I’m sitting at the Geneva airport awaiting my flight from Geneva and thought I’d check in to say hello and share some thoughts from my trip.
Things have been a bit crazy around here lately and I promise that they are going to slow down a little bit, I think, after this week.
While my week revolved primarily around work, which I’ll share more about in a minute, here are a few pictures from workouts and meals this week.
1) Never under estimate a salad. Last night’s nicoise salad was hands down one of the best salads I’ve had in a while. Maybe it was the salty sardines or the small potatoes but it satiated me after a long day of work while also delivering some much needed vegetables and protein to my body. We won’t even discuss how much this salad cost as I was being fiscally responsible by ordering the least expensive entree on the hotel’s room service menu.
2) 30 minutes is enough time to squeeze in an intense workout! Yesterday and this morning I pushed the snooze button a few too many times on my phone. Instead of running 5-6 miles on the treadmill I was stuck with less than 30 minutes. Anytime I have less than 30 minutes to workout I turn to a speed and incline workout. I start by doing 1 minutes of pushups, hop on the treadmill to run a 5k as fast as possible, then end with a 1 minute plank. The speed gets my heart pumping as I jam to my favorite upbeat, high tempo playlist which is still very Beyonce heavy after last week’s Super Bowl show.
3) I’m exhausted. You would think that two evenings with no plans would mean that I could go to bed early after a day at the office. But, instead of sleeping, I fell into the time change trap. Each morning I arrived at the office around 7am and then left 12 or so hours later. But, when I was leaving my US counterparts were just finishing lunch. Instead of going to sleep I worked until midnight each night responding to emails, catching up on work, and preparing for the next day’s meetings. I have a high level of respect for my Geneva counterparts who have learned how to unplug and ignore our US emails that they receive each evening while they’re at home with their families.
4) Feeling inept. I only speak 1.5 languages. I say 1.5 because I am fluent in English and can still comprehend Spanish quite well both audibly and while reading documents. If immersed in a Spanish speaking country for a week or so most of my speaking ability would come back but I’m not there right now. Each time I’m in Geneva I’m surrounded by people who can easily speak 3-4 different languages. This is something I’ve never experienced in the United States and it will forever leave me in awe. I’m seriously considering swapping out French for a full pull-up in my list of New Year’s Resolutions. If I arrive in this summer able to even carry on a simple conversation, or greet everyone and place my own orders at restaurants and bars on my own, I’ll feel seriously accomplished. I wonder how long runs to Rosetta Stone would work?
Okay my flight is boarding! Au revoir!
It sounds like you were really working hard when you were on your trip. No wonder you’ve been really tired and needed to sleep in a bit. I hope you get to relax a bit when you get home!
I love your posts about Switzerland! My husband and his entire extended family are from Zurich…I understand your awe of their language capabilities! My inlaws’ dog responds to commands in Swiss German, French, and English HA! Also, we laugh because in Switzerland 10 minutes early is 5 minutes late 🙂
I took French Immersion in elementary school, and my degree is in French, but now that I rarely speak it, I find it much harder to pick it back up (speaking-wise, reading and writing still comes naturally). I’ve heard great things about Rosetta Stone, but I truly believe that speaking a language consistently with others is the best way to learn. Maybe they have Lunch n’ Learn conversational classes near your office?
Oh, girl, get some sleep when you can! I’ve just been helping out with rehearsals this week and I’m exhausted. You must be so tired!
Since I’ll be joining a corporate law firm in the fall and having crazy hectic weeks (and occasionally travel for due diligence during big deals), I’ve really enjoyed your series of posts on balancing work with training and fun when your weeks are extra hectic. It’s always great to see someone with the kind of job I’ll have who’s able to fit it all in (well, maybe not sleep…).
I don’t know if there are different versions of Rosetta available, but I’ve been using an online application for a while. I think it might be frustrating if you are looking to learn French for travel purposes because you learn how to say things like “the cat is on the house” before you get to restaurant ordering, asking for directions, etc. The Alliance Française sometimes has classes directed at shopping/restaurants/small talk for beginners and there are Coffee Break French podcasts on iTunes that are ~20 minutes long and are pretty good.