We are not doing as well on keeping the blog up to date but things are picking up here. I had another interview this morning and am getting hopeful for some form of work soon. This interview was actually two interviews, one with the regional manager and the other with a temp placement specialist, with a large recruitment agency called Michael Page International. They seem to like my experience and think I am a shoo-in for some decent paying temp work. The permanent side will be a little more challenging as I am often up against UK citizens that have the various certifications that are so highly regarded over here. All interviewers think that if I can get some UK work experience under my belt, even temporarily, that it will provide me the edge I need to really get going. I am going to keep applying and hope for the best.
Speaking of getting going, Holly is really starting to dig in to the schoolwork. In addition to the meetings described in earlier blog posts, she met with her academic supervisor today. She seems to really be enjoying the whole experience, but it is becoming very clear that there is going to be a LOT of reading and writing to be done. Her supervisor noted today that she would need to do some assigned reading and turn in a 5,000 word essay next Thursday. Best of all, she doesn't even know what the topic or reading will be yet, that will be emailed to her later. In the meantime, I notice that our bookshelf is beginning to look very academic!
This afternoon while Holly was in her meeting, I did some wandering around town and into Christ Church College. I am always quite excited that they even let me in with my spouse card as it doesn't quite look right compared to the real student ID cards. Today's entry guard stated that he hadn't seen a card like mine before, but grumpily stated to "come in and move along". A real treat as this particular college has extremely tight security, and everywhere I looked there were men wearing nice wool coats, cute little hats and carrying two-way radios. I was very intrigued, as this security was on par with places such as Buckingham Palace or the White House.
Along my journey I found a nicer security guy who explained that there are a lot of VIP students at this college. Christ Church has turned out over 16 British Prime ministers over the years and has quite an uppity reputation. This guard's last words of wisdom were that "only God and the queen are allowed onto the grass, stay off of it!". Boy, the Brits are touchy about their grass! Speaking of which, back at Wolfson they are spreading manure all over our grass - PeeeeeeYeeeew it stinks. Strangely, I have not been able to find any Wolfson security guards to get a status update from.
Anyway, here is a picture of the nice grass and of the Christ Church dining hall, which is now a very famous filming site of the Harry Potter movies. It really was awesome to step in and take it all in. I am very excited that Holly will be able to take us there for dinner one of these nights.
