| Archive for langcafe2.myfreeforum.org Come in and have your daily cup of languages! |
| Porthos |
Recommendations for schools in CaliforniaI'm in the process of looking for a college I wish to attend. I'm going to study business, and more specifically, finance. Aside from obvious choices like Stanford, USC, and UC Berkley, what are some other schools you would recommend in the state? And feel free to list those that might not be as renowned, such as a Cal State. |
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| Uriel |
I went to Santa Clara U and Chico State. Both were nice. SCU is, of course, far more expensive.
UC Berkeley has always sounded pretty cool to me -- probably because my mom used to live in Berkeley when I was a teenager. |
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| Porthos |
I've narrowed down my choices to the following:
UC Berkeley UCLA Cal Poly San Luis Obispo UC Santa Cruz San Francisco State Cal State Fullerton Cal State Long Beach Chico State ASU UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCSD, and UCSB don't offer undergraduate business majors so I discarded those potential choices. I also did away with other potential schools because of their location or because of demographics. ASU is looking kind of attractive, but I ****ing hate Phoneix. |
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| Deborah |
Porthos, if you suffer from seasonal affective disorder, avoid SF State -- it's near the ocean, and is therefore often in the fog. | ||||||||
| Loic |
As I was leafing through the Special Monday edition of the FT's report on Business Schools yesterday, I came across a school which left me thunderstruck. It was its name, really.
Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. Despite name that bears strong resemblance to a favourite cartoon of my boyhood (read: Thundercats), why don't you consider moving inter-state and get yourself into Thunderbird? It features very highly in the league table and in the cut-throat business world where rankings are the all-important holy grail, it is a huge asset to be an old boy of a school with a good brand name. For your information, Duke Business School tops the list of both the Open and Customised enrollment programmes. Not that it'd interest you at the moment as the league table was making a comparison of post-graduate business education. |
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| Joanne |
A business school named after one of the most pimpin' cars to ever grace asphalt! That's great 
However, since Porthos ****ing hates Phoenix, and the school is located in Glendale, which is a suburb of Phoenix, I don't think he'd like the location very much. 
PS: Thundercats rule. |
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| Porthos |
All of Glendale smells like shit! (manure from the farms), and it gets baked in the sun, and when monsoon seasons comes in mid-summer, you have to contend with horribly hot sticky, humid weather and a shit smell everywhere you go. I was once in the Phoneix area at an In-n-Out burger drive-thru, and it was hot in the car, so we decided to roll down the window. But as we did, we re-discovered the nauseating shit smell and at that point, we couldn't decided between sweating profusely inside our car, or enduring the awful shit attack from the outside air. 
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| Julian |
Reminds me of how Chino and Ontario used to be when I was a kid. I had an uncle who moved into a brand spanking new development in Ontario and his backyard neighbor was a dairy farm. He'd invite us over for barbecue but I'd lose my appetite out in that summer heat.
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| bruce |
The question of which college is best is a REALLLLLY difficult question to answer because there is sooooooooooo much thought that has to be put into the decision. Not only do you have to worry about the academic reputation of the school, you have to recognize which majors are best suited for that school, what the other students are like, what the community is like, the caliber and intensity of the academics, the competitiveness among the students, whether or not you'll fit in, etc. etc.
Nowadays, more and more people are going to graduate schools, making undergrad education just a bit less important. High profile employers are more interested in which graduate school you went to, so it's your graduate school that really matters. But of course, you have to consider that graduate schools base their acceptances on what school you attended for undergrad and how you performed there. Just do lots of research! And keep your options WIDE open. Apply to as many colleges as you can, and don't forget the private colleges, even if you aren't sure. I never thought about going to Berkeley or UCLA, but I applied to those universities anyway and guess what? I fell in love with Berkeley upon taking a courtesy visit, and I ended up submitting my statement of intent to UCLA even though it was never even one of my options up until this year. It's funny how things work out.[/u] |
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| Uriel |
Don't overthink it, dude. I went to the school that had the latest application deadline and happened to be in range of a radio station I liked. (Santa Clara U.) Then I transferred to Chico, and then I graduated from New Mexico State. They were all good schools, and no employer has ever given a rat's ass where my degree is from -- only that I have one to my name. | ||||||||
| Porthos |
True, for your particular profession, whatever that might be. But for the top jobs in finance, your college name is certainly very important, if not key in most cases. |
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| Loic |
Bruce:
A good friend of mine is studying engineering at UC Berkeley and according to him, more than half of the undergraduates are Asians. Wouldn't the disproportionate presence of Asian students cramp your style? Porthos: I agree with Uriel to a certain extent that the name of the university which you go to is not as important as getting a good honours. However, you are right about fussy employers whose eyes would light up the moment you proudly announce in your CV that you are an old boy of established business schools. This is especially so in investment banking or wealth management. Do you just plan to study for a Bachelor of Business degree? Are you going to specialise in any of the more glamorous business fields such as banking or financial management? Honestly, I think one of the biggest perks of studying in a business school is a healthy male to female ratio. The engineering guys are always crashing our parties or sneaking into our canteens during lunch to goggle in a wild-eyed fashion at our business school girls. I can understand why, though. I once went to the computer engineering canteen for tea and out of 10 people there, 8 were guys and the remaining 2 girls could pass off as guys for all I care. |
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| Deborah |
I thought Bruce was going to major in linguistics. | ||||||||
| Liz |
LOL!
What are you studying, Loic? You might have mentioned it somewhere as I vaguely remember of something in connection with your studies. I don't want to hazard a guess now as I'm certainly off-beam, I reckon. |
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| Deborah |
I'd be leery of a school named Thunderbird -- that might be the favorite local tipple. 
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| Porthos |
I'm going to eventually be an MBA, but my undergrad major is going to be finance. For the careers I want (Insititutional Sales and Trading/Consulting/Wealth Management), the university you went to is crucial. For certain fields within Investment Banking like Corporate Finance or M&A, an Ivy League education is practically a pre-requisite. I won't be attending an Ivy League school anytime soon, but an MBA from UC Berkeley Hass school of business is certainly very attractive to employers, and even its undergrad school has a fine reputation on par with many Ivy League schools, being that it's ranked as #3 in the nation. And yes Loic, there are multitudes of Asians on Californian campuses. They only make up like 6% percent of the local population or something like that, and yet they consitute something like 50% of the major universities like Berkeley or UCLA. |
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| Loic |
Liz: I am doing a Bachelor of Accountancy degree. To be honest, it was not my first choice as accountants are notoriously overworked and underpaid. However, I later realised that being a CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant) opens quite a few doors in the financial sector and that my options are not strictly limited to the more mundane aspects of auditing or accounting.
For the moment, I find investment banking terribly attractive. Investment bankers here earn a million dollars on average p.a. and one could only earn higher in Asia if he goes to work in Hong Kong. Otherwise, Singapore is a very attractive place in the Asia-Pacific region to earn enough to retire before 40. My secret fantasy would be to become the Chief Editor of The Economist, but that would only be a fantastic pipe dream. Deborah: Is Thunderbird very alcoholic? Would it embolden me with Dutch courage so that I would be capable of leading the liveliest sallies at the dinner table? To tell the raciest anecdotes? To entertain the company in between the soup and the fish courses with a diverting balancing trick with a fork and a spoon? To be the spirit of Mirth incarnate, in short? If so, that would be one fantastic triple! If dinner conversations have a fault here in Singapore, it is that people are generally inclined to sit champing their food in a glassy-eyed silence, doing nothing to promote a feast of reason and a flow of soul. An alcohol-dosed Thunderbird would be very helpful in helping me become the life and soul of any dinner gathering (as well as being helpful in getting the number from that cute girl sitting at the opposite end of the dinner table). Porthos: An MBA would still be in the distant horizon. Most MBAs typically require working experience as a pre-requisite. But it is good that you are planning for the long-term. Isn't Elaine working in the financial sector? She'd be pretty au fait with the ins and outs of the industry, I reckon. As for the multitude of students of Asian extraction at the UC campuses, I would not be surprised if 9 out of 10 of them are huddled together in a drab and colourless engineering lecture, checking their unconscious drift into slumberland with a Sudoku puzzle (Crossword puzzles would be tackled by the English literature undergraduates). |
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| Deborah |
Yes. It's a "fortified wine".
Well, no. At the very least, it would embolden you to do a lively, racy dance on a dinner table wearing a lampshade on your head. Or you could end up in a gutter. The fact that Thunderbird is among the top 5 wines at bumwine.com should tell you something. From Thunderbird's page:
Whew! I thought I had tasted the worst when I was in college -- an amusing little merthiolate-colored wine called Longhorn Red, bottled in Fresno, California. However, it didn't even make it onto this list. But these are the famous ones; maybe Longhorn Red was a boutique rotgut. Here's an article about Ernest & Julio Gallo, the creators of Thunderbird. |
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| Benjamin [inactive] |
Interesting — here, accountants are notoriously overpaid and extremely dull. So what was your first choice?
So is the salary the most important consideration for you when thinking about career options? |
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| Loic |
Benjamin:
You are right about the dull part. All my accounting lecturers are uninspiring old farts. But accounting is a multi-faceted discipline and the layman's contact with this discipline is usually that of bookkeeping. This is where the myth about accountants begins and ends: one of an unerring and keen eye for numbers as he pores through the endless piles of ledgers while spending the entire night preparing boring and mindless financial statements. Actually, I wanted to study law. However, my 'A' level results were not good enough. I had 2 As and 2 Cs. Now, I have laid bare my failings in front of you! Till today, I wondered then and I wonder now how the heck I managed to have 2 Cs. Moreover, the legal profession is a tightly regulated industry here. It is not possible to just pack my bags and fly off for distant shores to pursue legal studies. The local bar recognises extremely few overseas universities and most of them are the very sterling ones in England or Australia such as Monash in Melbourne or Bristol in England. Of course, any law graduate from Oxbridge would gain automatic admission into the local bar. But I am now glad that I did not become a lawyer. My reasons for originally wanting to be a barrister were juvenile: so that I could wear those wigs in court and trying to look the epitome of sartorial elegance at the same time. However, the legal reforms in the late 90s have resulted in the abandonment of the wigs in the High Court so that reason is now irrevelant anyway. With respect to the wages which accountants receive, they are notoriously underpaid when they are still working as an associate in their first three years. It is received wisdom that they only begin to witness the fruits of their labour after toiling for five years.
You can say that it is a major consideration, but it is not the be all and the end all. One works to sustain a level of lifestyle which he has become accustomed to. However, I am not so naive as to forget other important considerations which would make work more pleasant and not so much a drudgery. What about you, Benjamin? You did mention about wanting to be a student for as long as possible. Have you considered your future work prospects? A Bachelor in Linguistics is a rather versatile degree and one can expect to find himself plugging away in a myriad of unrelated fields. |
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| Loic |
Deborah:
Dancing with a lampshade, that's a promising start! Just as long as nobody at the dinner table starts whipping out their mobile phones to take pictures of a drunked reveller making a fool out of himself. |
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| Benjamin [inactive] |
No, I haven't really considered my future career at all. I essentially knew that I wanted to study languages when I was about 11, and I've never really seriously considered anything else. However, what I might do with it afterwards has never really been a factor, although I've generally assumed that I'd eventually be a teacher. I must admit though that I do occasionally have fantasies of being an MSP (Member of Scottish Parliament) — if only because that's probably the only parliament that I'd stand any chance of actually getting elected into.
Because I'm going to an 'ancient' Scottish university, I'll actually be doing an MA (not a BA) in French and German with Linguistics — a course which lasts five years. After that, I imagine that I'd probably do some sort of postgraduate study, although I'm not sure what — either more linguistics, or something else, like sustainable development, international politics, ecological economics, or whatever. |
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| Loic |
Benjamin:
A Member of Parliament sounds like an exciting career prospect. I can imagine how an MA in Linguistics would come in awfully handy. I'd expect you to be a very good communicator who would instinctively know the right things to say in order to successfully pull the heartstrings of your electorate. So I say, go for it! Alternatively, there are always the more prosaic job openings for someone like you who is specialising in French or German -viz. being an interpretor or translator. |
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| Liz |
Benjamin, you would certainly excel at manipulating the public through language. I bet you'd do a far better job of it than Nicol Stephen. No superflous energy, just sheer power...
Speaking of language and communication skills, is it possible in any of your countries to obtain a degree in communication? In my country, although it's a three years' course and as such qualifies as a Mickey Mouse major (not really on account of the years of study - rather on account of what they actually study during their academic years), it is one of the most popular degree courses with the rosiest prospects. Just look around...the media is lousy with them...
Me, too but I changed my mind and I'm glad I did. I would have been given my marching orders in no time as I can't swot, which is a euphemism for "I'm too lazy to memorise things verbatim". Besides, it's a very nasty business. However, I didn't want to be a barrister or a solicitor or whatever (we don't make this distinction) but a judge or an international lawyer. |
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| Deborah |
Dancing with a lampshade, wearing a silly wig in court...I'm starting to understand your tastes! |
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| Elaine |
Oh honey, if your objective is to land a high-stress, hi-NRG job with one of the top Fortune 500 companies, then by all means enroll in those expensive schools and take those mind-numbing, energy-zapping post graduate courses. But for those of us who don't wish to spend another day in school and don't aspire to an excess of riches, then a BS from Cal State LA, by way of Mount Saint Mary's College, will do just fine.
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| Loic |
What can I say, Ma'am? I am one in a million!
Absolutely. There is a degree in mass communications offered in my university and it is surprisingly popular amongst A level holders fresh out of formal schooling and who haven't a clue about what to do in life. Honestly, I think a mass communications degree is very general and it is only as valuable as the person's inherent communication skills. I know many of them aspire to be top-notch journalists who are in charge of providing us with trenchant newsbytes and cutting-edge analysis, but the truth is that the newspaper industry in Singapore probably cannot afford to hire more than 50 fresh graduates per year. Like you, I tend to look askance at such fields of study. In fact, I used to regard business studies with disdain as well. I thought it was an inelegant discipline and one which was vastly inferior to a more conventional and prestigious Bachelor of Arts degree or the usual prestigious options of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry or law. Apparently, I was hugely mistaken. I was blind to the remuneration which people in the financial sector draw. I quickly revised my opinions once I gained possession of the facts. Besides, I know I would probably make a very mediocre engineer. My grades would not allow me to enter medicine, pharmacy or law at any rate. One needs a perfect clean sweep of As to even merit an interview, not to mention getting past their hallowed doors. By the way, engineering is ubiquitous here. 6 out of 10 guys here are studying to be engineers.
I still think I would have made a rather good lawyer if I had been given half a chance. As part of our curriculum, accounting students are required to do two law modules and I did business law this semester. I realised that law is not a particularly difficult discipline as long as one knows the rules of the game. As Singapore is a common law jurisdiction country, many cases from the House of Lords set a legal precedent here through the principle of stare decisis . Lawyers can successfully plead for their clients as long as they are able to select the appropriate cases with which they would proceed to weave cogent arguments around their stand. As you can imagine, there are millions of old cases buried in the archives and we have the luxury of not only consulting English cases, but also cases from India, Australia and Malaysia. In general, most English cases are legally binding here whereas cases from the other Common Law jurisdictions, which includes America, have very persuasive authority. I really enjoyed legal research in which I was obliged to read up on cases from the law library in order to do my thesis. Besides, judges often possess acerbic wit and they are proud to show it off in their judgement. Lord Denning MR springs to mind. I used many of his cases when I was studying tort law, the most famous being the 'cricket case' of Miller v Jackson. Almost every student would bank on this case whenever we encounter a tort of negligence situation. Basically, Lord Denning began his judgement with a little story of how a cricket club was deprived of its immutable and historic right to play the sport on a field next to the house of Mr and Mrs Miller and what was fascinating about this case summary was his Lordship's constant ramblings with cheery insouciance, totally indifferent to the issue at hand. Finally, his Lordship concluded that being a cricket lover, he was inclined to side with the cricket club even if this means that stray cricket balls would fly into the Millers' garden from time to time. In Singapore, there is technically no difference between a barrister and a solicitor as law students are trained in both disciplines. However, many of them would choose to specialise after being called to the bar and it is thus useful to continue observing this difference. And you cannot be a judge unless you have been a prominent lawyer for years. It helps if you are also a Senior Counsel (SC), the local equivalent of the much vaunted QC (Queen's Counsel). In fact, we used to have quite a few QCs in our midst, but the number of Singapore lawyers being called to the English bar at Middle Temple, Grey's Inn, Inner Temple and Lincoln's Inn have dwindled dramatically in recent years. But we are still not deprived of their wisdom as highflying clients continue to bring in QCs from overseas to lock horns in court from time to time. But alas, I am going to be an accountant so I ought to stick to what I know best: rules of the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). This is the language of accounting and well, soon to be my bread and butter. |
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| Liz |
Same here. For some reason, it seems to be much more popular with girls than with boys. Half of those people who choose to study communication get admittance to the private "sector" only. Private education doesn't necessarily coincide with quality in Hungary as we don't have a tradition of private education. The vast majority of people are being privately educated simply because they weren't good enough to gain admittance to a public educational institution and only an exiguous number of students choose to pay for their education for other reasons. That said, you might as well stand a better chance of getting a good job if you obtained such a degree rather than a traditional one, like mine. In theory, you can become a journalist with a degree in communication but you are not very likely to succeed if you have a degree in Hungarian / English etc. language and literature. Life is cruel, isn't it? 
Speaking of the Bachelor of Arts, it is still popular and considered prestigeous, but it has lost popularity considerably in the past few years. Students of philology and the like often are the subject of mean jokes, like this one: - What does the unemployed Bachelor/Master of Arts says to the employed BA/MA? - ??? - A Big Mac menu with Coke, please.
The same here, too. Most women I know are either married to an engineer or go out with an engineer. (I almost wrote "ingenieur" twice.)
I'm positive you would, considering your discussions of Sarkozy with Greg. You would make a good barrister, solicitor, attorney, lawyer or whatever. Honestly. By the way, do economists and lawyers have a banter in Singapore, too? |
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| Liz |
Elaine, is it you on your avatar?
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| Elaine |
No, it's just someone who looks remarkably like me... only prettier.
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| Benjamin [inactive] |
Haha, you really think so? I'm usually seen as someone who lacks self-confidence and doesn't actually talk very much. I probably shouldn't be too mean about Nicol Stephen though — there are much worse politicians than him, and the Greens will probably end up having to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament at some point in the future. 
It seems to be quite popular here as well. However, the most popular university course that people in my year at school are going on to study is medicine — about 25% of the year group, I think. |
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| Liz |
LOL! That must be true.
I'm surprised that no-one has asked me if it's me on my avatar. I bear close resemblance to Garfield with the caveat that he is a bit fatter than me and I'm not a cat.
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| Elaine |
Well I was going to ask, but I didn't want to impose. |
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| Liz |
Interesting. You always come across as someone who is confident and who likes to share his opinions. However, appearances can be deceptive - I also write more than I talk.
He isn't that bad and he doesn't seem to be as devious as other politicians, but he is a bit funny. |
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| Deborah |
Elaine are you going to pull a Julian some day and post a picture of your abs?
I didn't notice it when this avatar was in color, but in B&W you look as if you have a tan (appropriately enough for someone from LA). |
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| Liz |
I acted like a functional illiterate and misunderstood you. I should say It can't be true.
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| Benjamin [inactive] |
Haha — it's funny how people can so often get the wrong impression. Like, when I go to Unitarian conferences, people often ask me for specific advice, because for some reason they've got the idea that I'm 'really clever'. If only they realised how mislead they were — I suppose they'll find that out if they ever elect me as convener of the Executive Committee at some point in the future.
Actually, the last conference I was at, this 20-year-old American woman described me as a 60-year-old in an 18-year-olds body, and accused me of being 'overly set in [my] ways'. I wasn't really quite sure how to respond to that. |
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| Liz |
Yes, you really make that impression. It might be the way you present your ideas - you don't use an "I've been brought up on a council estate" sort of language like I do sometimes. (I've been recently "told off" by Pauline for writing too colloquially, which makes her difficult to understand some of my posts.  ) Anyway, it's amazing how I'm obsessed with others' style of writing nowadays!
You are a bit radical for a 60-year-old, aren't you?
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| Pauline |
I didn't told you off!!!! I only told you that sometimes I find it difficult to understand your posts in English because of slang and the colloquially written things. Uriel as well and in German Tiorthan not because of slang but because he write a very posh type of German. |
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| Liz |
I know, that's why I wrote it this way: "told off".
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| Benjamin [inactive] |
Haha — the two co-conveners of the Scottish Green Party are in their 60s, and my views probably aren't (in reality) hugely more radical than theirs, if at all.
Anyway, I think what that American woman said was mainly in response to how I had spoken in favour of the singing of traditional hymns from the 18th and 19th centuries. |
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| Liz |
Well, Greens are a different kettle of fish. Especially those in their 60s...They must be green with envy...
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| Elaine |
Perhaps, but I think my legs are my best feature.
I hadn't ever it posted before showing that much skin. It was always cropped to the neckline, so maybe that's why you never noticed. /sigh... I think my current boyfriend woes has got me craving some attention. 
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| Walker |
You're back! Woyoyoy, somebody bring me some ice!
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| Deborah |
Hmm, given the reaction from over there in northern Europe, you'd better not show your legs -- the polar ice cap is melting quickly enough as it is! |
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| Elaine |
Down boy, you're ruining my new nylons.
Hmmm... Maybe I should go back into hiding. I'd hate to be responsible for the annihilation of the entire habitat of Maldives. |
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| Deborah |
Very socially conscientious! |
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| Uriel |
Now, what "boyfriend woes" could you possibly be having (and does he know what an impact that might have on global warming)? | ||||||||
| Elaine |
My man is being a typical male-- selfish, inattentive, inconsiderate, arrogant, immature, etc., and he has the nerve to call me a bitch for calling him up on it. So he ain't gettin' any of this candy until he treats me right. No se puede hacer un flan sin romper los huevos. |
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| Loic |
Elaine: Hola, Senorita. You look as stunning as your previous photo. They seem to me as if both the pictures were snapped on the same night. | ||||||||
| Loic |
What do you mean? Do you mean that they occasionally sit down together in a room to engage in intellectual discourse? Economists do not generally occupy prominent positions in public life. Lawyers sometimes get into the news for misdemeanours that are unbecoming of their profession. What strikes me about them is how remarkably well-nourished all of them are. Can't blame them, though. Theirs is a profession which requires a lot of brain work and the brain needs a lot of substenance in order to work well. I once did a fortnight attachment with a top law firm here. What I did, I cannot remember. I recalled whiling away many hours at their recreation room, playing pool or amusing myself with their superb Playstation. It is probably a fact that they did not want to give me too much work to do as whatever I did was reduced to proof-reading their affidavits or taking minutes with clients. They draw a very attractive remuneration though, at least for Singapore standards. Typical starting salaries begin at $5000 (or roughly 2500 euros or US$3000). For someone fresh out of university, that figure is a very attractive proposition. |
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| Yelina |
I must say I've been very lucky few times ago when I came out with the man all women dream to have. He's the opposite of all the adjectives you just used above. I haven't heard someone telling something bad about him (I was the only one who knew everything of him, then, I was the only one who could critisised him!). I can't say how many times he came back home saying "someone told me I was exceptional!". I remember once an old woman told him "I wish every young guys were like you. The life would be so great!". Then, don't lose hope Elaine, you may find the rare pearl one day! |
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| Liz |
No, I mean a real banter...you know, when they are taking the mickey out of each other. There are lawyer jokes and economist jokes which they keep telling to or about each other.
There you go...you, you typical lawyer! Here is a prime example of how you should start a banter. LOL!  
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| Loic |
Liz:
I wish I have some fresh insight to give you about economists or lawyers, but as most of my cricle of friends are studying to be economists or lawyers, I am afraid that my opinions are coloured by their personalities. At any rate, lawyers are held in high esteem here. Nobody takes the mickey out of them; Nobody makes jokes about how there are so many lawyers for the simple reason being that there are actually too few lawyers. That is why their wages rise astronomically. The shortage of lawyers who are well-versed in the arcane arts of M&A have got so bad to the point that lawyers are now being headhunted overseas. Why didn't you study law, Liz? You wrote that you studied Latin in school so as to give you such an option should the occasion arise. PS: What do Hungarian lawyers wear in the courtroom? |
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| Liz |
I think I mentioned somewhere that I had changed my mind, which can be explained by various reasons. First, I would have been expelled or I would have dropped out in no time as I'm too lazy to memorise things verbatim. Second, it is very difficult to find a job as a lawyer unless you want to work in a company or your parents are rich enough to financially support your endeavours to start your own praxis. I didn't want to work for a company nor did I want to become an attorney (I'm using the American expression here because the system is quite the same in Hungary - no barrister-solicitor distinction). Besides, I don't have the financial background to become one. I wanted to be a judge, which takes donkey's years. I'm afraid I would still be serving coffee and salami sandwitches for the power-that-be at the age of 40.
It's the sort of question I've expected from you. Well, I'm not exactly sure...lawyers normally wear suits or costumes...no frills. Only the judge is wearing a gown (or what-d'ya-call-it  ) but no wigs or unnecessary embellishments. However, I've recently seen on TV lawyers wearing gowns, too...but still no wigs for certain.
Magistrates of the Constitutional Court look differently, like this: 
He is one of the present-day magistrates. I hope it's not illegal to post his photo here. PS: You mentioned that you hadn't had good enough grades to study law. Is it only grades that count or do you have to pass an entrance exam, too? |
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