my remarkable neighboors

Last weeks have served to enjoy London again after the stress to get in the School. Some theatre evenings, several dinners and drinks hosted by friends from the office in most of the times, my cousins coming from Madrid to visit me, an excursion to Oxford, Christmas shopping, and tomorrow the Christmas dinner with my team that I'm not looking forward at all above all last decision from my manager of not supporting my MBA, but anyway, not everything can turn out well.

2009 is coming with a lot of new projects and changes, even it might be possible I'll move to another area and for sure I'll miss a lot of things from my neighborhood such as for example my neighboors. I'm not talking about the ones who live behind the doors that I see in the corridor every time I come out from my house, that I don't ever see which is a mistery, but about other much more remarkable ones. One is the ex prime minister, Mr Tony Blair! it was a surprise some weeks ago when I realized why I found every day two couple of police men almost in front of my house. My good friend Ris who is teaching me a lot of things about London told me, didn't you know? I can say now that my area must be quite safe.

The other (or others) is Mr.... ?? he or she doesn't have a known name because turns up and dissapears without saying anything. But the thing is that I've seen how true is that London is full of foxes. I've seen them several times in front of the window of my bedroom as it heads a lovely park which is normally completely empty. What was more superb was the fact that I run into one of these animals two weeks ago coming back from Soho at 1 in ther morning. Can you imagine walking down a street from Hyde Park to my house and seeing a fox running almost in the middle in the street? It was fantastic! every night, when I go to bed I come into my bedroom without turning on the light and look at the window with the hope of seeing the fox looking for food, scene that I've seen repeated several times during the last month, but since I brought my digital camera to the window, he is not showing up! I guess he or she doesn't want to become famous... but they have the same look as the one I've uploaded, just to give you an idea

Watching English (I)

Last year I bought the book: Watching English but I've been so busy that I've not had time to read it. I promise to do it this Christmas (at least during the idle time in the airport and during the flights). This book deals with the "non written" English rules or English behaviour.

I'm going to start to list things that have called my attention by comparing them to Spanish people, positive (most of them) and negative ones (that exist as well), ranging from very "silly things to most profound ones:

- They (English people) don't clean their teeths after lunch - First days in the office I was embarrasing to go to the bathroom to clean my teeths because nobody else used to do it! Now I think my colleagues have assumed that I'm a little strange and they don't look at me surprised anymore. I think it comes down to the fact that lunch is so quick that they don't even have time for that. In Spain, we used to have up two hours for lunch time ...

- They don't socialize at working hours: No coffees ... almost they even don't say good morning! I've seen people going to M&S at lunch time alone to grab something to have it while they read the newspaper. To meet someone at lunch time is something exceptional. French and Spanish are the opposite...On the contrary they like to meet colleagues afterwork to have drink which is more seldom in Madrid. For example, if in Madrid you ask the girl that sits down besides your desk to have a beer after work, she might think that you want an affaire with her!! Here is something normal.

- They don't like the direct confrontation and this is reflected on daily routine. For example, they prefer send emails rather than talking on the phone. Some months ago, I exchanged around 10 emails on a topic with an English engineer. To me, that was a waste of time because it would have been much easier to address the issue through a direct conversation but that guy didn't answer my calls on purpose... For the same reason they are very polite when they disagree and use the expression: yes, that's perfect BUT ... which means: "I disagree with you"

- They (this is more profound) don't like to get subsidies. I like this one. I was talking with a guy who told me that in England unemployed people don't like to get any subsidy, in fact they get ashamed by this and they look for a job as soon as possible. Can you imagine this mentality in Spain where there are people that show off simply because they have managed to cheat the government by getting some subsidies?

I believe that the last one starts to show why this small country ruled over a vast Empire...

I'll keep gathering these kind of things (I have a very long list) to see at which extent we are different (Spain is different) or they are different!

Making decisions

After at least four weeks under the weather, finally I've recovered my energy and I've stopped sneezing. I think I got all those colds not because of the freezing winter that we are enduring in London this year but because of the stress I had as I was in the process of making a decision with impact in my next 2 years. If sometimes It takes me ages to decide about what I'm going to buy, can you imagine how much I've been thinking about stuff that can affect my next 2 years? Now, the decision is made and I'll enroll on the EMBA of LBS in January. I hope such effort will be worth it. Everything started 10 years ago when I began to considerer the idea of complementing my technical background with business education, and that's how I am, a person that thinks about important things too much before stepping forward. So after 10 years, I've decided to leap: simply because inside I believed that this was the right moment and the right situation? (as I explained to the interviewers?)

I also thought about living abroad 15 years ago when I was in the University and I've done it with a "small" delay...again it might be because I've waited for the right time.? Or I should think also that I might be the kind of person that doesn't run any risk and as result makes things only when there is nothing to loose. I don't know really but I feel that you have to make important decisions when situations are really clear and matured. To be honest, I'm not unhappy about how things are tuning out so... I'll continue with my "methodology" or perhaps it might be rewarding to spend some time at Christmas in "El Espolon" (if the climate let me do it) why

It takes me so long to make decisions.

Anyway, philosofy apart, the point is that I've signed up to stay in London until July 2010 when I'll be 37 years old, almost 38...it sounds scary. Last Saturday I was celebrating my birthday and the truth is that I'm heading the 40s , the time is running fast, I still remember my years in Valladolid as something relatively closed in time ... it is a relief that still people tell me that I look like much younger. I'll keep drinking red wine :)

On the other hand, I've very proud of what I've done. Although my English is still quite bad, I've overcome all the tough tests of the School. I've demonstrated to myself that if I will, I can, and that thanks to London again, I've got back some dreams that I had hiden long time ago. What would it have happened if I had stayed in Madrid? Probably nothing. That's how life works, one time you make a decision that changes your life or you do nothing and nothing changes for good.

Without no difficulties, this time here keeps being the best time in my life? It might be ... or It will be even better. What is true is that here everything might happen and that's the best thing after all.