I never thought I'd be so happy to work for free.
Well, I start at Y&R on Wednesday at 9am. I have no idea what really awaits me, but I'm excited simply because it's a change from this sedentary and endlessly frustrating norm. I called Bob Heron this morning to wrap up details of my start date, etc and let him know that Jack and I can indeed cover the cost of the train pass each month if needed. He responded that he may be able to help us offset that expense. Though nothing is set in stone, he did sound more optimistic than before that Y&R will be able to compensate me for travel. So that's good. I wonder how different it will be from my experience at EnviroMedia. Everything there was so laid-back. Friendly. Familiar. This new environment is so corporate. Monolithic. International. Intimidating. I feel like the little Texas-tadpole in the big Euro-pond. It's strangely mouth-watering. Like I can't wait to sink my teeth into the new challenge. The Type A monster in me wants to get in there and prove that I'm worthy of a salary. That I can do the job. I guess that same part of me is ready to prove those things to myself. It's a cruel cruel job market out there, as many of my talented ad friends are experiencing. I'm grateful just to have this unpaid gig for now, and am looking at it as an investment in my potential future career.
Anyways...on to more fun things...like my infant social life that is beginning to take off! The first "Lausanne Ladies Book Club" meeting went SO well! Karen, Susan, Tine, and I met up at Cafe de Grancy, which was PACKED! All the seats there were reserved and you know how long Europeans take to eat...they weren't leaving any time soon. So, we went down the road a little ways and came across a very interesting bar. When Jack and I lived in the sublet closer to the lake, I had walked past it when it was under construction and I thought it was going to be a day care. It was brightly colored and had green grass-like carpet. Inside there were little mini tables stacked up. Well, come to find out...this day care-to-be was actually a bar-to-be! It was an Alice in Wonderland theme complete with tiny tables shaped and painted like mushrooms, and a little Alice painted on the outside window. The chairs were white with bunny faces painted on them. Very neat and weird place. So, we had beer and appertifs and talked about everything: our moving experience, life in Norway (where Tine is from), the election, kids, work, etc etc etc. It was so nice to have girl time. Karen introduced us to our first novel: SLAM by Nick Hornby. Karen read it during the 4 hour train ride to Milan and back home this past weekend, so now she's passing it to me so I don't have to buy it. I'm really excited to get started on it tonight. Seems like it will be a nice light read with an interesting voice and subtle humour. I'm hosting our second meeting, when we'll discuss SLAM, on Dec 11th at our apartment. I'm pumped and will probably end up making themed snacks that go along with the book somehow :) It's nice to feel like I'm making better friends.
Christmas countdown: 4 weeks!
Anyways...on to more fun things...like my infant social life that is beginning to take off! The first "Lausanne Ladies Book Club" meeting went SO well! Karen, Susan, Tine, and I met up at Cafe de Grancy, which was PACKED! All the seats there were reserved and you know how long Europeans take to eat...they weren't leaving any time soon. So, we went down the road a little ways and came across a very interesting bar. When Jack and I lived in the sublet closer to the lake, I had walked past it when it was under construction and I thought it was going to be a day care. It was brightly colored and had green grass-like carpet. Inside there were little mini tables stacked up. Well, come to find out...this day care-to-be was actually a bar-to-be! It was an Alice in Wonderland theme complete with tiny tables shaped and painted like mushrooms, and a little Alice painted on the outside window. The chairs were white with bunny faces painted on them. Very neat and weird place. So, we had beer and appertifs and talked about everything: our moving experience, life in Norway (where Tine is from), the election, kids, work, etc etc etc. It was so nice to have girl time. Karen introduced us to our first novel: SLAM by Nick Hornby. Karen read it during the 4 hour train ride to Milan and back home this past weekend, so now she's passing it to me so I don't have to buy it. I'm really excited to get started on it tonight. Seems like it will be a nice light read with an interesting voice and subtle humour. I'm hosting our second meeting, when we'll discuss SLAM, on Dec 11th at our apartment. I'm pumped and will probably end up making themed snacks that go along with the book somehow :) It's nice to feel like I'm making better friends.
Christmas countdown: 4 weeks!