Saturday was Oxbridge 2009. Students form the Oxford and Cambridge MBA programs competed in a series a sports throughout the day. Adam played Rugby and Ultimate Frisbee. After the events, a few of us walked down to the water to watch the Oxford 8's ( A rowing competition between the Oxford colleges).
By the time we finished dinner Adam and I were bot exhausted and sunburned. A very fun day though : )
Saturday was Oxbridge 2009. Students form the Oxford and Cambridge MBA programs competed in a series a sports throughout the day. Adam played Rugby and Ultimate Frisbee. After the events, a few of us walked down to the water to watch the Oxford 8's ( A rowing competition between the Oxford colleges).
By the time we finished dinner Adam and I were bot exhausted and sunburned. A very fun day though : )
Well my week off is winding down but it has been nice to spend it with friends. Kristin and JR stopped in Oxford for a few days. Yesterday we did a little sightseeing around Oxford. Kristin discovered Lush, they had Ben's Cookies and Thornton's chocolate ( YUMMY !) They then climbed the tower in St. Mary's church, we had a tour of Christ Church, JR tried his hand at punting and we ate lunch at the Eagle and Child. This is a pub where JR Tolkien used to meet with a group called the Inklings during his time in Oxford.
The sign in the Eagle and Child
JR The Punt Master
Christ Church Meadow
Kristin & JR at the top of St. Mary's... what a view
Today was another beautiful day in Oxford. A few of us took a nice walk along the Thames path and then had lunch at the Trout. It is the one restaurant in Oxford along the water . The food was OK but the atmosphere was great.
While on our walk Alysha and Simay helped work the locks. The system is all done by hand. It was pretty neat to watch and quite different from the locks in New York.
The last few days have been so nice, we have had such lovely weather. I am on vacation for the next week and I just hope that it keeps up.
Saturday was a great day for walking so we walked the dogs into town to go grocery shopping. Saturday night we had lovely " Korean" food at a friend's house.
Today was another great walking day so Adam and I took the dogs through some of the local paths. Later Adam went into town for a study break and took another walk while I went to a baby shower.
Today I went on a field trip with the students at school to the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Center. It was a cute museum with plenty of opportunities for the children to complete hand on creative activities while learning about the life and works of Roald Dahl.
Also...Jonnhy Depp loaned the museum his costume from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Warner Brothers donated a replica of the Wonka gates !!! I was so bummed not to have my camera or Flat Stanley with me. Here are a few photos from my phone. I apologize for the quality but you get the idea : )
This weekend I participated in the MBATs which is essentially the Olympics for MBA students. It was attended by 15 of the top business school in Europe and approximately 100 people went from Oxford. I played on the Rugby team. I escaped with no injuries but our team collectively experienced a broken rib, a sprained ankle, stitches, and what appeared to be internal bleeding before finally taking 3rd place.
Overall the MBATs were very poorly organized with bad transportation, little communication, and what seemed to be arbitrary changes of the rules during sporting events. On the last night, however, we were all pleasantly surprised when the host university took us to a private party at a night club in central Paris. The club was located directly across the street from the Arc de Triomphe. It had two large floors underground with a full 20 lane bowling alley. In addition to the physical space, the food was great. It had a ridiculous buffet including an open bar, multiple chocolate fountains, food to please every nationality, and chefs in white hats making custom dinners. The best illustration of how posh this club was can be seen in the price of a drink. I was told that a pint glass of standard beer cost 11 euro, or $16.
If I had to pick one highlight to the weekend I would be hard pressed. There are so many, was it:
when someone stole London Business Schools flag and held it for ransom?
when Colin and George, who both won medals in rowing at the Beijing Olympics, convinced the rowing judges that they had never rowed before?
When we caught that guy defecating in the streets of Paris?
When Kristian was accosted by a homeless man on the street?
Overall I would have to say it was simply hanging out with good friends and meeting new people.
This past weekend was a long weekend thanks to May Day ! I was lucky enough to go to Dublin with two of the other Oxford Spouses. We had decent weather for Dublin standards, it went from sunny to rainy and back again no fewer than 100 times each day. We spent Saturday walking around the city of Dublin. Sunday we went on a tour of the Wicklow Mountains and a beautiful town called Gendalough. I would recommend a tour of that area but unfortunately we had the absolute worst tour guide ever. If anyone plans to go, let me know so I can tell you who to avoid. Monday was spent doing a bit more sightseeing and a little bit of shopping before flying home. It was a fun weekend.
Meanwhile Adam stayed home and enjoyed a boys night, double rugby practice, some quality time with Zena and Jackson : )
