The preparation work for London continues. I bought myself a <a href="http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDERfolder_id=676469&PRODUCTprd_id=659203&bmUID=1120705640455″>nice pack from MEC for quick weekend trips in Europe. Tomorrow morning I book my flights and submit my visa application. I have also found a place to live in London with a roommate from Waterloo. He’s working at Barclays and has been in London on his last two work terms, so he’s going to show me the ropes. The flat is fully furnished and will only cost £1050/month, which works out to about $1135 per person in Canadian dollars. London is freaking expensive (see below).
Some random facts I ran across:
- London is the 3rd most expensive city in the world! (For reference Toronto is 82, Vancouver is 87, and Seattle is 103)
- Morgan Stanley is 39th on the Fortune 500. So there are only 38 American companies that are bigger. (Microsoft is 46, so I’m moving up in the world)
- London will host the 2012 Summer Olympics. (Vancouver will host the 2010 Winter Olympics)
- London’s rainiest month is October, it’s cloudiest is December (with only 37.8 hours of sunshine)
- And from Wikipedia, these gems about Morgan Stanley:
- Essence magazine named Morgan Stanley as one of the “30 Great Places to Work” in May 2004
- Morgan Stanley was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine
- Morgan Stanley had 53,718 total employees worldwide as of February 28, 2005
- Morgan Stanley is considered the industry leader in information technology, with an IT budget rivaling the operating budget of many medium and large software companies
- Morgan Stanley was the largest employer in the World Trade Center prior to the events of September 11, 2001
Canadian Veggie 