Shopaholic goes to NY

3rd day in brilliant New York City!! Over the weekend, I rediscovered the consumer culture :)

I have already:

• Had a haircut
• Manicure and pedicure done
• Shopped in Soho (yes off course, I did not buy much the past 6 months, so it was all unleashed)
• Watched a musical (Phantom of the Opera)
• Crossed off a few items on my craving list (crispy fried noodles in Chinatown, cheesecake in Nolita and seafood tomato sauce pasta)
  

It’s just great walking around Manhattan enjoying the city. I couldn’t stop smiling. I love NY!! I rented a small apartment on the 49th Street, and it is very comfortable. It’s equipped with a small kitchen, internet etc. I have been making a daily visit to a nearby supermarket. I am totally happy living in my duty station country, but I realized that I forgot how nice it is to live in this kind of environment having access to everything. Streets look orderly, water is drinkable from the tap, always electricity is available, food in supermarkets are clean and shiny. Besides, NY has everything. I went to a Japanese bookstore and a Japanese grocery store, so you can imagine that my suitcase will be at least double the weight compared to when I came ;)

The 1st day of the training was fine. I met with colleagues from all over the world and I am looking forward to getting to know them better over the next 10 days. Tomorrow, some kind of a group activity/outing is planned in the evening, so that will be fun.

Just having the whole weekend to myself without thinking about the job, I already feel much rejuvenated. My supervisor (1 of them) who is on a same training saw me this morning and said “you look so refreshed!”

Packing for another trip

I had a blast during the last week on a field mission. I had fun with my local staff colleagues. After the workshop everyday, we went for a walk and ate roasted corns on a street. On the last day, some of my colleagues went to a small town on the other side of the border to shop. Since, I didn't have my passport and visa to enter the country, one of my colleagues took me to bed sheets shopping (!). We went to a little textile shop and a shop keeper showed us a whole bunch of different materials, and then I picked two kinds and they sawed them into bedsheets and pillow covers on the spot. We waited about an hour, and we bought more materials to make shirts and traditional outfits, which came all to be just about 30$ CAD! I was on a rickshaw for the first time, and it was very nice!!

Anyhow, of course work piled up while I was in the field, and this week was just crazy. This is the tough part about field trips I find. I come back feeling great and motivated and go back to the office reality of deadlines, reviewing reports and a series of sometimes tense meetings. 

I am packing for my next trip, which is... yes! to NY! I will be away for 2 weeks, and I will try to write some entries from there.   明日の夕方出発です。いってきます！