42 - Week 6 5ieme: Ship in a Bottle - Geneve

Friday, April 4

It was a long one today but a good one.  After making it to the office to listen in to a presentation among colleagues, I packed bags and headed for the train to visit my company's Genevan headquarters.

My visit there featured different branches of R&D, very different businesses, and a highly automated production facility!  I also got to experience the cafeteria that so many people at the other site say is just ever so slightly better than where I've been eating the last two months.  Oddly, it seems the building offices have gone open office but the cafeteria included much small and exclusive seating options.  Maybe there's a need for more privacy when head honchos could be dining among us?

I'd heard stories about the company having a sailboat inside our corporate headquarters; still, it's one thing to hear about it and another to see the thing for real.  ...How?  ...Why? 

The lobby included a bunch of memorabilia regarding the company's (or legacy company's) roots; I think I'd known many of the story beats from before but it was still neat to explore the display cases.  It reminded me of the museums I'd visited in Grasses, though with way fewer tourists milling about.

In the US, our sites have big signs with the company name on them; here, I don't think that's the culture.  Neither this site (I don't count a big banner) nor the other one I've been working at have such a sign.  But I did get a kick out this road construction sign saying "over there" 😂

After work, I made my way home to pack my bags for the weekend.  Then I turned around with my suitcase in tow and made my way to the station to join colleagues for dinner in Geneva.  I missed their apéro hour but joined them on the journey to a restaurant for pizza.  I managed to eat most of it in the French knife&fork style but had to finish the last slice with a Jersey fold.

It was a lot of fun with a lot of conversing french today, both during my visits and at dinner.  I think I do ok in 1:1 or even 1:2 conversations, but once the number gets above three, I have a hard time keeping track of everything.  

From dinner, I grabbed a train to begin my weekend travels: I arrived in Bern just before midnight.  I was surprised to see the station abuzz with people but was too tired to think anymore of it.  I was able to get into my hotel room thanks to a combination emailed to me for a lock box.  The floors were kinda creaky in the hotel but the price is right and the bed is nice and comfy 😴

Midnight in Bern and the train station is still abuzz with activity.  I never would've imagined this many people could be out and about late at night in Switzerland, it completely contradicts everything I've seen over the past month and a half (granted, I've been home by 11pm by the latest every night so I haven't been looking for night life).

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