Bang ...

... not a wimper. I thought things were supposed to end with a bang, not begin with one. Apparently, I was wrong.

If you've been trying to email me in the last two days, to share how your life is going or, say, talk about how much you miss me and my witty raparte, or even just to gossip about all these Mats Sundin rumours, you may have noticed that I've not been that able to respond. Again, to reiterate, you might have noticed this, had you thought to email me. Regardless of your emailing (or not), I've been very very very busy. I'd use more verys but I don't have enough time.

Yesterday morning continued our strong tradition of orienting, with brief hallway discussions on how to use a security pass and a locker key, as well as the handing in of my Swiss residency permit form... the blue version, the EU citizen version. I inadvertently filled out the yellow, non-EU citizen version first, and was really relieved to discover my mistake before the uber-uptight Swiss "authorities" did. I picked up the correct form, compared them, and realized the chief difference was.... the colour. There was a slight wording variation on the 3rd page: essentially, the tick box for studying (as a reason for residency) had been moved from 24 to 23 on the list of tick boxes. Anyways, I've handed in the correct form. Don't screw up your forms here.... it's simply not prudent.

Yesterday afternoon followed much like the morning, with more orienting. Career Services featured strongly, and I can confirm that many of my classmates would like a job in the future (as would I, I suppose). There are a lot of eager people in this class. So, we ran late into the planned-for cocktails, and then we ran even later with the introduction of the first case discussion material: a hard-shelled knapsack called Boblbe-e (pron: bobble-bee). Our assignment: go have a drink and some dinner, then return to our study group rooms (ah yes, we have study groups as of this afternoon) and hash out what Boblbe-e should do with themselves. I'll spare you the details, but the brief summary is that there are 12 study groups, and we were the second group to leave, just before midnight. When I got home (a short, 5 minute walk) I still had almost an hour of reading to do. Oh, and class discussion and presentation of the Boblbe-e case was to start at 8am this morning.

All would have been moderately well, except that apparently my brain, having not been turned this far "on" for quite some time, refused to turn quite all the way back to the "off" position. I'm tired today.

I am also, apparently, verbose.

So, with a newfound brevity:
Class started at 8. Case discussion quite interesting. Our group the first to present. We did well. Not perfect, but well. Lots of questions, which ran over on time (this is emerging as a theme). Two other groups presented. They also did well. The soft spots in other groups are easier to see, but the whole class is fairly collegial... as our group's presenter so elloquently put it, "hey guys, it'll be you down here next." Smells like team spirit to me. In runup to 11am coffee break, professor announced that Boblbe-e's co-founder / CEO from the time of the case was here, and would be in the class for the next hour to present what happened, what he's doing now, and to take questions. There was much rejoicing. Then urinating, followed by percolating (of coffee). Mr. Presenter was really good, really interesting. Actually strapped the prototype backpack to two peoples' backs and hit them, full force, with a baseball bat. He's a big guy too, and he really stepped into it. Bag got tons of press, product placement in 15 or so big movies (Charlie's Angels, among them), but through a combination of bad decisions, bad luck, and sheer circumstance, it all fell apart (the venture, not the bag). He went broke and I suspect maybe kinda loopy, went on a personal coaching retreat, and rejoined the corporate world. "Suit to jeans and back to suit" was the title of his last slide. It fits. Even though he was wearing jeans today. They then gave each of us one of the bags, a soft-shell version but quite cool. I'll wear it if I ever join the police or the military for sure. Actually, I do like it. Just don't know quite for what yet.

So, that was the morning. The afternoon was all about how we felt about the morning. Actually not quite true, but close enough. Dr. Jack Wood in case you want to look him up. "Yes, but how do you feel about those hungry, hungry hippos?" (thanks Laura). He went from 1:30 till 6pm.

Then, went to dinner with the other two Canadians, to put together a 2 page presentation and a 2 page summary hand-in on the last 4,000 years of Canada. Histori.ca would be proud. Or disgusted. Not sure. Then, back from dinner to read and write a summary of one of the three articles we have to read for 8am tomorrow morning. 9pm, round-table with the study group to present and discuss each of the articles in question, 10:30pm to finish the edits on the Oh Canada hand-in, and home by 11pm. Apparently this is a short day.

My eyelids are going to roll into the back my head, atrophied from a lack of use. Why am I writing this blog-novella? you ask. It takes time to relax, drink a beer, and settle my head apparently. This will all certainly be interesting. It already is. I'm reminded of the admonition to be careful of what you wish for, for fear that you may get it.