Week 8 Michaelmas

So that's it, all 8 weeks of lectures over. 8 weeks of intense learning, 13 assignments and 1 mock exam. It was an interesting week with everyone pushing hard to hand in the 2 large group assignments as well as their own individual one. I must admit, it was a tremendous relief on Friday morning when the last one went in.
We now have a week of revision followed by a week of exams so I fear that for Week 9 Michaelmas I may not have very much to write about.

Hertford Boat Club 'Christchurch Dinner'
This was a dinner for all of the Hertford boat crews to let their hair down after a season of training. All of my crew were there and we managed to spend a very civilized evening together. The food was quite good and we moved to the college bar afterwards. It seems that many of them will row next term; I hope that at least part of this term's crew end up in the same boat next term.

The crew
Presentation by Tomo Suzuki
Tomo is one of our accounting lectures and is very keen on 'Sustainable accounting'. He believes that by changing the way that companies report will in-turn affect the way they run their businesses. As such he is pushing for accounting standards to include reporting requirements for social and environmental items. He is looking for a way of funding some research which models the effects of adding these requirements to the balance sheet/income statement and presented some of his funding pitch to us on Wednesday.

Dinner at 'Teddy Hall'
On Wednesday I was invited to a dinner at St Edmund Hall (affectionately known as 'Teddy Hall'). This was the first time that I had been there; it is quite a beautiful little place. The evening was made all the more special as we were allowed to eat on the top table, which is normally reserved for fellows of the college (lectures etc). One of the privileges to eating on the top table is that after the meal you can retire to the old library to have port and cheese... Another amazing experience.

End of Term Party
As expected, this was a big one. With all assignments handed in and a couple of weeks until exams we felt that we have the opportunity to congratulate ourselves on surviving the 8 weeks. We started with a Hawaii theme party at the business school and then progressed onwards from there.

Psuedo Christmas party with my family
On Sunday my sister, brother-in-law, mother, father and grandmother gathered at our place for a psuedo Christmas party where Namiko and I cooked Japanese. It has been necessary to have this party as most of us either travel or work over the Christmas period. It was great to see everyone and relax.

In addition to activities this week, a meeting with the MBA director lead to the approval of our plans for the entrepreneurial project (EP) due during next term. We have to write a full business plan for our chosen project and can now kick off the research during the holiday.

That was it for this week. A bit of a crazy one with maybe one too many parties for the work that had to be chomped through. I am glad that I now have a week to revise. I don't really fancy resitting any of these subjects..