Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel.
Marc Cohn, "Walking in Memphis"
I'm sitting in the McDonald's in Zermatt right now (so American, I know) eating a cheeseburger and fries. It's AMAZING. But, in truth, I'm only here because I couldn't find anywhere else with free Wifi. On the whole, I've found it much more difficult to find Wifi in Europe than the US, where we expect every coffee shop/restaurant/fast food joint/burrito shack to have it. I need to apologize for the lack of updates, as the schedule we've been operating on in NGA has left me with very little time for frivolities like blogging. From here on, I would recommend checking back on the weekends for updates. More than once a week will be unlikely. Fortunately for me, I absolutely love it here.
(As a side note, "Last Dance with Mary Jane" by Tom Petty just came on the radio. I haven't been able to figure out the Swiss music selection...it seems to be an eclectic mix of mid-90's hits combined with obscure oldies. This ties into the song selection from above, which came on the radio during breakfast. But back to the blog...)
Monday and Tuesday were spent at the Centre (our office in Vevey) and consisted of basic orientation activities and meet-and-greets. Compared to the Purina office in St. Louis, the Centre might as well be Club Med. The cafeteria would be considered fine dining in the US (I had lamb and cous cous for lunch on Tuesday) and there are baskets of free fruit sitting around for anyone to take. Also, unlimited supplies of free coffee, hot chocolate, etc.
Wednesday we moved to Rive Reine, Nestlé's executive training center, where we'll be operating until next Friday. Both the Centre and Rive Reine sit right on Lake Geneva and present a substantial risk of daydreaming of you dare to look out the window. The NGA team itself is better than I could have ever imagined, with 60-ish (I think) auditors from all over the world making up one big extended family. I really do need to work on my language skills, though, as the weaknesses of an American education become apparent when surrounded by people who speak three, four, or more tongues.
It's not all work, though, and now I get to talk about our ski weekend in Zermatt, which has been incredible. On Friday night we boarded a double-decker bus with 25 bottles of champagne and started the three hour drive (try pulling that off in the US). Once in Zermatt we checked into the Youth Hostel and made our way to a local bar, where we had the basement to ourselves and unlimited food and drink. I also gained my first exposure to what I'll call "Euro-dancing," which consists of raising your hand in the air while rocking out to songs like "Who Let the Dogs Out." And who could forget the classic "Lollipop" (not Lil Wayne...think 1950's). Oh, and the chicken dance. Seriously.
Saturday we woke up early and started skiing. Not much needs to be said about this, except to note that Swiss mountains make all US skiing look like Gatlingburg (for my Tennessee friends) or Hidden Valley (for the StL folks). Saturday night, though, was where the real fun started. We took a gondola up a mountain, followed by a rather lengthy trek in the snow, to a restaurant called Les Marmottes. Fondue was the Plat du Jour, along with various carpaccios (I think) and a selection of drinks (including Coke Zero). After dinner, the real party started.
Picture it. Almost all of the NGA auditors, on top of a mountain. It's 11:00 PM or so, and completely dark. We all have sleds (sledges, here) and a little LED lamp on our heads. And then we go. I don't know that I've ever had as much fun as I had speeding down the mountain, on a rickety old sled, with basically a flashlight to see by. It was surreal, it was unreal, and it was a blast. Oh, and it was COLD.
So that's about it. You guys are all caught up on my week so far. I wish I had picture updates, but I haven't gotten around to pulling them off the camera yet. Until next weekend, I hope everyone has a great week, I miss you all, and I'll talk to you soon.
