Last week...

Well it is my last week in the UK. Then it is a long flight home on Friday, plenty of sleep this weekend, and back to school on Monday. That should be a piece of cake. Today at work I poured over claims files and became acquainted with just how complicated reinsurance can be. The cases themselves are actually quite fascinating and sometimes very sad. It is melancholy to think that you can put a price tag on someone's trauma but I suppose everything really does have a price. Tomorrow I will be working with a claims broker and I am really looking forward to seeing what that side of the business is like. I have spent a fair amount of time assisting with a project in Georgia which is really quite upsetting considering the mounting situation with Russia. I truly cannot wrap my brain around our fascination with killing one another. I suppose I am still naive enough to believe in world peace and all that mumbo jumbo.

On a lighter note - I spent the weekend in Scotland and went to a festival. It was actually a treat for my birthday which was 8/8/08 this year. I turned 24 and am starting to feel like I will not be able to hide from adulthood much longer. My "mum" delighted in informing me that I am now almost a quarter of a century old...thanks. The festival was tons of fun though. I went and saw several comedy shows which were absolutely hilarious!! I laughed so hard my jaws hurt by the end of it all. Truly a birthday to remember.

The great people at ISG have planned an outing for me on my last night in London. We are going out to eat curry which I have recently discovered is one of my favorite things in the world. It is absolutely amazing food. I am thinking of creating my own curry empire in Monroe just so I can enjoy it back home!

This week on the work front I am going to try and wrap up my Georgia work, ask as many questions as people are willing to answer, and get a feel for brokerage. Those are the goals and I feel like they will all be attainable in the next three days.

Looking forward to seeing all of my readers soon.

The March of the Pigs

While in Bath the strangest thing kept reappearing...it was pigs. They were placed all over the city and each was decorated differently. Some were hanging in trees and others were on top of buildings. Since they were so interesting I decided to snap a photo of each one I saw to share on here. Enjoy!

Stonehenge/Bath/Oxford/Lacock

Stonehenge/Oxford/Bath/Lacock

Three weeks in...

Well, I have been here for three weeks now. I feel like my work experience truly is invaluable and that the work I am helping do is productive. I have spent some time at Lloyd's working with the syndicate Canopius. So far I have spent time with a PA underwriter in a box, the CAT modeling team (that was great because I was there the morning that Hurricane Dolly hit land in Brownsville), the Risk Management Team, and a marine/energy underwriter.

This Tuesday I am going to shadow a broker that I believe works for HSBC but I will know more on that later. I have also spoken to Canopius about spending some time with their actuarial team as I would like to get a taste for that.

During my time with ISG I have been learning about the country of Georgia and working on a consulting project taking place there. It really is fascinating work. I have also worked in claims processing with IBS that is doing run-off for worker's comp in the States. I strongly feel that I could not have asked for a better internship.

Last weekend I took a coach tour and was able to see more of England. We went to Oxford, Bath, Stonehenge, and Lacock. I have plenty of pictures from the trip and I will post them in a follow-up blog. I just got back from a weekend trip with the Reading's family. We took the train over to France and then drove to Belgium and Holland. We had a great time and of course enjoyed excellent food. Pictures of that experience is soon to come as well.

If anyone is out there reading....leave a comment!!!

Ashley

The castle in Colchester...

Yesterday the Readings family took me into Colchester and showed me the sites. We viewed the Colchetser Castle, gardens, and marketplace. As is becoming a pattern in England it was all quite beautiful.

Ancient churches in the English Countryside...

Last night I attended a church barbecue with the Readings family. The church is around 800 years old and is absolutely beautiful. Also, I was able to visit another church in a surrounding town this evening that is 1,000 years old. Here are a few pictures of these wonderful pieces of history...