I love fire alarm tests!

Classic! Sorry, Tiger.

If London were to have an official noise, today it would be the cough.

Riding the transportation routes in London makes me ponder manners and space. Any carriage, especially trains, are filled to the brim with people. This is particularly the case at peak times. Last week I got on the train from London Bridge; a pregnant woman got on later. When I got on there were no seats available and those standing blocked access to the seats anyway. The group boarding with the pregnant woman only added to the density of passengers.

I can’t remember who first told me “It’s like being pregnant, you either are or you aren’t” in response to someone being somewhat something. It’s an analogy I’ve heard a lot, and this woman made me rethink it. She was very pregnant. There are degrees of pregnancy. I am not going to pretend to understand what happens to a woman when she’s pregnant, but there are certain external indicators of the degree of pregnancy. This woman who boarded was clearly showing and was walking the pregnancy waddle (I asked a couple friends how to say this more appropriately: there doesn’t seem to be a way :/ ).

Manners would require other passengers to give up a seat, make a path, and allow the woman to sit on the train. It is polite to allow someone who is pregnant to sit. It’s more comfortable, and the marginal utility for someone carrying a baby is almost always greater than the marginal cost of giving up a seat.

Space, though, would dictate that passengers make the most functional decisions on the train. Trains generally follow this rule as it is fairly natural to do. On boarding, passengers find some amount of space for themselves. As the number of passengers behind them increases, a passenger will go farther into the train. This system works on functionality.

This past weekend, on an off peak tube ride, I was riding alone and managed to nab a seat when I got on. The train started filling up as I got closer to Central London. A group of women got on the train. In an awkward turtle moment they realized that they were one seat short of the number in their group. I noticed it too. So, I stood up and offered my seat to the group. The ride to the next station was filled with buzz about how nice that was of me. Most of it came from the group of women; some was from other riders.

It felt good to have my small action appreciated, but I later thought (way too hard) about it. Would that action be as well received? I would guess the person receiving the seat might still be thankful and appreciative, but the other riders would likely see it as more of a hassle. If you’ve been on a peak time train in a busy and public-transport-dependent city, you would understand.

Should the rule of thumb for public transport in peak times be space and off peak be manners? Is there room for crossover?

Living in London, I will have quite a lot of opportunities to observe. :)

Alan Alda (b.1936); actor, screenwriter, director

I’m loving these quotes this week.  Sign up at http://www.values.com/

So, I’ve finally had some time to just relax midday.  What else is there to do but post a blog with no real purpose or theme?  Woot!

So, I am quickly approaching one month in London, and while I’ve done a lot, I’m not yet feeling accomplished.  I took my first ICAEW exam today and am waiting on pins and needles for my CPA exam results.   Naturally, BEC and REG scores were released to NASBA (The general process: Scores go to NASBA for release, NASBA holds the scores for 24-48 hours for validation and then releases them on their website and sends scores in the mail).  I am waiting anxiously for my BEC and REG scores.

The ACA (ICAEW) exams are more applicable now that I’m working in the UK, but I don’t get to worried about them *knock on wood*  Instead, I’m focusing on more US-UK adaptation.  For example, the keyboards are different!!  I couldn’t believe it!  I am used to having a weird keyboard, though.  My personal laptop has a Spanish keyboard (I like being able to type accented characters quickly), but I never would have thought that the UK keyboard would be different from the US keyboard.  It’s small differences, just punctuation.

I took for granted how well I was set up in my house in the States.  Here, I have not yet purchased cookware or furniture.  I have one pot, which I have used to boil rice, fry eggs, and saute vegetables. I have step ladder, which I have used to sit on and balance curtain-rods-turned-drying-racks. It’s fun, though.

I start work again tomorrow.  I’m quite excited.  I am unassigned, which I hope means that I will finally do some client work.  I love working on clients.  Client work is why I chose auditing.  Finally doing some work on a client is making me very excited.

It’s still a bit uncertain what this week will bring.  Here’s to hoping it is exciting and challenging!

I move today :)

I finally found a place in Southeast London and will be moving in today. My 11-day stay in a hotel in Russell Square was nice, but it was more expensive than a month’s rent in my new place.

I’m excited to settle in.  Searching for a flat to rent in London is not a fun task at all.  I’m not sure if it’s the city alone, the current economic conditions, or the city in the current economic conditions, but lettings turn very quickly here.  On at least three occasions, I would call a letting agent and ask if a specific property was available, something I had seen was just recently added to the website, and it was not. I was getting frustrated.

Something I’ve learned, and need to remind myself of, is that it’s very important to follow the rules, but usually, it’s the serendipitous, happen-chance events that end up working out.  For example, after college on Thursday, I went to East Dulwich to see a lettings agent. He was not in, so I checked out the agency across the way.  The only person in the agency at the time was in sales, not lettings, but had a flat he was renting out privately. We got to chatting and set up a viewing for Friday, and we agreed to it. 

It’s a one-bedroom flat.  The bedroom and the living room are a good size.  The kitchen and bathroom are a bit narrow (but no where near the narrowness of my kitchen back in the States).  It comes with a bed and some shelves, the kitchen appliances, and is wired for internet.  There are some things I must do to fix it up: paint, new curtains, buy linen, but it’s home. 

So, I hope I didn’t jinx myself too much calling this the end.  It’s the end of the flat search, but is still just the beginning of my life in London.

So, today is my first day of “college” or “tuition” as the Brits call it.  It is pretty pragmatic, though, since if you ever read college in this blog, I’m probably talking about training for the qualification exams.  Training is internal training: how to use the internet/email, EY Global Audit Methodology, etc.  So, for those of you who knew me this past summer, you should know what I mean by the this entry’s title.

I graduated the first week of June 2009 from The University of Denver. (Much love to the alma mater ;).)  But, as soon as I left, I was working full time and studying for the CPA exam.  The CPA exam is a four-part examination: Financial Accounting and Reporting, Auditing and Attestation, Regulation, and Business Environment and Concepts. The tests range from 2.5 hours to 4.5 hours, and a typical student takes one a month.  Since every third month is off limits, a typical student will finish the first attempts in five months.  It’s a grueling schedule for most, but I consider myself to be very well prepared by DU (Daniels) to take the exams.  So, I opted to take all the exams before I left for London.  This meant I would sit for all four in a week.  This accelerated schedule required me to study hard this summer, and while I didn’t get as far as I would have liked to in my studies, I think I did will enough.

So, June through the second week in August was CPA time.  Now, I’m getting ready to start a whole new set of exams for the qualification in the UK.  In the UK, there are two accounting/audit qualifications (as far as I understand so far).  The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales are similar in their utility in the country: members of each can attest to financial statements, the primary reason for the designation.  I will be studying for the ICAEW: Two stages, twelve exams in the first and two exams plus a case study in the second.  As with the CPA exam, we’re starting with the basics:  what is accounting, what is bookkeeping, what is double-entry bookkeeping, etc.  I’m trying to stay interested in hopes that I’ll find something different between the US and UK systems.  Those differences should come later, though, in the specifics.  For now, I’ll just have to grin and bare it.  If I love being a student as much as the title tells me I do, I should have no problem doing that.

What a creative and fun video! 

vanitg:

One of the 2009 Cannes Lions winners! More info:http://work.canneslions.com… A simple short film about communication. Created by Publicis Mojo and @RadicalMedia Director: Patrick Hughes

This video totally made me smile one day that I was feeling homesick… moving to a new town by yourself can be hard sometimes… you may be surrounded by tons of people and get along great with everyone you meet, even make friends, but there is a cultural difference, there is a communication barrier at the beginning… and it is frustrating and there is an emptiness. Then there are so many details that can make a difference…

I cannot stand that when I say no more than £X I only see properties with a listing price of £50 over X.

The blog without a name allows me to meander and stray in thought, write about anything and nothing, and not apologise for it one bit.  So, this will be an incredibly narcissistic post.

It’s a bit ironic that this post will chronicle some time that began with my flight to London from Denver.   I was in the Denver International Airport at the departure gate and CNN Headline News ran a story about Facebook and Twitter.  HLN asked, “Are Facebook and Twitter (and others, perhaps Tumblr) creating a narcissistic generation?”  The “evidence” was that now people post information about themselves expecting that people want to listen/read.  This post, though, is at the request of my family in the States that have asked me to update them on my time in London.

Wednesday

I arrived in London on Wednesday, 26 August at 7.40. The flight from DEN to IAH was uneventful.  The layover in IAH was too.  But, things got interesting on my way from IAH to LHR.  Anyone who has flown overseas knows the drill.  Take off, dinner, sleep, wake, breakfast, land.  It’s a pretty standard sequence and I was really looking forward to the sleep bit.  So, after dinner, I started The Bourne Supremacy and planned to fall asleep.  As soon as I dozed off, there was an interruption on the PA, “Is there a doctor on board?” Apparently, someone on the plane had fallen ill and this was way past the in-seat-pocket vomit bag material.  I couldn’t fall back asleep, so I started The Bourne Ultimatum.  You catch a lot more when you watch sequels in a row.

As we started our final descent, I noticed something that has always interested me on flights.  Everyone started chatting.  People around me who where quiet the entire trip decided to start up a conversation.  Someone noticed my Becker hoodie and asked, “Have you taken your exams yet?”  Someone else started talking about his marriage that will take place in the UK.  The whole plane was abuzz.  It was really interesting to me, and I started to smirk.  I hypothesized that people like talking at the end of a flight as a sort of social safeguard. “If this stranger on the plane is weird, antisocial, awkward, or just plain creepy,” one must think, “at least I have 20 minutes before we land.”  What do you think? 

I never heard what happened, but when we landed, the number of ill passengers went from one to six.  We had to disembark, slowly, from just one aisle.

Passport control was boring.  I got my luggage, and went to the desk for my shuttle, and eventually arrived at my hotel around 11.45.  I spent the rest of the day around the hotel. 

Thursday

Thursday was a day for errands.  I knowledgeably bought my Oyster Card, hopped on the Tube to Central London, and started my list of chores.  I applied for my UK bank accounts (a usually arduous task), stopped by the office for some paperwork, and went on a few flat viewings.

Everything in the UK requires a bank account.  Everything is on Direct Debit.  The bank has all my details, but the account is not yet set up.  This is a Bank Holiday weekend, so the banks are closed on Monday.  This might put a bit of a challenge in my flat search.  Also, the lettings/rental market in London is fast.  Properties go on and off the listings pages very quickly.  So, I’m hoping the stars align so that I will find a flat quickly.

Friday

Day One.  I had my induction for my new job at Ernst & Young at a cool event venue near the Barbican. As we walked into the venue, we were greeted by a man in a bowler hat (pleasantly cliché).  The programme was really fun: we went through the history of EY and were welcomed (via video) by Jim Turley, Global Chairman and CEO, and Mark Otty, Managing Partner of our area. (EY is divided into five areas.  The UK & Ireland is part of EMEIA area which includes Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa.)  I was excited to hear that one of the speakers is a man I met in 2007 when I was connected with some people in the UK through a partner in the Denver office.  I spent a half day at EY Global with Lee (the speaker) and another half day at EY London with a partner named Chad.  We connected after his talk, and he invited me to make plans for lunch once we get started.  I’m looking forward to that.

I met a few new people, but the induction included all new hires (joiners) from the UK and Ireland.  Many of the people I met are in a different office or in a different service line.  The format of joining in the UK is different from in the US.  In the UK, we don’t start internal training for another two weeks.  Come Monday, we will be at “college” for our respective professional qualifications.  So, I will be studying for the ACA through the ICAEW. That limits the people I’ll be working with/seeing next week substantially.  I think I heard there were 400 at the induction and 50 studying with the ICAEW.  Of these, one is a girl I met via Facebook when she sent a message about finding a roommate before we started.  Two more are people I interviewed with.  And I met a few more on Friday.

The training will take place near my old stomping grounds.  When I was studying in London in 2007, I lived almost equidistant between Angel and Old Street (two tube stops).  But, because of its surroundings, we went to Angel much more than Old Street.  The training location is right across the street from the Angel station.  I’m excited that (1) I’ll be able to find it and (2) I’ll know my way around the area for breaks, etc.

Weekend

This weekend is slow.  I’m still looking for a place to live, but there is not much success yet.  Today (Sunday), I woke up early to see if I could have better luck.  I forgot how late things open on Sundays in London.  I took busses and the tube around London and walked around Trafalgar Square, one of my favourite places in London.  

I’m back at the hotel now, checking out flats for rent.  Wish me luck.

Tomorrow, real work/college begins.  This is what I came to London to do.