Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Where in the world is....sheena!

Ok first off. All I can say is wow. It is officially 1 March, and FINALLY I have internet at home. It seems pretty amazing that I survived this long without it. But it feels so good to back; hello, world! how do you do?!

2011 has been nothing short of crazy so far. Its 1 March, and since the beginning of the year I have been on 18 flights, multiple cities, back and forth every week. Some would call this the rockstar life. They would be right, except I don't quite have the adoring groupies following me all over the place. Nor was I treated like royalty. Actually far from it. If I could describe some of the hotels in which we stayed...you would be shocked! In the interest of chronicling my life here in Switzerland, let's try to recap the journeys of Padel in 2011.

The year started off with our whirlwind tour of national sales meetings. 13 to be exact. I have done sales meetings before, but I have never done 13 of them, back to back, in all different places. I myself ended up going to 6 of the 13, but trust me that is not any easier. Every week for the first 6 weeks of the year felt like groundhogs day....same itinerary, same presentation, same discussions, same dinners. At some point I definitely couldn't remember if I had said a certain something to this group of people or not. In the end, I must have repeated myself multiple times at one meeting, because I couldn't keep it all straight. So the world tour started off in Bratislava. First time in Slovakia for me! The one memorable thing about the trip was that they had rented out a salsa club for us...that was good fun. Next up was South Africa. Now here was an interesting tale. I ended up being in South Africa for only 48 hours or something crazy like that. I think it would have been ok if we stayed somewhere central....but we ended staying in the middle of the South African mountain range, 4 hours from Jo-burg. Seriously middle of nowhere. We definitely had a few good parties down in SA though. One of the nights was rock n' roll night, and I was so happy to see everyone get into the spirit of dressing up as their favorite rock n rollers, whether elvis or marilyn monroe (yes, i am perfectly aware that she is not a rock n roller, but she fit the era and the theme). One of the highlights was definitely rocking out to the parlotones. They are South Africa's number 1 rock band, and they put on a special performance for us. Very cool! i posted a sample video on my facebook page ...check it out! I ended up getting the CD, and listened to it for about 2 weeks straight after I got back (well, not exactly 2 weeks, but whenever I was back home and on my way to work). Totally out of my normal genre of music but I absolutely loved it! So I literally got home on a Sunday morning from South Africa and left for my next destination the very next day...Barcelona. I love Barcelona, and grateful that this job takes me there quite often. We had a chance to go to one of the clubs I like the best in Barcelona....Opium Mar...good place, good music, good fun! Next up on the list was Berlin. Ok Berlin was interesting...but not in the way you think. Somehow or another our dinner was arranged at this burlesque cabaret type of place...hahaha, I actually have no words to describe what we saw....let's just say I was shocked!! I took a slight detour and added a destination on my tour...so right after Berlin, I was in Lyon. Beautiful area, but I was in and out in 2 days. Didnt get a chance to see much. After that, I made my way to Rome. Here, we were treated to a special dinner that is owned by the brother-in-law of one of our Directors. Amazing food, just overall cool experience. After Rome, we headed to Madrid. Oh there are so many wonderful places to stay in Madrid...and we didnt end up at any of them. Seems strange. The one thing I can say about the presentation in Madrid - it was different than the others because I was asked to present in Spanish. Glad I could change it up a bit, and glad I was able to get some Spanish practice in! So as you can see, these sales meetings really took a lot of energy. I wish I had more time to see more of the sites in these different cities...i will just have to add them to my bucket list.

Now I did manage to get into some fun for the couple of days I wasn't traveling. I actually went skiing for the first time! OK well i had been once before when I was about 8 up to Mt Baldy and dont think i ever graduated from the bunny slopes. So this was my first ski excursion....when in Switzerland, right?! We headed to Flumserbeg - which is about an hour or so from Zurich by the train. I started out the day soo nervous, especially when the gondola was taking us up the mountain, and you could see the view below. I was seriously thinking, "why am i doing this?? I feel perfectly fine staying on the ground...no need to travel up a mountain to have fun..." But once I got up there, and had my ski lessons, I actually got somewhat of a hang of it...i definitely need to take more lessons, but i actually liked it. We are thinking of going again this weekend, so we can get some skiing in before the season is over.

I have also been enjoying my weekends. As mentioned in previous posts, the expat community is very welcoming and friendly, and everyone is pretty tite. I do have to share one story though...this probably falls into the column of worst pickup lines ever...I just have to share with the world because it makes me crack up every time I think of this. So I was at the bar I go to on Saturdays, and all of a sudden this guy grabs my hand, and starts off by saying..."so I'm brown and you're brown, so I thought we should get to know each other." You will all be very proud, that I just walked away. Ladies, feel free to disagree, but that line would NEVER work on me....hahaha i can't stop laughing because I can't believe someone would say that to me. So I guess I have had my run-ins with the not so tite as well. HAHA.

So I am definitely enjoying life here in Switzerland....things are slowly falling into place. Now that my lights are installed (yes, finally called the electrician to come in and install my light fixtures, and no I am not typing by candlelight)!!, and finally have internet at home!! i guess its the little things! haha. next milestone is that my furniture from Ikea is finally being delivered this Monday. Means I can actually unpack all of the boxes that have been sitting here since I moved in 1 December.  Yeah, yeah. I know its March. But sometimes slow and steady wins the race! Last piece of the puzzle...buying a Region 2 TV and DVD player....yes, of course Switzerland runs on a different system than the US when it comes to TVs and things...it would make too much sense for everyone in the world to use the same standard!!

So all in all life is good. Im chillaxin with my friends...working hard, playing hard for sure, and I am loving every minute of it. Flying to Barcelona again tomorrow, and hopefully going skiing this weekend. It really doesnt get any better than this. I guess I dont have any funny Swiss stories because of all my traveling. The only thing I will comment on is the fact that I dont understand any of my mail because it is all in German. Will have to start my lessons soon....but its quite comical because I actually have no idea whats going on.

Now that I am connected, I hope to update more often. Thanks for reading. Hope you are enjoying what you have seen so far. Hope to check in with all of you very soon!

Cheers!