Dinner With Bronwin
Had a wonderful evening kipping over with Bronwin at her flat in London. I had 4 hours to kill after my GRE so I wandered over to Charing Cross Road, and down to Charing Cross Station where I was to meet up with her. In the process of wandering down, I found that the National Gallery opened late on Wednesday nights, so I took the opportunity to pop in and look at some of my old favourites - mainly the Impressionist room, conveniently located on the first floor to the right, with Picasso's Sunflowers being the highlight.
It was wonderful meeting Bronwin again. We had met rather fortitously in Barcelona, where she had gone on one of her famous weekend getaways. I remember me stumbling back to the hostel after a wonderful day out in which I had consumed an inordinate amount of wine, and we talked about lots of various things - one of those random conversations I love. Bronwin got a really nice flat just a short train ride from Charing Cross station, in Zone 2, funded no doubt by her work as a Management Consultant in the City - in fact her office is literally just off the Strand near Covent Garden. We had a lovely meal of Thai takeaway and Sushi - the Thai food coming from a lovely little place just opposite her house, washed down with a lovely bottle of white wine, which she had got from a wine club that she joined. The wine was definitely something to write home about - crisp and sharp, just wonderful.
In many ways, Bronwin epitomizes what I see myself as if I do end up in the corporate world, though she is such an amazingly idealistic and motivated person. She has a job in a management consultancy, her own flat, a stray cat who loves to wander in, her nights in watching DVDs, her playstation and all of that. While it is not unappealing, I am not sure that it is the life for me. Then again, I may well be clinging to a hope of something better which may not exist - will the academic world really be any more rewarding, stimulating than a city job? This is just symptomatic of my inability to decide what to do with myself. What is it that I want? A sense of purpose, the enjoyment of shared intellectual debate with people? Just the ability to meet interesting and likeminded individuals?
But it was a wonderful evening, all in all, and I guess these are the things that you do end up treasuring in the end, the ones that stay with you, these shared experiences. And if that experience is that of wonderful conversation over a bottle of wine, then all the better!
It was wonderful meeting Bronwin again. We had met rather fortitously in Barcelona, where she had gone on one of her famous weekend getaways. I remember me stumbling back to the hostel after a wonderful day out in which I had consumed an inordinate amount of wine, and we talked about lots of various things - one of those random conversations I love. Bronwin got a really nice flat just a short train ride from Charing Cross station, in Zone 2, funded no doubt by her work as a Management Consultant in the City - in fact her office is literally just off the Strand near Covent Garden. We had a lovely meal of Thai takeaway and Sushi - the Thai food coming from a lovely little place just opposite her house, washed down with a lovely bottle of white wine, which she had got from a wine club that she joined. The wine was definitely something to write home about - crisp and sharp, just wonderful.
In many ways, Bronwin epitomizes what I see myself as if I do end up in the corporate world, though she is such an amazingly idealistic and motivated person. She has a job in a management consultancy, her own flat, a stray cat who loves to wander in, her nights in watching DVDs, her playstation and all of that. While it is not unappealing, I am not sure that it is the life for me. Then again, I may well be clinging to a hope of something better which may not exist - will the academic world really be any more rewarding, stimulating than a city job? This is just symptomatic of my inability to decide what to do with myself. What is it that I want? A sense of purpose, the enjoyment of shared intellectual debate with people? Just the ability to meet interesting and likeminded individuals?
But it was a wonderful evening, all in all, and I guess these are the things that you do end up treasuring in the end, the ones that stay with you, these shared experiences. And if that experience is that of wonderful conversation over a bottle of wine, then all the better!
posted by Caleb Liu | 9:33 AM
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