(The pics are finally posted for the previous blog.)
Well, I am finally back after being gone for 5 days in Orlando, FL for E&Y training (Tues. Nov 28th-Sat. Dec 2nd). The training was fine and I have to say, it was nice being on homeland territory! I watched Sports Center 8 times my first day there! I got to see and meet up with several of my buddies from the Chicago office as well which was great. Me and Jacob Cooper (guy from Chicago, who lives in Amsterdam on the same program as me and was in attendance at the training as well...see previous blogs “The Coopers, I’ll be Damn’ed”) even ran to Wal-Mart at 6:30am on morning (literally ran...aka jogged) and ran home with bags of treats (American cookies, cereal, etc) for our ladies back in Europe (oh, the joys of places being open 24 hours)!!
In total there were 1,500 new managers attending this training, all from across the US. All 1,500 of us were split up into 37 groups for each day’s “breakout” (fancy way of saying classroom) activities. When I went to my room for training, who was I assigned to sit next to?? Darren Ludwig! Darren is one of my great friends from work in Chicago and he and his wife visited us in Lux back in August (see “The Cinque Terre” blog). Needless to say, I lucked out and had a great time catching up with Darren, making fun of the other people in the class, etc.
While I was gone, Ag went to visit Annette Cooper (Jacob's wife) in Amsterdam Tues - Thursday. She caught the train from Luxembourg on Tuesday morning, and arrived in the ‘Dam just after lunch time. From what I hear, they mostly did “girly” things, hung out, shopped in the markets, watched movies, etc.
On Wednesday afternoon the girls went to Zaanse Schans. The Zaanse Schans is a quaint old village on the banks of the river Zaan that tries to give the same feel and look to how a Dutch village would have been back in the 17th and 18th centuries. The houses were all small wooden homes, there were small bridges, workshops, windmills, etc.
The wooden shoe workshop had hundreds of wooden shoes (strangely enough!) on display and for sale. All shoes for sale were made there, too, which Agnes said was really cool. Of course all the employees wear the wooden shoes and even Ag tried on a pair (see the pics...I think they were more Zach's size). From the shoe shop, the girls ventured over to the cheese farm where there were several goats out back grazing the land. Fresh goat cheese anyone?? Other stores in the village included a few museums, a bakery, a grocery store (set up like it would have been back then) etc.
Ag got back on Thursday night and cleaned and babysat all day Friday and part of the day on Saturday (she had to make up on her “earning potential” for taking a few days off!). On Saturday afternoon I got home and it was good to see my girl. We had planned on going to Heidelberg (Germany) but I had too much work to do and was so tired from the flight home that we cancelled that trip.
Instead, we hung out for a bit on Saturday afternoon, went for a jog and then headed out to Trier to see Laura and Robbie. Our other friends, Eoin and his girlfriend, Sorcha, were there as well. Unfortunately, I hit the “jet-lag” wall and had to call it a night at 10pm!
Before we left though, we did get to experience the Christmas Market. It’s like a freakin fantasy land, honestly. The city center was all “Christmassie” and there were tons of people walking around, drinking hot chocolate, coffee, Gluhwine (hot mulled red wine), laughing and being jolly. We all enjoyed some Gluhwine and caught up for a bit. Robbie and Laura bought me and the Ag some of these really thick wool hats that come down over your ears and tie under your chin. Those damn Irish all had a chuckle when the two “Yanks” were trying them on. Then Eoin, Robbie and company went to a late dinner and Ag and I opted to walk around for a bit instead and then hit it. There are just lots of the shops that are set up are like little wooden huts (making it feel like you are in a snow glow or candy-land!). The huts sell really nice items varying from wood carved ornaments (Ag’s choice) to brats and brew-ha’s (mine)!
Sunday I slept till almost 1pm but Ag ditched me and went with the Carters to the International Bazaar at the LuxExpo. Basically there were 60 stands representing 45 countries selling authentic cuisine and “hometown” items to all customers. Ag said they tasted the Indian (outstanding!), Mexican and checked out lots of other cultures. The USA booth had the following items: hot dogs with chili, brownies (these are huge here), popcorn, etc. They had peanut butter, candy canes, Duncan Hines cake/brownie mixes and Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups for sale!
The rest of the day we just hung out, watched some NFL, I worked, etc. The rest of this week both of us have just been working. Ag actually went to Sebastian’s school Christmas Play on Tuesday. All I have to say is God bless all the teachers in the world who keep these kids in control! Friday we leave for Vienna, Austria. The “Hills will be alive!“ as we go to the musical, the “Sound of Music”. Hopefully it’ll be in English? If not German??
Well, for now, it’s back to the grind till Christmas! Later on…
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