It seems like all of my posts have all been responses to MBA questions. While I don't mind sharing my qualitative opinion of the Oxford MBA, please check out the quantitative aspects such as the average GMAT scores of admitted students and career placement reports on your own. That said, I've really enjoyed hearing from prospective applicants. Those of the Class of 2008 that I've met and spoken with have been especially impressive. I'm sure it will be an amazing class and I hope that they take full advantage of the alumni network. We're always willing to help and will bend over backwards for SBS students.
Anyhoo, I thought I'd catch up a bit with what I've actually been doing this summer.
I settled in to a long-stay hotel in Belmont, about half way between San Francisco and Mountain View. The accomodations are office park bland, but I really can't complain too much about it. It's nice being back in the States, and I've got a new car and bike to get me around town. For the 4th of July, I peddled down to Foster City (right next to a big Oracle complex) and watched the fireworks over the Bay. It was pretty mellow, but nice. My brother came up that weekend, so I got to show him around the Bay. 
We cruised through the central peninsula to Half Moon Bay then up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco. It reminded me a lot of the Oregon Coast; cold, pounding surf, high cliffs, and a salty breeze. We stopped in at the Presidio and Pier 39, then visited my Aunt and Uncle in Oakland. All in all, it was a nice, relaxing weekend.
The past two weekends I've spent in Burbank with my fiance. It's sooooooo nice to see her again and spend time in a place that truly feels like home. Still, it's very surreal. In the past year, I've been to the Swiss Alps, Amsterdam, Oxford, Valencia, Rekjavik, and Athens. I've completely lost the sense of foreigness that typically comes with travel. I think I could land anywhere in the world and pretty quickly figure out the basics of living. However, I've also lost some of my sense of being grounded in my nationality. I suppose I've become more of a citizen of the world, but I sometimes miss the rush of relief that comes from returning to America. Maybe it's a certain form of rootlessness? Point being, I miss being deeply engrained in a community and look forward to starting my life in Los Angeles. It'll come soon enough, though.
Last week, Google took all the MBA interns to the Tom Fogerty winery in the Santa Cruz mountains. The view was amazing! It was a nice afternoon sipping merlot and comparing notes on our roles at Google. Not a bad way to work. This weekend was my Niece's birthday, so my fiance and I went down to see the family. It was really fun, but I got terribly sick on Sunday with a nasty fever and flu. I stayed in Burbank another day to rest and took today off to recuperate. I hate missing work, but I'm sure the value of the intern showing up is dwarfed by the loss of getting a whole department sick. For the next two weekends, I'll be up in the NW fixing up my Mom's house and soaking up the NW summer. For now, I feel like hell. Time to crawl back to bed.