The First Week

So I have been here one week now and I am so excited. After arrival on Saturday, I walked around and went to sleep. On Sunday, I went with my Welcome lady to get my luggage etc. and then Rodney and Simone came and picked me up. For those of you who don't know, I used to work with Rodney at UPS, his wife Simone was sent on assignment here, and it is completed unrelated but very nice that we all ended up moving at the same time. I was so glad they got me because I didn't have a phone and didn't have much to do since I only had a little luggage. We went and watched a beach volleyball tournament in the middle of the city. It was men's tournament and you can buy Prosecco in a can so all was great.

I couldn't have asked for a better first day of work. My first role is Operations Portfolio Controller and I am learning so much. It's funny, one of the people that our group supports is Simone's. I have my own office with a window on the seventh floor. Two other people started at the same time and they set up lunches etc. with members of the department. We were invited out for drinks that night and ended up at a really nice outdoor bar at the Rhine.

Tuesday was a bad day...not all day, but I was so happy to buy this Orange Flybox for internet access and then when it didn't work...

Wed we had a scheduled lunch with another member of the program who turned out to be my assigned buddy. The team I work on is restructuring so we had an overnight teambuilding meeting. We went to this lovely hotel in the country. The meetings are so organized and they have "catalists" that run them. It was great as I got to meet everyone and we had a great dinner that lasted until 11pm. The next day after our sessions, we hiked up a mountain and ate lunch at a restaurant at the top with a great view of Basel and France. Friday my air container came with some more essential items. I live in a cute little temporary apartment so I'll get my other items in a month or two. That night we went to Paddy's for drinks. Then we went back out at 11p for a night on the town. It was nice...yes that sums it up.

After very little sleep I decided to test the whole bike riding thing. Interesting. I made it to Rodney and Simon's and we got on a train to Zurich for the street parade. House music, half naked people, drunken debauchary, great times. We didn't really partake but we did get inside all of the action. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Parade

Today I am catching up after a very exciting week. Don't worry; I won't have a daily recap next post...just this first week.