Japan and Turkey Day
Hello loyal fans. I've been slacking, haven't I?
As a follow-up to the last work-related blog... nothing much has changed on the department-switching front, mostly due to the fact that I have been out of the office for the past 2 weeks. And where was I? Well, home in PA last week, and the week before... JAPAN! Yay!!!
Unfortunately, the trip there required that I spend 24 hours in transit, over my 2 year anniversary no less, but it was worth it. I finally got to sit down face to face with our Japanese subcontractors, work through some communication issues, and pry some information from them. Before I left, I was so nervous about going. I didn't know what questions they would ask and if they would respect me even though I was women, I didn't want them to see through my careful planning and realize that underneath it all I know very little. So I spent almost the whole flight over there praying for the week to be over. It turns out, I didn't have so much to worry about. Although there were a few minor authority issues, they easily got ironed out, and I really enjoyed getting a glimpse of another culture. Did you know that at 8 am the Japanese construction crew assembles and does morning calisthenics? Amazing! And I didn't get asked any questions I couldn't answer (or deflect until a later time). We worked pretty long days, and I'm sad to report that I didn't get to see much outside of the base. I did have some amazing sushi, tried some disgusting chicken parts that will remain nameless, and sang at a karaoke bar (and the bartenders sang backup for me ;)) In January I may head back over for 2 weeks, which would be a nice chance to actually SEE some of Japan. And to see some of my friends that live there. :)
Last week Matt and I spent at my parent's down in PA, along with my sister, brother-in-law, and 3 adorable kids. It was a full house :) Our Thanksgiving was pretty typical Fowler style. Nothing like 6 hyper active kids running around like hellions to make for a relaxing holiday :) My dad is pretty much deaf unless you talk directly to him, and we figured that he's mostly just tuned out the higher decibal range, so after we sent all the kids downstairs between dinner and dessert, we all started talking in our "man voices" and proved that theory. It was quite comical. :) After another round of stuffing our faces with all kinds of tasty desserts, we settled in for some friendly poker. I lost every hand, despite trying every tactic I could think of, including talking to my money and arranging them in strategic battle formations before each hand....
This week I'm settling back in to the groove at a nice easy pace. Yesterday Cathe taught me all about health insurance and benefits packages, and today I'm actually accomplishing project related work instead of HR work. I've also got my first fiddle lesson in about a month, and I hope Eilis doesn't think I suck. It was tough to relearn some of the songs after taking 10 days off, and I bet I forgot one or 2.
Oh! And this is the final week of the Shakes Pushup Challenge. I'm just barely keeping my numbers up, but I only have to accomplish about 150 pushups in the next 3 days. Totally doable.
As a follow-up to the last work-related blog... nothing much has changed on the department-switching front, mostly due to the fact that I have been out of the office for the past 2 weeks. And where was I? Well, home in PA last week, and the week before... JAPAN! Yay!!!
Unfortunately, the trip there required that I spend 24 hours in transit, over my 2 year anniversary no less, but it was worth it. I finally got to sit down face to face with our Japanese subcontractors, work through some communication issues, and pry some information from them. Before I left, I was so nervous about going. I didn't know what questions they would ask and if they would respect me even though I was women, I didn't want them to see through my careful planning and realize that underneath it all I know very little. So I spent almost the whole flight over there praying for the week to be over. It turns out, I didn't have so much to worry about. Although there were a few minor authority issues, they easily got ironed out, and I really enjoyed getting a glimpse of another culture. Did you know that at 8 am the Japanese construction crew assembles and does morning calisthenics? Amazing! And I didn't get asked any questions I couldn't answer (or deflect until a later time). We worked pretty long days, and I'm sad to report that I didn't get to see much outside of the base. I did have some amazing sushi, tried some disgusting chicken parts that will remain nameless, and sang at a karaoke bar (and the bartenders sang backup for me ;)) In January I may head back over for 2 weeks, which would be a nice chance to actually SEE some of Japan. And to see some of my friends that live there. :)
Last week Matt and I spent at my parent's down in PA, along with my sister, brother-in-law, and 3 adorable kids. It was a full house :) Our Thanksgiving was pretty typical Fowler style. Nothing like 6 hyper active kids running around like hellions to make for a relaxing holiday :) My dad is pretty much deaf unless you talk directly to him, and we figured that he's mostly just tuned out the higher decibal range, so after we sent all the kids downstairs between dinner and dessert, we all started talking in our "man voices" and proved that theory. It was quite comical. :) After another round of stuffing our faces with all kinds of tasty desserts, we settled in for some friendly poker. I lost every hand, despite trying every tactic I could think of, including talking to my money and arranging them in strategic battle formations before each hand....
This week I'm settling back in to the groove at a nice easy pace. Yesterday Cathe taught me all about health insurance and benefits packages, and today I'm actually accomplishing project related work instead of HR work. I've also got my first fiddle lesson in about a month, and I hope Eilis doesn't think I suck. It was tough to relearn some of the songs after taking 10 days off, and I bet I forgot one or 2.
Oh! And this is the final week of the Shakes Pushup Challenge. I'm just barely keeping my numbers up, but I only have to accomplish about 150 pushups in the next 3 days. Totally doable.
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