Brussels, Belgium

        The last three days have been a a blur.  Wednesday morning our bus left Shrewsbury and stopped briefly in Cambridge to repack before continuing south to London's St. Pancras International Train Station, where we caught the afternoon Eurostar to Brussels.  The quick trip under the English channel took only about three hours, and before we knew it, we were surrounded by people speaking French and driving on the right (read, proper) side of the road.  We spent the first evening settling into our hostel and exploring the surrounding area.

        Thursday morning we met Pavel for a guided bus/walking tour of the city.  We visited the Atomium, a steel structure built for the 1958 worlds fair, the Cinquantenaire Triumphal Arch, the European quarter, and the old city center.  At the old city center, where our tour ended, we were able to sample the fine offerings of authentic belgian cuisine, namely chocolate and beer.  One particularly fun finding was Cafe Delirium, a pub that boasts a menu with over 2500 different kinds of beer from all over the world.  After a solid afternoon of taste-testing, a majority of the group found it's way to the hostel pub, and then to a fine Irish establishment back in the city center for a karaoke marathon.  The highlight of the night, led by our own Rodney Kuhl, was a performance of Pavel's personal favorite, Gangster's Paradise by Coolio.

        Friday morning we returned to the European Quarter for a visit to the offices of the EU Commision.  We were given a series of presentations, giving us further insight into the structure of the European government, as well as the political and economic challenges facing the EU moving forward.  After dragging Pavel away from a heated debate on the merits (or lack thereof) of agriculture subsidies, we split up for lunch in the EU neighborhoods.  Then after lunch, our group visit to Brussels officially came to a close.  Some stayed in Brussels for the night, and others set out on their 9 days of independent travel.  After going our separate ways, we will return to Cambridge for class on August 4th.

The Midlands

        With the first (more than) half of our classes, and one midterm behind us, the last five days were spent getting a more experience based education on the industrial revolution period, and the lives of those who lived in England during that time.   We moved to the town of Shrewsbury, on the Welsh border, as a base for our daily excursions.  Our first stop, not necessarily having to do with the IR but certainly to the delight of all, was the Cadbury factory in Birmingham.  After obtaining a thorough knowledge of how Cadbury's Dairy Milk Chocolate was invented and produced, and subsequently filling our bellies with the many samples provided, we managed to escape the Cadbury grounds without giving into the temptation to buy the 5 kilo (that's 11 lbs) bars in the gift shop.

        Saturday, we rode the bus back towards Birmingham, to the Black Country Living Museum near the town of Dudley.  The museum's website gives the following description of the area:

The Black Country is the industrial region to the west of, and separate from, Birmingham in the Midlands of England. It gained its name in the mid nineteenth century due to the smoke from the many thousands of ironworking foundries and forges and the nature of the countryside which had been covered by dark spoil from the working of shallow and relatively thick (30ft) coal seams.

The region was described as 'Black by day and red by night' by Elihu Burritt, the American Consul to Birmingham in 1862 and other authors, from Dickens to Shenstone, refer to the intensity of manufacturing in the Black Country and its effect on the landscape and its people.

Our day at the museum included a walking tour of an old coal mine, a boat ride through a series of limestone mines/caverns, and presentations of the many craftsmen's shops and homes.

        Sunday, we visited the small town of Ironbridge, where they have... you guessed it, an iron bridge.  Actually it was the first iron bridge ever built, a product of the new technology of malleable iron.  We also visited the ruins of the iron foundries, where the giant furnaces separated the iron ore from the rock surrounding it.

        Monday, we travelled northeast to Stoke-upon-Trent, to the Gladstone Pottery Museum.  The museum has preserved a set of four bottle-shaped pottery kilns and the complex surrounding them.  Our tour included demonstrations of the pottery making process, and examples of the conditions under which the men, women and children of the mid-19th century worked and lived.

       In the prior three days we had seen the relics of several industries that were of great importance to England during the industrialization period, but the most important industry for the british economy was the textile industry.  Tuesday we travelled north to Manchester to the Quarry Bank Mill.  This textile mill, which still works to this day, also contains a museum that wonderfully illustrates the evolution of textile producing technology, and the effect that these changes had on the working population.

        Tuesday afternoon, we concluded out tour of the midlands with another lighter visit, this time to the home of the Manchester United Football Team, known as the "theatre of dreams", or more properly, Old Trafford.  We toured the ManU museum, were given a tour of the stadium, and found out that Pavel can kick a soccer ball really, really hard (though still not as hard as Cristiano "I'm a huge baby" Ronaldo).

        After a fun and interesting five days in the midlands, we now prepare for our trip to the continent.

  

London Corporate Visits

        Today we left our home in Cambridge and returned to London to gain some insight on the state of global commerce and finance from two of the largest multinational firms in the world.  Our first stop was the UK headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell, the world's second largest energy/oil company.  We were given a fairly thorough overview of the current oil market, as well as projections of how the world's demands for different types of fuel and energy sources will change in the near and medium terms.   The presentation was interesting and engaging, and our presenters were happy to continue chatting with us over lunch afterwards.

          After leaving the Shell Center, we took the tube to Canary Wharf, a bustling financial area, and home of the Barclays PLC, the world's 4th largest financial services provider.  There we were given a presentation by Carleton alum John Winter, head of European Investment Banking and Debt Capital Management, regarding the current state of the world's financial markets and institutions, particularly how they were recovering following the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the U.S. and it's spillover into the world economy.  He and a member of their University recruiting team also gave advice on how to prepare for, and how to get a job in the investment banking industry.

After the corporate visits, a small group celebrated Michelle's birthday with an Italian dinner and a visit to Queen's Theatre for a showing of Les Miserables.

Weekend Travel Part III: Branching Out

This weekend was the first big travel weekend for many here in Cambridge.   The largest group of students made the quick trip to the other British Isle for a visit to Dublin, Ireland,  another group flew south to the sunny beaches of Barcelona, Spain, and yours truly took a train up to Liverpool, England, home of the liver bird, the Beatles, and a world class football side.  It was a great weekend with many stories to share. 

Newmarket Ritz Club July Festival

This Wednesday afternoon, our rag-tag group of carleton economists would take on the high class world of thoroughbred horse racing, in hopes of making a few pounds, or perhaps just to quietly mock the people wearing funny hats.  Actually, aside from the fact that it was a great cultural experience, there was a class related exercise involved.  

        To better understand how exchange markets work, and to illustrate the difference between spot rates, forwards, etc. each student was given 10 pounds that they were to use to bet on the races.  You first had to decide what kind of risk you wanted to undertake.  Should you take the favorite with 3-1 odds, the long-shot with 200-1 odds, or maybe somewhere in the middle.  Do you bet to win? To place? Maybe hedge your win bet by going "each way"? And do you bet with Tote, the primary booking company which utilizes a pot-sharing mechanism where the odds for each horse adjust depending on  how many people place bets on it and then the odds you receive are the final odds before the race starts (we'll call this the spot rate), or do you bet with one of the smaller bookmakers where you lock in the odds at the time of the bet (we'll call this the forward rate)?          

        All of these factors led to quite an interesting afternoon, where over seven races, our betting strategies (or maybe just luck) improved dramatically as the day went on, yet the greatest lesson that we came to learn was that really, unless you are "in the know", horse racing is pretty much a complete crap shoot.  That being said, a day at the races is highly recommended to anyone should you ever get the opportunity.

Exploring Western England

Over our second weekend of independent travel, several groups set out towards western England to further experience the rich history of this country.  One group went to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, to see his grave, his church, and a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Those looking to experience something a little more... well, ancient, took a day-trip to Salisbury and nearby Stonehenge.  The 3500 year old monument, even as it lies in partial ruin today, is still an awe-inspiring sight.  

One unexpected surprise that we encountered on the way to Salisbury was platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross station in London.  Massive hordes of middle school girls posed to have their pictures taken with Harry Potter's luggage trolley vanishing into the brick wall, but despite their favorable numbers, Steve Merry was able to sneak his way in for a quick photo.  These unfortunately are stock photos.  I hope to have ours up soon.

Cheers,

The 232nd Birthday of the Greatest Nation in the World

After finishing our second week of classes, a majority of the group remained in Cambridge today to celebrate the independence of the United States of America.  We spent the afternoon on Parker's Piece (a park), grilling burgers and tossing/kicking around various sporting implements.  The only things that could have made the day better would have been proper bratwurst, and perhaps a good fireworks display.  Even though its only been a couple of weeks, all of which have been wonderful, being in another country (even one as great as England), has definitely given most of us a new appreciation for the American culture that we naturally take for granted.  Happy 4th of July.