Travel For FOUR

There’s one fear that reigns supreme for me in London. From Day One, my fear has not been for my life or safety, but for the strength of my limbs. A broken ankle, foot, or leg could mean expensive taxi rides to school or work and would quickly translate to frustration and angst with our new urban home. It would be very difficult to walk 2-3 miles per day on crutches. This fear has kept me from visiting the city’s numerous open-air ice skating rinks.

So, we’ve been very cautious. BUT, last Wednesday I wore heels to school for our final economics presentation. At the close of the day (with a tender foot after not wearing heels for a couple months), I took the stairs and my ankle went to the left as the rest of me went to the right. Not fun. It’s not broken because I can move it, but it is swollen, slightly bruised and sensitive to the touch. Studing for exams, I don’t want to take the time out for the doctor — and it is getting better day to day. It’s just a sprain.

But, this has reconfirmed that there will be no ice skating for me. Perhaps we should take insurance out for the health of our limbs?

On a brighter note, we walked up to Hampstead (10 minutes uphill) last night to see Cameron Diaz’s new movie: “The Holiday”. It’s a cute Rom/Com and I’d definitely recommend it… see it if you can. For those who do see it, know that it seldom if ever snows here and if it does (happen to snow) it doesn’t stick. We’ve never been to Surrey (the county just west of London), but their view of it was reminiscent of the Cotswolds. The towns actually look like that and there really are sheep EVERYWHERE. Seeing sunny CA made me long for warm breezes… watch out Krista and Bethie, we may be moving your way :).

Being so far from home for the holidays, we LOVE to receive mail from our friends and family. Checking our mail bin has been a bright spot over the last week because we’ve received a number of holiday cards! Thank you for thinking of us…

Today, G and I ventured out to see the The Great Christmas Pudding Race in Covent Garden (before I hibernate to study for next week’s exams). I know what you’re thinking…”what is the Christmas Pudding Race” and, more importantly, what is Christmas Pudding. I can answer the first and will do my best to answer the second in a future post.

The Christmas Pudding Race is a fundraising event held every year around Christmas time — with all proceeds going to Cancer Research UK. Teams of 5-6 dress up for the occassion (to win the costume contest) and run about an obstacle course in Covent Garden while trying to balance their Christmas Pudding (a dessert that looks a bit like a round fruit cake). During the race, contestants decorate their Christmas puddings with Mr Potato Head eyes, ears and mouths, bounce with their puds on a moon bounce to reach an huge inflatable slide where they go up and down all the time balancing their puddings. Contestants then decorate a Christmas tree with ornaments, get sprayed with “snow” foam, and must poke a balloon with their holly sprig (used to decorate the puds) before crossing the finish line. It’s a relay race with three from each team starting and tagging their remaining team mates to go as they return.

It was quite funny to see these Christmas puddings bounce all about. Can’t say I’m all too anxious to EAT a Christmas pudding.

See other photos…

For the last few weeks, I’ve been buried in group work…

First was the marketing project, developing and delivering a one-year marketing plan for a client firm. I, and my 6 team members (who have no marketing experience), met with the client the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. After our meeting with the client, we completed and delivered our 10 minute presentation and full marketing plan last Friday. That’s right…we completed a marketing plan that would generally take a month to develop in a week and a half…and it only involved my staying up until 4AM one night. Thank goodness!
Next, today, we submitted our finance project: a review of two stocks with a buy/sell recommendation. My team reviewed two food retail firms in the UK: Sainsbury’s and Morrison. AND, two of my fellow group members and I delivered a 10 minute presentation to overview our process and recommendation this morning.  Of the 10 groups in our MBA program, our group’s presentation was voted the best! We were awarded a couple bottles of champagne to celebrate, but not too soon…we will submit a third project on Wednesday…a review of the Chinese’s efforts to fend off inflation.

Next on the docket: three exams on December 18th and another three on December 20th…Come on Christmas!

Some of you may remember that G planned a Christmas scavenger hunt in 1997 for our first Christmas. We were in college at the time and went about town gathering the essentials to construct a tree. We “borrowed” a large limb from an evergreen on campus, bought needles and thread, popcorn, made snowflakes and had a great time. We fondly remember our first Christmas tree as our “Charlie Brown tree”.

A couple weeks ago, as we began to write our holiday cards, we began to wonder how we might find a tree and decorations here, in London. Would we have to resort to the scavenger hunt model? Afterall, K is a student again…

Last night, we tackled the project; Holiday Scavenger Hunt II. K took a break from studying and group projects and we ventured out to find Christmas cheer. First, to (where else?) Ikea for lights, ornaments, a tree topper, garlands, and other essentials. Then, we stopped by our local neighborhood market for a tree. A 5′ potted spruce (for the curious, the tree cost less than we would have paid for a tree in the US despite the steep exchange rates).We brought it home, took off the netting and were relieved to see that the tree looked normal (we couldn’t inspect it before purchase because it was bundled for storage and transport).

Now, we’re all set to enjoy a bit of holiday cheer…

In the spirit of the season, I wanted to share an article I read in “thelondonpaper”–a freebie newspaper given out in London for locals to read on the train. Apparently, the money that many non-profits solicit around the holidays to purchase goats and other agricultural goods and livestock for needy Africans may be better spent elsewhere…

…you don’t have Turkey?

With busy work and school schedules on Thanksgiving Day, we had to delay the holiday until last weekend so that we’d have a bit more time to prepare the meal and enjoy.

As K studied, G went out to shop for the essential ingredients only to find that the British hold back their turkeys for Christmas. G could find turkey slices and turkey legs (of all things), but no turkey breast or whole turkeys could be found. Oh, no!

In the spirit of the holiday, we were quite thankful to find rotisserie chicken instead. What do you think? Does it count as Thanksgiving if you don’t have Turkey?