drinks w the new team
So I was invited to a drinks event by BK, my new boss - basically to hang out with my new colleagues and get to know them better. So after leaving work at 4, and after seeing the GP at 5, I made my way to Marylebone, getting to the pub a little after 7.
Diverse crew - there's BK of course, Chicagoan of German descent, there was RR the big boss of London office, and here's a sampler of the rest - RK, Armenian-American, Svetla from Bulgaria, Vicka from Ukraine, Arnaud from France, Henryk from Germany, Calum/Colum from England, and Gyongyi (not Papai!) from Hungary. Any others? Think not, that's it. So anyway, the next three hours was chatting politics with BK and RK, and catching up on our backgrounds and histories with Arnaud, Henryk, Vicka etc. They all seem very nice, very hair-let-down kinda people, swearing all the time, high-fiving, fist-bumping!
The really interesting stuff? I already knew BK was an Obama supporter - I'd done my homework. What I didn't know is that he used the same gym in Chicago as Obama himself, had spoken to him a few times when Obama was senator, had even met Michelle once! More? BK's boss Mary L who I spoke to during the interview rounds lives, yes LIVES in a Frank Lloyd Wright house in the Oak Park district of Chicago, FLW's old haunts. And apparently, there could even be a do at her place, the FLW house, this June. Just hearing those words made me giddy. These guys seem to have a lot of fun, but they also seem to work pretty hard - the first trick is fine, the second I'm resolved to pick up.
PS Oh, BK also swims in Clapham's public pool every morning, so I have until 9.30 to get in! Better and better...
Diverse crew - there's BK of course, Chicagoan of German descent, there was RR the big boss of London office, and here's a sampler of the rest - RK, Armenian-American, Svetla from Bulgaria, Vicka from Ukraine, Arnaud from France, Henryk from Germany, Calum/Colum from England, and Gyongyi (not Papai!) from Hungary. Any others? Think not, that's it. So anyway, the next three hours was chatting politics with BK and RK, and catching up on our backgrounds and histories with Arnaud, Henryk, Vicka etc. They all seem very nice, very hair-let-down kinda people, swearing all the time, high-fiving, fist-bumping!
The really interesting stuff? I already knew BK was an Obama supporter - I'd done my homework. What I didn't know is that he used the same gym in Chicago as Obama himself, had spoken to him a few times when Obama was senator, had even met Michelle once! More? BK's boss Mary L who I spoke to during the interview rounds lives, yes LIVES in a Frank Lloyd Wright house in the Oak Park district of Chicago, FLW's old haunts. And apparently, there could even be a do at her place, the FLW house, this June. Just hearing those words made me giddy. These guys seem to have a lot of fun, but they also seem to work pretty hard - the first trick is fine, the second I'm resolved to pick up.
PS Oh, BK also swims in Clapham's public pool every morning, so I have until 9.30 to get in! Better and better...