What a year! I am getting into a reflective mode, doing a year balance (hence the illustration). It’s almost a year since we arrived to London.

Suffice to say, I am starting to evaluate the good things, and after one year the bad things of London appear clearly in front of me. What is getting on my nerves lately is how appalling are all sorts of public services. As a Spaniard, I can’t understand how filthy are things here. Let me explain myself. For Barcelonian standards,…

• the tube is old, dirty, crowded, utterly unreliable and expensive.
• the buildings are old, dirty, oftentimes with mice (see waste collection below), utterly unreliable and incredibly expensive.
• the NHS hospital I go is old, dirty, crowded, service is utterly unreliable and taxes are still high.
• the waste collection system in London collect only twice per week, leaving my neighbourhood of Westminster, 600m away from where Tony Blair leaves, looking old, dirty, and the taxes we pay to the council are quite high. Waste is everywhere, on every single street there are waste bags on the street. No wonder London has a mice problem.

Do you see a trend here? I am starting to believe that people in London have a higher tolerance for dirt than elsewhere. Otherwise, there would be riots…

The good thing has been the 1st year in the MBA. By far, the best decision and learning experience ever. Meeting with great people, opportunities, fun, everything!

Apart from the good vs bad things in London, I am reflecting on my efforts to launch a start up during my 1st year of the MBA. No matter how I put it, it hasn’t launched yet. Of course going through the 1st year is no piece of cake, but I am still frustrated by the delays in going to market.

True, the team is as close as we have ever been to getting to market. Still, we are not there yet. Starting up is hard to do!!!