Episode 14: June 2006

We start this month’s episode with a divided Shorg -- divided in the sense that neither of us were not on the same continent. At the end of May, Neal returned to Switzerland to get back to work, while I stayed on in Australia for another week. In Melbourne, I started the month with a visit to the famous (and fabulous) show, STOMP, along with my mom and sisters. We got the tickets to the show as a belated Mothers’ Day gift, seeing as though mom so graciously had given up her day in the limelight for our wedding a few weeks earlier. As for the rest of the week, I spent it with friends and family, as well as working at Dow’s Melbourne office, which is where I started my career with Dow.

Just before I left Melbourne, I attended the wedding of one of my best friends, Melissa, to her man, Paul. The wedding was great, and the couple looked gorgeous. The ceremony was in a lovely church in Parkville, Melbourne, and the reception/dinner was at Werribee Mansion, which I must say makes for a stunning setting for such a special event. Congratulations again, Melissa and Paul!

The day after Melissa’s wedding, I packed up my things and headed back to Switzerland. I was so sad to say goodbye to family and friends but so glad that I would be joining my new husband. Secretly, I was also happy to be leaving behind the cold of the Melbourne winter and heading into the European summer. Unfortunately, our schedules delayed our reunion in Switzerland. Just as I was boarding a plane in Melbourne, Neal was boarding a plane in Switzerland, heading off to a week-long Dow leadership program in Pisa, Italy. So, while Neal was busy networking with his peers, sampling the culinary delights of Italy, and reliving his MBA days, I spent the week unpacking, settling back into normal life, and catching up with girlfriends after a month away. By the time Neal arrived on the following Friday night, we were both tired and looking forward to a weekend near home. In fact, that’s what we did – spent a relaxing weekend in Zurich enjoying the summer weather that had finally arrived.

Good thing we rested that weekend because our remaining free time was packed with activities. The next weekend we packed our bags and traveled to a city that has long been on our list: Rome, Italy. The once-wannabe archaeologist in Neal has always been intrigued by the ancient city of Rome and was very excited to be going there and to test how much he remembers from his days of studying Latin in high school.

By our own admission, our trip to Rome was a fast-paced one. We were in the city for basically a day and a half, and we intended to make the most of every moment. The weather and sunlight was on our side, as we had beautiful, hot days there, with sunlight until nearly 10 pm every night. The evening we arrived, we proved our travel savvy-ness by navigating our way from Rome’s airport to our hotel, not by using a taxi, but by good ‘ol public transportation (train and tram). Our hotel was located near the center of the action, with the closest ruins being a site called Largo Argentina and the Pantheon only a five-minute walk away. That first night, we dumped our bags in our room and walked until we found a restaurant for the first of what would be a few great Italian meals.

The following morning, after the typical European breakfast of bread, cheese, and cold cuts of meat, we took off for a long day of exploring the city. I am a big fan of the Hop On-Hop Off buses that can be found in many large cities – they are usually double-decker, open-topped buses that swing by nearly every major tourist attraction. The great thing about these buses is that they take you to each of the major spots in a city and allow you to get on and off as many times as you like. Our first stop was Vatican City (a.k.a. Popetown). St. Peter’s Basilica was impressive, to say the least. It is an enormous structure with the most intricate sculptures all around. It felt rather surreal to be standing in St. Peter’s square after hearing so much about it from others and seeing it on television. From there, we took a brief walk around the block to see if we could get into the Vatican Museums, which is how tourists get into the Sistine Chapel to see Michaelangelo’s legendary handiwork. To our astonishment, by that time (9 am), the queue to get into the Chapel was nearly 2 kilometers long! Needless to say, we chose to skip that part of the tour.

Back on the bus we went, taking it to the next major attraction: Trevi fountain. The fountain is an enormous structure carved out of a single rock and situated at a narrow intersection. The (not-so-well-kept) secret about the fountain is that you must throw in some change and make a wish. We, of course, could not let this tradition slip, so we heaved some change over our shoulders and made a couple of wishes. Locals say that the first coin you throw into the Trevi fountain guarantees you a safe return to Rome. Watch this space….

Back on the bus and over to our next stop: the Spanish Steps. Compared to some of the other architectural delights we had seen, the Spanish Steps are not the most impressive, but they are a great place to stop and have lunch, watch local artists gather their inspiration, and people-watch (all of which we did).

Next stop: the Colosseum and the Forum. The pictures of the Colosseum do not do it enough justice. It is an impressively massive structure, and it makes you stand in awe as you think about how long ago it was built, without the benefit of today’s modern tools and technology. From the Colosseum, it is an easy walk into the area of ancient Rome known as the Forum, which was the site for, among other things, political debates.

By this time, our feet had just about had enough, but our senses still craved more! So, we decided to take in Rome without having to walk. We boarded the trusty Hop On-Hop Off bus and rode it for a complete loop of the city, thus getting a view of all the monuments without having to coax our legs into walking.

That evening, the Italian soccer team was playing the USA in a first-round match of the World Cup. The city was buzzing with noise and excitement. We decided to take advantage of the beautiful evening and sat outside at a nice restaurant in the Jewish quarter of Rome. Minutes into our dinner we realized just how much the Italians love their soccer. Every score, penalty, and near-miss was broadcast to the entire neighborhood by the spectators in the surrounding apartments who would yell, cheer, jeer, and honk horns with every turn of events. It was a hoot! We headed back to our hotel after dinner thoroughly exhausted from a busy, but exhilarating, day.

The next day we were set to fly out of Rome in the evening, but that did not stop us from doing something very unusual. The previous day, we read in a tourist magazine about a festival at a village called Genzano, located about 30 kilometers outside of Rome. The village puts on an annual festival that lasts for one day. Local artists are invited to draw huge murals along one of the streets in the city. In the lead up to the festival, the village collects some 5,000 kilograms of flower petals, stores them in caves to preserve them, and then allows the artists to cover their drawings with them for one day only. The day after the festival, the children of the village are allowed to run rampant down the street, effectively destroying the artwork. This was something we thought we could not miss, especially because many Italians had not even been to the festival. So, with that as our target, we set off for a road trip.

Of course, the journey to Genzano was not an easy one. We had to take a train from Rome to the village of Cecchina and then catch a bus from there. Starting from our hotel, we made our way by tram to the main train station, Termini, where we caught a train going to Cecchina. Or so we thought. To our surprise, the train stopped one station too early and all the passengers were ushered off (with no explanation in English, of course). Luckily, the transportation authority had arranged a couple of buses to get passengers to Cecchina. We still have no idea why the train did not run all the way to its intended destination.

The bus left us at Cecchina, which was about five kilometers from Genzano. To our dismay, there was no bus there to take us to Genzano. Now what?! Luckily, there was another English-speaking couple trying to do the same thing we were and so we ventured as a group into Cecchina to find some transportation. We eventually stopped inside a bakery and asked the employees to help us catch a taxi. The owner of the shop appeared to make the phonecall for us. But then, shortly after hanging up the phone, he grabbed his car keys and asked us (in broken English) to follow him! In a wonderful gesture of kindness, the owner of the bakery piled us into his personal car and drove us to Genzano, leaving us within footsteps of the festival! In return, we bought a donut from his shop. Fair trade, right?

The festival itself was amazing. The detail on the murals was stunning, and the flower petals just made everything so brilliant and colorful. Our pictures most likely do not do enough justice to how spectacular the whole display was. After taking in the festival, we tried to figure out how to get back to Rome. This time, we decided to play it smart. We organized a taxi (not without some difficulty, though) and hitched a ride to the nearest train station that linked to Rome. We certainly cut it close -- almost missed our plane due to a ridiculously long immigration queue -- but we made it back to Zurich with some wonderful, and truly unusual, memories of Rome.

During the next week, it was Neal’s turn to face the big 3-0 on June 22. Unknown to him, his parents arranged with me to fly into Zurich that day and arrive for a big surprise. Needless to say, when Neal got home from work he got quite the surprise, as his parents were waiting for us in our living room. But the surprises did not end there. I had arranged for a group of our friends to meet us for dinner at a quaint Swiss restaurant perched on one of the hills that overlooks Zurich. The restaurant specialized in Swiss cuisine, including fondue, and even had a couple of guys playing the alpine horn to entertain us. It was a great evening by the birthday boy’s account.

Neal’s parents stayed with us that weekend, and we decided to take them to an area of central Switzerland known as the Bernese Oberland. The most famous city in the area is Interlaken (which literally translates into “between lakes”). Interlaken is located in a valley between two lakes and is surrounded by huge mountains on all sides. For me, it was my second trip there, and it was the first trip for Neal and his parents. We drove over on Saturday to the nearby town of Grindewald. From there, we had planned to take the cog train up to the famous Jungfraujoch – the highest vantage point accessible by train in Europe. Unfortunately, the variable weather forecast at the top predicted poor visibility. So, we chose option #2: a cable car trip up to the village of First where hikers and tourists can take in a truly magnificent view of the surrounding mountains and have some lunch.

After lunch, we hiked down to the next cable car stop. At that stop, one can rent “Trotti Bikes”, which are sort of like miniature bicycles which you ride standing up. Since the entire journey is downhill, the bikes are a perfect (albeit slightly dangerous) way of getting to the bottom. Neal and I opted for the bikes, while Neal’s parents took the safer (and saner) cable car option. It is very surprising just how fast those Trotti Bikes can go downhill, but the trip is manageable (if you ride the brakes!).

When we got down to the bottom of the hill, we met up with another pair from the extended Shorg family: my dad and Julie. They came over to see us, Neal’s parents, and share in our Interlaken adventures. That night, we all had dinner together and went off to bed at a fairly reasonable time. The next day, we decided to visit a series of waterfalls that are inside a mountain. The Swiss – with their fantastic infrastructure – managed to build a series of staircases inside the mountain so that visitors can get somewhat close to these gushing falls. It is simply amazing to see how much water is flowing downhill to the river below. After a nice lunch, we bid farewell to my dad and Julie and headed our separate ways. The next day, we also saw off Neal’s parents who returned to the U.S. after a short, but eventful, trip.

For our last weekend of the month, we made a last-minute decision to go to Paris. My friend, Leslie, was there with a couple of her friends following a conference she attended in Europe. At the same time, my friends Tracy and her husband Andrew, were flying in to start their long vacation in France. The nice thing about this trip to Paris is that we were not pressed to do the sightseeing “thing”. We have both seen most of the major sights in Paris – this trip was all about doing whatever we wanted to do. In my case, that “thing” was shopping!

On Saturday, Leslie and I went absolutely crazy in the stores. We walked along some of the major shopping streets in Paris and went into just about every store (by Neal’s account). It was a successful trip, and I came back with a few choice items to add to my wardrobe. And, though he may not admit it, even Neal found a few things to add to his collection!

While we were shopping, Tracy and Andrew were flying into Paris. We decided to catch up with them over dinner that night, which was at a fantastic Moroccan restaurant. After dinner, our attention once again turned to soccer. That night, France was playing Brazil in the World Cup semifinals. This was huge, and we wanted to see it. We looked everywhere for an open space at a bar, but as you can imagine, everything was taken, even standing room. Bummed out, we headed back to our hotel with the intention of cramming into one of our rooms to watch the game. As we walked up our hotel, we noticed a bar across the street that was still open. We went in and found that the bar was completely empty except for the employees and a couple of their friends. More importantly, they had the game on! So, we went inside, settled down, and ordered some drinks.

The soccer game was a great one, made so by the fact that France won. (Mind you, we are not fans of the French soccer team, but we were rooting for them since we were in Paris after all.) The people in the bar went absolutely bonkers when the game was over. The owner of the bar was so excited that he started blaring “We Are the Champions” over the stereo, and he poured champagne for everyone in the bar, including us! It was definitely a night to remember.

The next day, we joined up with Tracey and Andrew again for a Parisian picnic. Each of us was responsible for bringing something for the outing, whether it be some sandwiches, cheese, or wine. Then, we all went to a great park (brain freeze – cannot remember the name!) where we relaxed in the shade and talked for a couple of hours. Before long, it was time for Neal and I to pack up and head back to the airport. We bid farewell to our friends, got back to the hotel, and caught a taxi to the airport. As we flew back to Zurich, we realized that we were already two days into the new month. Wow, June really flew by!

There was one other thing that happened in June worth mentioning. While I was in Australia and Neal was back in Switzerland, I got a call from my boss telling me that my name had come up for a leadership role in the Workforce Planning department of Dow’s HR function. A couple of days later, I spoke with the leader of the department who offered me a position as the Americas (North America, Canada, Central America, and South America) Implementation Leader for Workforce Planning. Not only is it a multi-geography role, but it also involves managing a team of 16 reports. The only downside of the job is that it is located in Midland, Michigan…not exactly Switzerland. After much deliberation with Neal…I decided to take the job. That’s right -- we are moving to the U.S.! The move details are still being worked out at this time, but we will probably move over in October of this year.

This was a tough choice for us. While it is a great move career-wise, it is definitely a step down from a lifestyle perspective. In the end, Neal and I realized that we can conquer any location together and this is simply a new adventure for us to experience together. Helping our decision was the fact that at about the same time that I was offered my job, Neal was encouraged to move to Midland as well to join the group that his business is setting up there. So, it seems like a promising move for both of us. That’s about all we know at the moment. We’ll share more once we know more.

Of course, our impending move means that the Shorg Files will soon take on a more American flavor. Nevertheless, we are committed to providing our readers with the same ground-breaking journalism that has been banned by the Chinese government! (Neal here: On a related note, one of our readers, Hart, informed us that the JP Morgan computer system will not allow him to view the Shorg files from his office in New York. I guess we now know who runs that company, eh?)

We hope this posting finds you well. Take care out there!