As 2007 comes to an end, I thought is was time to update you all. Most of my focus since I last wrote has been working on my DPhil, I hope to submit mid-January so that’s been taking up a lot of my thoughts and much of my time (although definitely not as much of the latter as it should have).
The term in Oxford wasn’t too hectic as most of the teaching I did was familiar material. One weekend I went to the ‘Cotswold Wildlife Park’ with Hilary and my parents, I went on the recommendation of a friend, Tom, who had posted pictures from it on facebook. It’s a slightly incongruous place – as you may be able to gather from the picture – as it’s a country house whose grounds are effectively a zoo. They seem to take good care of the animals and I think it’s been nearly twenty years since I last went to a zoo, so it was a great day away from Oxford.
One of the cultural highlights of the Autumn was seeing ‘Das Rheingold’ at the Royal Opera House. Over the last year I have taken advantage of student standby tickets at the Royal Opera House, however this was an especially cool opportunity as it was a student only performance and every seat in the house was massively reduced. Given the opportunity we opted for the £212.50 tickets that had been reduced to £37.50. It was all very cool, and now I’m looking for a way to see the rest of the cycle.
At the end of term I went on a two week trip to the USA, the primary purpose of which was to spend thanksgiving with Hilary and her family. I had booked the bargain return flight back in July, when I thought I would have finished my thesis by that point. Unfortunately I hadn’t thus it wasn’t the timeliest occasion to take a few weeks holiday, but it was still really good to have a break from everything and to see Hilary’s family. During my stay I flew over to Indianapolis to visit a company there I have been doing some consultancy for and to give a few presentations, which was interesting.
I was also lucky enough to be taken to an American football match by Hilary’s Dad who had been given a pair of tickets. I had been to a few games in Princeton but those were much lower key. At this match there were massive LCD displays everywhere, fireworks went off when there were touch downs (for the home team), you could get beers and put them in your cup-holder and there was endless entertainment during the many breaks in the game. Much like the Pittsburg Pirates baseball game I went to the preceding year, it was pure entertainment from beginning to end.
My return from the US was quickly followed by admissions although I got off relatively lightly as my colleagues wanted to do most of it themselves. After a bit more work on the thesis I went home to Ipswich for Christmas itself. For Dad’s birthday I took him to an Ipswich Town match which was the first game either of us had been to for seven years. It was enjoyable enough although the nil-all draw wasn’t what I had hoped for.
After Christmas I went to France with Mum, Dad and Hilary. It was the usual relaxing time with plenty of good food and wine (excluding a period of being ill at the end :( ). Now it’s back to Oxford and the final push on the thesis. After I hand in, I hope to go to Australia for a month as my sister Kate is expecting a baby and I would love to be out there to see everyone and help out. Then it’s time to find a job. I’m focusing on small medical technology companies at the moment, but will also look into some technical consulting.
Happy New Year!
Ali
This year I have decided to have a go at 'Project 365'. A description of Project 365 is given here, but basically I have to take a photo every single day of the year. The idea is that it both provides a visual record and also improves one's photographic skills. Anyway, I've just uploaded the photos from my first week or so in an album on flickr.
