Week one

Where has the time gone?

I guess that part of my reluctance to blog over the last week has been a niggling doubt about what I can and cannot write about my time at the large internet company with two O's in it's name. There are official blogging guidelines here which I have yet to read so I won't say more than I'm having a great time there (which I am).

The Churchill Club
So, on Tuesday, David and I went along to a panel discussion put on by the Churchill Club at the Palo Alto Hills golf club where we heard top Hollywood execs speak on "The Future of Movies". I was particularly impressed with Bob Lambert from Disney of all places - it sounds as if Disney was the only company represented that had their act together and has been thinking about the future direction of content providers. In all, an interesting evening, David definately enjoyed the ambiance of the club :)

Team LIC WTOIIN
To prove that we are actually doing some work, here is a picture of the team with our sponser, Joshua.


And to prove that it isn't really that bad, here's a photo taken later on that day!



There is a prize for the first person to decipher this subtitle of this section...

Other Interns
There are several other students from various Universities and stages in their education but that doesn't prevent us from hanging out. Here's a shot of us at The Cheescake Factory for dinner last night.

A real live sighting

Things to do in the City of Angels

• go start spotting... check

Ok, so I wasn't exactly in LA when I saw Anthony Stewart Head otherwise known as the librarian, Giles, in the cult hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was actually in the queue to get on to an airplane bound for LA that I made the sighting. He was about half a dozen people in front of me until I lost sight of him when he was whisked off, presumably into the first class carriage.

California
I have made it here. And what is the first thing that I do upon arriving at my hotel at 03:00 in the morning (my time, it's actually 18:00 here)? Have a shower? Go to sleep? Get annoyed by the fact that I arrived in San Jose airport and my luggage didn't? No, check out the free internet access and update my blog. I am a sad bunny!

I've discovered what I've left behind though. It's the most useful gadget that I've ever owned. It's a USB memory stick with a slot for an SD card on the other. It makes loading pictures from my camera to my laptop a doddle. And pictures are what make this blog interesting so I'd better find a replacement pdq!

Musings
Have you ever noticed that the internet now knows where in the world you are when you connect? I just did a quick search on SD card readers and everything that came back was located in the US. If I'd done the same search 12 hours earlier, most of the hits would have been in the UK. Are the machines getting more clever?

I really should get some sleep...

T-2 and counting

Today is Friday and I leave for California on Sunday so only two days to go. All of you who know me will be able to imagine how hard this last week has been for me, knowing that my entire team is in California getting to know the folk at Yahoo! and enjoying the California lifestyle and I've been stuck here in Oxford hanging out and trying to do what work I can in the meantime. It's been tough but the end is now in sight. Yippee!

I can't wait. The report back so far is that the guys are having a great time and they all say that I will *love* being at Yahoo! I've also sorted out a place to stay for the month on August in Menlo Park (thanks Jess) which is supposed to be lovely so everything is all set.

It hasn't been all bad though, I'm managed to catch up with some friends and enjoy a bit of the beautiful British summer. Oxford certainly does English summer in style!


Now all that is left is for me pack my stuff tomorrow and buying some knick-knacks to take with me to the US of A! Hurrah!

Hanging out

It's so nice to have a little time. Last night I went to dinner with a friend and on the way home, bumped into some fellow classmates who are in Oxford for the summer. We went to the Worcester college bar and hung out and played scrabble. I came third :)


Summer is lovely!

Twiddling my thumbs

So, three terms of my MBA are done, I've had a great break and now it's time to get stuck into my summer consulting project. Except that I can't. Really. Our visa's to the US came through a bit late so it will be another week before we can head to Califormia and get started properly.

I don't think that I really realised how much I've managed to get done until suddenly you have nothing to do. It's such a weird feeling, I mean, it's nice to have a whole weekend to do whatever I want to do but now it's Monday evening and I'm itching for work!

So. If you're an SBS admit or thinking about doing an MBA in the next year or so and have some questions, ask away, I'd love to help out!

My brother visits
My brother came to visit me this weekend and we had a great, relaxing time just sitting by the water and watching the boats go by. Oxford is lovely in the summer :)

Stockholm in Summer

After a very hectic end of Trinity, I just needed to take a break Stockholm was just the place to go. The weather remained a gorgeous 23° with clear blue skies and a gentle breeze in the air. A city of several islands surrounded by sea and a midnight sun makes summer in Stockholm just awesome!


Sorry that I haven't posted for a few days, I've been having too much of a great time. Here's a taste of what Johan and I got up to...

The Vasa museum - sometimes you've just got to love the crazy Swedes! The Vasa was a warship built in the time of King Gustavus Adolphus and made her maiden voyage in August 1628 - she managed to sail for about 100m and then sank... here's a write-up in English on the raising of the Vasa. 333 years later, she was raised and restored to her place of pride in the museum of her name.


We spent a couple days in Nynäshamn, Johan's home town, which was a beautiful little fishing town. It reminded me of lazy summer days, going barefoot, shooting the breeze with friends...


barbeques, hammocks, daredevil pranks, boatrides, picnics in the park... Sweden is a beautiful country. I think I totally forgot all about Oxford, the MBA, Yahoo!, my next job, everything while I was there. I wish I didn't have to come home...