The "F" word

When a word is being used by Oxford professors twice in one week, then it can't be inappropriate to use it in your daily language...that's what you would think, right?!

Well then...I guess I will use the word "Fuck" more often then.
It's been the second time in 7 days that I've heard a professor use this word in class.

Wow! Even Oxford professors are humans... ;o)

Summer VIIIs

Summer VIIIs : THE rowing competition between all the colleges in Oxford took place earlier today.

What an event...1000s of students gather by the river, equipped with Pimms (English Gin-based drink), beer and snacks!
Of course, I was one of those students.

We chilled by the river, socialized and watched the boats go by. I don't even know who won, spending time with my friends was more important (especially when considering that there are only a couple of weeks left - which is kind of sad!).

Living the student life - and enjoying it!

Grades for Hilary & Dean's List

They are here...the results for Hilary term!

And I totally delivered...Dean's List - TOP 10% of the class!!!

"The criteria used for Dean List selection is based upon a combination of the student’s contribution to the class/school and their academic results for that particular term. As a result of being selected for the Dean’s list, students are invited by the Dean, to attend various lunches and events, including the Dean’s List Dinner."

Distinctions in Financial Management, Finance II, Macroeconomics
(almost) Distinctions in: Entrepreneurship Project
Pass: Operations Management, International Business & Global Governance, Marketing

Marketing was a close one...50...one point less and I might have had to resit!

OOOUUUCCCCCHHHH

MY KNEE HURTS!!!

I walk like a pirate & can only shower with a plastic bag around my knee...I HATE THIS!!!

Back from MBATs

MBATs was great fun!

After 3 days of sports in Paris we came home yesterday...

The results:
Overall ranking 4th out of more than 15 (1: LBS; 2: IESE, 3: HEC)
Small schools 1st

Team Sports 2nd
Recreational Sports 1st

1st places in:
Rowing, Tabel Tennis, Women's Shotput, partying (we were told that we were the loudest and craziest crowd)
2nd places in:
Men's rugby, Ultimate frisbee, Badminton, Tug-of-war, Relay 4x200, Women's 100, Women's 400
3rd places in:
Women's Rugby, Indoor Volleyball, Squash, Salsa

1 dislocated shoulder
2 concussions
1 seperated shoulder
1 busted knee
2 twisted ankles
1 shredded knee (mine)
1 groin pull
1 shredded hand
90 damaged livers

...and...we broke one of the LBS's guys leg playing rugby WE ARE MEAN!!!

THREE CHEERS FOR OXFORD, HIP HIP.....

Unfortunately I severly injured my knee (again) playing soccer, so I wasn't able to play rugby the next day...I would have loved to be out there on the rugby field with my boys! They were awesome...

4 days of massive partying, 1 night in Paris, met loads of MBAs from other European business schools, lots of fun


shortly before departure...3 casualties

Off to MBATs

In about 30 mins I will leave to Paris...what for?? MBATs of course...the MBA olympics http://www.mbat.org/

I will compete in soccer and rugby...and depending on my schedule also in swimming and handball.

Should be lots of fun. We'll take the bus to London Waterloo station, the Eurostar train to Paris and after a short lunch stop in Paris another bus to HEC Paris campus.

Most importantly of all, we will kick some serious a$$! We're all especially keen on beating Cambridge (of course) and London Business School (no 1 Business School in Europe...they are very cocky and will pay for it *grin*!!).

Wish me luck...

1st REAL rugby practice

after our awesome performance in touch rugby against Cambridge, we now have to prepare for the MBA olympics...this time for REAL rugby.

Just got back from our first practice session...Boy, this is a tough sport! But loads of fun!

We have a really good team - although about half of us have never played rugby before!

We'll see how we perform at the MBATs (olympics)...

BBQ @ BSchool

aaawwww...I feel soooooo full!

Just got back from a MASSIVE BBQ

One of my classmates from the states bought a smoker (special BBQ Grill), tons of meat, side dishes and beer...and organized a BBQ for his buddies.

He got up at 7 AM to prepare the grill, the meat and everything else.
Finally in the afternoon (a smoker uses very little heat and lots of smoke to cook/grill the meat), everything was ready.
I had a HUGE steak, chicken and some lamb sausage. It was sooooo good...unbelievable!

Now I have to lie down for a couple of hours before I will be able to work again.

We decided to have another BBQ in 2 weeks from now...I'm REALLY looking forward to this!

Another Ball - This time: Pembroke

Since I can't get enough of balls (have been to Mansfield, Exeter and Keble so far), I bought a ticket for the Pembroke Ball.
Being one of the poorer colleges (poorer in terms of not being as stinking rich as the other colleges, but still rich), Pembroke students tend to compensate that through crazyness.

The Ball's theme was "Crystal Maze" and they had 4 zones:
-Aztek
-Futuristic
-Ocean
-Medieval

The ball started at around 8PM and at exactly 730PM it started raining...no, it started to pour down on us...Dammit!
Nevertheless, we didn't let this spoil our night.

Once again, an awesome ball with lots of beautiful ladies, great food and drinks, good music and a good time with friends!
Oooohhhh, it was sooooo hard to get up this morning...but I finally managed to drag myself to the library and work a little bit.




It was kind of wet in the beginning...














...but as the music got louder and louder (notice the beers in the front)...














...we got in the mood for some gambling...














...since we didn't win, we had to chase the girls with a camel...














...and ended up with some pretty hot ladies!

12 hours of Music, Peace and Happyness - WADSTOCK

Wadham + Woodstock = Wadstock

Once again, my college threw one of the best parties this year. An all-day open air festival on the beautifully trimmed English Lawn.

The weather was great, the music was awesome, the crowd was amazing and the food&drinks were cheap. So, what more could you wish for?!

Everbody was chilling on the grass, hanging out with friends and enjoying the atmosphere. Even the Dean of the college made an appearance on stage and played saxophone with a punkrock band...only in Wadham!

Miss UK

You won't believe it, but one of the runner-ups for Miss UK is my classmate...well, almost...she is not an MBA, but does a Masters degree in Financial Economics. I know her though.

I didn't know geeks would be interested in beauty contests...

The link to the newspaper article and her pictures went around the class in a matter of seconds.

I hope she wins...she surely has the looks and the brains to do it.

Mayday

I just came back from my Oxford mayday experience.

After taking a short 1-hour nap from 3:30 to 4:30 this morning, I went out to meet my buddies from the BSchool at the Oxford Retreat Pub - YES at 4:30 in the morning.
In the night from April 30th to May 1st all clubs are open until 6 in the morning and the pubs open up at 4 in the morning. Everybody goes crazy and parties all night long (except the poor MBAs who work on assignments ALL NIGHT LONG)...
From the we headed over to Magdalene Bridge. At 6 AM the Magdalen choir sings a Latin song from the tower of Magdalen College for exactly 6 minutes! Then, all the (to a great part drunk) students get naked and jump from the bridge into the river...INSANE...MADNESS!!!
This year the police closed down the bridge and nobody was able to jump off. Apparently last year the water level was so shallow that several people broke their legs. So no nakedness and jumping from the bridge this year.
After the song, the mayday dancers ("Merry Men") in their pagan costumes started dancing all over the street...that was fun to watch!
From there we went straight to the "Dining Room" (restaurant) to have a proper English breakfast with bacon, sausage, egg, beans, etc.
After a quick drop-in at the Kings Arms for a pint at 8 in the morning, I am now back in my room to catch a couple of hours of sleep, before I have to get back to work again.

Happy Birthday Juergen

Until a couple of hours ago it was my 26th birthday.
When combining the words university student and birthday, one usually thinks of a wild party...apparently this doesn't come true in Oxford.
My 26th birthday consisted of a lecture in the morning, reading numerous articles and essays in the afternoon and spending all evening and half of the night on an assignment for my taxation class...WHOOOP WHOOP...exciting!

Thank you Oxford for this wonderful 26th birthday!

Here are two of the messages that people left on my "message wall" on facebook.com:
-"wishing you a very happy birthday, and 24 hrs of drunkenness"
-"As you start to stare down the barrel of 30, just remember: you can only be young once... but you can be immature forever!"


I better hit the bed! I need to get up at 4:30 (yes, AM!!) for the Oxford MayDay tradition. More on that tomorrow.

Oh, one more thing! A couple of people from RollsRoyce are coming to the business school tomorrow and they asked to have a short chat with me about opportunities with them...let's see what they have to say and how that goes.