michaelmas [week 4]: guy fawkes day

England is a land of many unique, and sometimes perplexing traditions. Back in America, we usually celebrate Election Day during the first Tuesday of November, but here in Oxford we celebrated "Guy Fawkes Night" to commemorate a foiled plot by disgruntled Catholics to blow-up Parliament on November 5, 1605. Things didn't work out too well for the poor "Guy" who was subsequently hanged, drawn, and quartered. Now every year people light fireworks and burn effigies of Guy Fawke as they recite the poem:

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

I was much more interested, however, in enjoying a nice Saturday lunch with my friends at the famous Eagle & Child pub (commonly referred to as the "Bird & Baby") on St. Giles Street. Founded in 1650, the pub is currently owned by nearby St. John's College, which seems to own just about everything, including the "Lamb & Flag" pub across the street - nice way to build a monopoly! The pub is perhaps most famously known as the meeting place for writers JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. We also had a reason to celebrate. Election results for student government were announced the night before. In the picture below, both Bo and I won a VP position - it always helps when you run unopposed. And Tushar won a week earlier as Chairman of the Private Equity club. I had also won an election the previous week for Chairman of the Finance club. No club funds, however, were used to finance our lunch.

One of the best parts of being an Oxford MBA is the chance to meet new and interesting people. Only time will tell what these relationships lead to, what new businesses are launched, and who is running for President of which country (over 50 world leaders were Oxford students). Who knows what the future will bring for us all? All I can be sure of for now, is that Tommy will continue to keep me on my toes with his consistent tennis serve, Mike will protect my identity with RFID technology, and Bo will inspire me to go to an election party, an Oxford Union bop, and the Bridge nightclub all within a 12-hour period and still make lunch at the Eagle & Child the next day!