The Life and Musings of Oliver R Lloyd III: Good times!

All I can say about this week is: wow!

Okay - you know how I roll, that's not all I can say... I am sat chilled in my room, in the dark of winter at a mere 18h. There's a pile of unwashed dishes in the sink, the pungent smell of emmental cheese circulates the room like a wasp, ignoring the open window and choosing to keep me company instead, empty beer bottles are reigning over my table, my floordrobe is full of the clothes I've worn the past couple of days, next to an open folder that is nagging me about my five exams this week. But here I am, sat on my bed, writing this blog, with Foo Fighters' new album serenading me, without a care in the world. I can't think about pricing strategies when I'm stuck in my own thoughts - with such a bittersweet mix of elation and sadness.

With two exams, three nights out, and great progress in making 2012 awesome, this week has been very eventful. The exams were in French language and culture, and I am pleased to announce that I am not taking French language classes ever again! Considering how much work there was involved, the long wednesdays trying to stay awake (and failing) as you were in class long after the sun had gone to bed, and the many various assessments (presentation, oral exam, written midterm exam, written exam), I don't really feel I learned anything. Observe:

That's right kids, I'm rocking this economics-style! Notice at A, this tends to be the first four years of learning french at school, where we learn all the essential phrases such as j'ai les yeux bleus ('I have blue eyes' - because most French people are blind) and dans ma trousse il y a un baton de colle ('In my pencil case there is a glue stick' - because in French culture, the contents of one's stationery is an urgent issue), as well as how to greet, describe yourself, numbers, days of the week, family etc.

The next three years (B) are when the learning curve is at its steepest, where we learn all the different verbs and how to conjugate them for different people (je suis, tu es, il est.....) as well as the different tenses (perfect, future, imperfect, conditional). I believe this is the part that really accelerates one's knowledge of a foreign language.

Then we get to part C, and I wonder why the fuck I have to turn up to class every week. Once you start discussing stuff you'd talk about in your own language in a foreign language, such as current affairs, you know you have no more use for French class and you are ready to just go into the real world, get some Dutch courage at la Rue de la Soif , and speak to some actual French people!

TOP TIP: It's best to talk to the drunks. They speak slower.

Having studied French to A Level, I am at part C on the marginal utility graph, and as you can see the learning curve here is almost as flat as Keira Knightley's chest. Every wednesday evening was torture, as I would try to listen to discussions I couldn't care less about, unlike the German girls of course, who DEFINITELY don't need any more classes, blitzing through their arguments. I would not be thinking of how to rearrange a French sentence to make it sound even more gay - but contemplating all the different things I'd rather be doing instead in those three hours on a Wednesday, like banging my head against a brick wall.

And then came the final straw - we studied a painting. Yes, it was La Marianne, which is apparently a symbol of liberty and reason for France, but to me it was just a picture of a woman with her tits out luring a battalion of men (and that kid off Les Miserables) to their death using her bosom. I've never cared that much for art - I'm too proletariat for that! So when the professor set us an essay about different styles of art I conscientiously objected, which here means that no fucking way was I doing an essay about paintings! That was the last straw! I'm not putting up with that shit next term! So bye bye French language, it was nice (like a rapist with syphilis) knowing you.

That's right, I've chosen my classes for next semester, and I feel liberated. No more French language class! Instead I will use those 3 hours a week to teach myself French, and dedicate more time to integrating with the locals. If you want something done right, do it yourself! (Although with my cooking skills I should probably outsource that...).

There are more reasons why 2012 should be awesome. I have found out this week that my internship applications have gone a lot better than I thought. As well as getting to the phone interview stage with Unilever for marketing, I have also got the phone interview for AB InBev, after passing all their tests. Maybe I could actually get something this summer!

But the best one, and the most surprising, is the company that I had been expecting to laugh in my face from the start. I had to switch the vacancy I was applying for at PriceWaterhouse Coopers as management consulting at London was full. They also asked me for my actual percentage marks at uni so far (which I had tried to hide by just showing the grades). Okay this was it. If the stupid attempt at a personality test that was as self-contradictory as Gollum wasn't enough to put them off me, surely my 44% in economics would do it (they didn't think my French Language marginal utility graph was relevant to elasticity of demand....).

But no! I got the text and email from them the next day saying I'm through to the next stage of the application process (whatever that is)! Okay, to be honest I'm probably the PwC equivalent of Jedward on the X Factor, long overstaying my welcome, but God was I chuffed! Why? Because the vacancy I switched to was even better than the one I initially applied for, but despite being HR Consulting, it was listed under Tax and not Consulting! Ah well, I didn't care - there are over 80% of vacancies still available for an internship in London while many vacancies are now full, and maybe, just maybe, I have a shred of a chance.

So internships are going pretty well. While BT seem to be withdrawing the internship scheme altogether, I sent off my sixth application this week to keep more options open - Procter & Gamble. Yes, I'm aiming high, but why not! I'll use a market skimming strategy on the job market and go for less renowned companies if/when I fail the big ones. But it has given me confidence, knowing that kick-ass global companies are at least considering me. I realise I have spent more time on these applications than I actually have on my studies, so I really hope it pays off (literally - I don't want to work for free this summer!).

But the biggest reason why next year should be awesome, is that it will start awesome. I, along with my dear friends Itzel and Simon (right), have bought Eurail tickets for 3 weeks' unlimited train travel through Europe in January.

That's right guys - I am travelling Europe!!! With Latin Americans!!!

From January 3rd, the three of us aim to visit many different countries in Europe in what we are calling the GEJA (Great European January Adventure), and of course I will be blogging the whole thing! We haven't planned the exact destinations just yet, but a provisional list includes Italy, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and most importantly, Finland (to see our friends in their homeland). This is obviously ambitious, but we will try to see as much of Europe as we can before coming back to Rennes for a week of catch-up sleep before term starts in February.

That's all I can say about the GEJA for now, but I am seriously excited about this trip and I know there will be many unforgettable experiences to share. I could be potentially visiting twice as many countries in 3 weeks as I have visited in my whole life so far, so bring on 2012!

But of course let's not wish life away. My first semester at Rennes is about to start its last week, and what a semester it has been! I feel like a totally different man from the one who crossed the English Channel at the beginning of September, and while the city of Rennes itself is pretty cool, it is and has always been the people who have made my Erasmus exchange such an incredible experience. Unfortunately some of them are leaving already, and some will not be returning, including Frieddie, who has secured a placement with a consulting firm in Paris for the next semester. Congratulations Frieddie and good luck - you will be missed by many at the ESC!

Cam is also hoping to be in Paris next semester, but I - I can't leave ESC just yet - I'm too happy here with such wonderful friends! So it's quite possible that while four Warwickers started at the ESC in September, after Christmas I will be the sole representative in Rennes. God help Warwick's reputation mwahahaha!!!

But while I will be with those guys again back in England for final year, there are some people I may never see again. We needed a big night to see them off. That was why last night was quite possibly the best night of the semester, where the majority of my friends at Rennes came. We had pre-drinks in Appart City before heading to town and meeting more people.

While doing a poor impression of the Pogues (the video will be up soon), dancing like an idiot, listening to Satu's and Michelle's beautiful renditions of various Christmas songs while eating a tuna baguette, bringing Employable Ollie out, and gasping as Rob jumped out of the window before remembering there was a balcony outside, I savoured every moment I was there with the group of many nationalities, the group that we had formed over three months of scaring ourselves in a new country. I am both proud and grateful to be part of such a large, fantastic, but unfortunately evanescent group, so thanks guys for making my time here so enjoyable!

So I sit here in my dump of a room having done very little revision, probably about to severely underachieve in my exams this week, but I can't help but smile. I plan to finish this semester the same way as I have been living it for three months: good times with great people! For me, they're what Erasmus is about - not exams.

Rant over

Ollie

P.S. As we all know, a picture paints a thousand words, so here's a few more pics of the party last night, taken by friends.