Stress Reliever

So, this whole experience is quite contrived I am sure.  I have lost track of the number of teams I am working on now.  So, you already know about my diverse "M" team.  It is the most diverse group I have worked with and I am sure will be my favorite.  I have another team that is my activity team.  We have been given a very complex and difficult task that will last BEYOND the end of the training.  I have observed today that we are a team of 25.....who are almost exclusively physicists and engineers....most of whom have a type "A" personality, exhibit a lack of creativity and humor, and have a strong opinion about how to manage people and projects.  I think I am the odd man out here.......I am the silly one.....although I admit it is hard to act silly in a sea of serious people.   Luckily I have another teammate who also would like to be silly.  Maybe together we can bring some sanity to this group :)  My mission in this team is to accept that I can't fix everything :)

I am also working in a team that is exclusively American.  This team has been given a project that is all about creativity and self expression.  We are competing against the other nationalities and have been asked to make a work of art that displays the values of our country.  This should be interesting......

My fourth team hasn't met for the first time yet, but I have observed already that this team is predominantly french.  This one should be the most interesting.....as it is a consumer focus group :)  If Tuesday is a rough day for me, you'll understand why.  

I suppose I will learn a lot in the next few weeks about how I interact with others....how people of different cultures interact, and how efficiency and end result can be different given different team dynamics.

Since I spent the entire afternoon with the engineers (I am sorry guys but I am a socialist at heart), by the time we escaped this evening, I was ready for some stress relief.  It is also interesting to me that the Americans and the Germans seem to be most compatible and easy to intermingle.  The Russians make a close second.  Tonight the American-German contingent decided to have dinner and drinks to detoxify.

The proprietor of the restaurant enjoyed our visit so much that he gave us a bottle of some kind of hard drink (it tasted like ashes so I'm guessing it is related to some kind of french whiskey).  The coolest part was that it was served in a bottle that looked like the Eiffel tower.

We all seemed to enjoy it

I suppose I will have to remember NOT to let my coworkers handle the camera (particularly intoxicated ones).  I think this is an indication that I won't have a lovely picture of myself in a natural setting to send to friends and family :(

After dinner and drinks, two of our coworkers decided to go for a run.  We were quite surprised by their commitment.  However, we were a bit afraid they might not return safely (after all it isn't a good idea to drink and run).  In any case, they DID make it back.  I only know this because I heard a key in my hotel room door sometime later.  I knew what it was right away.  One of my friends who went running "lives" directly above me.  I am proud that he was able to find his way back to the hotel, but unfortunately, he WASN'T able to discover the correct floor.

Tomorrow we are going to explore the city of Lyon together.  In particular, we are going to the OLDEST parts of the city.  We will see a lot of Roman architecture and of course will have a fun time. On wednesday, I registered 19,000 steps on my pedometer.  I will see if I can break this record tomorrow. Of course I will take many photographs.  I love you girls (and honey).  I wish you were here to experience the wonderful French culture.  I did get a green guide to Auvergne and Rhone Valley today.  Now I should be able to navigate without trouble!!!   Sunday, there is a plan to go hiking in the mountains.  Next week, we will go to an air show and a rugby match!  I am hoping these breaks will keep us all sane.  I am still waiting to decide if this experience can be compared to a reality TV show.  So far, I am leaning towards the apprentice (with the Mole coming in a close second).