Wednesday, September 27, 2006
“Goodbye, I’ll See You Soon”
“No goodbyes, but I hope to see you soon!”
A usual statement I would give in all of my travels before, or at 2 occasions I was going for a long-term post abroad. Now, I’m the person left with this line and it’s tougher being the one left behind than saying goodbye.
My boss just left today as she moves back to Switzerland and carry out a career in cross-cultural training. I thought I was used to these “Goodbye, I’ll see you soon” greetings with her, since she was Euro-commuting every week from Basel to Paris. So we’ll normally bid each other a great weekend on Thursday afternoon, then update each other on Mondays. But this time the “I’ll see you” soon will take longer time but definitely not a goodbye forever.
I enjoyed my working relationship with Jane so much, being able to share my personal aspirations and shared interest in training and development. I’m so happy that she’s able to pursue a career directly related to that. I also appreciate her support in my continued involvement with AIESEC. The fact that she was the one handling the AIESEC-Alcatel partnership, it wasn’t hard for her to allow me to chair a couple of national conferences or attend some alumni events.
I will definitely miss her, no longer sharing the office with someone as I see her empty desk. Yet, I wish her all the best in going back to home sweet home. Well, maybe a reason for me to visit Switzerland again. See you soon Jane!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Cheap flights for your inflexibility, high charges for your indecisiveness
That’s why it’s a good marketing scheme. Indeed very beneficial for those who are able to plan way ahead (and stick to it until the actual dates) and a pain for those who can’t make up their minds.
So before you actually book your tickets and think that you’ve hit the jackpot, be careful of the following scenarios where you actually will end up spending more.
Scenario A:
I booked a 60euro return ticket from Paris-Barcelona. I decided to stay longer and change it but it will cost me 35euros to change my flight + the actual cost of the flight at that time (120euros). In the end it was even cheaper just booking a new one-way flight, without having to pay the charges.
Scenario B:
A friend booked a flight to Stockholm, but her friend is also coming on that same weekend under the same conditions (pay a high fee for changing it or just miss it). An option would have been transferring the ticket to another person, but surprise surprise, the transfer charges actually cost 100euros- 2x the amount for the ticket!
Scenario C:
Another friend who was supposed to go with me to Stockholm, would want to change the dates of his flight for both ways. He’s still thinking if he really needs to change his flight or just book another ticket, which cost him less than paying the charges.
Scenario D:
A good deal comes in for a week, how can one miss a 35euro return ticket to Prague??? After a few reminders, another friend just kept on forgetting about the deadline and it went back to a still affordable price of 70euros. Now he still doesn’t want to book it since it was cheaper last week… well, it’s definitely going to get higher next month!
Well, well, one cannot complain for the cheap deals that come your way. Either you grab it or you don’t. Unless you happen to have the same name as the people who were supposed to travel with me, I guess I will be traveling a few hours on my own until they arrive.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
The official travel planner or travel addict?
Among my friends, I do it for free. Among strangers, that’s an interesting business opportunity I will have to look into especially to young people who don’t usually have contacts in backpacking around Europe.
With so many relatives and friends from all over, either I am visiting them or they end up visiting me here in Paris. The past 8 months have been just amazing with the new cities I have been to around France… either a road trip or a bus trip, it was so fun organizing it with a different group each time.
So that’s when I really don’t mind hosting them around, having conversations about life’s choices and the decisions we make- it’s a never-ending crossroad or window of opportunities that you have to choose. To have the freedom of choice is just as hard as those who would say they had to work because they had no choice (e.g. Their parents told them, their families expect them to support them). The choices we make may not always satisfy everyone, but tougher to manage within ourselves to say that we have indeed made a right choice. When is the right time to move on to a next adventure? When is the right time to seek for stability? When will we ever stop asking questions for things that are already given to us? This and a lot more interesting questions are what I enjoy most in my travels, getting more questions than answers but also gaining a richer perspective about the richness of our lives.
The next travel adventure is set with the cheap airlines… I’ve been on the road for most of the time and haven’t seen the view up in the clouds for a while now. Off to Milan, Venice, Rome, Stockholm, Prague within October and November… still deciding though if the other destination shall be Lisbon or Budapest. Nevertheless, I look forward to organizing these trips with 1-2 trainees or just meeting old friends who happen to be in those destinations. My main objective is to explore new countries I’ve never been to while being with old friends with usual conversations. Let me know if you happen to be in those cities so I don’t miss any of you.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Unpredictable weather, unpredictable life
Then I start to enjoy the unpredictable weather, as you would just enjoy an unpredictable life. It’s much better when the sun gets out when you least expect it, or the snow suddenly falls when you’re thinking it’s just another gloomy day.
Just today I received one of those unexpected bank charges (again!) because I have gone negative in my account. It’s different when you really went that far in spending or when it was just a stupid bank system’s fault that it charged you twice your rent! Since I didn’t want my sunny day to be ruined because of a 65-euro charge in my bill, I went to the bank and tried to explain my case (in French!). Struggling with a few sentences and showing the bill in front of me, they changed it and credited it again to my account. So not only did I get my money back, I realized that I indeed could put my French into practice (at least for basic complaints and transactions of which I don't need to feel dumb just because you cannot talk to them in English).
This time I want to enjoy my unpredictable life, of which choices of the future are endless and mind-boggling. More of this topic I will write in my next entry, right after I enjoy this weekend of great weather and free museum entrances for the first Sunday of month.
