Monday, December 25, 2006
Merry Christmas
There are about 15 more minutes of Christmas left here in Japan so before the clock strikes 12, here's wishing everyone a very merry Christmas. Open presents, drink eggnog, and be merry...I'm off to bed! xo
Friday, December 15, 2006
All I seem to manage...
...is random updates after it's been too long. I got my annual Christmas call today from Carmine's (the uptown one, of course) as my friends drank Sambuca in honor of a long time Christmas tradition (the Carmine's dinner and subsequent booze-up/carol fest) and I, sadly, worked. They mentioned that I haven't written anything in forever so could I get on the ball. Here's an attempt, girls. I miss you all, loved the call, and so wished I was there!
I did start writing an entry when I got back from Central Asia in October. However, a two week vacation to a new place complete with lots of details and many stories proved too much for my simple writing skills and I gave up. It's still in draft mode. I should just post it for the hell of it...but probably won't. I'm too anal-rentative for that. The trip was fabulous. I sent the pictures and tried to be as descriptive as possible so can that do?
I got back from Uzbekistan and had a pretty low-key November. We spent most of the month at work preparing for November 30th or the fiscal yearend at MS. Lots of work but it went off without a hitch and everyone seemed very happy. I did get to participate in some recruiting and ended up going to Beijing for 4 days over Thanksgiving. We were recruiting students to enter the Graduate Training program that is going to be run in Shanghai next year. I spent 3 days up staring at 7:00 and ending at 11:00 interviewing and being a cheerleader. It really was a fantastic experience. I spoke with college graduates 8,000 times smarter than me and almost 10 years younger than me who wanted to work at MS because they wanted to participate in the growth of the Chinese economy and in their spare time, create world peace. Yeah, nothing like a good shot to the ego to make you feel like a winner. But hey, I got to see Tiananmen Square and have Peking duck on Thanksgiving! Awesome. I hope everyone at home ate lots of turkey and watched lots of football and had a lovely Thanksgiving.
Jane is here now and we are off to Singapore on Sunday. Couple days at a spa and then rest of the time in Singapore, eating and shopping and relaxing. I cannot wait. I am desperate for some down time. I'll be back to Tokyo on the 23rd to spend a very, very quiet Christmas by myself. Yes, I am really wishing it didn't work out this way but there's not much I can do about it now. I did take the day off so I least I don't have to be working on Christmas Day but part of me wonders if that is a good idea. It's one thing for Christmas to be just another day when you are on a beach somewhere but quite another when you are at home on the couch watching movies. I'll have to think of a way to make it special. At least everything will be open and Timon and Gem will be around. We are thinking either English pub or Gordon Ramsey for dinner. I'll check in when I get back to wish everyone a merry, merry...and will try to not do too much in Singapore so I can actually blog about it. :)
I did start writing an entry when I got back from Central Asia in October. However, a two week vacation to a new place complete with lots of details and many stories proved too much for my simple writing skills and I gave up. It's still in draft mode. I should just post it for the hell of it...but probably won't. I'm too anal-rentative for that. The trip was fabulous. I sent the pictures and tried to be as descriptive as possible so can that do?
I got back from Uzbekistan and had a pretty low-key November. We spent most of the month at work preparing for November 30th or the fiscal yearend at MS. Lots of work but it went off without a hitch and everyone seemed very happy. I did get to participate in some recruiting and ended up going to Beijing for 4 days over Thanksgiving. We were recruiting students to enter the Graduate Training program that is going to be run in Shanghai next year. I spent 3 days up staring at 7:00 and ending at 11:00 interviewing and being a cheerleader. It really was a fantastic experience. I spoke with college graduates 8,000 times smarter than me and almost 10 years younger than me who wanted to work at MS because they wanted to participate in the growth of the Chinese economy and in their spare time, create world peace. Yeah, nothing like a good shot to the ego to make you feel like a winner. But hey, I got to see Tiananmen Square and have Peking duck on Thanksgiving! Awesome. I hope everyone at home ate lots of turkey and watched lots of football and had a lovely Thanksgiving.
Jane is here now and we are off to Singapore on Sunday. Couple days at a spa and then rest of the time in Singapore, eating and shopping and relaxing. I cannot wait. I am desperate for some down time. I'll be back to Tokyo on the 23rd to spend a very, very quiet Christmas by myself. Yes, I am really wishing it didn't work out this way but there's not much I can do about it now. I did take the day off so I least I don't have to be working on Christmas Day but part of me wonders if that is a good idea. It's one thing for Christmas to be just another day when you are on a beach somewhere but quite another when you are at home on the couch watching movies. I'll have to think of a way to make it special. At least everything will be open and Timon and Gem will be around. We are thinking either English pub or Gordon Ramsey for dinner. I'll check in when I get back to wish everyone a merry, merry...and will try to not do too much in Singapore so I can actually blog about it. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)