Happy Christmas World! :)

Something interesting I learnt this last year was the scientific proof that you are way WAY more likely to stick to a resolution if you say it aloud to someone… I figure a blog is not aloud per se, but it’s a good start… and if enough people read this and comment on it then I will have to do them!! Right?! :)

So…
My new year’s resolutions for 2007

• To burst into the year with full force
• To seize every moment with someone dear to me
• To not waste one single second
• To enjoy friendship, to enjoy love and to enjoy my own idiosyncrasies!
• To write to friends more
• To see my family more
• To read more
• To improve myself in a new language
• To fix my bloody back and throw something crazy out on a snowboard again!
• To keep fit
• To not drink so much
• To eat healthily

• To smile just as much!

Ok that’s all I can think of… let’s see how we go!!

I know most of these are a little hazy (and I do also see how cheesy it looks!) but I know what I mean (bring on the early morning running and après smoothies! :) ) and I will try to write more blogs too.. just in case there is anybody out there still reading them! I also have some more personal resolutions which I am not going to scream about because …. well…
…just because!
:)

Life is going great here in London… I am enjoying time with friends and enjoying the job. I am hoping to be here in the UK for next summer and then move overseas with EF… destination TBA!

I have been cycling to work in the mornings which is great (even if my fingers nearly fell off with frostbite this morning!) and I am managing to get some physio treatment on my back finally which seems to be helping.

I truly hope this finds you all well and happy

Peace to all and have a great Christmas time, a fantastic New Year and I wish you all a prosperous, healthy, happy and fun 2007!
Please click below to see my latest photos on picasa!
http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.gray.purenrg

My brain hurts!

I have an almighty hangover... not sure why I am writing my blog now but perhaps its to prevent me getting out of bed on a Sat morning!

London life is pretty hectic but a lot of fun... went out last night for after work drinks at the pub near to our office... sat and drank there with my workmates who come from all over the world (with a heavy proportion coming from Sweden!).. in fact around the table we had a Russian, Lebanese, American, German, 2 Brits and 6 Swedes! As those of you who know me will testify... I love being around other cultures and people of diverse backgrounds but the strange thing is now that I get progressively more annoyed with myself about my lack of linguistic skills!

My not so new resolution therefore is to get more languages under my belt.. wish list at the moment is to improve my Spanish (missionay!), learn from scratch Arabic and Mandarin (pretty easy those two I imagine!! ;) ) and perfect my French (which is a LONG way from perfection!). Of course now I also want to learn Swedish but I am figuring that considering I have not managed to start any of the above Swedish will have to wait!

I will not write anymore in fear of sending you to sleep on such a nice autumnal day (in England anyways!)

I hope this post finds you well and happy

Get in touch if you know me! (or if you don't!)

Big love
Nick

A quick blog and another poem!

So much to say and so much to update.. but I don’t want to be boring you with the mundane world that is work in London.
Much has happened to me over the past few months… a few funny and interesting internet dates, some truly magical experiences like being a bridesmaid at one of my best friends weddings and some not so great times with watching my mum go through a fairly rough time with some medical treatment.

All is good though and I have much more to be happy about than sad so it is without further ado that I write yet another poem to try to take the sting out of writing ridiculously long blog entries!

Colourless Day or Colourful Night

Imagine seeing the world with no colour

Imagine hearing in monotone

Imagine sensing only one emotion

Or just being completely alone

Imagine a night filled with light

Imagine a chorus of lovers singing

Every nerve in your body tingling

Imagine every friend in your life

Imagine the rush of reunited friends

Imagine the taste of a kiss with love

Imagine the crispness of a clear autumn morn

Or swirls of milk diffusing from above

Honour comes from pride in oneself

Strength comes from support and love

Happiness comes from positivity

And belief comes from trust

Like the small things

Love the big things

Understand your priorities

And believe in your friends

......

I have some new photos for you to have a look at too! (I know I look like a bit of a poser!)...

Photos from first week of having new camera! 091006 - 151006

Peace

N x

A quick poem.. Priceless Living

Buffeting through the complexities of this story,

That is often disjointed and ill-defined,

Living for that moment that passes unnoticed,

Or seizing that day that remained unshared.

Is it worth the anguish, the struggle or the effort,

To continue striving to be a better person?

Is it worth the trust, the loyalty, the love,

To potentially find a life-long soulmate?

The happiness, the joy, the exhilaration, the pulse,

The hit of that perfect moment that WAS shared with a GREAT friend.

The knowledge of reciprocal love and trust,

The burning desire for living a full and honest life.

This is it, this is not a dress rehearsal for something else,

Seize that day, Revel in that moment,

Believe in love and Use your desire,

Living is Priceless, Be Free!

Finally he updates it!!

Did I slack off or what!! Its now 2 months later and I have been flat out since I last wrote which explains the lack of blogging! So I have finally finished the MBA… I have passed my third language exams and handed in all my projects.. all that remains is the graduation ceremony and the delivery of the yearbook which I have been working on pretty much non stop for 4 weeks.

Since last writing I have had a lot of fun. I was going out with a girl called Hajar from Morocco who sadly has had to return to Morocco. I am not a big fan of writing much in terms of personal stuff here (ever since my sister pounced on how open I am and how dangerous it is for all the wierdos out there to have the gen on me!) but I must say how inspiring I find it liking someone and being liked in return… I honestly believe its what makes the world go round.

This doesn’t just apply to meeting wonderful people like Hajar but also just generally meeting people with buckets of positive energy and beautiful minds. It is such a treat for me and I have been spoilt rotten here at Insead!

So it is coming to an end and I have started to look outwardly at my future life in London and then maybe longer term in Australia for a while. I am feeling very centred and grounded at the moment and I feel very lucky to be on what I consider is my optimal path. I am going to try to kick my sugar addiction as I was just being told about the excess weight that I would lose if I did that!! (Apparently I could have a washboard stomach even! Pah.. who needs it!! J )

I have a very busy few weeks ahead of me with me driving back to the UK for a night to collect the yearbooks, my parents arriving on Wednesday and waiting for my return in the evening, the graduation ceremony in the Palace of Versailles on Thursday, a massive graduation party on Thursday evening in Paris, a drive to Geneva and Chamonix on Saturday to meet Tash and Xia (my sister and niece), then another drive to Geneva to pick up my dad and help him sort out and decorate a flat in Bouveret (near Montreux). I am ending the 2 weeks with a cycle rude across the mountains to Bourg St Maurice to go see Adam and the stag weekend crew and then get back to London on Monday night (17^th) to start my new job and new life with EF on the Tuesday… phewweeee…

Very exciting times and apart from (or including should I say!) the sugar addiction everything is SWEEET!! (ok that was a bad pun!)…

Big love everyone… stay in touch

Peace

N x

job!!

Wow... busy times! So great news.. I got a job... and not just any job... a job that I am truly excited about! :) Am feeling very pleased with myself although I am yet to sign the contract so I hope I am not jinxing myself here!

The job is with EF which is an education institution, mainly focussed on English language teaching. I will be one of their operations managers as of mid July and will be based initially in London but then some fairly exotic and exciting places thereafter!

School has been pretty hectic (hence the lack of blogging!) and we finished up P4 (or Period 4) with a flurry of activity trying to get all the projects finished (and of course started in some cases!) before the end.

I have now left Singapore to return to the campus in Fontainebleau, France. In between I went back to London to see some friends and family and have a couple of meetings. It was so good to see my friends and it got me super excited about being a bridesmaid in September (yes you did read it correctly!) I then went off to Greece for 4 days for the Greek Islands sailing trip with about 50 other Insead students, organised by my good friend Demis who I lived with in Sing. I had a great time and will be trying to organise and post some photos in the next few hours.

I am very excited to be going back to work and it is a huge relief to have a job... unfortunately money supply is not limitless and the burn rate during an MBA at Insead is pretty sinckening!!

Please do email or post comments or leave messages on my website!!

Big love to one and all
Peace
Nick x

Living Free!

Hi gang, another couple of crazy weeks of Insead life and very little blogging by Mr Gray! I have been swimming still every day bar two since I last wrote and I have been wakeboarding a few times.. am very close to that front flip!

Apart from that I have simply been trying to study, get all these projects finished and look for jobs that would suit me.

I am still really enjoying Singapore life but its all coming to an end.. in a week and a half I leave here to head back to London for a few days... the exciting news is that I am heading on the Greek sailing trip that my housemate Dimirios has been organising. Am super stoked for this as it should be excellent (65 of us are booked so far).

There have also been some moments in the last few weeks for me which made me really stop and appreciate life.. sadly for my blog I can't go into too much detail.. but freindship, loyalty and love are three words that pretty much sum up why.

I am going to make this a short one and a very unhelpful one for those who wanted to know whats going on in my life...

I hope that this blog finds you well and well happy!
Big love
Nick

A short rant, then a longish blog! Sorry! :)

'Don't be afraid of having negative emotions' says our negotiating professor (who incidentally is by far my favourite professor to date and is leading us through more of a journey than a course in Negotiation analysis).. well in honesty I am not afraid of them but more just plain don't like them.
I had a crappy day yesterday (read on before you take that crappy comment too seriously!).. for the first time in ages I had 2 incidents in quick succession which just pitched my day into one of those really irritating ones that make you feel like crap. You know.. when someone says you can't go into the gym cos you have flip flops on or when the taxi driver is just plain belligerent and will not stop where you ask him to when it is PISSING with rain.. no matter what nice things you say to them...so you get me... the real big things in life!
Anyways that negative treatment kind of reminded me of being in France again!! :)
So that cheered me up! Because what I realised is that here in Singapore.. no matter how controlled the people may be and no matter how overbearing the government may be (no porn.. I mean seriously!) its actually a very very cool place and for me to have just one incident in the space of 3 months that really got my rag (ok not REALLY got my rag!) is actually pretty cool. (and the irritation only lasted as long as me hopping into the pool to swim in the rainstorm which is one of my favourite pastimes anyway!)
AND anyway its good to have a little ‘down time’ for time to time because it makes the ‘up time’ so much more cherished... and on that note I am going to briefly outline what’s been going on in my life since I last wrote...
Funnily enough I had some seriously bad luck last week.. I was due to be flying to Holland to interview with Nike (on their bill I might add) which I was naturally super excited about. One KLM engine problem nightmare later and I end up on the back of a 2 day (incrementally given of course!) flight delay that meant that I missed the interview... POO and BOO at the same time!
Hopefully they are going to interview me again but I cannot be sure so its still a bit crap.
I also interviewed with a company called EF which was also very exciting cos the woman who interviewed me was great and the company sounds like just the sort of place I would like to work.. now its down to whether they feel the same the other way round!
I have been doing loads of swimming to strengthen up my back and shoulder and have been playing in a touch rugby team with a friend of mine from Oz at the weekends, so all in all I am feeling pretty fit and healthy at the moment which is of course great .
I have also been working hard on formalising my business ideas for an International travel Cafe chain which taps into the global independent travelling community.. but once again I don't want to go into that right now as I am sure only my mum and dad are still reading at this stage and they already know about it!
Ok so better get back to work.. love u mum and dad and if anyone else is still reading by now.. love u too.. in a special non committal way of course!
Peace
Nick x

1st Blog...

Well I've had a blog since before the word Blog even existed when Moo and I were travelling the world and hosting a travel journal on my website... however I have now bowed to the pressure and in the face of Google's mighty presence in all things worldwidewebby decided to use Blogger from now on.
Also a bunch of my friends have started using it and it seems like it might be fun...

I always say I will write and write but never get round to it so my apologies if this gets behind...

I am currently in Singapore enjoying myself and studying at a business school called Insead.. one of the best in the world.. and probably the most international in the world... it also has a campus in Fontainebleau in France where I will be going back to in May.

Its great.. life is great and right now i don't want the experience to stop.. however in July we graduate (hopefully!) and all move off all over the world for jobs... this is the priority at the moment and I have an interview with Nike in Holland next week.

I am also looking seriously at venture opportunities and setting up a cafe chain business so watch this space.

I have been doing lots of swimming over here as we have 4 pools in our complex! I've also been out wakeboarding a few times and have made lots of great friends here..

I made a trip to Vietnam with my friend Jacob and we visited Ho Chi Minh and Nha Trang which were very drunken and great fun!

We then went to Kuala Lumpur a couple of weeks later for a day and a night which was also ace!

Since then I travelled alone to Thailand to visit a friend in Koh Phangnan and Koh Tao and that was extremely relaxing... managed to read something other than cases and assigned management texts which was a welcome relief! Did some scuba diving and some wakeboarding and generally chilled out.

I have stuck to Singapore for the last few weekends trying to catch up with school work and the projects I have taken on here.

Obviously it would be great to hear from everyone and anyone who reads this... you can sign the guestbook on the site or give me a positive mental attitude quote/comment/poem... or just email me!

Four things that I am recommending constantly at the moment:
www.pandora.com - an incredibly powerful music site (go try it!)
www.plaxo.com - a great tool for keeping your contacts intact!
Google Earth - If you have not downloaded this yet then what the hell are you waiting for!
Skype - The latest version has video conferencing which rocks .. my skypename - nick_gray