Much needed update July 25, 2010

So I’ve been absolutely terrible at updating my blog the past few months. It has popped into my head now and then that really, I should write something. Anything! But I’ve found that as I’m stuck in front of a computer all day at work, the last thing when I get home is to sit down in front of a screen. Excuses, excuses, right..

Last time I wrote I hadn’t even started my new job and now I’m more than 2 months into it. It has been two very exciting months I must say. My first day went down in complete confusion. It turns out that I’m in the middle of an open-plan office, with about 70 others around me. Learning their names, job titles, which team people belong to, and which social groups people belong to was hard work in itself! I still don’t know half of them… but I’m slowly getting there. I also had this guy showing me around the first day – turns out that he’s my manager and he forgot to mention that vital piece of information.

My dad asked me about a week or two into the job what it actually is I’m doing. I had no idea. I’m still not entirely sure, but I guess I would summarise it as “I try to figure out how well a product would perform in the market place, before my client has launched it”. I work for a really big client which is fun because my team is pretty big. Overall, I think I’ve been very lucky with this job. It’s a great position to get my feet into market research, it’s a massive organisation which provides me with great opportunities for growth and development, and the office is really big, fairly young and very sociable with lots of other people who has moved to Oxford for the job. Not that I moved to Oxford for this job, but I don’t know anyone in this city, and it certainly helps being with other people who doesn’t know the city either.

Apart from work, summer is in full bloom outside, but I haven’t had much chance to enjoy it to be honest. I haven’t had much vacation and even if I did, I’m not sure what to do with my days off. I’ve never lived in a city which isn’t close to water, so not being able to be close to a beach, a lake or an ocean of some sort is like not having much summer at all. As we don’t have a garden or a balcony either, and as Youssef is stuck with his dissertation, I’m not entirely sure how to enjoy this summer. It’s very odd…

Anyway, yesterday we went out to dinner and then to the cinema to watch Inception. We went to a french restaurant which we’ve passed several times but never wanted to go into, but for some reason we ended up in there. Is was really nice, I had coq au vin for main and then crème brulée for dessert – how delicious! I love crème brulée!

Inception was AWESOME! Some people from work are gonna see it on Wednesday and I’m seriously considering going with them to see it again. It’s very rare that I’m completely absorbed by a movie like that. It was so, so good!! You have to see it. You simply have to! It. Was. Awesome.

Anyway, I think this post is coming to an end. I feel somewhat out of comfort writing this. I believe it’s because I haven’t written for so long. I will try to get better. As always.

Cheerios!!