Getting Used to France...

So when I decided to move to France I knew things would be difficult at first, but yesterday I had some more fun stuff to add to my list. I had to go to the grocery store so the guys at work told me where to go. It is one town over and I made it there without my GPS. I also needed gas so I stopped at the first station and it would not take either of my credit cards so instead of paying with the cash I had, I decided to keep going.

I went to the grocery store and made my way to all of the aisles and got everything on my list. I got to the front of the store to check out and was a little upset when the lady tried to ask me how much my bananas weighed. How should I know, don’t you have a scale? I didn’t say that, but short version, I did not get any bananas. I guess I need to weigh them in the back.

So after paying, I go to the gas station outside of the grocery store. Again, my cards will not work. I call the guy at the office to see if I need to prepay with cash or how it works. He said, just pump then pay at the window. So I go to the window, try to give the lady money before I pump my gas. She speaks no English and proceeds to tell me to go to pump 5, 6, 7, or 8. After thinking about the numbers she just said in French. I figured it out, since numbers are one thing I know in French. So I go to pump 5, put over $60 worth of gas in my VW Golf. And it’s diesel, the cheap gas here!! I paid for my gas, and went on my way.

One thing that it has been hard to get used to are the small streets. I swear I am going to lose my mirror passing some cars on the road I live on. But I am adjusting and getting used to it. It is just part of the learning experience.

Today was a good day. Skiing all day with some coworkers and then dinner at their house with some of their friends. We have decided that each couple or single person will make dinner one night for the group. The food must be native to their region. So I am making burgers on the grill and my famous potatoes. Should be fun!

Check back tomorrow for more skiing news and some pictures. Miss you all and especially my peeps who are in MN right now for the Big Ten reunion, wish I was there.

Farewell Tunisia... What a Way To Go!!

So last night we had our closing dinner for the French dealer meeting. It will go down as one of the coolest experiences of my life. To start, we all gathered outside the hotel as the drummers played and the dancers danced. As we began the procession for the ¼ mile walk to the edge of the desert, we were lead by 3 men dressed in full Tunisian garb mounted on horses, dressed up as well.

We marched our way, all 200 people, into the desert where the camels and donkey drawn carriages awaited us. Me and two of my coworkers asked the classic question, camel or donkey? Of course we chose camel. It’s a once in a lifetime chance for me to ride a camel in the Sahara desert, so I had to take it.

We walked down the lineup of camels looking for the one that caught our eye. I had a native grab my arm and lead me to my camel. Not sure of his or her name, but I will call it Judy. Just seemed to fit. As I climbed on, as soon as I was seated, Judy hopped up. Scared the crap out of me as she was very tall and I was not ready for that. But once I got stable, it was an amazing view. Over 100 camels standing all around me waiting to walk into the desert. I had a smile on my face the entire time. I captured some good pictures, but as the sun had set some are a little blurry. There is a slideshow of all of the adventures of the night on the right of the page.

Once we got to dinner, the atmosphere was amazing. There was a large bonfire in the middle of camp ignited by palm leaves. There were 14 tents set up for us to eat dinner. Each had two long tables in them set up for 12 people each. We of course crammed 16 at our table. I ate with the staff of Polaris France. They are having fun with me teaching me new words and phrases. They are very patient with me and so far they seem to like having me around. I help them with their English as well which they appreciate. I have started a list in my notebook of phrases and words I have learned in French and their English meaning, my study guide if you will. I hope to keep adding to it as I go.
Dinner was served and started off with my new favorite in Tunisia, barley soup. Served with of course, French bread. Then it was starters, not sure what was in each piece, but I like most of them. Then came the main course. I am not sure what kind of animal it was, but below is a picture of what it looked like before it made it to my plate.

It was not bad. I have been making an effort to try everything new I see, except the fish. I was told that it is not good in this part of the country as we are pretty far inland.

After dinner we joined the dancing circle around the bonfire with the drummers and dancers. It was a lot of fun and everyone was smiling all night. I made it back to my room around 11pm, so not too late and now I am waiting for our team to leave for the airport in an hour or so. I will be in France for 3 days before I take off for England for 4 days. I will try skiing this weekend and doing laundry and some shopping. Should be a good weekend.

I will also be talking to some good friends this weekend. The 10 year reunion of when we won Big Ten’s is this weekend and Terri, Jenny, Amy and Emily will be hanging out. It is on their agenda to call me and give me the good stories on Saturday and Sunday. I look forward to those calls.

Hope all is well. Signing off from Tunisia, with love.

One More Day....

This blog is a day delayed, we lost internet for a while....
Below are some pictures from my ride today. We drove for one hour into the desert and then rode for 1 ½ hours. It was a very winding ride through many dunes. It was amazing to see the vast difference from our ride the other day. The dunes on Saturday were smaller and more frequent. These dunes were like carving our way through mountains. We were whipping sideways at times and wrapping around the curves of the sand. We have about 12 ATV’s and 6 RZR’s.

Today I am just finishing up some work and then attending two last seminars. Tonight is the camel ride!! It will be dark, but I hope to get some video or pictures of the entire event.
Thanks for checking in. I hope you find entertainment and some enlightenment from the blog. At least you can get a smile seeing the crazy things I am doing.
I want to say hi to the entire Jashinsky clan. Terri tells me that she has her mom, sister and grandma checking the blog, so hello Menomonee Falls!!

The Meeting Begins....

So today we kicked off the dealer meeting. 200 people arrived last night, welcomed by locals mounted on 2 white camels and 2 others with swords on donkeys. There was a 5 piece band, or one flute and four drums playing local music as they arrived at the hotel in 40 SUV's. It was quite a site to see.

Today I am just helping with the meetings. Doing some work when I can to stay caught up.
Yesterday I took another ride, this time in an SUV, into the desert. I am looking forward to our big ride in the dunes. I will probably do that on Wednesday.
Not much more to report, pretty quiet day for me so far.
Hope all are well and staying warm in MN!!

Love to all.

My Crazy Adventure

Below are some pictures from my trip in Tunisia so far with some explanations of the pictures. I am also working on a slide show to add with all of my pictures from here. Hope to have that done later today.

These two 747's belonged to Saddam Hussein. During the frist gulf war he flew them to Tunisia and then did not pay the Tunisian government the taxes he owed so they would not let the planes leave. They have been parked in the same places on the airport tarmack for almost 20 years.

This is the great salt lake. Normally dry. The previous 3 days of rain made it look like an ocean. This bus has been stuck there for many years. There is normally water right below the surface of the sand so people think they can drive on it but find a different story once they try it. Many have been stuck, but I hear it is fun to ride ATV's on it.

This is about 100 meters from our hotel. Douz is the town we are staying in and translalted means "door to the desert". This is the beginning of the Sahara desert. To the right is Algeria and to the left Nigeria.

Of course we are friends with the bartender!! This is Rihad. Also called Zazoo. On his head is a Chica or water pipe. We all took our turn smoking the sweet apple tobacco inside of it. I did not inhale, but smoked it like a cigar. It was a very sweet smoke. Only two of us on the trip so far are non-smokers so for 5 minutes one night I fit in with the rest of the group when I smoked the Chica!!

We finished setting up for the meeting early so we were able to do an amazing ride in the Sahara. We rode for one hour, stopped and had a BBQ in the middle of the desert, then rode home for one hour. The dunes were amazing. Jumps and drops, it was a little scary, but you learn how to read the dunes. Caution is key. I am a little sore today and have some blisters on my hands from the twists and turns of the ride, but it was a great experience.

This was the biggest dune we rode up today. This is me. I guess when we go deeper into the desert later this week we will have dunes 3-4 times bigger than this one. This one was about a 6o foot dune. It was so much fun!!

Here is the tour group we work with making us lunch. We had lamb, some wonderful salads, French Bread and mint tea. It was a very cool and relaxing experience. We were in the middle of nowhere!! The amazing thing is that our guide had no map, GPS or way to tell direction, yet drove right to the exact spot where his brothers were waiting for us. Pretty amazing. Along the ride we saw nomads with their donkeys and camels wandering through the desert.

Those are just a taste of the pictures and stories I have encountered so far. I hope to get the slide show done soon. But for now, hope you are enjoying the stories. There will be many more to come. The dealers arrive tonight so it will be work for the next couple days attending meetings and helping with the demo rides. Thanks for checking in.

Love you all.

The World Around Me...

As I am living this life away from my own, I am thinking about how it might change me. On our drive through Tunisia and as I stay here and see the people and this place, I am beginning to see a change in me. It is a positive change, as one would hope for with a growth opportunity like the one I have been presented. As we were driving and I saw the school children walking on the side of the road to their homes, I realized how lucky we are. Their homes were maybe 7 feet high, and 12 feet by 12 feet buildings. I can only imagine the condition inside, but if the outside was any indication, then it could not be good. The streets are lined with vendors selling fruit and meat. There are countless old mopeds whizzing by us as we wind our way through the bumpy, water filled streets. It had rained for 3 days, which is rare in this area. The women are covered as this is a Muslim country and I am thanking the powers that be for the freedom I have back home.

As we drive I see amazing things which I wrote about yesterday. The salt lake, camels, the desert. All very beautiful and I cannot wait to see more as we ride through the desert later today and again later this week.

The last bit of wisdom I gained happened the first night we arrived and were setting up at the hotel. I was staring up at the stars and recognized one of my favorite constellations, Orion. It was amazing to me though, that the familiar belt was facing a completely different direction and it hit me that no matter where I am in the world, things are the same in the universe, but it is my perspective of those things that changes. I am hoping to see the world differently and remember to look at it with new eyes whenever I have the chance. I think this is how I will grow on this trip and beyond.

Well I am off to work for a little while then we are taking a 2 hour ATV ride into the desert for a BBQ lunch in the middle of the Sahara….. well I am guessing it won’t be the middle, but you know what I mean.

Hope to have pictures to share soon. Check back for more from Tunisia, I ma here for 5 more days.

Au revoir.

Tunisia... Yep, it's in Africa!

I almost died!! I had to go a day and a half without internet!! Don't expect too many blogs from here as the internet is hit and miss. I hope I can make it through this one!

No pictures to add today, but wanted to let everyone know I made it safely. The country was amazing, very poor and dirty. We saw an amazing salt lake on our drive yesterday. It had rained for three days straight so there was water as far as the eye could see. It will be dry very soon. Later that night I was in the Sahara desert and saw sand as far as my eye could see. It was truly an amazing day.

Today we set up for the dealer meeting. Worked a lot and now it is close to 8:30pm and we are getting ready for dinner. I am doing well, almost caught up on sleep and so far so good with the homesickness. Work is keeping me busy and I am learning a lot about working for a subsidiary. Oh, and I am learning a little French as well!! I learned some key swear words today. It's a start. I am also helping the staff with their English so it is a good tradeoff.

Check backl alter for more updates from Tunisia.
Love and miss you.

Day Two

I discovered how these people stay thin, portion control!! They have the smallest bowls and cups I have ever seen. Seriously, where is my monster cereal bowl??? Actually, it is perfect. I am enjoying my time here. I had my nice breakfast and lunch with the guys yesterday, then went home and cooked my first dinner. Of course it was Italian, what else would you eat in France?? It was actually really good. Some tortellini with am amazing tomato sauce, some parmesan cheese on top and of course some amazing French bread.

I capped off the night by watching a movie on my computer and then calling it a night around 11pm. Got up today and had my bowl of oatmeal, tea, and my tiny cup of juice, more like a shot, but it worked. It is really weird eating breakfast at home. I do not leave for work until 8:15am which is over an hour later than I am used to. So I get up, shower, make my little breakfast and enjoy the scenery. Then it is off for my hike….

Now, I don’t know if I can properly explain how high up on this hill I am living. Pretty much at the top. So the driveway is not possible with my VW Golf. I park further up the hill on another small patch of land that they own and slide/walk my way down to the house. Not too bad at night, with a light. Although I had not done this during the day, it was not bad. No groin pulls or anything from sliding down the hill. But this morning, walking up the hill, in snow, with my boots, at altitude…. Dang. Let’s just say I got my heart rate up a little high than expected on my first early morning in the office. But it only took 5 minutes to get to my car. Crossed only one barbed wire fence, encountered some strange looking animal footprints and kept checking behind me for the wild boars that are on the land. All good fun at 8am!!

So the morning in the office flew by, I am super busy which I love!! At lunch I decided to go try out this trail around a lake right by the office. The guys in the office told me they did not want to come with me because there are wild men and wild dogs and I would probably be attached. They are so much fun here!! Anyway, I found my way there, and did a lap around the lake. I was running on snow/slush most of the time and it only took me 20 minutes to do my lap. I guess I can do 2 laps next time. It is gorgeous though, looking at the mountains all the way around. Temp was mid 30’s so not too bad. See a picture of the lake below. After that it was back to the office and that brings me to now. Day two, pretty good. I am off in a little while to go pack for our trip to Tunisia. I leave for the airport early tomorrow with the team. And I did learn that I will be riding a camel, I swear to God. I will be sure to get pictures of that!!

Check back soon. Miss all and love you.

Au revoir.

Bonjour!!

Well I did it. I moved to France. It was not the easiest thing to do, but I made it. Leaving my house on Sunday was one of the hardest things I have done. I did not think it would be as difficult as it was. Thanks to Katie for the hugs and reassuring me it would be ok. Getting my luggage all checked in was easier than I thought. All 5 pieces made it to Geneva with me. I was even able to get all 5 pieces through customs, by myself. Take a look at my good packing on the cart! Thanks to some bungees I grabbed at the last minute as I was leaving the house.

Upon arrival I was met my housing consultant and she drove me to the office to get my car. We went to the grocery store and I got supplies that will last me a week or so. Tea, cereal, eggs, pasta, milk and juice. Only the essentials! I then met my neighbors, used their internet for a while as mine was not working. I then unpacked for an hour and crashed. Watch Love Actually on my computer and fell asleep around 10:30. I climbed out of bed at 9:24am this morning so I think I am caught up on my sleep.

I awoke to snow. Took some pictures of my view out my kitchen window. Check it out!! I think I can get used to this.

I had my normal breakfast to help me feel more at home. My oatmeal and tea were very good.

I went into the office around lunch time and had lunch with 3 of the guys I will be working closely with. We discussed the assignment and life in France. It was good. Now I am in the office, probably until about 7pm or so tonight. Getting caught up and getting my feet wet here.

This will definitely be one of those life changing experiences, I can feel that already. I will learn a lot for work and think a lot about me. I am excited to see the area and just venture out on my own once in a while. Check back often for more news from my overseas adventure....

Christmas With the Fam Damily

Sorry this is a little late, but I have been a little busy getting ready for my short trip overseas:)

So the holidays were great this year. Sara, Dom and the boys were home for two weeks. We had everyone home Christmas Eve and Christmas morning was really fun. Adam is 3 now and Henry is 7 months. Check out some pictures of the family from our Christmas.