I think that's a yes

Just some feedback about my application:

Thanks for your post. Generally, we enjoyed your post and thought it gave some great insights into the experience of studying at the School.

We did, however, feel that you might want to revisit the tone of the piece in places, especially towards the end. I think you make some valid points, but perhaps you could rephrase it a little. Particularly the reference to polygamy might upset some more sensitive people.

We’re having to work to expectations set out for us by wider College and the senior management team of the School to build the School’s brand. Generally we’re happy for our bloggers to write from their experience with a realistic view of their programmes. However, in the context of these expectations, I think you will need to watch out that you that your tone doesn’t unintentionally offend people and just be aware that your posts will be highly visible on the new Business School website and that not only prospective students will be reading them, but faculty and even potential employers visiting the School website will be able to come across them. It’s a great opportunity to increase your visibility to prospective employers and other contacts, but I’d just be careful that the humour of your posts doesn’t overstep a line and work against you.

With the above in mind, we’d be happy to have you as a blogger if you feel that your blogs could fit within these suggestions? As I said above, we enjoyed your post and think you have a lot to offer as a blogger.

Best wishes,


I guess I'll have to have two versions

London

23 hours of flight time, four inflight movies, two Bloody Marys, and five questionably edible economy class meals is what it takes to get from Middle Earth to the Old Smoke.  Me being excited about getting off the plane as we land on the Heathrow runway is probably an understatement. Not only was my back sore, but I was beginning to think that my seat had permanently contorted the shape of my backside.  

I quickly make my way through customs and out of the airport. As I walked around like a headless chicken looking for anything that marginally resembled a shuttle or taxi, I had my first opportunity to soak in the atmosphere.  It was a particularly overcast day, and it gave me the same grim feeling as I would get watching an episode of EastEnders.

Depending on your destination, expect to pay over sixty quid for a ride from Heathrow airport in a black cab/taxi. The more economical choice is paying around twenty five pounds for a shuttle with other passengers. Of course, for all you introverts and haters of people in general, this might not be an attractive option.

I make my way to the hotel in Paddington.  I was planning on staying here for two days before moving into my studio room at GradPad Wood Lane Studios. Paddington being quite close to South Kensington would allow me to orient myself with the surrounding area and the Imperial campus itself. On arrival, they tell me that I have been upgraded to a ‘nicer’ room, free of charge. At this point, I was feeling quite special about myself, so I didn’t question it at all.  What they didn’t mention though, was that this ‘nicer’ room was in Barbican, on the other side of the city.

With these initial hiccups aside though, my first impressions of Imperial College were great. Being an international student and arriving in London for the first time, I was practically a living manifestation of the ‘Forever Alone’ meme. Fortunately, Imperial provided a great international student orientation week, allowing students (many attending university for the first time) to assimilate themselves into student life, and to meet other wide-eyed freshers.
From these initial orientation lectures though, I can provide a word of warning for all you aspiring Casanovas out there.

Don’t go to Engineering school.

The stereotype of there being more males than females actually holds true. Ratio of three to one. I might even be being generous with that figure. However, us lucky men in MSc International Health Management don’t have this problem. In fact, in comparison to our deprived brethren in the neighbouring building, it could be mistaken that we are running an illegal polygamist sect.

Everything I wrote above was a trial for one of the Imperial College blogs, and depending on how things go, I may be writing a lot more of these, whether you like it or not. Regardless, it’s already been a few weeks since I arrived in this brilliant place called London and the experiences so far has been nothing short of amazing, so I may continue to keep writing anyway.

Darren, or whatever my previous alias was.

I'm back

Will post something sometime soon. Got a bit to say, but I need to find the time *laughing to self which gradually subsides to a sigh*...

Nov/Dec 2011

                                       Not quite the same spectacular skyline as back home

Skiing at a ski field on the outskirts of Beijing was everything I expected it to be: man-made snow, long lines and waiting in the freezing cold. Yet I was still naïve enough to expect a little more from it. Don’t get me wrong, I had a good time but it was the culmination of “the little things” which made the whole experience frustrating. This was probably due to the fact that that I’ve only ever been skiing in NZ. The day started with an early bus trip to the ski field – now when I say ski field, I’m using this term very liberally in this particular case – As we approached the field I couldn’t stop giggling at the sight of it! The “mountain of snow” was actually a rather large hill with a few snow machines covering it white. The payment process was also absurd. You had to put down a deposit to get a recharge card. This card was then used to pay for ski/clothing hire, locker, food etc. However there were no signs to indicate how much everything cost. Countless times we found ourselves denied of ski gear because we didn’t have enough money on our cards. This resulted in one of us having to join the back of the line to put more money on the cards. So we didn’t get out onto the mountain until after lunch! I’ve probably scared you enough to deter you from skiing here but I just want you to have little expectations of the place so you can be pleasantly surprised when you do comeJ. In all honesty, we went when the snow was only covering half the mountain so I can’t give an accurate description about the quality of the skiing. A friendly local who I chatted with on the chairlift informed me that the best time around Christmas/after New Years. No matter where you ski, if you’re with good friends then it’s going to be a blast no matter how short the slopes are. There are a lot of opportunities to get big air. Our mate tried the half pipe which wasn’t fully covered in snow. Because of this fact, as he tried to go up the half pipe he slammed into the side like a brick wall. I actually fell over because I was laughing so hard. Most people go for a day – there are busses to take you there and back so it’s pretty convenient. We pretty much went through every route in three runs so it wasn’t worth staying for an extra day. We really wanted to spend the night there but we forgot our passports so we couldn’t get any hotel accommodation. If like skiing/snowboarding and find a few mates who are keen then definitely check it out!

 

This poor chappie in the centre of the pic is so exhausted he's leaning on the padding curled up in a ball sleeping.