Days 16-20

(Monday, Feb 14)

Joe and I did talk, and we had the same meal (soup and a sandwich) but it was purely coincidental.

Valentine’s is a surprisingly big hit here. For example, one of the guys in the office Guarav (who is married) bought flowers for the office. The manager at the Travel House (the company I went through for tour guides, etc.) even wished me a happy valentine’s day!

(Tuesday, Feb 15- Friday, Feb 18)

Work as usual…actual more work than usual. I have been working crazy hours. From 10am to 10pm, I thought I was supposed to take it easy out here? Part of it is my own doing, I mean what else am I going to do each night? Indian Idol and reruns of New Radio are only so entertaining. The good news is I still feel really connected to my team. They have been relieved when I left because we worked so hard in January, but I think they each might receive 5-10 emails from me each morning…I think they might be happier to see me back so they won’t get slammed each morning.

February has probably been the most productive professional month of my life. After the first week of training, I have been able to get solid work finished each week. I’ve gotten the team to point where they need me maybe 2 hours of each day…being able to work almost 6 hours uninterrupted is amazing – uninterrupted by other people, but also by emails – the biggest time stealer during work days in the US. Granted I spend at least my first 90 minutes answering emails each day, but I don’t get any more after that! It’s great. For non-CEBers: CEB is an email world. I send and receive a total of 150-200 emails every day…so if the last comments sounded nerdy, they were.

Friday night I spent at the mall…just like when I was 14! I checked out prices in stores like Harrod’s, Marks and Spencer, Levis, and Lacoste – did a little bit of buying but nothing major. I did buy a few books though…For the lady readers of the Shopaholic stories, I bought the newest in the series “Shopaholic & Sister” – also, did you know that “Shopaholic takes Manhattan” has a different title outside the US? It is called “Shopaholic Goes Abroad.”