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It’s been a while

I last wrote in January which is, quite frankly, appalling. My apologies, if anyone is actually reading this.
A quick rundown of what has been happening since then:
February saw me sit the first set of LPC exams, those relating to my compulsory subjects. I had a week in which to sit exams in Criminal Litigation, Civil Litigation, Property and Banking. It’s fair to say they were tough; open book exams are far more difficult that you’d imagine. Anyway, I feel I did pretty well in them and am actually looking forward to getting my results.
I then had a week away in Barcelona with about 50 other LPC students. All I can say his I had a much needed break and it was rather messy…ahem.
Following Barcelona, it’s been rather quiet. I have started my electives and am studying Public Companies & Equity Finance, Acquisitions and Banking & Debt Finance. Following my year in an investment bank, I have a slight headstart on most people but in any case, the electives are enjoyable and see me in college 3 or 4 days a week, which is nice.
I’ve had a couple of trips up to Durham to visit old friends and am off up North again this weekend at the start of my (strangely late) Easter holiday.
All in all, not much to report but just thought I’d check in!

2007 In Review

Predictable this is very late, but my excuse is an unbelievable workload in the run up to final exams in February. Anyway, here goes:

2007 was a year in which I spent a lot of time out of the country, I returned to study, I became single rather suddenly, I have grown even fonder of London and my future plans all fell nicely into place. I’ll recap with some main events from the year 2007.

  • I saw the New Year in at The Weir with girlfriend and friends and it was a perfect NYE. It’s not often anyone can say that!
  • February saw me in Jersey for almost a week, celebrating my ex-gf’s father’s birthday, and a good time was had by all
  • The major event of the year was my success in March in gaining a Training Contract at a major US law firm here in London. I’d finally achieved my dream of training at a top law firm in London and had done so before starting my final year of study.
  • Skipping forward to July and into my newly single status, I was coming to the end of a year working in the bank here in London. I finally got to see Muse live when I flew over to Geneva for the Paleo festival. they were just as awesome as I expected.
  • After the end of my 11 months working in banking, I spent a very relaxing week back in Switzerland. A perfect end to the summer and all it entailed.
  • College started in August and proved to be interesting, challenging and a very different experience to the GDL.
  • I managed to fit in some more sunshine before winter set in by jetting off to Turkey for a week’s sailing with a friend and his family. Turkey was lovely, almost preferable to Greece and it was a much needed break from a tough first term at college.
  • In the run-up to Christmas, there were the obligatory Christmas parties, afternoon drinking sessions and of course, work to be done. However, there was one thing keeping me going, the much anticipated trip to New Zealand!
  • New Zealand was just…incredible. Photos are going up on Flickr once they’ve been sorted but suffice it to say there will be records of (a lot of) wine tasting in Marlborough, sailing in the Marlborough Sound, swimming with dolphins, whale watching, a trip to an active volcano, beautiful scenery and lovely weather. A brief stop-over in Los Angeles for some shopping and tourist sights rounded off a wonderful trip.
  • Finally, some numbers:
    8 gigs
    7 weeks out of the country
    7 foreign countries
    1 job acquired
    1 girl leaving
    0 girls arriving
    1 successful year to be honest!

    Here’s to 2008.

    London Soundtrack

    So, apart from studying, I’ve decided to make full use of the great collection of gigs in London by going slightly crazy on Ticketmaster. Listed below are the gigs I currently have tickets for. If there’s a (*) after the name, then it means I have a spare ticket…so get in touch!

    The Fray & Pete Yorn (* but a lot of interest so far!)
    Maroon 5 & Dashboard Confessional (taking my youngest sister)
    Mika
    Seth Lakeman (*)
    Plain White T’s (*)

    Still to book:

    The Thrills
    Kate Rusby

    I love London.

    Back to academia

    I’ve just returned from a very relaxing 4 days in Switzerland. We stayed in a mountain-top town called Leukerbad and enjoyed thermal baths, a cable car ride up to c.3000m and lots of good food and wine. We explored the area around Brig in the canton of Valais, known for it’s extremely high amounts of sunshine and great wine. I think I discovered one of my favourite places in Switzerland as well, a village called Rosswald at 1800m. All the photos can be found here.

    Now, I’m preparing to return to study at College of Law, starting the LPC on Thursday. I’m looking forward to getting back to my legal studies, despite having had over a year away from education! I’m sure I’ll have more to report on this weekend.