Changing of the guard

Today is an historic day. I remember being in London ten years ago, gathered around the kitchen table with my flatmates and bottles of champagne, celebrating New Labour's victory in proper student fashion. It was a time of idealism and excitement and, even though I don't vote in England, the optimism was contagious and I cheered as loud as the next guy when Tony Blair's beaming smile filled the TV screen. Now, Tony has handed in his notice to the Queen, a little greyer, a little sadder, and it's almost like he's taken my youthful innocence with him. Good thing I'm going back to being a student again, so I can seek to recapture it; the youthful bit, I mean, my innocence having well and truly disappeared down a dark street corner eons ago.

On a personal, slightly less historic level, I met my first group of INSEADers last night. True to statistical form, between the five of us there were four nationalities present and the girls were outnumbered 3 to 2. After a few awkward introductions, we happily debated the pro's and con's of attending the Business Foundations Course, the best way to approach the recruitment process, and where the good parties were likely to be held. I was pleased to learn that my fellow admits shared my anxiety about the level and amount of classwork waiting for us come P1 and that, like me, none of them had started the pre-reading yet. A very promising start, I think... So now I can happily run off to the beach, books in suitcase, knowing that there will be at least a few familiar faces at Orientation.

On that note, dear readers, I leave you for a couple weeks while I catch some sun. Be good.