I went to Bristol to visit my college classmate Sylvia last week. I can’t say we were buddies during the college, actually I had none. I clang to one girl for two years and we broke up at the third year for some unknown reasons. Still, I think she’s a wonderful person to be a buddy. Sylvia and I lived in different dorms and we came from different cities. What made us feel near were our sitting places and we had a couple of nice talks after she studied TOEFL summer course at NewOriental. Anyway, that’s all I can remember about our relationship at college. However, I had an impulse to see her after knowing she’s doing her MSc TESOL at Bristol University. Intuitively, I believe we’ll have a lot to share and to talk about. I contacted her and took virgin train to Bristol. It took me 3.5 hours from Manchester Piccadilly to Bristol Temple Meads and I exchanged the train at Birmingham New St. I felt very excited to see an old classmate who I haven’t met for 4.5 years.

Sylvia picked me up at the station and I recognized her at the first sight. We haven’t changed much after working hard for 4 years in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing. It was very cold, foggy day, so we walked to Starbucks to grab coffee. Sitting near the window, looking at the river and ducks, we started our conversation. We talked about our courses, tutors, schools, classmates and our experiences before coming in UK. Similar teaching experiences and overseas lives narrowed our distances and I would say we kicked off the moment we met. We did some shopping at Tesco and amazingly found we all learnt to shop smartly in UK. I brought two Christmas Toys, a deer called Ralph, one for Sylvia, one for me. It’s so cute with a golden snowflake and Merry Xmas 2006 on its left palm. In the evening, we went to Chloe’s to have a home cooking party. Chloe is a girl from Taiwan studying PhD Neuroscience. Sylvia met Chloe by chance and was invited to her house. We had a wonderful time, making creative dishes, preparing cocktails, listening to Christmas’s stories and exchanging gifts. I made a bunch of wonderful friends.

The next day, we travelled Bath. It took only 15 min by train from Bristol to Bath. Though it was chilly, we enjoyed our trip a lot, esp. skyline tour, which took us to some remote places s at the top of the hills such as Bath University. Bath is definitely the place I want to visit again. Back to Bristol, we had a fantastic dinner at Nando’s, eating Portuguese Chicken. Sylvia and I chatted a lot on our stories, our dreams and man-woman things before falling asleep. The last day, we climbed to the summit of Bristol and enjoyed the breath-taking scenery. Also, we explored the famous Bristol Suspense Bridge and had great fun.

The secret of happiness is to share thoughts and to explore the nature.  Shopping tomorrow, Boxing Day, lots of discounts…

It's 7:38 in the morning. I didn't sleep last night. I was busy applying the summer internship with I-Banks. It seems making decent CV, tailoring cover letter and networking with bankers is endless job, which probably will lead me nowhere. If I don't try, I have no chance and I will have regrets. If I've tried but failed, it's not my fault. Having stayed up late for three times this semester, one for Goldman Sachs application, one for P&G marketing assignment and this time for Lehman Brothers, which I was selected to have breakfast with the bankers at the most impressive suite of Lehman Brothers’ London Office earlier Nov. And again, we'll have breakfast with bankers and recruiters at Goldman Sachs in Jan, 2007. We'll come all the way from Manchester to London to eat breakfast!!! I had my full breakfast just now, grape juice, boiled egg, butter and bread and some vegetable. But the breakfast at Goldman Sachs should be much better, with a spectacular view of river Thames.

If I didn't stay up late, I wouldn't meet Ms. He on Skype. She's my dear college teacher and always encourages me a lot. We chatted online for an hour just like old friends. She's taking more responsibilities and I wish her a great success.  I feel happy. Now, I can have a little sleep and be a healthy nut again