Last night was my farewell dinner, I imagine it will be a long time before I return to Europe.
I went to my favorite evening restaurant, which specializes in cuisine from the Auvergne region in the southwest of France. Snagged an outside table and watched everyone go by.
I decided to go for the Tripoux d'Agneau (lamb tripe) with aligot, which is a copious concoction of smashed potatoes and cheese, and about 3 lbs of garlic, which is the house specialty.
I am writing this for two reasons:
First, I realized that the meal is symbolic of the William the Conquerer connection between the U.K. and France because the meal was a variation of haggis, with lamb substituted for sheep, and only the stomach included (sincere apologies vegetarians for the gory details. Means you Manoj :-) )
The other thing of note here is that as I feasted, no less than THREE people stopped and asked me what I was eating, was it good, should they eat there, etc. HAHAHAHA. The first guy looked a bit scruffy, I thought he was going to ask me for something, then felt embarrassed that he was sincerely interested and nailed the regional origin of the dish. Impressive.
Then a lady came along and asked what the aligot potato dish was and buzzed off.
Then a very distinguished couple excused themselves profusely and launched into a big Q&A session on the restaurant the dish, asked me where I was from, complimented me on my French, then sought out their own table. They both had really cool glasses, everyone here does. We show off our cars, they show off their glasses haha.
Outta here in a few hours, already job hunting online.
In spite of the obvious downside, it has been a great trip. I have enjoyed it immensely.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Lasting impressions........
The things I'll remember most are the way people know how to really enjoy themselves and the quality of human contact is very impressive and civilized in such a big city. Pretty cool. This would be a decent city to live in, I haven't seen anything remotely resembling crime, women walking around late at night without concern, etc.
I also admit that the food just knocked me out from day one. Wow. That beef and veal tartar will be with me forever, as will the goats cheese salads, and the special "variation of salmon" (smoked, grilled, and tartar) served at Felicie. Yummy.
I have yet again been lucky with my trip: nobody was rude to me or cheated me or treated me badly in any way. Quite the contrary actually. I asked lots of people stuff on the streets and they all stopped and gave me very lengthy replies. Most of them were French from out of town and couldn't give me an answer, but we had a good yack.
These people sure are masters of sitting around and enjoying things.
I also admit that the food just knocked me out from day one. Wow. That beef and veal tartar will be with me forever, as will the goats cheese salads, and the special "variation of salmon" (smoked, grilled, and tartar) served at Felicie. Yummy.
I have yet again been lucky with my trip: nobody was rude to me or cheated me or treated me badly in any way. Quite the contrary actually. I asked lots of people stuff on the streets and they all stopped and gave me very lengthy replies. Most of them were French from out of town and couldn't give me an answer, but we had a good yack.
These people sure are masters of sitting around and enjoying things.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Pieds Noirs / Black Feet
June 21 2008
No, the carpet in my studio is not dirty (actually it is a tad scruffy) causing my feet to be black. Pieds Noirs is a term used to describe immigrants from former French colonies in North Africa. Just like pigeons and other colonialist powers, the French left their little droppings all over the place, and North Africa is the one they really regret. Of course they had to grant special status to citizens of former colonies - to which degree I don't know, but there are a truckload of people from Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia and all the problems that go with it.
The overwhelming majority is Muslim and integration is difficult. The battles continue on - you may recall some very serious riots in the sleazy suburbs north of Paris a few years back.
In the news here right now, there are two hot items of interest on this topic:
First, a local Muslim community center (it's not called that but since 90% of the residents are Muslims that is exactly what it really is) tried to ban men from sporting events so that women could swim and play basketball unveiled. We live in an age of triviality and frivolity where we argue endlessly about meaningless symptoms rather than actually facing and solving the root problem. Sad to see that such idiocy has extended to this part of the world, I would have expected better.
The real issue is integration versus religious tradition. The right of men to go to such tournaments is far more important than that of the women to go unveiled. Obviously either they play and swim veiled, or invent a veil that works under those circumstances, or they go without, or they don't play. In their culture they are confined to the house to make food and babies, and are never allowed to go out anywhere except to buy food, hence the veils in the first place. Rather than exercising common sense with a spirit of integration, these type of people want to have their cake and eat it too, always at our expense. It's great that these women have a real life here and it's silly to lock anybody in the house and it's great they can get out and actually do things. This isn't about men or women to me.
When you choose to go somewhere else to live it's not fair to abuse that privilege and start imposing your country's norms on the people of your host country. I'm so glad I lived in Switzerland all those years where common sense rules: you are told from day one that it's their country, not yours, if you want to live here follow the rules and do things the way they do them. Don't like it?? GO HOME. They say we didn't ask you to come here, we just let you in. Don't try to tell us how to cook our soup, go home and cook your own. If you want to cook your own soup in your own home you are welcome to do it, but don't stink out the neighbors doing it.
There is also a hilarious twin story all over the press these days: a judge annulled a marriage between two Muslims because the 20 year old bride had sworn she was a virgin, but it turned out not to be the case. HAHAHAHA. Hilarious.
CAVEAT EMPTOR (buyer beware!!) DUDE hahaha.
In their culture it's critical for many that the girl be a virgin. It's a bit of a red herring either way since there are lots of ways around that which I cannot expand upon here. Ha.
Enough of that story and sorry for the rant. As a lifelong foreigner somewhere I have strong feelings about it all.
In the evening there was the Festival of Music which takes place on the first day of summer each year. Everybody was out and I had a great time zipping around all the various spots, it was great fun and I took a lot of pics. My favorite parts were the two teenagers on dueling saxophones (didn't get a pic I was spaced out), the blues/rock group with the Elvisy looking lead singer, and the guy dancing with his daughter to James Brown. It was a great night.
June 22 2008
I got up, packed although I am not leaving until tomorrow, organized my finances and expenses, and got ready to go so I could enjoy the day and tomorrow until 230 when I go to the airport.
I jumped on the Metro and went to Montmartre. Usually I take the local Metro station by my hotel, but this time I walked up Av. du Maine to the Montparnasse station and jumped on the tube there so I wouldn't have to change. Yikes, the place is like a rabbit's den, tunnels and passageways and stairs all over the place. On top of that it's all underneath this huge train station. So I found my way in without incident and went to Montmartre to buy a few things and do a couple of videos for you Mom. I think the place looks exactly like it did 29 years ago, probably the same artists hanging out too haha:
Here is part deux:
I think that's it for Paris. I also added pics of my favorite bistrot FELICIE (means bliss) and it sure is blissful. I go there for lunch each day and just enjoy the food immensely. It's not even expensive or fancy or anything, just home cooking like your mom did it. Most of the places are like that around here - good and reasonable prices. I mean, the prices are reasonable if you pretend that the Euro and dollar are equal as they were meant to be. Taking the Euro as it is today everything is very pricey.
I'm glad I stayed the weekend and hope it's on their nickel as promised. All in all it was a great trip, I worked a bit too hard but did get some private time and a different perspective.
No, the carpet in my studio is not dirty (actually it is a tad scruffy) causing my feet to be black. Pieds Noirs is a term used to describe immigrants from former French colonies in North Africa. Just like pigeons and other colonialist powers, the French left their little droppings all over the place, and North Africa is the one they really regret. Of course they had to grant special status to citizens of former colonies - to which degree I don't know, but there are a truckload of people from Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia and all the problems that go with it.
The overwhelming majority is Muslim and integration is difficult. The battles continue on - you may recall some very serious riots in the sleazy suburbs north of Paris a few years back.
In the news here right now, there are two hot items of interest on this topic:
First, a local Muslim community center (it's not called that but since 90% of the residents are Muslims that is exactly what it really is) tried to ban men from sporting events so that women could swim and play basketball unveiled. We live in an age of triviality and frivolity where we argue endlessly about meaningless symptoms rather than actually facing and solving the root problem. Sad to see that such idiocy has extended to this part of the world, I would have expected better.
The real issue is integration versus religious tradition. The right of men to go to such tournaments is far more important than that of the women to go unveiled. Obviously either they play and swim veiled, or invent a veil that works under those circumstances, or they go without, or they don't play. In their culture they are confined to the house to make food and babies, and are never allowed to go out anywhere except to buy food, hence the veils in the first place. Rather than exercising common sense with a spirit of integration, these type of people want to have their cake and eat it too, always at our expense. It's great that these women have a real life here and it's silly to lock anybody in the house and it's great they can get out and actually do things. This isn't about men or women to me.
When you choose to go somewhere else to live it's not fair to abuse that privilege and start imposing your country's norms on the people of your host country. I'm so glad I lived in Switzerland all those years where common sense rules: you are told from day one that it's their country, not yours, if you want to live here follow the rules and do things the way they do them. Don't like it?? GO HOME. They say we didn't ask you to come here, we just let you in. Don't try to tell us how to cook our soup, go home and cook your own. If you want to cook your own soup in your own home you are welcome to do it, but don't stink out the neighbors doing it.
There is also a hilarious twin story all over the press these days: a judge annulled a marriage between two Muslims because the 20 year old bride had sworn she was a virgin, but it turned out not to be the case. HAHAHAHA. Hilarious.
CAVEAT EMPTOR (buyer beware!!) DUDE hahaha.
In their culture it's critical for many that the girl be a virgin. It's a bit of a red herring either way since there are lots of ways around that which I cannot expand upon here. Ha.
Enough of that story and sorry for the rant. As a lifelong foreigner somewhere I have strong feelings about it all.
In the evening there was the Festival of Music which takes place on the first day of summer each year. Everybody was out and I had a great time zipping around all the various spots, it was great fun and I took a lot of pics. My favorite parts were the two teenagers on dueling saxophones (didn't get a pic I was spaced out), the blues/rock group with the Elvisy looking lead singer, and the guy dancing with his daughter to James Brown. It was a great night.
June 22 2008
I got up, packed although I am not leaving until tomorrow, organized my finances and expenses, and got ready to go so I could enjoy the day and tomorrow until 230 when I go to the airport.
I jumped on the Metro and went to Montmartre. Usually I take the local Metro station by my hotel, but this time I walked up Av. du Maine to the Montparnasse station and jumped on the tube there so I wouldn't have to change. Yikes, the place is like a rabbit's den, tunnels and passageways and stairs all over the place. On top of that it's all underneath this huge train station. So I found my way in without incident and went to Montmartre to buy a few things and do a couple of videos for you Mom. I think the place looks exactly like it did 29 years ago, probably the same artists hanging out too haha:
Here is part deux:
I think that's it for Paris. I also added pics of my favorite bistrot FELICIE (means bliss) and it sure is blissful. I go there for lunch each day and just enjoy the food immensely. It's not even expensive or fancy or anything, just home cooking like your mom did it. Most of the places are like that around here - good and reasonable prices. I mean, the prices are reasonable if you pretend that the Euro and dollar are equal as they were meant to be. Taking the Euro as it is today everything is very pricey.
I'm glad I stayed the weekend and hope it's on their nickel as promised. All in all it was a great trip, I worked a bit too hard but did get some private time and a different perspective.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
My Studio in Paris for 11 days
Here you go everyone, this is what you get for 120 bucks a day, not bad at all. The other hotel was 260 and in an expensive touristy area near the Eiffel Tower, so this is a more local area, quiet, and cheaper in all ways. Also, the Montparnasse train station is just down the street for when I go to Bordeaux and return late at night, so that is good too.
I guess I will return in September, not sure yet, but I imagine I will spend a lot of time here until next June. The issue is there are 3 factories that I will focus on: 1 in the East near Switz and two in the West near Nantes. So far I have been thinking that Nantes would be the best place to live, but I am not sure if I will need to be closest to my customers in Paris or to the factories. Probably a bit of both. In that case I will start out here, then migrate as needed later on in the project. The main thing is to decide before people start chipping in with their ideas, for example, my counterpart on the customer side lives in an absolute dump about 90 mins north of here. To be avoided at all costs.
More as it happens!
I guess I will return in September, not sure yet, but I imagine I will spend a lot of time here until next June. The issue is there are 3 factories that I will focus on: 1 in the East near Switz and two in the West near Nantes. So far I have been thinking that Nantes would be the best place to live, but I am not sure if I will need to be closest to my customers in Paris or to the factories. Probably a bit of both. In that case I will start out here, then migrate as needed later on in the project. The main thing is to decide before people start chipping in with their ideas, for example, my counterpart on the customer side lives in an absolute dump about 90 mins north of here. To be avoided at all costs.
More as it happens!
Saturday Morning Sirens
You'll like this, reminds of those Matt Damon Bourne movies where they are all chasing each other around like lunatics:
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Euro Grik is Back
I arrived two weeks ago and have gradually been settling into the pace of life. Certainly Paris is as big and bustling and stressful as any other big city anywhere, no question about that. It's a madhouse in the car, and, although I have avoided rush hours in general, I can imagine it's a nuthouse in the subway too. Even on the weekend it looked pretty darned busy.
A lot of things haven't changed too much in the last 16 years since I spent any serious time here, but I did spend a month or so about 10 years ago. Since then they cashed in their French Francs for Euros so that is still a bit weird. There are a lot of Russians here. Since they discovered money a few years ago, they have moved west in droves I guess. Other than that and the internet and those funny little cars, the French cling to their traditions.
Thanks to Bush, a Big Mac is $9.60. With the death of the dollar, the prices certainly are one thing that have changed. It costs about $1.60 for one Euro, which was designed to be about the same as the dollar. So where have the 60 cents gone? Iraq, the housing crisis, the 10k per head average credit card debt, and various other get-rich-quick schemes that deflate the real value of our money.
Speaking of dimwit Bush, he was here a few days ago. I can't believe his trip clashed with mine. Haha. Here's a funny article talking about his very first trip to Europe (can you believe that?) in 2001: http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/06/12/itinerary/index.html
Anyway, I'm pretty well back now, meaning I have fallen into Euro habits and French just slips off my tongue for the most part. Good, that is what I was wondering about. I have definitely forgot some vocabulary, but it will resurface with time.
I just came back from lunch. I can't believe it. I ate a tartare of beef and veal, slightly cooked (usually it is raw), with some foie gras embedded in it in bite-sized pieces, and some capers, garnished with a salad au vinaigrette and some potatoes that tasted like your mom made them. Yikes, WHAT A FEAST!! These people do not fool around with food. The prices are not cheap either, but there is a restaurant on every corner and they are all busy - tells you about the values here. I don't know where we got the habit of cooking everything to death in recent years. Must be the lawyers who did it aided and abetted by the press of course. Some kid in Cleveland gets trichinosis and the whole country knows about it. If you buy meat in the grocery store these days at home it says COOK ALL MEATS THOROUGHLY on the label. Why? We never used to, now you can't even ask for a hamburger medium. Same deal in a restaurant - I guess they think they could be blamed if you caught something. Anyway, around here they are eating everything half raw.
The sites in Paris are endless, so endless in fact that I advise you to bring your video camera, then buy a big rolling suitcase and fill it with batteries, and just let her rip during your entire trip, 7 x 24. You can edit out the stuff you don't like when you get home, there won't be much. Every building has a certain age and charm about it, every park it's cute little benches and fountains, every street has something unique. And that's just the NORMAL stuff, I'm not talking about tourist sites.
Now about the women. I know you've had your radar up about this topic Sara, and I admit I have been hiding from it, but enough is enough. First thing I noticed is how natural they are, very little make-up, not overly dressed, all their body parts appear natural and without enhancement as far as I can tell. The other thing I noticed is they look you right in the eye WHAM, no fooling around. All in all, they are very delicious, very feminine, confident without any haughtiness. The proof is in the lack of beauty parlors and ads for boob jobs and lypo and stuff that we are bombarded with.
This week has been a joy so far, until my boss drops a last minute bomb on Friday afternoon that will keep me busy this weekend. Grrr. I am working in my little studio, all I need is the internet and I'm in business. I am translating a bunch of stuff and doing some planning. I just bought my train ticket for Bordeaux, I leave Monday lunchtime, unless something changes.
Finally, I have been in contact with my old DEC Mafia buddies having tracked down 3 of them in Geneva. My closest travel partner Pierre still owns a hotel outside of Geneva and the rest of us have already agreed in principle to a fall surprise reunion.
A lot of things haven't changed too much in the last 16 years since I spent any serious time here, but I did spend a month or so about 10 years ago. Since then they cashed in their French Francs for Euros so that is still a bit weird. There are a lot of Russians here. Since they discovered money a few years ago, they have moved west in droves I guess. Other than that and the internet and those funny little cars, the French cling to their traditions.
Thanks to Bush, a Big Mac is $9.60. With the death of the dollar, the prices certainly are one thing that have changed. It costs about $1.60 for one Euro, which was designed to be about the same as the dollar. So where have the 60 cents gone? Iraq, the housing crisis, the 10k per head average credit card debt, and various other get-rich-quick schemes that deflate the real value of our money.
Speaking of dimwit Bush, he was here a few days ago. I can't believe his trip clashed with mine. Haha. Here's a funny article talking about his very first trip to Europe (can you believe that?) in 2001: http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/06/12/itinerary/index.html
Anyway, I'm pretty well back now, meaning I have fallen into Euro habits and French just slips off my tongue for the most part. Good, that is what I was wondering about. I have definitely forgot some vocabulary, but it will resurface with time.
I just came back from lunch. I can't believe it. I ate a tartare of beef and veal, slightly cooked (usually it is raw), with some foie gras embedded in it in bite-sized pieces, and some capers, garnished with a salad au vinaigrette and some potatoes that tasted like your mom made them. Yikes, WHAT A FEAST!! These people do not fool around with food. The prices are not cheap either, but there is a restaurant on every corner and they are all busy - tells you about the values here. I don't know where we got the habit of cooking everything to death in recent years. Must be the lawyers who did it aided and abetted by the press of course. Some kid in Cleveland gets trichinosis and the whole country knows about it. If you buy meat in the grocery store these days at home it says COOK ALL MEATS THOROUGHLY on the label. Why? We never used to, now you can't even ask for a hamburger medium. Same deal in a restaurant - I guess they think they could be blamed if you caught something. Anyway, around here they are eating everything half raw.
The sites in Paris are endless, so endless in fact that I advise you to bring your video camera, then buy a big rolling suitcase and fill it with batteries, and just let her rip during your entire trip, 7 x 24. You can edit out the stuff you don't like when you get home, there won't be much. Every building has a certain age and charm about it, every park it's cute little benches and fountains, every street has something unique. And that's just the NORMAL stuff, I'm not talking about tourist sites.
Now about the women. I know you've had your radar up about this topic Sara, and I admit I have been hiding from it, but enough is enough. First thing I noticed is how natural they are, very little make-up, not overly dressed, all their body parts appear natural and without enhancement as far as I can tell. The other thing I noticed is they look you right in the eye WHAM, no fooling around. All in all, they are very delicious, very feminine, confident without any haughtiness. The proof is in the lack of beauty parlors and ads for boob jobs and lypo and stuff that we are bombarded with.
This week has been a joy so far, until my boss drops a last minute bomb on Friday afternoon that will keep me busy this weekend. Grrr. I am working in my little studio, all I need is the internet and I'm in business. I am translating a bunch of stuff and doing some planning. I just bought my train ticket for Bordeaux, I leave Monday lunchtime, unless something changes.
Finally, I have been in contact with my old DEC Mafia buddies having tracked down 3 of them in Geneva. My closest travel partner Pierre still owns a hotel outside of Geneva and the rest of us have already agreed in principle to a fall surprise reunion.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Two Days Off WHOOPIE (= YUPI in Spanish haha)
Friday June 13, 2008
Here we go kids, I have worked every day since May 19, time to take a day off or even two. Actually, I started working even before I started working here - there were things to do the week before I left to get ready to go, plus of course putting my life in Sunnyvale on auto-pilot.
Today I am playing the hotel game. This is fun! Yesterday I wanted to stay in St-Mande with my colleague Brandon as it was his last night and told my hotel here in Montparnasse I would only arrive today. To make a long story short I arrived yesterday as originally planned, but in spite of a call to reconfirm, there was no room for me. So the Receptionist kindly took me around the corner to a nice place where I spent the night.
I have arrived here now late morning and am waiting for my studio to finally be ready. I will be here for 10 whole nights plus it has a little kitchenette which is really cool, I can do some food preparation.
I will meet work and personal friends here this weekend and do some sitting around and sleeping and relaxing before next week's events kick in Monday. I will meet a friend from Marseille who is here in Paris as well as Corinne from the office, who is a HOOT. Not sure of the details but the camera will be involved and you will get all the photos very soon.
Saturday June 14, 2008
OK got in here, all settled, it ain't the Ritz but it has a kitchenette and living/dining area, super quiet location, internet, there are few tourists around here in Montparnasse, and, best of all, it is 75 Euros vs. 170 (about 120 dollars vs. 260) at the hotel around the Eiffel Tower, huge difference.
I met up with Manon and we went to Chinatown and walked around and ate. Either we missed the main part or it is very small. I will have to return and check it out. Of course it is mostly Vietnamese, France has a similar refugee situation to the USA regarding accepting VN refugees.
I will hook up with Manon and Corinne today and/or tomorrow. Absolutely no working. My main goal is to visit the Grande Arche de la Defense, it is one of the truly unique things in the world, and only the French could do it!
Just came back from visiting the great Box on the Hill (La Defense) and will post pics in the next day or two. Very impressive.
Also, I am very tired, just phoned my family and now I'm going to have a well-deserved siesta.
Here we go kids, I have worked every day since May 19, time to take a day off or even two. Actually, I started working even before I started working here - there were things to do the week before I left to get ready to go, plus of course putting my life in Sunnyvale on auto-pilot.
Today I am playing the hotel game. This is fun! Yesterday I wanted to stay in St-Mande with my colleague Brandon as it was his last night and told my hotel here in Montparnasse I would only arrive today. To make a long story short I arrived yesterday as originally planned, but in spite of a call to reconfirm, there was no room for me. So the Receptionist kindly took me around the corner to a nice place where I spent the night.
I have arrived here now late morning and am waiting for my studio to finally be ready. I will be here for 10 whole nights plus it has a little kitchenette which is really cool, I can do some food preparation.
I will meet work and personal friends here this weekend and do some sitting around and sleeping and relaxing before next week's events kick in Monday. I will meet a friend from Marseille who is here in Paris as well as Corinne from the office, who is a HOOT. Not sure of the details but the camera will be involved and you will get all the photos very soon.
Saturday June 14, 2008
OK got in here, all settled, it ain't the Ritz but it has a kitchenette and living/dining area, super quiet location, internet, there are few tourists around here in Montparnasse, and, best of all, it is 75 Euros vs. 170 (about 120 dollars vs. 260) at the hotel around the Eiffel Tower, huge difference.
I met up with Manon and we went to Chinatown and walked around and ate. Either we missed the main part or it is very small. I will have to return and check it out. Of course it is mostly Vietnamese, France has a similar refugee situation to the USA regarding accepting VN refugees.
I will hook up with Manon and Corinne today and/or tomorrow. Absolutely no working. My main goal is to visit the Grande Arche de la Defense, it is one of the truly unique things in the world, and only the French could do it!
Just came back from visiting the great Box on the Hill (La Defense) and will post pics in the next day or two. Very impressive.
Also, I am very tired, just phoned my family and now I'm going to have a well-deserved siesta.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Reinforcements Arrive
Last night my boss and the Sr. VP of Ops and CTO arrived from Canada, very late and tired. Brandon and I returned to the scene of the crime - that cool little walking street with all the terraces. We were whipped but of course needed to eat and guzzle. We had a cool couple of hours, then I went home to get my game face on for the big pitch today Tuesday, the culmination of my work over the past 3 weeks (I was only front and center on translation for a few days but it was cool).
Anyway, I had prepared this large presentation, then translated it into French, then of course we re-worked it a bunch of times and got feedback from our clients.
Today there were about a dozen big muckety-mucks all gathered around to listen to me deliver this spiel including the President and CEO of 47 plants and a few of his direct reports. They were nice and we had some fun too. I presented the whole thing in French and two things became clear very quickly: first, I scored with everyone. They can see that I will make all this happen, and I will, no doubt. This is my niche, this is my thing. Secondly, they are convinced after a lot of analysis that our product is the right thing. I am sitting here waiting for them to call us in and give us their decision, but I think I know where they are going. They want three more things from us before giving the green light unconditionally:
1. a detailed plan right through to the end of the first 3 trial/pilot sites.
2. a process for getting the business requirements for all 47 sites. there are 30 "super" users involved from plants all over FR who will make decisions on how our products will be married with their business policies and processes.
3. we need to hire the two other people that will form our French team. We interviewed a guy today but he couldn't put a sentence together in English.
Looks like they want my butt here most of the time, I guess it's no surprise. I had been hiding from that. This is a big issue for me because of friends, but that's not the end of the world, we always stick to the closest friends and find a way to see each other.
Also, they want to send several people to Vancouver for a lot of training in July which is a great idea and the right place and time. I hope I have the time to go too. Looks like I will, as I will stick to my plan of going home on the 28th of June. PHEW. I still feel OK, but know that homesickness will appear soon.
Enough business - sorry - just wanted to capture that for posterity's sake.
I found a really cool-looking studio with a kitchenette at less than half the price of my broom closet hotel that we left today. I mean it looks cool on the internet. We will spend the next two nights at the local French HQ (I have been at our customers' Euro HQ until now) which is in the south-east corner of the city, so we changed hotel so that we wouldn't have to spend an hour in a taxi.
Anyway, that studio is smack-dab right in the middle between the French HQ and the Euro HQ, which is a somewhat political statement from me as I do not want either group to think I care about the other more. Corinne comes from Group and as mentioned I respect her so much. My French customers come from the French HQ, so I have to hang close to them.
Thursday June 12, 2008
PHEW, my bosses went home!! My direct boss was driving me nuts. Technoweenies always micromanage things because business objectives confuse them. They don't know what else to do. My boss is a really nice guy, but he's a content expert, not a project manager. Manoj, I can hear you all the way from India hahaha. Anyway, I remind you that my offer letter said "....Initially you will report to Mr. Technowhoopie...." Someone else knows what's up and that be the Sr. VP/CTO. He is not a turkey. He's pretty tough though, just the way I like them.
Anyway, we spent two nights with the French at that broom closet number hotel close to the French HQ. It was a broom closet but the service was sort of like being at home, so it was a great great couple of days. We went to a wicked Chinese the first night and it was AWESOME. We had Peking Duck and chicken wrapped in banana leaves and you-name-it. Funniest part was this Chinese waiter who kept coming to the table to describe dishes and take orders and stuff, but nobody could understand him. All the francophones looked at all the francophones with puzzled expressions. Same deal for all the anglophones. My boss said he understood some of the Chinese but we were still baffled. Finally we understood that he is also Canadian from Montreal. EUREKA. So we tried English. Didn't work either. Very funny guy though.
Last night we had a feast at the hotel and it was like being at home. Very comfy, professional, yet informal, without the phony American crap "Hi I'm Jimmy and I'm going to be your waiter tonight." They should make them bring a barf bucket to the table when they say that. What they really mean is "Hi, I'm Jimmy, and I haven't got a clue but I want to make lots of tips."
One sure reason why the French are skinny is the size of the portions. Very simple solution.
Last night I had a starter of sardines with this-and-that. Delicious. Know how many sardines there were? FOUR. Perfect, really all I needed. That was followed by a salmon with a dollop of rice about the size of a bar of soap and some spinach, just delicious and of course very light. So that is why the French remain skinny in spite of their love of food.
Then I went outside for half a cigarette, Sara, and started slobbering over this mini car thingy (see photos). There was a gang on the terrace drinking up a storm and they started right in on me: Did I like the car? Did I want to buy the car? I think they thought I couldn't speak French, so when I answered them we really started to have fun. They were cool. Then they offered a package deal: the car plus the only girl at the table (very cute actually). Of course I said yes. And on and on it went. The French are extremely sociable, and as I said before, every interaction requires a conversation even if you don't know the people.
Then we went off to bed to our broom closets and I awoke early and worked on my plan, then went to the office to work with our clients until my bosses left at 5. I left with them, I am very bagged, and will just go through the motions tomorrow and maybe Monday too. I deserve it. Nobody ever gives you time off, they just talk about a balanced life style, so I will take it. I have worked every day since starting Monday the 19th and actually started before, so enough is enough.
I wanted to stay and have a last night with Brandon from Dallas but decided to move HQ to Montparnasse, which is politically located right between the Euro and French offices as I mentioned.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Settling In and Breaking Out on a Saturday Night
After 3 days I feel somewhat settled although my sleep has been disturbed each night - not sure if that is the remnants of the cold I caught in Vancouver, the time change, or both. Anyway, no problems, we are so busy there is no time to think about being tired.
On the first evening my friend went to meet his parents so I just grabbed some take-out from a bakery. On Thursday we found a cool walking street with restaurants and sat around and talked and ate and drank and people-watched. Awesome. Civilized. That is the operative word here.
Last night both team members wanted to stay later than me at the office, I was dead at 7 PM and they also wanted to hit the town, so I went back to the same place alone and sat around for a while and ate and guzzled some more wine. Lovely.
Here is the sequel to my video in Aguas Calientes Peru tee hee
Sunday June 8, 2008
Hangover Edition, Hope this Makes Sense
I enjoy translating expressions back and forth, then using them to everyone's confusion. For example, a hangover in French is called a "guele de bois" which transliterates to "a wooden head" which of course means nothing to anyone unless they already know French. Anyway, that's where I am now at 0830 on a Sunday morning. We had a great time last night!
Firstly, I would like to introduce my teammates: Corinne Gaschet from our customer Smurfit Kappa. Corinne is a Euro regional Project Manager who is located in Paris. Late 30's, career girl type, works hard, plays hard, offers to iron stranger's shirts. Fantastic person, really has her heart in all this. Then there is Brandon Verwolf, who coincidentally is also based in the US, he and I are the only remote employees in the US, he lives in Dallas. He is married with a couple of kids, he's 34, but his brain is about 75 years old. Sharp cookie.
These situations are really tricky, kind of like Survivor or something like that. You're thrown in with a couple of people you don't know, many miles from home with nobody to wipe your nose, crazy deadlines, long hours, a lot of pressure.
What we are doing is translating this huge software application that does everything for a corrugated packaging plant into French in time for a demo for our customers, Smurfit Kappa France, next Wednesday and Thursday. Impossible, but we're trying. In parallel, I am preparing my sales pitch in French for Tuesday when we hope to seal the deal. We are hoping to get some sort of a green light so we can move forward this summer and start installing in their 47 plants in France. We also have a more detailed 3 day demo scheduled for Bordeaux June 24-26 which will be entirely in French, so by then we have to have everything perfect. We will, no problem.
I could not have ended up luckier with the teammates that fate has thrust upon me!! These two people are fantastic and fun to work with and fun to go out with. I can't believe they were able to drag me out and make me stay out until 2 a.m. Can't remember the last time I made it past midnight to tell you the truth!
I worked until about 4, then abandoned ship. I went back to the hotel and tried to find a studio apartment for the 10 days after my colleague and bosses go home and before Bordeaux, but to no avail. They worked until 7, then we met up and went on a long forced march down the Champs Elysees all the way to the Louvre, then crossed over into St. Germain des Pres into the Latin Quarter.
It was ROCKING on a Saturday night. Wall to wall people and every second door in the place is a restaurant or bar of sorts.
We found a place with outdoor seating at a strategic corner and while they were preparing our table, Corinne spotted the Host from a restaurant across the street doing a mime for us about how sad he was that we were frequenting his neighbor's place. It was hilarious and we immediately agreed to jump ship, much to the disgust of the Host from the other place. People are incredibly sociable, everything requires a conversation. I know why, they don't spend their lives looking at the TV the way we do. Anyway, they traded unkind words across the street for quite a while about the situation. We had worked up a powerful thirst with all that walking, so we guzzled beer and poured over the menu. We had the usual awesome dinner, no surprise there. Brandon is tracking the number of excellent meals: We are up to 8 out of 8 now even though the filet mignon de porc was a tad tough.
Then we went wandering around a bit and found a jazz club but the entry was like 22 dollars, so I balked and we found a piano bar and camped out there. It was run by the Russian mafia, you could tell by their insincere friendly veneer. Scary. Things have changed on that front quite a bit, lots of Eastern European influence around.
So we drank and listened and kept discreetly changing the music on the computer when the singer was on break. Son of a gun if it suddenly wasn't about 2 a.m., thought, OK, time to go home. So we staggered around the warren of little streets until we got back to the Seine and Corinne got us a taxi and I showered and crashed.
Today I would like to prep some stuff for Tuesday and take them to La Defense, that 25 storey edifice made in the style of a huge cardboard box open at each end. It is both French and unique, nobody could come up with such a monstrosity. I have always loved it.
On the first evening my friend went to meet his parents so I just grabbed some take-out from a bakery. On Thursday we found a cool walking street with restaurants and sat around and talked and ate and drank and people-watched. Awesome. Civilized. That is the operative word here.
Last night both team members wanted to stay later than me at the office, I was dead at 7 PM and they also wanted to hit the town, so I went back to the same place alone and sat around for a while and ate and guzzled some more wine. Lovely.
Here is the sequel to my video in Aguas Calientes Peru tee hee
Sunday June 8, 2008
Hangover Edition, Hope this Makes Sense
I enjoy translating expressions back and forth, then using them to everyone's confusion. For example, a hangover in French is called a "guele de bois" which transliterates to "a wooden head" which of course means nothing to anyone unless they already know French. Anyway, that's where I am now at 0830 on a Sunday morning. We had a great time last night!
Firstly, I would like to introduce my teammates: Corinne Gaschet from our customer Smurfit Kappa. Corinne is a Euro regional Project Manager who is located in Paris. Late 30's, career girl type, works hard, plays hard, offers to iron stranger's shirts. Fantastic person, really has her heart in all this. Then there is Brandon Verwolf, who coincidentally is also based in the US, he and I are the only remote employees in the US, he lives in Dallas. He is married with a couple of kids, he's 34, but his brain is about 75 years old. Sharp cookie.
These situations are really tricky, kind of like Survivor or something like that. You're thrown in with a couple of people you don't know, many miles from home with nobody to wipe your nose, crazy deadlines, long hours, a lot of pressure.
What we are doing is translating this huge software application that does everything for a corrugated packaging plant into French in time for a demo for our customers, Smurfit Kappa France, next Wednesday and Thursday. Impossible, but we're trying. In parallel, I am preparing my sales pitch in French for Tuesday when we hope to seal the deal. We are hoping to get some sort of a green light so we can move forward this summer and start installing in their 47 plants in France. We also have a more detailed 3 day demo scheduled for Bordeaux June 24-26 which will be entirely in French, so by then we have to have everything perfect. We will, no problem.
I could not have ended up luckier with the teammates that fate has thrust upon me!! These two people are fantastic and fun to work with and fun to go out with. I can't believe they were able to drag me out and make me stay out until 2 a.m. Can't remember the last time I made it past midnight to tell you the truth!
I worked until about 4, then abandoned ship. I went back to the hotel and tried to find a studio apartment for the 10 days after my colleague and bosses go home and before Bordeaux, but to no avail. They worked until 7, then we met up and went on a long forced march down the Champs Elysees all the way to the Louvre, then crossed over into St. Germain des Pres into the Latin Quarter.
It was ROCKING on a Saturday night. Wall to wall people and every second door in the place is a restaurant or bar of sorts.
We found a place with outdoor seating at a strategic corner and while they were preparing our table, Corinne spotted the Host from a restaurant across the street doing a mime for us about how sad he was that we were frequenting his neighbor's place. It was hilarious and we immediately agreed to jump ship, much to the disgust of the Host from the other place. People are incredibly sociable, everything requires a conversation. I know why, they don't spend their lives looking at the TV the way we do. Anyway, they traded unkind words across the street for quite a while about the situation. We had worked up a powerful thirst with all that walking, so we guzzled beer and poured over the menu. We had the usual awesome dinner, no surprise there. Brandon is tracking the number of excellent meals: We are up to 8 out of 8 now even though the filet mignon de porc was a tad tough.
Then we went wandering around a bit and found a jazz club but the entry was like 22 dollars, so I balked and we found a piano bar and camped out there. It was run by the Russian mafia, you could tell by their insincere friendly veneer. Scary. Things have changed on that front quite a bit, lots of Eastern European influence around.
So we drank and listened and kept discreetly changing the music on the computer when the singer was on break. Son of a gun if it suddenly wasn't about 2 a.m., thought, OK, time to go home. So we staggered around the warren of little streets until we got back to the Seine and Corinne got us a taxi and I showered and crashed.
Today I would like to prep some stuff for Tuesday and take them to La Defense, that 25 storey edifice made in the style of a huge cardboard box open at each end. It is both French and unique, nobody could come up with such a monstrosity. I have always loved it.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The Old Push Back from the Gate and Leave On Time Trick!!
So last night's trip was about an hour or so late because American Airlines got us all settled in THEN said some button was wrong and they had to go over the entire plane. This way they can report they left on time. Everyone is a crook these days. Still it was a pleasant trip except for the fact I didn't sleep a wink. I did do a lot of relaxing however, so I was able to make it through the afternoon at the office today at least semi-lucid most of the time.
Arrived at Charles de Gaulle and had to wait for my colleague coming from Dall-ass. Great guy, has lived in 11 different states and knows his way around. We are visiting our European customer who is a really cool lady, even offered to do my shirts to save money LOL. Hmmm, you could be waiting a very long time for a similar offer in the US haha. Of course I politely declined and found a little place to do my laundry and iron my shirts.
Thanks to Bush's economic policy, the dollar is worth less than nothing. For example, a coffee and a bottle of water cost me $9 at the airport this a.m., my shirts will cost $5 each to launder, my hotel room is the size of a broom closet yet goes for $300. OK, this is prime real estate, the Seine is right up the street, the Eiffel tour around the corner, and you can see Notre Dame a few minutes walk away.
So, I have decided to ignore the true cost and pretend that a Euro is the same as a dollar, works for me, I'm not paying anyway, can't do anything about it.
A few observations:
I managed to stay up until 10 exactly as planned and slept mostly through the whole night YIPPEEEEEE.
Last night my friend from Dallas' parents were here on vacation so he went out with them. I had an opportunity to scout around, found a bar for a glass of wine and did some people-watching, then a cleaner for my shirts, and several interesting little stores and restaurants. I will try to avoid heavy restaurant meals but it will be tough as my buddy is counting on me to be his guide and translator until he leaves a week from tomorrow.
This trip was originally foreseen for next week, then hasty arrangements were made to advance it so we could be here and work with our customers to translate our products in time for next weeks' big presentation.
Arrived at Charles de Gaulle and had to wait for my colleague coming from Dall-ass. Great guy, has lived in 11 different states and knows his way around. We are visiting our European customer who is a really cool lady, even offered to do my shirts to save money LOL. Hmmm, you could be waiting a very long time for a similar offer in the US haha. Of course I politely declined and found a little place to do my laundry and iron my shirts.
Thanks to Bush's economic policy, the dollar is worth less than nothing. For example, a coffee and a bottle of water cost me $9 at the airport this a.m., my shirts will cost $5 each to launder, my hotel room is the size of a broom closet yet goes for $300. OK, this is prime real estate, the Seine is right up the street, the Eiffel tour around the corner, and you can see Notre Dame a few minutes walk away.
So, I have decided to ignore the true cost and pretend that a Euro is the same as a dollar, works for me, I'm not paying anyway, can't do anything about it.
A few observations:
- everyone takes time to talk, even in such a huge city. A conversation is required with every transaction.
- people put a lot of pride into their food - it is a celebration, not a gulp and run.
- everyone still walks around with their baguette in the evening
- there are practically no fat people
- there are tons of those little mini car things everywhere, not sure what they are called.
- the whole city is a post card, gorgeous architecture everywhere
- I said everyone in Vancouver smokes, here it really is EVERYONE.
- People drink wine at lunch like crazy.
- The people are extremely polite in impersonal situations such as bumping into each other on the street. I accidentally touched a couple of people with my luggage cart in the airport and they really noticed it, you must excuse yourself in these situations or else.
- Fast food is hard to come by.
- Parking is optional. People just find an empty spot on the road, sidewalk, handicapped area, or whatever, and just abandon their cars. Practical approach.
- There is no more dog poop on the streets. Paris used to be the world capital for dog poop, people scraping their shoes off and cursing and sliding and stuff. No more.
- There are no cops, haven't seen one in two days, very interesting.
- Can't find any homeless either, just the odd one here and there.
- The days are incredibly long, it is after 10 and the sun has just gone down and the Eiffel tour is all light up behind me, quite a site.
I managed to stay up until 10 exactly as planned and slept mostly through the whole night YIPPEEEEEE.
Last night my friend from Dallas' parents were here on vacation so he went out with them. I had an opportunity to scout around, found a bar for a glass of wine and did some people-watching, then a cleaner for my shirts, and several interesting little stores and restaurants. I will try to avoid heavy restaurant meals but it will be tough as my buddy is counting on me to be his guide and translator until he leaves a week from tomorrow.
This trip was originally foreseen for next week, then hasty arrangements were made to advance it so we could be here and work with our customers to translate our products in time for next weeks' big presentation.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Retour vers le Futur/ Back to the Future for Grik!!
OK kids, here we go with another "Who'd a thunk?" situation. I have been away from Europe for over 16 years after spending 13 there, so it will be strange but good to return.
Tomorrow I go to JFK and will stay overnight at the airport antiseptic hotel as it cuts about 40% and 3 time zones off the trip to make the JFK to Paris leg only 7:45 elapsed with a 6 hour time difference. Including the hotel cost it still comes out about the same or cheaper than taking the direct flight from SFO, so no problem there.
I will arrive in Paris, wait a couple of hours for my colleague from Dallas to arrive, then we will stagger downtown to our hotel and try to work the whole day Wednesday.
I should add that I saw a taxi parked at a house around the corner and have made great friends with this brudda from East Palo Alto who also spent years in Vietnam in the war and Alaska working on the pipelines. Really cool guy, makes my trips to SFO very simple.
And away we go!
Tomorrow I go to JFK and will stay overnight at the airport antiseptic hotel as it cuts about 40% and 3 time zones off the trip to make the JFK to Paris leg only 7:45 elapsed with a 6 hour time difference. Including the hotel cost it still comes out about the same or cheaper than taking the direct flight from SFO, so no problem there.
I will arrive in Paris, wait a couple of hours for my colleague from Dallas to arrive, then we will stagger downtown to our hotel and try to work the whole day Wednesday.
I should add that I saw a taxi parked at a house around the corner and have made great friends with this brudda from East Palo Alto who also spent years in Vietnam in the war and Alaska working on the pipelines. Really cool guy, makes my trips to SFO very simple.
And away we go!
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