Real first day

It was Hannah's first day at business school proper! This is orientation ("O") week, where the students get assigned to their cohorts of 60 and then subdivided into their study groups of eight, get to hear lots of keynote speakers, and are generally welcomed. The day started with the lecture theatre plunging into complete darkness and then an inspirational video about Berkeley. There was, apparently, a lot of whooping, but Hannah assured me that none of the English contingent (of four) indulged in such unseemly behaviour.

The best bit was all the freebies that got handed out. I suppose "free" is relative given the amount of fees being paid by all attendees, but Hannah returned with a Haas-branded thermal mug, business card case, pen, USB drive, keyring, jelly beans...and after a couple of glasses of wine she even swiped an extra goody bag for me! It really is back to student days.

While she was working hard I was at a "Haas partners' mixer". The student body is 30% women, and the partners are the unsurprising inverse of that. Thankfully six-month-old Logan was there to bring the male numbers up slightly. Most of the partners were "internationals" like me, and I felt deeply uneducated that everyone was speaking English when for most it's their second or third language. Still, after several glasses of the free wine I was discussing architecture fluently in Italian with a nice lady called Marta. She might avoid me next time...



Hannah and Amanda at the Haas first day evening reception. "Heavy appetizers" were served.



Indoctrination begins at home! Our candy-and-T-shirts package for the nephews and nieces has arrived in the UK. I'm sure they'll grow into those tops.