Mar
20
Very Ordered!
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Nice swim with fast and ordered swimmers. A real pleasure! Some of them are now using me to improve their own speed. They align themselves behind or switch lanes simultaneously. I don’t like dumb idiots who just clog up the fast lane. No class today and the weather is fantastic! I might walk around and check for new pants. I found Megaupload links to download a very old Chinese movie I liked when I was young. Excellent quality also!
Movie night: Body of Lies. Looks like a very good movie! There seems to be some free food again tonight.
Amy went back to Greece yesterday. She stopped by to say goodbye but when I asked why she left that early, she just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. I did not insist. I also asked when she would be back and she said she doesn’t know yet…Very strange indeed!
Mar
19
Moving On!
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We went skiing with Dave M and Iris, a girl from Holland. An hour and half of good fun and it only cost us 14 GBP per person. Indoor skiing isn’t too bad. I managed not to fall despite my weak legs. My skiing style is really crappy though. I cannot do parallel skiing yet and I use a “duck style” which is not very pretty to look at and it does require lots of effort from the knees. Nevertheless, I did not need help so it was all good. We then went to Trafford shopping center. It is beautiful and it looks a 100% better than Manchester city center. Brand new buildings designed in Roman style with fancy marble like columns and greek status…Just beautiful to the eyes! I will take Amy there sometimes to show her what we have been missing since we came to Manchester.
Time flies so quickly…My time with the Hiking Club ended officially yesterday with the vote of the new president. A good way to say goodbye I guess. The new president, James G., whom I did not vote for, even told me they used few of my pictures in their final presentation. It is a bit sad since they all know me now. Thanks to them, I met few good friends who took me around and showed me many more things: Dave M and Dave E.
Moving on is my lifestyle. It did hurt everytime and I always asked myself this question: Would it be better if I stay longer somewhere? Local people enjoy themselves for sure but they tend to be trapped in their habits and their circle of friends. They are used to their comfort zone and it is sometimes very hard to make them do different things. I like to discover their world, but I annoy them at the same time. What annoys them most is my lack of social bonding. I only do what I want whereas they only do things to be with their friends.
Mar
18
Like a Puzzle!
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My life since last Friday has been like a puzzle. Every single piece seems to fit in the end. Last Friday, during the lecture, the teacher from Senegal had lots of troubles. He could not start the projector and he was loosing everyone with his notes. Students started to get frustrated and few questions pointed out his bad pronunciation. Chebet got annoyed because she felt bad for the poor chap. She felt some kind of fraternity with the dude from Africa. During the break, I went to the board, fixed the projector and adjusted the image so that it came out perfectly. The second hour was normal and everyone was happy. I still cannot believe I simply stood up and told him: “I am going to help you” and he just stood there and let me do it. And it worked!
The movie night on Friday was great, the Hike on Sunday was perfect! I could even make people strike some funny poses during the hike and it was fun.
Yesterday, I went to the bank and made a money transfer between Barclays and HSBC. Barclays was my first account here in the UK but HSBC has free internet for a basic account like mine so everything is linked to Barclays but for my everyday usage I prefer HSBC. Anyways, after the transfer, I went out and checked my balance on the ATM machine. I forgot to take my card after and left. A homeless dude ran after me and shouted out loud: YOU, YES YOU! Everyone was looking at me in the street and they were all wondering why the “homie” ran after me. After he gave me my card, I just gave him money to thank him.
I went to bed very early the last 2 days, 9:30 pm, and even though there were noises I could resume my sleep quickly. I even woke up at 6 am this morning without the alarm and I do not have to swim today! Dave M sent an email to a group of people for a skiing event today. There is also the hiking club general meeting to elect a new president. Of course, I am attending both, that is the least I can do for this hiking club. I have had my bad times with them but I think it is mainly my fault. I am too picky and too arrogant to obey quietly people! Also I am weird, I do not say anything most of the time and that puts people in uncomfortable situations.
I also received a confirmation mail from a Law firm saying that they will review my application and that I will get an answer in 3 weeks time. That is something different than the regular rejection :). Who knows …?
Mar
17
Walking like a Duck!
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I am paying the price for the hike now…I’ve been limping since Monday evening because the lower part of my body is full of cramps. During the swim on Monday morning, my legs were so shaky…like an old man. I also have a huge bruise just below my left ass. I felt on that part during the hike, luckily my camera had nothing but I cannot say the same for my body. Then my left calve had one of the worse cramp ever. It took me 5 min to recover and the pain was horrible. I should maybe run a little bit to keep my legs in perfect shape. Swimming and running are two complete different cardio-exercise. I still have the stamina from the swimming but the legs are less powerful.
Need to send an application I’ve been delaying since last Friday. I really do not feel like studying the rest of the modules, they have no interest for my future formation…so annoying. At least I know exactly how much I should have to pass them all anyways. Not too hard it seems but I might fail if I do not find the motivation. I do not see myself learning 24 pages by heart again.
As expected the exchange rate between AUD-GBP went up. I did the right move last Thursday. It did reach the bottom! Last week was really one of these nice weeks where everything I did was just perfect. Everything just seemed right and I did not plan anything in advance. I wish life is like that every day.
Mar
16
Excellent Weekend!
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On Friday evening, the movie night was very nice: My Best Friend’s Girl. The movie itself was an average comedy but people were nice. Indeed, a new group of British students joined in and they even made pizzas for everyone. Good and relaxing atmosphere for a social gathering!
On Saturday, I went to the city and checked around. Nothing particularly exciting as usual for a Saturday afternoon. I wanted to buy some pants since I am going home on March 28. I thought I could use the machines my mother has at home to shorten their lengths.
On Sunday, I attended my last hiking event. It was Patterdale in the Lake District. It was great fun. I knew everyone and they were all happy to see “the photographer” again. The group was small but quite dynamic and kind. Unexpected! I was really not in the mood and I did not even sign up for the event. Luckily there was one spot left so I just jumped in the bus. I did not intend to attend any new hike the second semester but Dave M insisted and also it was the last one of the year. So why not?
Cool pic of me looking like an Indian in the wild!
Mar
13
A week after the results, many Law Students are crying on their results and that makes me feel…hum pretty good about myself! Lots of talking about these results one week after because we only see other students 2 days a week! I am just happy I got through because that would suck to have to learn the material again! Not only it is boring but also it is useless for the real practice of the Law. 24 pages by heart, word for word, does hurt like hell. I do not want to go through that painful thing again. Malinda, the US lawyer, has failed one of her class. She must be sad because she told me she expected a 90 on all her exams. I already warned her about grading in Europe, it is not like in the US where most students are getting something between 80 and 100. In Europe, it is more like 50 as an average and it can even be lower! She probably believes me now! All I need for my next four little modules is a 34/100 to pass since I have higher scores this time! ME PRETTY HAPPY! The rest of the formation is completely useless to me since it has nothing to do with Patent Law!
Most students do not realize their grades do not matter much in the real world. Once they leave school, all that matters is the diploma. Later, it’s the job experience. I really want to find a job as a patent attorney. It looks like an interesting job with a good career development. Salary goes up with the number of years of practice!
Mar
12
Money Transfer
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I’ve decided to do it today. The conversion curve seems to have reached its bottom today. I did not want to loose money over the weekend. It is a matter of 0.02% difference now anyways and I need the money to pay the last part of the tuition and the housing fees. I needed to make sure I had enough to do what I wanted until the end of June and not too much because, if I don’t stay in the UK, I will loose money by converting it later on in another currency.
Good and relaxing swim. Relatively good sleep also. I was disturbed at 1 am but could resume my sleep after. Need to apply for more jobs…! New course is starting also today. What a boredom itwas with Unfair Competition. If I hear one more time about Micheal Douglas and Catherine Zeta Johns, I am going to kill someone. The sad thing is we will get the same boring dude we had last semester…an ugly boring troll that looks like a dork!
Mar
11
I rarely pay attention to stock market trends and the variations of currencies but, for the last 2 weeks, I have been closely watching the Xe website to see how the pounds behaved compared to the AUD. Indeed, I need to do a money transfer soon and I am hoping for the best time to do so. The English Pound went down which is excellent. I just need to know when it will reach the bottom. In a sense, I was lucky this year, the GPB has lost 30% of its value since last year.
I applied for several jobs today. Very nice day! I had a good sleep and the weather is getting warmer too. I might go hiking one last time with the hiking club. It is their last one-day hike this year. They have several more weekend trips but I am not interested in these.
Mar
10
Very tired!
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Great Swim but I am exhausted now. The day was quite short, nothing interesting happened besides a nice job offer I found. I will apply to it tomorrow as it fits qute well my profile. Amy is back also and she won’t leave until the end of the month for Easter Break. I asked her fo her "friends" episodes. It will save me some time and quota. I bought two nice ativewears today. Two of mine were destroyed by the washing machine and I used the weakest mode!!!
Mar
9
Good, fast and long swim! I am feeling very relaxed today. The pool admin added two extra lanes very quickly allowing me to play like a fish in the sea. I loved it! The best swimmers went straight to the same lane also. We were 4 and nobody disturbed anyone else. We were all at about the same speed and level. Perfec! The other lanes were even less crowded but the fastest swimmers prefer to stay among themselves. Having a slow poke in a lane doing the doggy style is very annoying. Especially if he takes half of the space preventing other people to pass him.
I sent out my very first mail application. This law firm does not give away any email. I prefer emails as it is faster this way. As long as it works I am not complaining. I need to send out more and more regularly as well. The final lane before the end!
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