A Fresh Start (up)

I’m just back from our team building event in San Diego, and it was really awesome! Nothing like the cheap stuff that most companies do, but actual fun!

On Monday we went sailing in the San Diego bay, and it was my first time: I was really good with the steering wheel, I’m definitely the daughter of a fisherman . Then we had dinner at an awesome restaurant and finally drank a lot in a karaoke bar…

Today we went to the San Diego zoo (not the one I went to the last time I visited San Diego, but the “Wild Animal Park”, which is a large park / breeding facility) and we went to a safari where we could feed some giraffes! Of course I loved it: most of you know how excited I get when there is a combination of animals and picture spots

All the pictures of my team and the giraffes are here. I definitely want to live on the beach someday; San Diego is pretty awesome for the “surfer style”…

I am exhausted… but delighted! On Thursday and Friday, I was in Chicago to attend my first eBay Live!, the annual gathering of eBay buyers and sellers. I can’t really say a lot about it since it is work-related, but I can tell you that speaking with all those sheer entrepreneurs and passionate people, really inspired me and made me realize even more that I work for a company like no other (and these are my views and not the ones of my company… legal stuff ). In strategic jobs, when you spend most of your time in front of a computer, it is essential to have moment like these to meet with your customers, especially when they are so atypical, to understand clearly the impact of what you are doing on the people that depend on your company to pay their son’s college tuition or to pay their employees. Whether they are happy or not, our customers really care about what we are doing, and this is already a huge motivation factor. Anyway, I’m glad to have had the opportunity to see so much energy, passion and originality gathered in a convention center. All the official eBay pictures are here. And I’m still in love with Chicago!

Yesterday we spent the day in SF with Audrey, doing a lot of shopping . Pictures here. She cooked a delicious “poulet basquaise”, so now I’m obliged to try to reproduce her recipe  for Rémy… He’ll probably be very disappointed

And finally tomorrow I’m heading to San Diego for a 2-day offsite with my team, this is going to be fun, if we don’t get eaten alive by the nice sharks of the San Diego bay!

I know I look ridiculous with this hat, but I must say I like the picture anyway… My damn attraction for everything that I saw on American TV!!!

As you might have understood, I’m just back from France after my one-week trip. I spent a couple of days working at the eBay office in Paris to avoid losing too many days off (they are precious in the US!) so I saw everyone again: it is almost hard to imagine that the two offices are part of the same company, since the different sizes create completely different atmospheres. I must say that I enjoyed the traditional French breakfast in the cafeteria where everyone spends at least a few minutes in the morning to discuss with others around really good brioches

I presented my thesis on Thursday, got an A and a great proposal: my tutor told me that she thinks that I can get published, and that she would help me if I considered it. I am thinking about it; it is both a lot of work and a great opportunity.

On Thursday I attended the class gift ceremony and the last HEC party: I saw people that I haven’t seen in two years even if I deeply love them, it seems crazy… But during the party everything seemed exactly the same, it was so reassuring… I realize that it must be really hard for those, unlike me, who have spent this last year in HEC. For me, this week was just a nice remembrance of how it used to be; for them, it’s much more the end of something without a clear vision on the future. The graduation ceremony was really moving, especially our dean’s speech: this school really deserves its first rank in Europe, and for once (even if it is highly unusual for a French person!) I must say that I’m really proud to have had the privilege of attending such an institution. All the pictures (party + ceremony) are here.

But all this week I’ve been waiting for a “click”, that would make me think that I belong in my home country, and that this time in the US is just a nice experience. I’ve been looking for that in the many attentions of my mother, in the laughs of my friends, in the terraces of Parisian cafés… and I just couldn’t find it. Of course I miss my parents and friends, of course I miss French food and art de vivre, but I never felt that I belong there, whereas being in the US seems natural… I’ve heard the terrific question a thousand times this week: “why do you want to stay in the US?”… and I can’t manage to find a rational and therefore convincing answer to give to these people, so I always answer with the same passion that I had when I was 5 and told my mom that I wanted to live in the country of the big buildings; which automatically lead people to think that I watched TV too much and that I will go back to France when I’ll realize that living in the US is not an episode of 90210 every day. Well, I don’t want to ascertain things because you feel stupid when you change your mind despite what the proverb says, but I am *almost* sure that I’ll never feel delighted at the idea of coming back to France, and therefore will do everything I can to avoid it, even if it won’t be easy considering the visa mess in which I find myself!

Anyway, I finally took a plane back yesterday to go back to Rémy (who I missed so much this week, I am so sad that he couldn’t attend those moments with me) but since it is me, nothing could go easy: 6 planes landed at the same time in DC, so I spent 3 hours at Immigration and Customs, then I heard that my connection was delayed because of a thunderstorm in Richmond. 4 hours later my plane finally arrived but…. it had a technical problem: they couldn’t turn the computers on, and therefore couldn’t put fuel in the plane! I started to sleep on the floor of the airport (a few hours after having heard by my dean that I am part of the elite of the world, it’s somewhat ironic) and another 2 hours later, we finally boarded: useless to tell you that I am exhausted, especially after spending the entire day catching up with work emails!

Just a quick post: I’m flying back to France tomorrow for a week, to present my thesis (on Thursday)  and attend my graduation ceremony (on Friday). I can’t wait to see you again guys

Quick summary of the past week: a lot of work, a nice dinner with Nicolas and Thomas in San Francisco yesterday,  and a day in Santa Cruz with Audrey and Guillaume today. A beautiful beach (as you can see), a nice lunch around 4pm, and the visit of the “mystery spot”, a really weird place in the forest where gravitational rules are not respected, you can see it all here! Yes, we seem very stupid not standing perpendicular to the floor . Other event of the week: Remy participated to the show on BFM radio called “L’Atelier Numerique” to speak about his job; I’ll post the podcast here when it’ll be available! Yes, we will all be famous for 15 minutes of our life

See you in Paris!

Bad, bad week: a bad flu after my Yosemite trip, some tight deadlines at work, not many hours of sleep, and the confirmation that I won’t get my visa this year. Yes, dear friends, I’ll be back to Paris in February 2009! I hope that, like Nico says, “brunches with friends and lots and lots of boat trips” will compensate the fact that I really didn’t want to see the Eiffel Tower again so soon. Speaking of Paris, I’ll be there next week for my graduation: it is weird because I feel so out of touch with all this school thing, but on the other hand I feel really nostalgic that this part of my life is over. I’ll share the pictures with the nice square hat soon!

A part from that, the week wasn’t all bad: I had dinner with Seb and Valentine (from the French office) on Thursday and it was really cool, like a real French dinner in a French restaurant with a lot of talking before, between and after the meals… Seb saw that I was on the verge of getting completely crazy with the flu + the workload, so he saved me from a major nervous breakdown by inviting me that evening

Fortunately this week-end was pretty cool: Audrey turned 25 and invited some friends to a nice restaurant in SF (see picture), so I met some cool people (French, of course, can’t help it!) and then we went to a club (French, of course!) where I met an HEC from my promotion that I was supposed to meet in the weeks to come, but I guess the French community is a small world!

For this 3-day week-end, we had planned to go to Yosemite National Park, since all the guides mention that it is THE best week-end to visit Yosemite. We had planned to go boating on Bass Lake, to rent a canoë on the Merced River… I had packed all my bathing suits and light dresses, and we were ready to go!

We arrived at our hotel at night, after miles of sinuous roads: I think I had already turned green an hour before our arrival. I will never regret enough to have eaten this Burger King burger before leaving

When we got out of the car, we realized quickly that the light dresses would be absolutely useless: there was still snow everywhere! We got into the room to discover that, of course, there was to heating, which was definitely a problem since I only had a nightie to sleep! We also discovered the 20 warnings about bears: apparently 37 cars have been destroyed this month in Yosemite by starving bears! I started thinking “why the hell did I decide to come here? Wasn’t Vegas attractive enough???”

But things can always get worse: when we woke up on Saturday, it was the remake of The Great Flood, and of course, the hotel manager told us that the weather would be the same for 3 days! She even advised to go visit the Yosemite museum, displaying pictures of Yosemite: if this is what I wanted to do, I would have used Google Images, dammit!

Since I am a really stubborn person, I decided to try to see at least the most famous spots, in order not to be obliged to come back! The intensity of the rain was decreasing a bit, so we managed to see Maripose Grove of Giant Sequoias, the Bridaveil and Yosemite Falls, El Capitan… and the picture you can see is a proof that we made it! What can’t be seen in the picture is that, just after taking it, we ran like crazy to the car because we were freezing, and then spent the night watching Gilmore Girls

On Sunday morning it was getting even worse so we left without any regret, except the one of having missed the opportunity of a 3-day week-end! I am so not a “nature” kind of girl!

Since the past week has been everything but interesting, I thought I would pass on the traditional weekly update, but Seb started complaining that without any article, he couldn’t know what I had done this week. Since the answer is nothing, here I am, writing about nothing. I’m wondering how long I can continue that; after all, I went to a business school, that shouldn’t be a problem

So, to sum up nothing, I had a pretty uninteresting week, waiting for Rémy to come back from Chicago, and then spending the week-end working. Work is getting tougher, but also more motivating. I also called a few friends; I think I will never get over the fact that I miss you guys! But I might end up not missing you for long: whereas Remy got a receipt saying that he got accepted at the H1B visa lottery, I still haven’t received anything, which is not a good sign. So I might end up going back to France, whether I (and you ) want it or not!

Apart from this (still) not interesting topic, I registered for the continuing studies program in Stanford, and I will be taking a class of… acting this summer! I can see all of you think “oh my god, she really wants to end up in Hollywood!”

What else? Still a lot of nothing to talk about… Oh yes, I am getting more and more obsessed with the idea of going into the hospitality industry sooner or later, and started devouring some books on the topic. It’s weird, I feel like once you have started in a sector, it is really difficult to go into something radically different later on… Now I start understanding people going into consulting! Those who know me well know that I’ve been talking about managing a hotel for a long time, and now I feel that I really need to do it, at least some day … So who wants to buy an Inn with me? I already have a partner (Manue, if you read me ) but except if she has been hiding her fortune for many years, I doubt that we will have enough money to do that now and alone … Hopefully, my grand father always told me that passion is more important than money to achieve your dreams, and, stupid as I am, I still believe him!

Ok, enough “nothing” for today! Just in case you stumble upon this blog looking for interesting content, insights about tech and entrepreneurship, I remind you that this blog is now for friends and family, or people interested in expatriation (or interested in “nothing”!) but that I still continue to publish more interesting things (it’s not hard!) on Tech it Easy. My latest pieces include an interview of Alain Romang on how museums can benefit from the Internet, and a book review of The One Minute Entrepreneur from Ken Blanchard. Enjoy (or not) !

Hopefully, I will have cooler things to say after Memorial day week end in Yosemite!

Remy had a conference in Chicago this week so I went with him for the week end. This city is simply awesome! It is a rare example of what my ideal city would look like: there are pieces of art everywhere! All my pictures are here.

First of all, we decided to be fancy and booked the Sheraton for 2 nights: and I remember the time when I said that I was a really simple person…! Truth is, I really enjoyed the sweet sheets and pillows, and the room service of the Sheraton… It feels good not to be a student anymore

In a nutshell, we took the architectural boat tour which describes the most amazing buildings I’ve ever seen, then we took a walk in Millennium Park and saw the great Cloud Gate and we spent at least half an hour watching ourselves in this bean-shaped mirror. If you don’t know what the Cloud Gate looks like, you should better check my pictures, otherwise there is no way to explain what it is

In the evening we went to Shula’s steakhouse, and for a carnivore like I am, Chicago is a real paradise! Then we headed to Kingston Mines, the most famous blues club in Chicago, and one of the bands was great: J.W. Williams & the Chi-Town Hustlers are really worth listening to.

On Sunday we went shopping on Magnificent Mile: and entire mile of great stores, isn’t it supposed to be called heaven? Then we went’ to Gino’s East to try the famous deep dish Chicago-style pizza: 6cm of toppings!! Finally we went to the Chicago Museum of Contemporary art: even if the Koons exhibition only starts in two weeks (I was so frustrated!!), we got the chance to see some amazing pieces, including a big shell in which you can lie down!

Going back to work after a week end like this is kind of tough, especially since I’m all alone in a big empty apartment … And you guys, what are you up to these days?

I had a great week, this kind of week that makes you feel more and more at the right place. So, in bulk:

-  The season 2 of Greek started on ABC Family, and this was really the highlight of my week… Ok, I’m kidding (not so much actually).

-  I also passed the written test of the driving exam, so now I need to pass the behind-the-wheel test and I’ll be done with Vietnamese driving instructors hitting me when I do something wrong and braking violently while screaming in an incomprehensible language

-  I also tried driving a go-cart for the first time in my life, as part of a corporate team building event, and it was very fun, even if of course I was the last one of the race, which most of you would have totally expected from me . Pictures are here.

-  I had brunch in SF on Saturday at Perry’s, a very American place, with Guillaume, a very nice French expat, who gave me great advice on how to settle down efficiently here. It was great to finally have an occasion to meet people outside work colleagues, thanks Guillaume!

-  Following Guillaume’s advice, I visited San Juan Bautista today, a small city lost in the mountains, where Vertigo from Hitchcock has been shot. As you can see in the picture, you can find there, apart from a beautiful Mission to visit, buildings reminding westerns, except that Harley Davidson have replaced horses! All the pictures here.

-  I bought a BBQ, so now I start feeling really American

Is there anybody here? When I take a look at my stats, I guess that there is nobody left

OK, I haven’t updated this blog for months, simply because the past 2 months were simply a transition period when I had nothing, absolutely nothing, interesting to say. I spent these 2 months with my family in the South of France, writing my thesis (almost done!) and being the more stressed girl on the planet because both my boyfriend and I got issues about our visas, and I was thinking that we were never going back to the US as we initially planned. Finally, we both received our beloved visas this week, and we are leaving on Friday

So I have decided (finally, after many hesitations!) to keep this blog as a more personal one, where I will speak about my expatriation and my experience in the US, and to keep the more professional stuff on Tech It Easy, that I haven’t updated in a while either.

So, of course, a lot more to come here about my first days in San Jose by the end of the week (if strikes in France don’t get worse and I manage to leave!)…