Allen & Overy

William Watson is back in London

11 August, 2008

William Watson is back in London.  For the last twelve months I was rebranded as Villiam Vatson in Frankfurt and Ooilliam Ooatson in Moscow.  A double whammy of international excitement thanks to the A&O international secondment programme for trainees.

Getting me back into London life is proving to be very win-some-lose-some.  Losses include having to get the bus or tube every now and again when my bike throws a wobbly, the lack of pumping eurodance in the London nightclubs (a peculiar taste acquired over the last year) and the cost of a pint.  Wins include getting the department on qualification that I had been gunning for throughout my training, being back with my mates and living in East London.  The part of east London I've rooted myself this time around is Dalston, bursting with East End and Anatolian flava this is an awesome part of town marinated in daily fruit & veg markets, Baklava galore, the most interesting supermarket shelves in the UK and kebabs that actually qualify as healthy grub.

Work nowadays is Canary Wharf.  I did my first two seats in Canary Wharf and my last two abroad, so I am as foreign to our plush new offices in Bishops Square as most of its non-A&O visitors.  Canary Wharf suits me right down to the ground, it's a cyclist's dream, the Reebok gym that us A&Oers use is an absolute hypermarket of fitness (in all senses of the word) and the views from 30 floors up are incredible.  My new mistress is the Structured and Asset Finance group, my focus being largely on aircraft finance.  A&O works for a massive range of banks, aircraft leasing companies and airlines.

Fresh in my mind still is my qualification leave - six weeks of trainee/associate transition time.  Mine was spent in Malaysia visiting my brother who's working there as an architect for a while, followed by jetting sixteen time zones in the opposite direction to attend flying school in Arizona.  After three weeks of living in a trailer in the desert and being hurled into the sky each day by a metal cable, I am now the proud owner of an FAA glider pilot's licence.  Check me out.

Villiam Vatson had an excellent knees-up in Frankfurt.  Work-wise, Securitisation was tough.  Work was plentiful to say the least, but made fun given the smaller teams you (tend to) have working abroad.  Both from A&O and from the other firms with a presence in Frankfurt, there was an amazing posse of likeminded trainees and associates up for catching some rays down by the river and going out on the lash.  No weddings, no friend-of-a-friend's birthdays or boyfriends to put a dampener on evening or weekend spontaneous actitivities.  Beer in Frankfurt is cheaper than Coca-Cola, result.

Frankfurt did me so much good that I decided to have another bite at the secondment cherry and apply for Moscow.  I'd been learning Russian on and off for a number of years - just as a hobby - and thought this would be the bestest intensive course ever.  I have a fetish for soviet architecture and concrete and had been to Russia before in the past, lapping it all up.  What I got from it was more than just the lingo, I adored the place so much that I very nearly didn't come back.  Even the Russian winter didn't put me off, a snow covered Red Square is magical and hurling across a frozen Siberian lake in a 4x4 followed by a brief swim makes this a totally out-of-this world place to work, live, eat beetroot and drink vodka.  Vodka in Moscow is cheaper than Coca-Cola, result.

The next steps are what I'm all about now, having settled back in.  Aeroplanes department is keeping me busy and keeping my learning curve steep (am coming to terms with the fact that qualification does not at all meant that your training is complete).  I am sniffing out Russian flavoured work coming through the group and getting progressively involved with it, keeping my contact with Russia and Moscow alive and well.  Holidays are quickly approaching.  I'm off to Lebanon, Syria and the United Arab Emirates in a few weeks' time to go and absorb some more middle eastern culture.