Oriel Ball

Oriel college was founded in the 1300's and every three year they host an extravagent Ball. the MBA collectively decided we would all go. The theme of the evening was three tales of three citys and each of the beautiful court yards was transformed into Rome, New York and Delhi with food, music, entertainment and decor to match. The evening started at 9pm and they have a tradition of a "surviors" photo which is taken at 5:30am....

Arabian Nights

I realize I am supposed to be studying for exams, but its "Ball Season"in Oxford and there are just to many fun parties to spend too much time studying.(Each spring in Oxford, different colleges host different themed balls.) Afterall, its our final term and everyone has a wee bit of senior-itis. Thursday night we went to the St. Cross ball where the theme was Arabian nights. The food was declious and there were bellydancers, henna artists, fire-eaters, palm readers, and SNAKES. It was even more fun because my good friend Claire (see photo above) helped to organize the whole thing!

Proof!

I have been getting alot of comments from people thinking perhaps I have dropped out of school or was never actually in a program - and that I am just having a year long European vacation! While that would be a very clever and funny trick to play on the issuers of my student loans, let me suggest the dark circles emerging under my eyes hopefully could be proof of the long days and late nights at the library. For the past 4 days I was at the library for more that 14 hours each day. Here's me last night working on my Behavioral Finance paper - which submitted today!

So for those who say they have not seen ONE picture of me working... here you go. (see - told you the studying is boring).

Drumming and other funny things MBA's do

Saturday (yes, Saturday) was our last day of class--- EVER. It should have been friday, but some of us had finance professors who rescheduled class for Saturday Morning... I digress. So Friday night was the end of class celebration. We had a barbeque (England Style) on in the back garden on the croquet field.

This group (Drum Cafe) that does team building exercises with African drums came with 200 drums. At first we all thought it was really silly, but everyone went to try it out. It was on the open air theather in the middle of the business school quod. And it actually, turned out to be really cool. They taught us how to play some different rythms together. Chalk up another one to brand new experiences this year: African Drumming.

For a little more of the drumming - click this video.

Hogwart's

Last night I was lucky enough to get invited to Christ Church for formal dinner last night. The scenes from Harry Potter in the dining hall were filmed here - looks almost exactly the same minus the floating candles. (below : quittish scenes were filmed in the main quod).

No Harry Potter Analogy would be complete without some photos in my subfusc (black and white worn under graduate gown). Class photos were today -- only a few changes left to wear our awesome outfits!

Awards Night

3 years ago the MBA Students started a tradition of an awards show a the end of the year. Its one of those silly ones where you award people for "best class sleeper" or the "better late than never" award. There were skits, musical numbers and lots of photos from the whole year - it was hysterical. It was fun to dress up as if it were the Oscars. Its one of those special nights that makes you realize how much fun its been in between all the hard work and all the wonderful friends that are about to scatter back across the globe.

Shakespeare in the Park

I had a very "Oxford" evening last night. The weather has been wonderful this week (finally!) and it stays light until about 9:30 pm. Lots of summertime activites bring people out to all the beautiful parks and gardens of Oxford.

On my way to see the undergraduate production of Shakespeare's HenryV , I passed a cricket game. The performance was held in the Gardens of Worcester College.

Around the World in 80 days

Friday night, Templeton College, hosted an "Around the World in 80 Days" themed party were you dressed up from the coutry you are from or just represent a country. Last minute scramble afterclass left me few wardrobe options. Bumper sticker on my purse reads "I'm from Texas -What Country are you from?". Since one of my nicknames at school is "Texas" - I figure I should play it up! Plus, there are not many opportunites to wear my cowboy boots in England!