Oh goodness, so many things. This week has been something of a mad dash what with my program's built in sight-seeing and three company visits in three days with my international business professor. I kinda just want to sit, chill, and watch a movie. But there's stuff to see before I start working, so I'd best get crackin'.
On Monday, Emily, Kelsey, Maneeza and I went on an afternoon-long jaunt around London searching for our interview locations. Probably spent upwards of £10 just on riding the tube, but hey, knowing how to get to your place is important. Anyways, we found out our interview locations, and I have one at Pro Capital Limited, a small UK investment firm. Their website is http://www.procapitaluk.com/. I was super surprised that I landed an interview at a place like that mostly because I've never had a finance course in my life. Sure, I've dabbled a little on my own, but nothing that would qualify me for an intern position.
So basically the position has some grunt work like entering data and updating databases and spreadsheets but also includes a chance at hedge fund research and feasibility studies for mutual funds if I prove my worth. Plus, if I'm accepted I'll receiving training in Bloomburg. Now I didn't know what that was, but when I came out of my meeting with the International Enrichment gal and told my journalism flatmates about it, their mouths dropped open and their eyes gaped wide. Apparently Bloomburg is a financial data and reporting system used by basically everyone in finance. Training with these people is a crazy good resume builder (according to my professor. Well, he didn't use those exact words) plus it might be done at the actual London Bloomburg office. Wow.
Now the trick is to get hired. I have an interview this Tuesday at 5 PM at 357 City Road. We stopped by, and it's a little building crammed up against a lot of other little buildings (but what isn't in London)-- definitely a small firm. The location is great from what I could tell, safe and all that, but it will require about 45 minutes of travel time. Bummer, but lots of things are like that here. Right, so I'll post some more info next week about if I landed the job....or not. :( (If not, IE will immediately begin placing me with somebody else)
On Wednesday, IE had scheduled a tour of Parliament and a meeting with an MP (Member of Parliament). We got in and went through some very intensive security-- we all got frisked! Plus, I got to see my first lawn mower in London. Anyways, the first section we entered was a huge hall that's been around since the Middle Ages. It's seen lots of history (William Wallace, Charles I, Henry VIII's four day banquets), and I was amazed to walk around in it. Oliver Cromwell and the Queen Mother Elizabeth who passed away in 2002 are buried in the floor. The building that houses Parliament used to be a palace.
Our tour guide took us around Parliament and we got to walk around the House of Commons and House of Lords. It's crazy that I've learned about those places all my life, and now I've actually seen them in person. Some of the traditions they have there get a little ridiculous but are neat nonetheless. Basically, their traditions develop from repeating an event that happened just once in their history (i.e. somebody rapped on a door a certain way or walked a certain way at a certain time). After finishing our visit I resolved to see Washington, D.C sometime soon. It's silly that I've been to England's Parliament but not the ruling bodies of my own country.
(I've also become randomly patriotic since arriving here. I'm quite proud of my country.)
We also me with Graham Brady, a conservative MP. I was absolutely delighted to hear a one-sided presentation of British government in this mildly socialist country. I wasn't aware of how truly socialist England is even after reforms by Margaret Thatcher, which makes me wonder about other European countries. The center of politics here, as viewed by a typical American, is skewed decidedly left. That means that while Mr. Brady is a strong conservative here, he'd be more like a Democrat in the States than a Republican. By extrapolation then, a regular American Republican would be a right-wing nut here. The Brits had best get out their nut crackers then 'cause this budding capitalist is here to stay for another 2.25 months more.
After visiting Parliament, all the International Business students (plus about five tag-a-longs from other classes...) took a field trip to the Fullers brewing works. Fullers is a local London brewery, one of the few left here. It was interesting, but breweries have some interesting smells. After the tour, the company provided a 'tasting' session for everyone, but 'tasting' basically meant drink as much as you want in 45 minutes. We had quite a few people capitalizing on that. I don't drink, so I sat off to the side and quietly watched my peers drink themselves through various stages of inebriation.
On Thursday, we visited the London Edward Jones office. Again, interesting, but terribly long travel times. Takes over an hour both ways. As a side note, there were no tag-a-longs on this trip. Edward Jones, based out of St. Louis, has just begun UK operations in the last ten years and is still trying to get on its feet. The two men we spoke with were expatriates from the US. I got the impression that these guys were driven by their careers, little else had the same priority. I hope I'm never like that. I've had lots of new thoughts rolling about this strange little brain of mine, but that'll be for a later post (hopefully not too far away).
Finally, today we went to the Anheuser-Busch and suddenly had a new crop of tag-a-longs. The brewery was much larger and more modern. I'm amazed by the bottling operations-- it's a lot like the "How It's Made" shows on the Discovery Channel that I love so much. For 'tasting' this time, I bowed out early and made my way home before everyone had headed off to the local pub with our guide. Again, over an hour of travel time.
Oh! While working, construction teams found an old, LIVE World War II bomb here in London (rumor has it that it had started ticking). Parts of the District Line of the underground were closed while the bomb was investigated. Very weird. Every time I got on a train (especially District), they'd play messages about the bomb. I heard they decided they'd have to detonate it, so we'll see what happens.
I'm glad to be done with the company visits. I was a little frustrated that the point of two-thirds of those days were so everyone could get drunk....on program fee money! I understand the whole culture and international business aspect, but our students only really wanted to go because of the free beer (hence the tag-a-longs). It's predictable but disappointing nonetheless. Glad that's finished.
On top of these daily visits, I've also been stopping by the Victoria & Albert Museum every day after class for a few hours to wander my way through the huge array of exhibits. There's so much stuff there! I saw some original Raphael paintings, artefacts (<--Brit spelling) taken from the British empire across the world, and lots of Medieval court things. There's still a lot left to see, but I'm working my way through it. Ah! Remember that history book I bought? I've been reading it on tube rides (already on page 50) and pronounced my first word in a British accent without thinking. That's right, my mind's voice said processing as 'pro' as is pro football player instead of 'prah' as Americans do. So it became 'pro-cessing' instead of 'prah-cessing.' Neat, huh? I hope this happens more.
More tomorrow or Sunday as time is available, and I apologize for the possible downgrade in this post's quality-- I'm writing at one o'clock in the morning. But, I'm going to try not to sleep-in so I can get movin' on all those touristy things tomorrow. Ah well.
Cheers!
Here's the link for my recent photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2069503&l=76b9a&id=36107967
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