if you’re reading this on Facebook, go to www.ridsel.com/blog/ - it’s better there. There are four parts you can read in order (from the bottom up).
Well, in summary, my Eurotrip was a hectic few days but extremely worthwhile. I had an amazing time at Les Fontaines - learning a lot and making some great new friends. I also felt very lucky to have made it to Mum and Bill’s special day and to have been able to participate in that with them. Any trip to England also means precious time with the english part of the family. Couldn’t ask for more, really.

After finishing training on Friday afternoon, I flew from Paris to Manchester and then caught the train to Todmorden. This time, and for the rest of the trip, my travel went much more smoothly.

I must’ve looked a bit of a wreak after training, since all my relatives kindly pointed out how tired I looked. I was whisked immediately from the train station to the pub across the street where I soon caught up with Auntie Linda, Uncle John, Mum, Tom and his girlfriend ‘Lisa, Bill, his kids John and Toni, and Les Gates (a former collegue of Bills and the younger brother of the Cameron that was born just before me in Waipu and led to the spelling of my name as Camryn).

After a good night’s sleep at Linda and John’s, the next morning was the wedding. Mum and Bill had given us all tasks… mine were ushering and photography. Apparently the theme was pink, although I wasn’t told and wore a pinkish tie simply by chance (if superb fashion sense can be called chance).

Anyway, the wedding itself followed the standard format with some roles updated for the specific occasion and modern times (e.g. Bill was “presented” by his kids). It was great to be there for such a special day and to see so much of my family in one place at one time, all dressed up. And to see the family extended and many people meeting for the first time e.g. meeting Tom’s girlfriend, and Bill’s family meeting various relatives and such.

The reception was at the Shepherd’s Rest, a local anicent pub, and much was consumed. That evening, much more was consumed (mostly liquid) in a few pubs in Tod. The speeches were all pretty good. Tom and I did a joint speak were I compared the happy couple to merging companies and he compared them to selecting the right stock for your herd at a saleyard. I guess you had to be there.

The next day Tom, Malisa, Jane and I went to Preston to see some showjumping. It wasn’t the greatest weather, compared to France anyway, but it was a fun day. The local horses seemed a bit chubby, but they got around.

That night, we all went up to the B&B where Mum and Bill were staying for Chinese takeout, and some quality family time over Trivial Pursuit and beers. I flew out the next morning. It took all of Monday. Now, I’m back in SF.

More Photos >> Wedding, Horses

So, at around 10:30pm local time I finally arrived at Les Fontaines, the Capgemini training center outside Paris. It’s a great looking facility…

Opposite the Chateau (pictured above) is a Forum with an auditorium, training rooms, reception etc. There are also several villas for accommodation and a gym with a pool. It’s all set in nice parkland with a lake. I didn’t see anyone that night. Basically, I went straight to sleep after a much needed shower.

The next morning, training kicked off. It was a consulting skills workshop that involved a mixture of in-class training and discussion followed by practical exercises in teams of six (that we stuck with all week). The whole thing was anchored around a single case study, with various consulting techniques applied to a sequence of presentations. The final case involved 8 hours of preparation on Thursday afternoon and evening, followed by presentations in full business dress the next morning. Throughout the week, the judges got tougher and the final presentations all faced differing surprise obstacles that occur frequently in the real world. We were really tested on our teamwork, consulting skills, and general preparedness.

A particularly great part of the training was the work with Capgemini’s truely distinct approaches. 90% of consulting methods are shared across firms, so it’s important to be very clear on what is truely different to be able to communicate that… to win the type of work we want and ensure we can apply the way of working that we wish to.

In addition to the training, it was an amazing fun week. We had people there from the UK, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Italy, and France. I was the only US based perison except for one of the facilitators. The UK office had a couple of Aussies and a South African though, so I didn’t feel too unique as an Antipodean. All of these people were thrown together in the training and in socializing. The bar was open and free until midnight every night and they also organized a wine tasting, some team games, etc on various nights. When we had free time, I played petanque once or twice. The in-house chefs kept us pretty well fed with tasty French stuff as well. Souffle of this, and mousse of that.

All up, it was a great place to learn and a great place to be. I’m feeling pretty good about my company at the moment. Nothing’s ever perfect, but we have great people and a way of running the business that’s both effective and a pleasure to participate in.

I can’t wait to get back to Europe for a holiday before too long… or maybe to facilitate some training

More photos >>

Yesterday, I got back from 10 days in Europe. The whole thing was a huge rush, as I managed to cram in a catchup with Helen and Guillaume in Paris, an intense 5-day Capgemini training workshop, and Mum and Bill’s wedding in England. Also, there was a significant amount of drinking as both the wedding and the training had open bars.

The Flight Over:
My flight left San Francisco early Saturday morning, with a planned arrival in Paris at 1pm Sunday due to the long flights + multiple changes + time differences. I told myself it wouldn’t be a wasted weekend since I’d see Helen and Guillaume at the other end. I did see them, but not until after some “fun” delays.

10 minutes after we took off from Chicago, I was already asleep. I was woken up by an announcement that we were heading back due to a failing fuel filter. So, I got to spend another 4 hours at O’Hare. Upside: a cockpit tour of the grounded plane. Downside: I knew I’d miss my Manchester connection to Paris + spending 30 minutes on hold to let BA know. My camera should’ve been charged but was throwing a fit so I didn’t get a photo of myself in the pilot’s hat (like that Foo Fighters video).

I did miss my connection, but I got onto another two hours later. The issue with that flight was that Justin Timberlake’s roadies were on it for his concert in Paris. Roadies are heavy. American roadies are like massive collections of tattoos wrapped around an All Black prop and crammed into a Metallica World Tour 1994 t-shirt. Their bags must’ve been heavy too, because the total weight of the plane was too much and they flew us without any bags.

Paris with Helen and Guillaume:
Since I was going to be so close to Paris all week, it made sense to actually see it. Helen and G picked me up from CDG and we headed down to Paris. On the way I saw Stade de France, where I hope several of my friends (Paul, Ange, etc) will see the ABs defeat someone in a Rugby World Cup final later this year. We parked near the Arc de Triumphe and caught up with some of their friends for some wine, and then had some dinner before going back to the airport to get my bags. They then kindly drove me all the way to Chantilly. It was more rushed than I’d like, but we caught up a lot in the 5 or 6 hours we had.

Usually “working from home” is my euphemism for not doing much on Fridays to make up for all the long days and travel from Monday to Thursday. At the moment, though, I’m actually working on a project that has no need for us to be at the client site on a day-to-day basis. I’ve started to observe some pros and cons to actually working from home…

Pros

• Extremely short commute from bed to desk.
• No need to wear suit and tie, or indeed anything at all. Massive drycleaning savings.
• Shaaviiing? What’s this sha-ving of which you speak?
• Background music without headphones.
• Access to good, healthy food at times I like (i.e. dinner at 7pm not 10pm)
• Can generally set own schedule, although still have online meetings, conference calls, etc

Cons

• Absence of human interaction make Cam crazy (no roomie at the moment).
• Feels like college (i.e. university) - mixing workplace and home means you have to create the work mindset insread of having it around you automatically.
• Not earning airmiles, hotel points, credit card points, etc… my precious precious points!
• No expenses, have to actually feed myself.
• All my buddies are out of town for work.
• Keep getting calls on the home phone, expect human contact, just get telemarketers.

Uh, well, that’s enough. I should get back to work

I passed my practical driving test today. So, I should be getting my CA license in the mail soon. Now I can buy a car if I decide it’s worth it. In this city, though, it seems better to rent.

I can also now avoid the hassle of having to explain my NZ license to airport security and bouncers all the time.

Big thanks to Chuck for being my ‘licensed dude’ on my first attempt when I couldn’t take the test due to not being able to prove I was insured to drive the rental, and Tony for providing an insured car and celebration beer for today’s successful attempt.

Still feels weird driving on the wrong side

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This last week I’ve been in Chicago for some Engagement Management training.

It was a hectic week, so I didn’t get to see much of the city. It was great, however, that it was shirt weather instead of five shirts and two jackets and my face is still freezing off weather. That made a big difference!

I did get to catch up with Dave for some drinks on Tuesday after work, and with Rich at work on Thursday. They seem OK, although Rich is facing visa issues.

Apart from the completing the training itself, which is a prerequisite for advancement, the other main objective was to meet some collegues from around the country. Every region and industry flavor of Capgemini US was there, and we had time for one dinner+drinks night out. They were a fun bunch! FMA’s will be pleased to know we spread the drinks out evenly across the BUs.

It’s great to have a wider base of contacts, since my new group is national and I’ll need to have people to work with and hang out with in other parts of the country.

I also stuck around on Friday to go to Chicago office drinks. That was great too. I like meeting people in the presence of beer. At the expense of presumably giving a bigger insight into myself, I also get a great insight into others. Beer is my golf. Why spend four hours on the course when 3 beers get the tounges wagging in a quarter of the time?

OK, it’s 28degC here in SF. Time to go watch some baseball.