Sonic : our new flatmate?

So last night my flatmate heard something moving under the stairs -- a closer look reveal this little guy in a shopping bag. For some reason we have been seeing alot of hedge hogs around Oxford this summer - just didn't expect to see one in our own house! Of course, what do you do when you find a hedge hog in a bag? well you take pictures and run to show all your neighbors!

The Wind and the Willows

After a day in Manchester, I went to Glossop to see my aunt Karen who was in town for work. Glossop is a town on the edge of Derbyshire and the Peak District. Karen was stayin a charming B&B(where each room was named after a character from the wind and the willows stories), and we had some lovely hikes in Glossop and the nearby town of Hayfield. Interesting English trivia fact: the difference btwn a city and a town is whether or not it has a cathedral in it, ie you have to have a cathedral to be a city.

(england rose)

high tea

Manchester

England's second biggest city, home to 3million people, 50 thousand students and the Mancester United team - was hosting a jazz festivale this weekend. In an effort to see more of the UK before leaving I headed up north for the weekend.

Summer in the City

One of my favorite things about London are the urban parks, tucked in between bu. I have been going back and forth a bit to London and like finding new parks to lunch in. We also have been gathering for thursday happy hours in various london pubs for all the MBA's who are in London or Oxford for the summer.

Tour d' Angleterre

Lance Armstrong watch out! we biked 17+ miles today! and while I think I will resting the rest of the night, it was an awesome day. We decided to bike to Blenheim Palace -birthplace of Winston Churchill and home of the 11th century Duke of Marlborough- which we thought was just about 4-5 miles away. It was a bit further, but we had a lovely day getting out side of Oxford and biking along the canal.

Summertime

I moved a few weeks ago for the summer as my old room is being used by the college for conferences. Similar to the way interns invade DC for the summer, undergrads from all over come to Oxford for the summer for "study" abroad programs. Anyway - it has worked out ok for me b/c I got to upgrade from a dorm room to a lovely flat with 2 friends.
(new roommate claire)

Its in a complex commonly called the "Melrose Place" of Oxford as all MBA's live there. As it stays quite light outside late, we have been having lots of cookouts - other students that are here in Oxford for the summer come round.
(boys fighting over the first burger)

Speaking of those students who are off to far away places - we have people in our program in Peru, India, Africa, and Europe - to see what they are doing our class has been keeping a MBA Summer Blog.

Wales

Our summer consulting project started Wednesday. This the final component of our degree. We work for a company for 8 weeks then write a 15,000 word report. Our team is working with IBM Consulting who has a client based in Swansea, on the coast of southern Wales. Did you know you the Prince of Wales has no governance over the country? The Welsh language is quiet interestsing with entirely too many consonants to work out any of the words.

So we drove (about 3 hours) and stayed over night. For a team who had never driven in the UK we did surprisisngly well navigating all the round-abouts! We had loads of meeting and a tour of the facility. Before returning home we had lunch in an area called "Mumbles" on the coast.

Punting and Pimms

two of the quintessential English summer items....

Punting is this funny little summer pass time that is incredibly popular as soon as the weather turns remotely nice in the UK. It involves a small canoe-like boat with 2-4people. One person uses a really long pole that you dig into the bottom of the river to navigate the little boat. In Oxford the person stands in the "front" of the boat because the back end of the boat is referred to as the "Cambridge end" - just a bit of school rivalry.

So the idea is to just float along the little winding rivers of Oxford. Its very relaxing. You take wine or pimms and some snacks like strawberries. Whilst floating you see loads of other people in boats or picnicing along the river back. We learned a bit to late that you have to watch out (or mind) the rowers - who come through at a very fast pace at some "intersections". Interesting facts I learned while punting: "mooring" means docking, ie we saw signs that said "no mooring"; and the Queen owns all the swans of England. odd.

Pimms is a drink you will quickly be talked into trying in England. It's a summer cocktail that is to be somewhere between a long island ice tea and sangria. Either way its quite tastey and refreshing.