summer lovin'

WOW. 2 months since the last post. pretty crazy. can you believe that is already august??! sorry for being so delinquent in my posts. i have been enjoying the summer here - working hard, and playing hard. the weather has been all over the place which is a little bit of a bummer, and sometimes its hard to take advantage of the awesome things you can do around the city, but all in all good fun.

One of the highlights of the summer was the weekend in thessaloniki, greece with my girl Andrea! Honestly we had an amazing time. It was such a random thing. Andrea had booked a ticket awhile back and asked if i wanted to join - i didn't have to think hard about that one. So for one of the long weekends in June, Andrea and I made our way to Thessaloniki to enjoy some fun in the sun. we arrived late on a friday and stayed at this really cute boutique hotel. we had a lot of fun - we spent a day at the beach, saw some of the sites around thessaloniki. for the record, there isnt much to see during the day in thessaloniki. Poor Andrea was so motivated every day to go sight-seeing. I would get up relatively early just to give her accompany. That is how much my friendship with Andrea means to me!! haha. ok so the sights around thessaloniki were just mediocre. BUT the nightlife was pretty amazing. they say that thessaloniki is the nightlife capital of greece, so we had some great food and great nights. so proud of my girl for letting loose and enjoying the nightlife properly! We seriously had a great time. We also figured out that we are perfect travel companions, which is important. sometimes you can be good friends with someone but the minute you travel it can all unravel so fast. people's habits become so clear when they travel - but we were successful in that journey! Here are some photos of the awesome trip:

since then, i have been traveling for work, but not as much as usual, which is a nice change. i went to Hamburg twice for a couple of trainings, which were not bad at all. I had to spend one week in Luzern (yes I know tough life) for a couple of surgeon meetings. Work has been crazy as usual, but it has been a nice chance to actually be in town during the week. This allowed me to meet up with my friends during the week and experience the Zurich Afterwork summer scene. There are quite a few places with outdoor patios and things by the lake/river and make some great places to go. Another reason why I love Zurich.

In the last couple of months, I have also had the opportunity to meet some more friends - some of them Swiss actually. it has been a lot of fun - random, but fun. So we have just been enjoying the weekends, hanging out with my friends - new and old.

So I think I have been here 8-9 months now, which is incredible. I have to say that my impressions of Zurich have not changed in the slightest. I still am in the honeymoon phase I think, but i think that is a good thing. I remember at 2-3 months into my time living in Madrid during college was different - i wanted to come home. But not here. So i was out last night celebrating my friend's 30th, and i had to meet a bunch of her friends who had flown in from the UK, and i was telling them about my time here. And reliving everything i have experienced since i got here made me realize even more that i was meant to be here. I know, i know. its so philosophical and maybe even a little cheesy. but i definitely think part of it is the people i have met. i think that makes the whole difference in the world. i am enjoying life to the fullest here and am in a content stage. i am just happy - inside and out. i dont have any complaints. i know it may seem weird that all my blog posts are extremely positive. haha one of the girls i met yesterday said i should do PR for the Zurich tourism board - hahaha i think she might be right. but im being very genuine in my emotions and my excitement for living here. i think this is where i was meant to be...

HAHA ok enough of the psychoanalysis. time to sign off and get ready for another short week. SO excited for mom and dad to come back over this thursday. We are going to be taking another holiday - this time to Austria. I am so looking forward to seeing mom and dad again and exploring Austria with them. Our objective to see Europe while i am here is shaping up nicely! So my next post will definitely be once i am back and will have more tales to share about our time in Austria!

Hasta pronto amigos!

one year older, but maybe not one year wiser!

so i know it has been awhile since my last post. may was a busy month, but a good one! since the last post, the highlight has really been Shilen's trip out to Zurich and the vacation to Spain with the family...and of course celebrating the Big 2-8 Zurich style!!

So the first two weeks of May were really dedicated to getting everything done before the big vacation. I think the first week of May was the first full week that I was here and not traveling. It is amazing how much work you can get done when you are in the office! But the biggest thing on my mind was getting all my furniture built so that i could properly welcome my family to zurich. well it definitely was a dash until the 11th hour, but FINALLY everything is set up!! no more boxes, all my furniture built, and everything finally unpacked and put where it belongs. honestly it feels so good to be settled. yeah, yeah. just took me 7 months. but it was well worth the wait. as promised, here are some photos of the apartment and the neighborhood. life is definitely good.

again, thanks to all that helped with putting everything together (multiple times). i even put Shilen to work when he got here! haha! and of course, a BIG thanks to mama patel, who helped me reorganize everything and make it perfect - like all moms do! so finally feel settled here. I'm in it for the long haul, and theres no turning back! good thing i love it here!

I was so excited to welcome Shilen to Zurich for the first time. he got here a week before mom and dad came, and i was glad to have the time to show him around and introduce him to my friends here. he got a good glimpse of my life here in zurich, and i was happy to share that with him. i was also glad that shilen was here over the weekend, so i could show him how i play hard....!! thanks to all those that met us out the weekend he was here. he had a great time and enjoyed meeting all of you guys. Finally a few days later, mom and dad came into zurich. it was awesome to show them around. there is something so special to show my parents and my brother my life here, and show them around. i think they felt much better to see everything first hand, rather than hearing about through our weekly skype calls. and for me, it was a surreal feeling to have my family here. i have studied abroad multiple times, but mom and dad never had a chance to make it out to any of those places. but im living here in zurich, and was so excited to share this with them.

so after a couple of days here in zurich, we made our way to spain for our family vacation. we really went all over, and it was an amazing time. what is seriously crazy is that ive been to spain multiple times for work since starting this job, but havent had a chance to see the sights. even crazier is that the last time that i was sightseeing in spain was 7 years ago when i was studying abroad in madrid. i couldnt believe how much i remembered!! 7 years ago, and i think i was the best tour guide my parents could have asked for! hahaha. i remembered everything like it was yesterday. and so glad to share that with my parents as well. they didnt have a chance to come out when i studied there. they always said that they wanted to visit; they thought they would visit on their own since shilen and i have already been, but it was good to show them around! we started the trip in barcelona. we definitely saw some of my favorite places - casa batllo, las ramblas, la sagrada familia, parque guell, la pedrera, plaza catalunya....etc. loved every minute of it. we then rented a car and made our way down to andalucia. we stoped in valencia on the way. beautiful coastal town. we could have definitely spent more time down there. we then finally made it to our destination - marbella. i had been to marbella before with the senora i lived with while in spain. beautiful weather, nice beaches, beautiful little town. we made day trips to rhonda, sevilla, granada. spent time in marbella and puerto banus. one of the highlights was to be able to spend my 28th birthday with the family. funny enough i had a desperate craving for some good indian food. i know what you are thinking....good indian food in spain?!?!?! well youre right - its not the run of the mill restaurant request in spain. but we got so lucky. the restaurant we found was owned by a south indian, and he was so great to us. he made our meal specially for us - special recipes and everything. the chef came out as well - grew up in gujurat, so the patel connection once again had its benefits hahaha! honestly, it was the perfect way to spend my bday...i was SO lucky that i could spend the birthday with my family and my friends. more on the big 2-8 celebration a bit later. so the vacation ended in madrid. now that was seriously a trip to have my parents in the city that i lived for 7 months. we spent 2 great days seeing the sites of madrid. it was awesome! all in all a great vacation! i realized that i love spain to vacation in. not sure if i would live there again, but i love visiting. and made it even better to spend the vaca with the fam. i posted all our pics on FB - check them out!

so the hardest part of the vacation obviously was saying good-bye to mom, dad, and shilen. what made it even harder was the fact that i was on the road the whole week after my trip. so i didnt get back into zurich until this past friday night. the week after my trip, i spent a day in madrid, amsterdam, and then salamanca.....what an exhausting week! the highlight?? getting to see my friend janeth again! i havent seen here since september. i cant believe we have been friends for 7 years - from when i was living and working in madrid. some of the best things in life are re-connecting with people. had a chance to catch up with my good friend vera after 10 years!!!! she was passing through zurich, and i was able to meet up with her for a coffee....so awesome!! i love that...and this is one of the best things about facebook. you always know where people are, so you can reconnect like this, and the world becomes smaller and smaller every day!

ok so yesterday, i had the chance to celebrate my 28th bday with my friends here in zurich. thanks to all those that came out and celebrated!! i had a great time! made me miss all my friends back home, and i have been remembering the past birthday escapades like the quarter century at rev rock, the rooftop party at cactus club, dancing the night away at saint.....all good times! i wish i could transport all my friends back home to zurich, and i wish i could have everyone in one place at one time. but nevertheless, i enjoyed the party so much! i was finally able to invite everyone over since my furniture has been all set up - it was kinda like a house-warming/bday celebration. and all you would be so proud.....i actually made sangria and guacamole! big hits of the evening. we then headed out to rimini - an outdoor bar, and then plaza for some good ol' dancing! had an awesome time and glad that i found a good group of friends here to celebrate it with. it really makes me feel so at home here.

all in all, may was an amazing month. from being able to see my family and celebrate my 28th with my friends here. its the perfect combination.

anyway, the summer is starting off with a bang! i am going to thessaloniki next weekend, so I will be sure to update once i get back! wait, did you just read that...im going to thessaloniki next weekend!!!!!! so excited. this is what living in europe is all about!

ok until next time! cheers!

A very mild April so far...

Happy Easter to all! Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday, and the long weekend, if you get one! So it's been a few weeks since my last post, but this post will probably be short as this has been a very mild April so far...surprisingly enough, not a lot to report. But I think this is a good sign. Sometimes its nice to know that life isn't always crazy and that I can have some normalcy to living in CH. I think April to date was marked by a very crazy work schedule with a lot of travel and a lot of meetings/reviews/etc - that it seems crazy how fast April has flown by.

Since my last post, I made a trip to Bordeaux, France for a very important Spine congress. It was important for us to put our best foot forward, as France is a strategic market for us. Glad to report that the meeting was a success. The city of Bordeaux itself is quite beautiful. I wish I had more time to go wine-tasting there. I did get the chance to try a proper Bordeaux Superior, which was excellent. The town itself is very clean and just impressive. Definitely a place I want to go back to.

What's nice now about Zurich is now that its warm, spending time around the lake is something I love doing. I will try and get out there at least once a weekend just to take advantage of the beautiful weather. Common theme to a lot of my weekends. I don't think I need to describe yet again why I love it - I think its pretty obvious by now. The temperature hovers around 65-70 all day, and I am looking forward to when it gets kicked up a few more degrees - then it will be absolutely perfect!

After Bordeaux, we actually had a very interesting session with our team regarding our DISC profiles. DISC is basically a personality-work type test, similar to MBTI or Insights. Very interesting to see what my profile came out to, and how that compared to the rest of the team. This profile was SPOT-ON! Sometimes it is scary how accurate these tests can be.....the profile had me pegged perfectly!

After that, I jumped on a plane to Barcelona for a User Group meeting and a course. great meetings - glad that they were both over because there was a lot of prep that went into those meetings. But my schedule has been non-stop. I got back from Barcelona on Saturday night, and got on a plane on Sunday to head up to Leeds (thats in the UK for those that don't know!!) I was exhausted to be going from place to place, but had the chance to have a proper curry in Leeds at this place called Mumtaz! Didn't realize how much I miss spicy Indian food!! There are Indian restaurants here in CH, but nothing that would actually be spicy enough for me. So I guess there are a couple of things I miss from home......

This week was another crazy week in the office, although short! We had the chance to meet our new WW president, which was very cool. And then this brings us to the present weekend! 4-day weekend here in CH! AWESOME!!! So enjoying the time off! I spent Friday at home, and actually had the chance to go grocery shopping for the first time in a few months! Oh, I swear its the little things in life! I finally had milk in the house so I could make a proper cup of chai. LOVED IT! Just missing some Indian snacks that would make my chai perfect....

I did discover a shopping haven only 45 minutes from Zurich - Konstanz, Germany. Its just over the border, but SO much cheaper. Made the trip out yesterday, which was good fun. It sits right on a lake as well, and there is definitely good shopping! Thanks to Jen for an amazing day in Konstanz!

So as I am enjoying my long weekend..i am so excited that I am home for the next couple of weeks. Cannot wait to welcome Shilen to Zurich in two weeks and see my parents in three weeks....my next trip is my holiday to Spain with the fam.....SO EXCITED AND SO READY for vacation!!! Glad I can be home....finally have the time to properly unpack and welcome my family to Zurich!!

Well, that's all folks! I will check in after my holiday to Spain - I will have more to write about at that point! Hope everyone is doing well. Cheers from CH!

March Madness

You would think having internet at home would mean that I am updating this more often - especially since I promised more frequent updates. Sorry to disappoint you all. Hey, with such long distances between posts, you can be sure that I have plenty of stories to tell....

March was an absolutely crazy month - definitely March Madness Zurich Style. It seems ages ago that I actually posted on here, but have no fear, I have enjoyed every minute of this past month. When I left you last, I was on my way to Barcelona and was hoping to go skiing that coming weekend. Well, mission accomplished on both fronts. I came back from Barcelona with some really good Riojas in prep for the dinner party my friend was going to have...duty free shopping is seriously the best! Even though I am traveling within the EU, I can still benefit from duty-free shopping every time I come back to Zurich. That first weekend my friends, Ben, Matt, and I went skiing to Andermatt - slopes about 2 hours from Zurich. So I have to give mad props to Ben and Matt who were so patient with me the whole time we were on the slopes. I definitely slowed them down for sure, but they were with me every step (and fall!) of the way. Thanks guys - couldn't have gotten down those slopes without your help!! Andermatt was seriously breathtaking. I posted some pics on FB - check them out! I honestly felt like I was on top of the world. The view was absolutely stunning, and the town of Andermatt was really cute. Definitely a spot you could enjoy for the weekend. We only went for the day, but I could see how people could make a weekend out of it. I had a great time skiing. I really think I am going to like this sport going forward. So the season might be over by now but I am pretty sure this is something I will stick with in seasons going forward. I am starting to like it, even though I am not that good, but there is no where else in the world that I would rather learn to ski.

After our grueling day on the slopes, Ben was kind enough to invite us over for a dinner party. The Riojas came in handy then! Ben made us a very decent meal with all of the proper fixings. I don't know how he had the energy to cook after a day on the slopes, but I was impressed. We then headed out to an area of Zurich called Langstrasse. For those that don't know it, Langstrasse is probably the area of Zurich that has the most "character". It is this up and coming area, but let's just say that this is the area where you see all sorts of things. If Zurich were to have a real "Red Light" district, this would be it. Now I should put the disclaimer out there that when I say red light, you have to remember that this is Switzerland we are talking about. Very different than what some of you might be thinking of....there are actually some really good bars and clubs in that area. As I mentioned, very trendy, very lively. I was glad to check out that part of Zurich. We visited some cool places that night.

So finally my furniture from Ikea was delivered. Oh man, I should have honestly just paid Ikea to put all my furniture together. Let's just say that we are now into April, and my furniture is STILL not finished. I am STILL living out boxes, unpacked. I am about 90% of the way there, but this whole furniture/Ikea thing is driving me crazy. For the record, I hate Ikea. I appreciate the fact that you can find everything you need for relatively cheap, but I hate the fact that you have to assemble everything. And some of the stuff I have --- well, you need a PHd to figure out how to put all of this together. I hate the concept of DIY...i dont think it fits my style....but this topic can be left for another day....

The only saving grace about building your own Ikea furniture is that you can have furniture building parties. Now my friends really have been great. They came over TWICE(!!!) to help me put my furniture together. Not sure why they would spend their weekends helping me build my furniture, but I have to say that I appreciated every second of it. To be honest, we created almost a routine with our furniture building parties. So the days went like this: my friends would get to my place early afternoon, we would all go grab a coffee, come back and then build furniture for a few hours. The first weekend, there was only 3 of us, and we only managed to get half of my wardrobe done. The second time, there were 5 of us, and we mastered the art of "dividing and conquering". So after a few hours of furniture making, we would head over to Paddy O'Reillys Irish Pub to watch England Rugby. I know what you are thinking....rugby?!?! England?!?! Irish Pub?!?! Well, one of my friends is a HUGE English rugby fan so we would all head over to the Irish Pub - the only place that plays the matches - to watch England play against another 6 Nations teams. In the spirit of teamwork, we thought it only fair that we watch rugby to make my friend happy after we all had built my furniture. Tit for tat...or something like that. And then we would just go where the night took us.....definitely some memorable weekends that started out pretty mundane (building furniture) but ending up in some cool places in Zurich. I will say that my friends and I definitely bonded over furniture making, I think everyone is just excited now to see how my flat will actually look like once I am unpacked and everything is set up. I know I am excited to see how my flat turns out....I will just have to host a dinner party when everything is all set and get my friends over here to see the final product. Don't worry - for all those who plan to come visit, I promise everything will be done by the time you guys come!

On the work front, things this past month have been crazy, with Business Review Meetings and a major consultant meeting I was running. All in all, everything has gone smoothly so far (thank god!) Still loving the work, and finally our team was completed in March. We are now a team of 12! It is nice to have a few more people in the office now. Not quite the size of Raynham, but good to have a bigger team. This team is really international, multicultural, with various career backgrounds, but I love it. I love the diversity of thought, opinion, styles, and I really think we can all learn from each other.

The only other thing that happened in March was that we had to say good-bye to one of our friends because he was moving back to London. That was a sad day. We definitely commiserated his last weekend in style this past weekend. I guess that is the weird thing about the expat community. Depending on the work situation, there is a higher likelihood that people come and go. It's hard to see one of your good friends leave....there were three of us that basically were the 3 Musketeers. I know what you must be thinking....how can you develop a bond that strong that fast? well, i think common experiences create strong bonds. So to see one of the Musketeers leave - definitely a sad day....then there were two, right BB?! (sorry for the inside joke...).

This brings me to this weekend. Spring has finally arrived in Zurich - and let me tell you - I thought this city was amazing during X-mas and Winter - oh man, winter has NOTHING on Spring. It is absolutely GORGEOUS here when its warm - I cannot wait for summer to be here in full swing!! I got a glimpse of what it could be like, and seriously I think this summer is going to be awesome!! I should also mention that I finally bought my TV and multi-regional DVD player. Now just got to hook it up.....but I spent most of the weekend outdoors. After shopping for my electronics, I headed to a friend's place who has a roof deck - and we just enjoyed the beautiful weather. OH MY GOSH!!! Amazing view from the roof deck and seriously had a great time. I have a feeling that chillin on the roof deck might become a regular occurrence in the summertime....I think I will be spending many a days there. Today I went and hung out by the lake. I think the Swiss definitely become different people when the sun is out. People were lounging around, bbq-ing, playing frisbee or football....SUCH a good vibe. Like I said, I can only imagine what summer will be like. I cannot wait!

So in the end, March was absolutely mad, but I loved every second of it. The more time I spend here, the more I love this city. For me, every change in weather, or any change for that matter, just unravels another side of Zurich, and every time I see a different side, I can honestly say that I am falling in love with this city. I really do love it here, and at least for the short-term cannot see myself living in any other city. I hope some of you have the chance to come visit. I would love to show you around!!

So here's to the continuing adventure! Here's to more discoveries in the city! Cheers! Until next time to all my readers out there...!

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!

Cali Stay-cation

First off, happy new year everyone! I hope everyone had a great time ringing in the new year with friends and family.

So this post comes a bit earlier than expected, with a tale different than I thought I would tell. The short of it is that our trip to India got cancelled. My parents flew out on 20th December, but could not, for the life of them, get a flight out to India. I am sure some of you experienced this first hand;  the storms in Europe and the East Coast created HUGE backlogs for travelers, and flights to India this time of year are hard to come by. My parents were supposed to fly LAX > JFK > Heathrow > Mumbai. But the farthest they go on that journey was JFK. With Heathrow shutting down, the travel was ruined for everyone. There was no way my parents were going to get through Heathrow. So they tried every other possible route....they flew from New Jersey to Chicago, got rerouted on the way to Chicago, ended up landing in Detroit, took a bus to O'Hare, and finally decided to come back to LA. The earliest they could fly out was 28 Dec, and that on a ticket that was not confirmed. Crazy, right?? So decision time for me. I got a call late Tuesday night (around midnight my time) asking what I wanted to do. Do I go to India on my own, or do I cancel my trip as well, and try to get home to California?? As much as I really wanted to go to India to see my extended family, I don't think I could spend Christmas without my parents and my brother. So I was on the phone with my parents, trying to figure out what to do...we had decided that I was going to come home to Cali...I just needed to find a flight now. I definitely thought there was no way I would get to Cali for Xmas, but even if I got here after X-mas, it was worth coming home. So I prepared for bed, and then got a call from home at 1:30am...my mom asked if I was packed because miraculously she found a flight for me the next morning....so in a mere 6 hours, I was packed and on my way back back to Cali Cali....not sure how this miracle worked out, but I was so glad it did! I was ready for my Cali Stay-cation!! I haven't been home for this long since I graduated from BU, and something inside me really wanted to be stateside this holiday season.

One of the things we have always wanted to do but never had time was to go wine tasting here in California. I mean we are so close to what some call the best wine country, it would be a shame not to take advantage of that. It's pretty crazy that I have never been! Sometimes you take for granted that which is always around you. With me being home, and everyone else not having to work, this stay-cation was the perfect opportunity for us to visit the Central Coast or Napa Valley to do some wine tasting. So as soon as I was home, we booked our trip up to Los Olivos in the hills of Santa Barbara County. Let me just say that wine tasting with the fam was soo much fun!! I had a great time exploring the boutique wineries of the Central Coast. Some of the best wines I have had, and I loved the fact that we found wineries off the beaten track. So we made our way up north, and ended up staying right outside Solvang. Solvang is this beautiful small Dutch town. We happened to come across this winery, Lions Peak, in downtown, and sat down to do a tasting. Wow! Some incredible Chardonnays!! The next morning we woke up and made our way to 3 different wineries. The first was Bridlewood. The estate was breathtaking, and I think visiting in summer would be a special treat. The wines were just ok, nothing to write home about. Our next winery was Brander...OH MY GOSH!!! Every single wine we tried was amazing. Again, we loved their Sauvignon Blancs and Syrahs. Of course we had to bring some bottles home!!! I definitely recommend Brander Winery. Great wines, small winery, personal touch by the staff. After a little respite, we headed to downtown Los Olivos. If you want to go wine tasting, this is definitely the place to go. Downtown is literally one street, but there are wineries after wineries....you don't have to travel far. This is convenient if for some reason you don't have a DD. The last winery we tried was Consilience. Some very good Cuvees and Cab/Merlot blends. Again, we just had to come home with some bottles!!

So wine tasting was a huge success!! We definitely did not come back empty-handed! I think all of us enjoyed so much, that this is something we will definitely do again.

On our way back home, there was another first for the Patel Family. We made a pit stop at the Getty Museum in LA. I'm proud of us for mixing in some art and culture with our wine tasting. We have visited some of the best museums in the world like the Louvre and the Hermitage, but it was really cool to visit one of the best museums in LA. Can you believe that I have never been to the Getty, even though I grew up here? Like I said, sometimes you take the things in your backyard for granted.

As our Cali Stay-cation comes to a close, I am so glad that we got to do things around here that we just don't ever get around to do. I am glad I got some good shopping in, and leaving with an extra suitcase....so much better to do shopping here than in Zurich. I haven't been in Zurich long enough to know where to find the things I like, or find the deals I like. Actually, come to think of it, I don't think the Swiss understand words like "deals" or "Sales". So all in all, a very successful holiday season and Cali Stay-cation!!

I am flying back to Zurich tomorrow morning, but so glad our cancelled vacation turned out into something else. I know it is going to be so hard to go back to work tomorrow, but glad I was able to come home! Not sure when the next time will be, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

I hope everyone has a wonderful new year and 2011 brings everything you desire. I know 2010 brought a lot of good changes for me, and I am looking forward to the changes in 2011.

I will definitely post again soon, as my National Sales Meetings season starts....I will definitely have more travel stories to chronicle in the next couple of months.

Until next time....!!

Sorry for being so MIA the past few weeks.....

First off, I apologize for being so MIA in the last few weeks. I cannot believe that its been almost a month since I last wrote. Where the time has gone I have no idea. Also, I can't believe we are a few days from Christmas!! That means I have been here for a full 6 weeks!! Sometimes it feels like I just got here, and other times I feel like I have been here forever. Strange how that happens.

I guess theres been quite a bit that has happened in my absence. Picking up from my last post, I not only got accepted to the apartment I wanted in Seefeld, but moved out of my temporary residence and finally into my own apartment. That, as with everything else, has come with its own case of hilarious situations that would only happen in Switzerland.

Let me just say that I haven't felt the type of relief that I did in a long time when the movers were unpacking my very own furniture. I know it sounds so simple and mundane, but I finally felt like I was home. There is something so personal about your very own furniture. I think that was the moment that I started to feel like I was home and that I am here for the long haul. Up until that point, I felt like I was on extended holiday and this whole Switzerland thing wasn't reality. But now, I feel like I am here for good, and that's some pretty heavy stuff. Ok so first off, if any of you ever decide to join me here in Switzerland, if there is one point of advise I can give when moving into an apartment - don't expect any of the fixtures to be there. What do I mean? Well I didn't realize that when the previous tenants move out, they take EVERYTHING with them, I mean everything, including the ceiling and hallway lamps. Lets just say I have been living in the dark for the last few weeks. Apparently, I am really lucky that the tenants left the stove, oven, and refrigerator for me. Everyone keeps telling me that I just got so lucky......also luckily, the landlord left me a construction style flood light that I have basically been plugging into room to room to see my way around the apartment. But funny enough, I have a routine down, and can almost unlock and lock my door in complete darkness. That's a skill for sure...

What's also pretty comical is that all my mail comes in German. So, in all fairness, I haven't started my German classes yet, but I basically take all my mail to work and have someone else translate for me. Good thing I am on the good side of the law. Could you imagine having your co-workers translate   something incriminating?!? Just another joy of living here in Switzerland. Good thing for all the translator apps out there......

I also got my company car in the last two weeks. The first drive home from the office was pretty interesting. But after the anxiety of the thought of driving here, it isn't all that bad. They are extremely strict with their traffic rules (surprise, surprise) with speed cameras and meters everywhere. And they tag you even if you are 2km over the speed limit, and fine you ridiculous amounts. Better hope you are not over 5km over the speed limit, or else your pockets will start to feel lighter and lighter. And don't even think about crossing the intersection when you see yellow. For all intense purposes, yellow means stop. No ifs, ands, or buts. But once you get used to ALL of that, its actually not bad. And all of the drivers, for the most part, are pretty courteous. They usually let you pass or change lanes without any problems.

Ok so what other adventures have I encountered?? Oh yes, my passport and visa issues. Last week, I made the trip to Bern to submit my passport for my visa to India. I had been diligent and researched everything I needed to online, through the official Indian Embassy website. So according to everything on the website, I was eligible to apply for a same-day visa. That was great news because my travel schedule wouldn't allow my passport to be gone for 3-5 days. So I take the first train out to Bern, ready to get this process over with, I get there with all my paperwork....and OF COURSE, the guy at the Visa Application center told me that I do not qualify for a same day visa, even though I had a confirmation page from the website saying I do...and this guys was SO unhelpful....he basically looked at my confirmation page and says "oh yes, it says here, but this is wrong"....great, so I was going to be without a passport for a week...He did recommend that I go to the US Embassy, which is down the street. OK, good idea. I can just get a duplicate passport and travel to Germany as planned. Well if you think the US Embassy was any more helpful, just forget about it. They might have been worse than the Indian Embassy, which is quite a feat. Needless to say, I was on the train back to Zurich, without my passport....

I tried to make the trip to Bern to yesterday to pick up my passport as I was supposed to fly on Monday. I don't think it was in my destiny to fly on Monday because of course, on my way to Bern I hit a MAJOR snow storm and basically was stuck on the highway for 3 hours. So I have to go back on Monday, and had to change my ticket to India to fly on Wednesday instead of Monday....what a complicated process!! Only now am I finding out how hard it is sometimes to have a US Passport...

Other than that, I have really just being enjoying Xmas time here in the city. It is absolutely beautiful, and one thing that Switzerland does really well is all of the Xmas markets and decorations. You do feel like you are in a Winter Wonderland. I am pretty sure this is where they got the inspiration for what the North Pole looks like. Even when it snows, it is just absolutely breathtaking, where the snow sits perfectly on the branches of the trees and the roofs of houses. As part of the Christmas tradition, I tried Gluhwein for the first time. Gluhwein is hot red wine with spices like cinnamon and things. I know it may sound gross, but it is actually SO good, and perfect when it is cold outside. It warms you right up and just makes you want to break out into a Christmas carol. I have loved being here around Xmas time - another thing to do if you come to Switzerland. Yes its cold, but its also stunning!

So there you have it. My life over the past few weeks in a nutshell. Before signing off, I would like to thank my local Starbucks for providing free wi-fi so I could update everyone on what's been going on. I hope to get internet at my place when the new year starts.

This will probably be my last post in 2010, as I am off to India for 1.5 weeks next week and don't return until beginning of Jan. Happy holidays everyone and happy new year!!! See you in 2011!! =)