Its been two weeks since I landed in Manchester and the experience has been amazing so far. The lush green grass was a welcome sight for eyes that were used to watching sand dunes as the plane descended. I must also add that the immigration was probably the fastest one ever.
I was put up in Victoria Hall, which is a student hall of residence for the first two weeks. The room was probably as big as my bathroom back in Dubai and that is when I realized that my dream run was over. I was lucky enough to find an excellent roommate and a decent apartment. My roommate, Anoop, worked for Louis Vuitton previously and also happens to be the elder brother of one of my good friends from engineering college.
Notwithstanding the unpredictable weather, the city is superb. It is teeming with student population from 3 large universities. Everything is pretty much walking distance. In fact, you would walk more if you go out shopping to Dubai mall with women.
The B school is awesome. We are like the elite students of the university and we have several privileges which a lot of other students don't enjoy. E.g. Free copies of the FT which other mere mortals a.k.a undergrads and masters are not allowed to touch. We have a fully dedicated career management services cell all to ourselves! And I get to type out this blog from a free iPad which is provided exclusively to MBA students !
The classes have started in full swing. We have some amazing professors. There is a professor called Pete who can remember names and profiles of all 110 of us in the first class. The most interesting class I have ever attended without doubt! We have some eye opening case studies and stress presentations where 30 people are trying to tear your presentation apart and you have to defend it. I can safely vouch that even if I don't learn a thing, by the end of the MBA I will at least present well! More later.. Cheers !
