claire and I finished in 1 hour and 3 minutes! - and that was in the lovely English rain.
Down - immediately after the 10K, I had to write a paper for my Hedge Funds class - had to structure a Fund of Hedge Funds - which until about 2 weeks ago I had never even heard of - if you dont know what it is either - let me just say it involves lots of spreadsheets! I wouldn't recommend investing with me just yet either. ha ha.

So the adventures of the year continue....Headed to the US Embassy in London tomorrow to try to replace passport. Wish me luck.

Almost mid - term

I cannot believe how fast this term is going! The buzz around the business school these days is all about "SCP" our summer consulting projects. We are in the process of sorting out where everyone will be this summer and what they will be doing. We recieved our grades from last term - a terribly nerve racking experience as they make you wait in line (or que up) to get your sealed envelope. All turned out well for me! Now, to finish this term....

I'm rehersing with the salsa team (for the Texans - its the dancing kind, not the eating kind!). We have 5 couples that will compete in the upcoming MBA Olympics. In 2 weeks time over 100 of my classmates will head to Paris to compete in soccer, rugby, track, swimming, table tennis, tug of war, biking, rollerblading and salsa dancing - to name a few. MBA's from all over Europe will also be competing. And this coming weekend Im off to Germany to meet some friends from Texas studying there!
Stay tuned...

Remarque-able

Finally, after 4 months we turned in our final report for our New Business Development project (a major component of our degree requirement). For this project our team examined the profitablity of investing in emerging market art as an asset and diversification tool. Our team, Remarque (named after a small mark or sketch in margin of a painting), presented our findings to our corporate sponsor in London on Friday. While we had a great team and all learned alot on the project we are all very happy to have this project over and done with! Here we are after a celebratory drink in Mayfair.

Madrid

Ok, so I really like spain. I realize 3 trips in 6 months might seem excessive to some. But before living in the UK, I had never been and its just such a lovely country (and not to mention it one of the easiest sunny places to get to from the UK).

I joined the marathoners for a weekend in Madrid. Again I was struck with the beautiful architechure, the art, the food and the friendly people. While Stacey, Rachel and Jan rested and recovered from the Marathon, I took off for some exploring. Lunch in the impressive Plaza Mayor, walks through the sprawling garderns and palacio Real. The Prado musem and the Reina Sofia (modern art) were 2 highlights for me. Truly world famous collections of Picasso, Goya and Velasquez.

Bravo!

This past weekend I cheered Jan, Stacey and Rachel (left to right above) on from the sidelines as they raced for the Leukaemia Lymphoma Society in the Madrid Marathon. With a small percentage of women in the race these "chicas" had alot of spectator support. It was a beautiful sunny day and these women were quite inspiring as they raced up and down the hills of Madrid! Inspite of the incredible personal success they each achieved, they raised a signifiant amount for charity.