Matriculation

Matriculation is a unique aspect of the Oxford experience. Although I am already a member of Pembroke College, not until you have matriculated are you an official member of the University of Oxford. The ceremony is one of those quintessentially "Oxford" moments. You get dressed in sub fusc (basically a dark suit, white shirt, white bow tie, gown & mortarboard) and are presented to a member of the University's governing body for acceptance to the University.

You matriculate with other 1st year members of your college, not of the business school. Our day started with a champagne brunch in our MCR, followed by a walk to the Sheldonian theatre where the formal ceremony (which rakes all of 10 minutes) actually takes place. James came up from London to join Claud and I for the weekend and he enjoyed the pomp and ceremony of it all!

It would have been nice to enjoy a few post matriculation celebratory beers however I had to dash off to play rugby! I caught up with a few of my classmates later that evening who were certainly a little worse for wear!

Claud and I in the Chapel Quad at Pembroke

Standing in front of the dining hall - Chapel Quad

In the dining hall with Florian, John & Simon
in the chapel Quad with Florian and John
Having my matriculation photograph taken

Pemrboke's new 1st year students at Matriculation
Claud and I outside the Radcliffe Camera
The evening of Matriculation at a beer festival at Oxford town hall
Standing in the Chapel Quad with the Master of Pembroke College, Mr Giles Henderson
In front of Hertford College's "Bridge of Sighs"

Oxford - Week -1

Saturday was spent unsuccesfully trying to open a bank account and a mobile phone. As many people had suggested, neither is easy and we had no success in either attempt. That evening we had a lovely meal at Aziz, one of the more highly regarded Indian restaurants in the UK.

The next day we had a great lunch with James and Kristo at the Waterway in Maida Vale in London before Claud flew back to Amsterdam that evening.

As the week went on, I immersed myself in more social events as more MBA's arrived, including my first ever game of soccer on Thursday afternoon.

Soccer in the park with the MBA's


Beers at Copa with Ean, Barry and Juergen

Ha!Ha! bar with Christina, Daniel, Diliana, John & Eric
Beers at the Living room with MBA crowd

On Wednesday I attended some careers presentations at the business school. My notes are as follows:
Investment banking - pretty much reconfirmed that it's not my cup of tea
Management consulting - reignited a latent belief that this is perhaps the area that, other than some form of social enterprise, might satisfy my desire for intellectual stimulation, variety of tasks and projects and the opportunity to continually be challenged and improve knowledge

I joined the oxford union during the week and on Friday 29th I was privileged to be in the audience of President (General) Pervez Musharraf, leader of Pakistan. He covered off the following points in his discussion:
○ Recounted transformation of Pakistani economy during his presidency - liberalisation, privatisation, democratisation ;
○ Defended pakistani interpretation of democracy - the level that can be tolerated by the people of pakistan
○ Asserted that Pakistan partakes in war on terror due to their own steadfast belief in ridding the world of terrorism rather than being forced / coerced by the USA
○ Asserted that Pakistan were the catalysts for the end of the cold war by virtue of their defeat of soviet backed forces in Afghanistan
○ Summary: very interesting discussion, polished orator though at the same time very much self serving propaganda
President (Gen.) Pervez Musharraf @ the Oxford Union


The Oxford Union - the university's largest student society & home of Oxford debating

I attended my first rugby training session - somewhat awkward as everyone knows one another. The training went well though I am going to have to come up to speed quickly - particularly on line outs where there are approximately 30 odd line out calls!

Our first official MBA event with the team building event on Saturday running around Oxford looking for answers to a trivia based treasure hunt. It was a nice opportunity to meet more people and later that night, Claud arrived and so we attended early arrival drinks at the Pembroke MCR (very nice bunch of people - Ross, Ryan, Mia, Emily et al) claud can become an associate member of the MCR - quite cool . Afterwards we ventured to an old church hall turned into a bar called Freuds but it was quite terrible so we left pretty soon after arriving.

On Sunday we ventured to the Kings Arms and enjoyed a lovely Sunday lunch with Gabe and Katie.

Oxford - "Week -2!"

I have recently discovered that Oxford has many idiosyncrasies, one of which is that the terms are not called by numbers or seasons but rather Michaelmas (term one), Hilary (term 2) and Trinity (term 3). To help guide our way through these terms we have been informed that there are 8 week terms starting, yet officially term starts in "nought" week and doesn't end until exams are completed (circa Wk 10)!

As this is the naming convention of my new home, I thought it might make sense to label my posts as such to help navigate my way through term. As the weeks progress, you can expect to read less and less of our exploits over here and that which you do read is likely to be tired, emotional or simply unintelligible.

Back to business.

I officially arrived in Oxford on Friday 22/9. Claud joined me for the weekend as we were to meet some new classmates over the weekend in addition to meeting our UK midwife team for the first time that same afternoon. After the housing issues of my last post, we have fortunately found somewhere to stay until we can move in. Fortuitously it is only a few more minutes from the town centre in the same area that we will live so it is a nice opportunity to get to know the area.

The meet & greet with the midwife went well - though they were, to our surprise, advocates of home birthing. After politely declining that route, they were very accommodating and helped provide the sort of information you're looking for when you're preparing to have a baby in a new country. Heart beat is very good and we're informed that there is a strong chance that the baby will be a boy based on the speed of the heartbeat (slow)!

That evening we journeyed to the Head of the River pub to meet with a range of new classmates - gabe and katie, barry and laura, john, pawan, andrew, daniel and juergen, ean & reba etc etc. Over the coming week I start to get to know them (and the pubs of Oxford) much better.

There is much to be made of arriving early as it allows you to settle in and find time to get to know classmates before the ensuing overload of information and opportunity that follows in nought and first week.

As the week progresses, different people jump on the incoming student forum and suggest various nights out, which are fun to attend as each night more and more people arrive. Our list of pubs to visit takes a sharp decline as we call on the likes of the bear, copa, haha, living room, kings arms, the purple turtle etc

Based on the initial impressions of my classmates, I can tell that we are going to have a great year and that I am bound to make some more great friends throughout the next 12 months.