"The First Day"

So, today was my first day in training :)  I am here with 111 other people from 15 nationalities!  There are people here from Germany, Poland, Russia, Thailand, China, Japan, France, Spain, England, Kenya, Canada , USA, Mexico and at least two others I can't drum up at this late hour :)

Now that I have assembled my camera and begun to document my adventure, I can give you the tour.  I am staying in a suite at the Novotel in Clermond Ferrand.  It is quite nice!  I have a lovely bathroom with a bathtub AND a shower.  Note that all my woman tools cause a great deal of clutter I am not used to dealing with (makeup, makeup remover, face wash, perfume, and curling iron).

There is a beautiful sitting area with a couch/cot, a dining table, and a kitchenette (not shown but to the left).  I have precious little storage space for my clothing, so I had to convert the silverware drawer to be used for undergarment storage  :)  I learned at breakfast today that I am not the only one to have done this, so it seems to be a logical choice.

The bed is nice (though quite firm) and I have a TV on a stand with wheels that I can strategically place just about anywhere I like.

In case you are wondering where the most important item in the room is (it was notably absent from the picture of the bath room), it is in a separate little nook on the other side of the suite (took me a while to find it, as it is hidden around a corner and behind the kitchenette).

There is a communal ironing room......this is an interesting gathering point.  It turns out that french irons do not have steam (or at least not the one provided by the hotel).....so ironing is a bit of an art form (involving a spray bottle of water and some skill in determining the proper temperature of the iron and quantity of water). I ironed my entire wardrobe last night, and succeeded mostly (less one slightly melted silk top).

Near the ironing room is a workout room.  I'd like to think I will spend a lot of time in here.....but I can hear some of you laughing already.  Apparently at least 20% of my fellow stage mates enjoy running, so there was talk of the formation of a runners club.  I suggested a complementary remedial club and so far we have a great following!  Our only activity so far consists of visiting the workout room to raid the water bottles (complementary from the hotel) and to snap this photo.

I declared that my main goal for this trip was to lose at least 5 lbs (to which Shannon cackled).  France is the center of fashion AND good food.  The people here are generally quite thin, but my stage mates and I have decided that it can't be related to diet (neither variety or quantity).  Our conclusion is that the lack of obesity is either due to dehydration (you can see there is very little water consumption and quite a lot of alcohol consumption) OR due to a high rate of intestinal parasites :)  Tonight I enjoyed a lovely dinner with several of my North American and German colleagues.  The gentleman in the black sweater on the left was our HUMOROUS and quite TOLERANT waiter.  He was very enjoyable, although he did give me a terrible time about ordering my fillet well done :)

He was nice enough to take this picture of our group.

So, now that I have a full belly and am completely worn out by the day of introductions, instructions, and assignment of teams, I am going to face-plant in my bed.....after removing the makeup and putting on my slob garb.