Scott Lovell
Position
Key Facts
Joined A&O
... and thanks for all the fish
03 Sep 2008
Greetings one and all. An audible sigh of relief has just sounded from our Graduate Recruitment department, our internal legal department has relaxed, and our marketing department has just popped open a bottle of champagne in celebration of this much anticipated day. For you see, this is my final blog entry on this site, and thus the joy at being rid of me is great for those concerned. So sick of me were they, in fact, that they are shipping me as far as they can away from London for six months, and so commencing next week, I shall be in Tokyo (for my international secondment...).
“I have friends going everywhere from New York to Singapore, with cities dotted throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia”
Onto the business at hand, though, which is writing the blog. What have I been up to since my last post? Quite a lot and nothing much, really, to give you a pointless cryptic response. Travel, for it is my raison d'etre, working (for it funds my raison d'etre) and generally attempting to prepare for life abroad. How is it one can accumulate so much rubbish and junk in such a short space of time? How is it one has so many clothes that one never actually wears? Why have I suddenly started using the pronoun 'one' when I have never really used it before? These are questions that may never be answered.
Off-topic, I know, but why do people behave the way they do around baggage carousels? This has annoyed me for a long time and is a classic example of 'game theory', whereby people act in such a way to the detriment of themselves and the group as a whole, attempting to be the 'closest' to the carousel. If everyone stood a few metres back from the carousel, we could all watch the bags and then just step forward when our bag comes, remove it, and walk away. A much more pleasant experience for all. But no; there I am standing there, a mere metre from the carousel and a woman comes and stands right front of me? What did she think I was waiting for? Anyway, this caused me to look at all the people and wonder why we behave in this way. Selfish behaviour of individuals to the detriment of all. Sigh.
Diversion over. Back on topic now. What is my topic? Now I have to think of one. It's finally our turn to be running away on secondments. I have friends going everywhere from New York to Singapore, with cities dotted throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia in between being graced by people lucky enough to know me (luck is a relative term, and can be both good and bad). I wonder how dynamics will change when we return?
Before we leave, though, there is much to organise. Bank accounts with local currency, language lessons, shipping personal effects, visas, tickets. I'm not equipped for these sorts of administrative tasks! Anyone willing to apply for the job of my surrogate to stand in lines, fill in forms, and do odd jobs, please let me know. It doesn't pay much (well, anything), but I promise you a very fulfilling life of queue standing and form filling.
Yet the goal is in sight; my trip to Tokyo draws nearer and my mind has already begun to drift over toward Tokyo. I think it's somewhere in Siberia right now, progressing towards the Korean peninsula before swimming to Japan. No wonder I feel lost at times; it's the vast Siberian wilderness that is encapsulating my mind.
Ending this blog, and indeed my entire series of blogs, has caused me much consternation. How to end in style? Do I try something humorous, poignant, witty, clever or kitsch. I've decided, actually, to shamelessly and blatantly rip off someone from the Washington Posts's idea earlier this year, so if you could all please read the first letter of each paragraph, that's all I have to say.
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