Oxford MBAs vs Cambridge MBAs

Saturday was Oxford MBA vs Cambridge MBA day. Judge students travelled by car and coach (our mode of transport) to Oxford to participate in friendly competitions of football, touch rugby, cricket, squash, badminton, volleyball, rowing and dodgeball. M* and the rest of the football team played a strong game, but somehow Oxford got one goal in. That first match was an indicator of who was going to win the rest of the day's competitions. The rowing team bucked the trend and became the only Cambridge team to win a match. As last year's Cambridge MBA team did not win at all, Cambridge's performance this year was an improvement.

There was actually another competition where Cambridge held its own—the drinking relay. After the sporting matches, we made our way to the Said Business School for dinner and entertainment. The Oxford program is larger than Cambridge's (250 vs 110 students) and is comprised of a larger portion of Americans (50 vs 10 students). The very American Oxford MC of the evening awards ceremony announced that before the dj and dancing was to begin both schools should put their seven best drinkers forward. There were enough volunteers that the teams were enlarged to 11. Cambridge won the first relay; Oxford clamored for a rematch. Oxford won the second match by a gulp, and Cambridge suggested best of three. The final round should have gone to Cambridge but was deemed too close to call.

The last 1 1/2 hours of the evening found Judge-ites monopolizing the dance floor. The Oxford student who was djing read the crowd well and played a mix of old school ("White Lines" and "Vanilla Ice"), new pop-dance ("Sexy Back", "Promiscuous Girl") and enough high-energy Indian songs to make one student comment that he felt like he was in a disco in Bangalore. It was great fun with a tangible poignancy, in my view, as students realize that the number of opportunities for such moments are dwindling.

M* warming up for the football match.

M* being illegally defended by the Oxford team.

Oxford and Cambridge football group photo.

Start of the rowing race on the Thames—Cambridge is in white.

Geese and goslings along the Thames.

M* crouched and ready at the start of dodgeball.

Manuela's Birthday

Friday night a group of Judge MBA students gathered at CB2 (best salad I've had in England!) to celebrate Manuela's birthday. The large number of attendees was evidence of how much Manuela is liked by her classmates. A downside of a 10 month MBA is how quickly you have to leave friends that you've just really begun to appreciate and rely upon.

Manuela enjoying her meal.

The knife provided to cut the cake sported a frighteningly long blade.

Pups and People Enjoying Grantchester Meadows

Dogs are a common site at Grantchester Meadows. This full-grown dog carrying a large stick was running around and jumping in the river when a black lab puppy approached and tried to take the stick away. We and the owners and looked on in amusement as the puppy ignored the older dogs growls and tried to find a way to open its mouth wide enough to get a grip on the stick. Eventually the puppy gave up and settled on a piece of bark of a more manageable size.

In the spring, the ground tends to still be moist enough to start a fire for grilling. It's a relaxing way to spend a weekend afternoon.

Another Sign That You Are Armenian

Finding yourself in the middle of a "Recognition of Armenian Genocide" rally on a visit to London. Now this counts as a sign if, like me, you have a last name that ends in 'ian', you have been asked by classmates if you talk to your parents in Armenian or English, you have had people call you at work and ask you if you are Armenian, you receive emails from your school's Armenian association, you receive emails from your school's Armenian alumni association, you receive mailings inviting you to expensive Armenian fundraising events, and you have brown or black hair. My assertion that my last name is German just doesn't seem to have much gravitas against this growing body of (circumstantial) evidence.

Magpies

Magpies are easy to identify in flight—the lovely fan like form of its long black tail and short black and white wings. They are just as easy to identify on the ground due to their size, large like their corvid cousins—the crows, their white chest and the white and blue markings on the wings. I was disappointed to read that their aesthetically pleasing coloring masks a darker side: their tendency to prey on the young of other birds. However, it seems that this fear may be overstated. Regardless of the validity of its chick eating reputation, they have been persecuted in rural parts and are a sign of bad luck or death in may areas of Great Britain. I like them—but I also own a black cat.

Lilacs

The last time that I lived in a town where lilacs bloomed, I was 10. I still remember my grandmother asking me to cut some to display on the dinner table. Their intoxicating fragrance pulls me off course—I'll cross a street, path or field when my olfactory receptors pick up the familiar scent forever intertwined with memories of Long Island, Sequams Lane and childhood.

Dad and Carla's Visit

Working through jet lag at Granta.

Giving into jet lag at the Orchard at Grantchester.

The cows have returned to Coe Fen.

The cows are already used to posing for the camera.

M* the punter and Dad the oarsman.

M* getting his punting legs.

Baby ducks find the Cam a treacherous place to be with all the punts.

Happy Birthday to the Queen

The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery gave the Queen an impressive cannon salute for her 81st birthday. We just happened to be in Hyde Park at the proper time to catch the display.
The Queen was not present. With the exploding dogs about, that was a smart move on her part.

Raspberry Beret

Best shower cap name/ design. Luckily I was in need of such a head covering.

M* models the latest in shower cap fashion.

Birds and Bees

Days in the high 60s and sunny. Birds building nests in trees once again green. Bees, mysteriously disappearing around the world, in abundance and fond of paying building dwellers a surprise visit through an open window. The ice cream truck ringing its bell and playing its song down our street. Spring in Cambridge is lovely.

Song thrush on Llamas Land

Blackbird got the worm.

Chaffinch and song thrush on Llamas Land.

Pheasant on Grantchester Meadows.

House (or tree) sparrow in our backyard.

Ice cream truck on Owlstone Road
Dogwood (pretty sure) in bloom.

Roadside flowers at corner of Trumpington and Brooklands near Botanic Gardens.

Love Games

Ever since Jessica showed us the "Old Gregg" episode of the Mighty Boosh, I can't get this one song/ dance sequence out of my head: love games. It's a good thing. Luckily youtube has plenty of Mighty Boosh videos, including the entire "Old Gregg" episode and a clip of the song/ dance. The quality of the short clip is not very good—the quality of the videos showing the entire show are much better—but it satisfies my craving.

The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race 2007

Cambridge wins! The 2007 Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race took place last Saturday, 7 April. We didn't have tickets to the Cambridge sponsored party, as many of the group, with which we traveled down to London, did. Instead we had a spot by the start of the race by Putney Bridge along with thousands of other spectators. I doubt the majority of people had much interest in the race; I think their interest was in spending an afternoon drinking with friends amongst a throng of people on a mild spring afternoon.
We realized that the Univ. of Cambridge river boat (below) was blocking our already limited view, so we watched the race on a big screen at a bar—a bar with windows on the second floor that afforded us a decent view of the boats at the start of the race.
The cheers for Oxford were loud in the beginning, but eventually M* and his classmates took up the Cambridge call. They were quick to congratulate each other when the Cambridge boat crossed the finish line first (below).
Before heading back to Cambridge, we went to a Middle Eastern restaurant in Mayfair. Another restaurant in the area, aptly named L'Autre, offered a mix of cuisines that I've never encountered: Polish & Mexican.

Exploring the Local Countryside

Last Friday, M*, Michael, Tialda, and I went for a 22 mile bike ride to Wimpole Park and Estate. We traveled through the quite, small, pastoral villages of Barrington and Orwell. We also passed a number of massive telescopes from the Univ. of Cambridge's Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory. Tialda and Michael were smart and packed a lunch. Luckily the estate's restaurant carried gluten-free treats. They also stocked rare breeds of meats which are raised on the farm. After seeing the adorable young lambs cavorting around on the fields, I thought that maybe I could give up their tender, flavorful meat. However, the next evening I ordered kofta kebabs, which are minced lamb: it was a very tasty meal.

Mullard Radio Observatory telescope (zoom challenged as I was biking while taking the photo).

Many fields were brightened with these yellow flowers.

Typical thatched roof house that we saw along the way.

Grounds of Wimpole Estate.

Wimpole Estate in background. Resting cows in foreground.

Not many flowers were in bloom on the grounds. This unique one, with the orange petals facing down and topped by green leaves, caught our interest.

Michael, M* and me.

Beautiful Day for Happy Hour

Wednesday was a lovely day for happy hour: mostly sunny and in the mid 50s. At pubs along the Cam, like the Anchor or the Mill, you can purchase a drink, have the staff pour it in a plastic cup and go imbibe in the grass. After work, that's what my friend Jessica and I did before meeting up with M* and a friend inside the Mill.

Tourists and Cambridge-ites alike enjoying a drink at the Anchor.

The sunny, grassy banks along the Cam are an inviting place to relax.

Jessica participated in a color experiment introduced by a man in a jester hat.

Based on the order that Jessica flipped over the colors,
this extremely slight fellow interpreted Jessica's current state of mind.
The reading ended up being a very cathartic experience for her.

Daredevil

M*'s so bad ass on his woman's bike.