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Thursday April 26, 2007

Monterey--6:10pm--CAL NARPM Conference
San Francisco--8:25pm--Farewell party for the GSE German Team

The farewell party was scheduled to end (officially) at 9pm so Melissa was generous enough to drop me off at the party that was well under way on Lombard Street in San Francisco. The hosted party was over at 9pm...but we were not about to end our fun!! Officially, it was over...but the teams continued to say farewell into the wee hours of Friday morning.

We went to the Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown SF and had some appies and drinks...I refrained...after an incredibly long April...if I had one drink I would have been face down in the make-shift Polynesian beach of the Tonga Room!

Great pics though!!

After the Tonga Room closed...hey...what's with the Tonga Room closing at 11pm...how old and boring is that??? Anyway, we took our fun-loving, drinking and dancing selves to the Big Foot Bar on Polk Street. And we closed them down too! Good music and good dancing ensued until last call for alcohol!

Paul, Kristen, Jasmyn, Birgit and Annette were all within walking distance of their homes and I delivered Stefan, Christian, Olaf and Jeniece safely to their homes and finally crawled into my own bed after 4am. Ahhhh...I so needed my own bed!!

This was our last evening together...until we arrive in Germany!!!

From GSE to NARPM...

After margaritas on Monday night...Tuesday morning I headed down to Monterey (for Tues, Wed and Thurs) for the CAL NARPM Conference. It was a great conference...much easier and less chaotic than last year!

I was sworn in as CAL NARPM State Chapter Secretary. (ooooooo!! how important does that sound!??!)

Monterey was gorgeous and a very successful conference (personally AND professionally) but I could feel myself becoming increasingly tired. Every hour that went by was draining...

Germans and Americans meet for MARGARITAS!!

So, we Americans had to go home on Sunday and the Germans went into the Valley for a MUCH NEEDED day off and an overnight stay at Yosemite Lodge.

No presentations, no obligations, no schedules...I could tell by the looks on their faces, they needed this time off!!

But, by the time they arrived back in SF on Monday, we had it all arranged to meet up with them after work! We just can't seem to get enough of this!!! We had a great time introducing them to good margaritas at La Barca!

Viva La Marrrrgaaaarrrrritas!!!

Our first presentation!

Sunday April 22, 2007

So, Sunday comes along (we are still in Yosemite) and the German team shows up to breakfast in their "free clothes" and we show up in our uniforms ready for our presentation!! The exchange had begun! They have been wearing their uniforms and giving presentations for three weeks and now they get to sit in the audience and watch us in action!




Our entire team was nervous and I think the German team was entertained by our nervousness! They had been at this for three weeks and we had to give our very first presentation in front of 300+ people at the District Conference. We didn't even know how to tie our scarves yet and we needed to look professional and polished...but, when all was said and done...

We did a great job! Dennis seemed genuinely proud of us!

It was amazing running into the Minutoli's, Mike from the SFPD who knew Dad and the RE Agent from Marin County that said she was so proud to be a RE Agent and she had never heard anyone describe our industry the way I did in my speech.

Yosemite was awesome...thrilling...exciting...loving...gorgeous...bonding...fun...laughter-filled and so much more!

April is a blur!

April is over tomorrow and it is a total blur.

Lars and Claus were here for two weeks and we had an unforgettable visit. It was wonderful to see Lars again...like time hasn't gone past. Good friendships do survive and this one will last a lifetime.

Oh--yes--this is supposed to be about the GSE experience--sorry, I digress.

April 19-22, 2007
Tenaya Lodge
Yosemite National Park

Yosemite was freakin' awesome!! I rode up with Maureen & Jay and Kathy & Jim Botko. I just began to snow as we arrived to the Lodge and it was beautiful....something out of a story book! I walked in the lobby and the German Team was there arriving at the same time. I had just seen them at the Rotary Club of Terra Linda meeting two days prior and we were all excited to have time to spend together in Yosemite.

Our team hit it off unbelievably well with the German team and shared all meals and free time with them. There were several people who have a lot of past experience with GSE Teams that said they have never seen two teams as compatible as ours. We seemed to be instant friends with each other!

Dennis had a van to take both teams to the Yosemite Valley together and we were thrilled! Jeniece also drove for those of us that are sensitive to windy roads in a top-heavy van! Ewwww...I'm almost feeling barfy just typing about it. Olaf road with Jeniece and me and Christian joined us a little later once he had a first hand feeling for the winding roads into the Valley!

Jasmyn stayed back at the hotel...she had pressing deadlines for the classes she is taking and I admire her focus and determination to complete her papers!! We missed her greatly...

We hiked in to see the Sequoia Trees...

and then went onto Inspiration Point...


Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite Falls and then had a coffee break before heading back to the Tenaya Lodge for dinner.





There were lots of special moments throughout the weekend, the time chatting in room "zwei, zwei, null" with lots of wine...




late night hot tub and pool side romping--frolicking--cavorting with live music courtesy of Dennis, Stefan and Christian. One by one we ended up in the water...but Stefan and Jasmyn opted out. Thank goodness we have someone on our teams with some dignity!! Besides, who would take our photos??


Birgit says we need a new Rotary award (there are lots of annual awards distributed at the District Conference) and the conversation went something like this:

Birgit: I think we should ask for a new award.
Me: What would the award be for?
Birgit: The GSE Teams that become the closest friends.And I know we would win!

And Birgit is right...there were several people that noticed and were thrilled at what great friends our teams had become!!

I just can't stop saying WOW!!

This is truly amazing.

Tonight I met our German counterparts. They arrived yesterday and a woman from the SF Rotary Club hosted a dinner for both teams to meet. That was the whole purpose...for us to meet each other. Amazing...she had a dinner in our honor and she has no idea who any of us are!! The German team is so nice, warm and very impressive!

Peter is their team leader and he is retired board of director with Opel Motors (General Motors)
Birgit is the supervisor of three Naspa Bank branches
Olaf is a neurosurgeon
Stephan is an IT tech with Deutsche Bahn group (the German railway group)
Annette is with Lufthansa AirPlus; an international service provider for business travel
Christian is self-employed with a marketing design company

The conversation was so easy because we were all just so excited! Olaf told me he went for an early morning run today and ran all along Crissy Field and ended up at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. Can you imagine coming here for the first time and seeing that on your morning run!!??

The team was excited to talk about all they have planned for us too, a boat cruise, several winery visits and vocational time. I think we get one half day off per week and every other weekend, we will get one day off. That is a fairly demanding schedule! But amazingly worth it, huh!!!

The German team will be visiting the Rotary Club of Terra Linda on April 17 and I will see them at that meeting as well as in Yosemite that weekend.

Add this to all the excitement of Lars and Claus arriving from Denmark this Thursday and this will be an action packed April, that's for sure!

Tootles...time for me to snuggle into my pillow! Nitey-nite friends!