Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Well i thought it would be time to update you with a state of the union address on all my recent goings on.

i quit Al Jazeera English 5 months ago, and moved back to the uk. i had spent nearly 4 years out in the state of qatar (of the 2022 world cup hosting fame) it was fun whilst it lasted but my time had come to move on, and what a move on it has been.

upon my immediate return i had an important engagement - i had been asked to speak at TED global in oxford! that is a set of storys for another day but needless to say it is one of the highlights of my already highlight packed life.

i spent most of the summer in what can only be described as culture shock (no the ability to walk into a pub on a street corner and have a beer that costs less than $10 at lunchtime hasnt worn off, neither has the selection of fine porcine products) i put the culture shock to good use and renovated my flat on the south bank (yes the 1950's bathroom is gone, it is now white subway tiled, painted and carpeted the place and i put the shower in too!) the tenants wanted the furniture gone too, so the dreaded green sofa was cut into pieces and unceremoniously dumped.

in the interim i purchased a rather silly car (a dropped chipped and tuned dark blue Volvo C70 T5 GT, thats pulling about 330bhp) that i now commute in with much glee

Not all the summer was lost tho fun and frolics were had at a couple of music festivals, and a week long trip out to manhattan was had.

then for the rest of the year, i was awarded an MBA scholarship place (thanks to Dominic Morroco for that.) and have been pretty much head down since the end of september, at school everyday from 9-5 countless presentations, 4 heavyweight essays on everything from employment law to the application of Modern portfolio theory (after proving Markowitz's efficient portfolio theory by longhand) through corporate governance and a dash of economic theory. im on to revising for my accountancy exams in jan, as well as a few exams in Employment Law, intellectual property law and Information management theory.

i stay in a hotel when im in bournemouth during the week (yes the howard hughes prophesy is starting to come true) for those of you looking for accommodation i can heartily recommend it (http://www.leahursthotel.co.uk/ the proprietors are lovely), and am staying at the family summer house nr glastonbury in somerset for the 4nights im not at college.

in the last few days as i run up to christmas you will find me sweating over exam revision and a HR essay next to a log fire looking out over a field full of brown cows,

Peace out!