French Cooking class @Maria’s

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I am Lois, from France. I have not moved to Lausane from my current town, Antibes, which puts me in the group of "remote partners". Fortunately, I am able to fly back to Lausane often on the weekends, allowing me to support my wife, Nisha (one of the IMD serial blogger) and to join the awesome partner group. On the job side, I am a Social Media consultant at the R&D group of Accenture. The best part of my work is to deliver Social Media strategies to our clients and to drive the delivery and to pilot the next generation of Accenture assets in this space. If I had to travel quite frequently for my work, the trip I cherish the most happened 4 years ago, when I decided to go for a one month vacation in Asia, on the occasion of a friend's wedding in Singapore. As unlikely as it looks, I met Nisha, we fell in love ( Nisha always says that I fell first :-) I really can't tell any more) and we maintained a 2 year long distance relationship seeing each other during vacation only before getting eventually and happily married. On the leisure side, I don't consider myself as very original. I like electronic gadgets, books, US series (Dexter!), snowboard, scuba diving, hiking, good food, cinema... that's should be it!

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I had the pleasure (and pride!) to be called a “chef” at a cooking class kindly (and efficiently) organised by Alison. It was awesome to meet in person and interact with some of the partners I knew only from Facebook. Until now, I have not been even “Facebook Friend™” with most of the partners, which meant I had only a tiny, sometimes mysterious picture as a way to identify them on the IMD 2011 partners group! Actually, I realized I knew and discussed (virtually) with Iryerida’s feet way before talking to her in person. I guess we can call this a Social Media miracle!

Anyway, let’s get to the two important things of this event: people and food. I really would like to thank the attendees Maria, Alison, Iryeda, Diana, Wai Man, Sarah, Peter (& Babies ) for their very warm welcome and patience in my sometimes hesitating cooking. I have to say that even if I love to cook I got a bit out of practice: before the MBA started, Nisha used to do most of the cooking at home and when she moved to Lausanne, I did not spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I have been collecting far too many loyalty points from our pizza delivery shop :-/ essentially for two reasons, I have been super busy at work (since five years Nisha would point out) and it is not really fun to cook for oneself. I believe the best way to transform food from necessity to pleasure is to share it family and friends. Everybody’s mood was excellent and the warm sun light was making Maria and Joseph’s apartment even more welcoming.

I tried to select the menu for having the best taste/simplicity/typical ratio. We started the French South East meal with an Italian starter: “Green Salad with Feta, Basil, Prosciutto Crudo involtinis”, because well, first French South East and Italian cuisi

ne have been influencing each other so much since centuries that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish them, and second because I just thought as a “chef” that it was a good choice and that should be enough – please keep in mind that in French tradition if one questions the “chef” terrible things could happen! –

As a main, I chose a roasted chicken and a Gratin Dauphinois. These are relatively simple dishes, however, by using few small tips and tricks gathered around (essentially from my mum, friends and cookbooks) they can be composed into an excellent meal!

As a dessert, I went for “Crêpes” i.e. French pan cakes, as it is the perfect dish to share with family and kids: it’s warm, tasty, not too heavy, and highly customisable with anything one likes from sugar, hot chocolate, ice cream to even apricot jelly and mackerel for the most adventurous gourmet (as far I know my dad is the only known human liking this last one!).

Let’s look at the recipes!

Starter: Green Salad with Feta, Basil, Prosciutto Crudo Involtinis

Follow the instruction here http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/04/involtini-feta-prosciutto-rolls/ to prepare the involtinis and serve them on a plate with green salad seasoned with salt olive oil and few drops of balsamic vinegar.

Main: Roasted Chicken & Gratin Dauphinois

Roasted Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 free range chicken

• 1 lemon

• some provencal herb mix

• olive oil, salt, pepper, few cloves of garlic

Recipe

1 .Boil a pot of water and drop the lemon in it for 3-4 minutes.

2. In parallel, rub the chicken with olive oil, salt, pepper and herb de provence. Peal 3-4 some fresh garlic cloves and put them inside the chicken body.

3. Get the lemon out the water and poke it with a fork ( be careful, it’s hot and the lemon juice might fly around).

4. Put the lemon inside the chicken body.

5. Bake the bird at 180C. The cooking time should be about 30 minutes per 500Gr of meat, but start to check it regularly after 45 minutes. In order to tell the chicken is cooked just cut the meat between the body and the leg. If the juice coming

out is clear, lunch is ready!

Gratin Dauphinois

Ingredients

• 1.4KG of potatoes for "gratin" i.e. ideally from the following type "roseval", "monalisa", "agata" or "nicola". If you don't find these, no worry, just pick a kind which works well in an oven

• 600 ml of "fresh full liquid cream" "creme fraiche liquide entiere > 30% fat", it's really important that it's liquid and unfortunately full fat

• few fresh cloves of garlic

• a bit of nutmeg

• salt and pepper

Recipe

1. Remove the potatoes skin and clean them.

2. Cut them in slices of about 1.5 mm – it is important to allow them to cook nicely –.

3. Remove the cleaned skin from the garlic cloves. Rub/scratch the cloves in the baking dishes with a bit of salt.

4. Whip the cream for few minutes, with the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stop when the cream does not look liquid any more, but before it is solid. When you will pour it on the potatoes the cream should slowly flow between them.

5. Put the potatoes flat in the baking dish, don’t go over 4-5 cm of thickness. If required use another dish with the remaining potatoes.

6. Cover the potatoes with the cream.

7. Put the dishes in the oven at 180 for about 60 minutes (the cooking time depends a lot on the potatoes) . If it gets brown cover the dish with some aluminium foil. To know if it is cooked put a knife into the gratin, it should be soft and smooth. If you feel the texture of the potatoes, it is NOT cooked.

Dessert: Crepes

• 400gr of white fine flourIngredients

• 3 eggs

• 1/2 L of milk.

• a bit of baking powder

• a bit of oil and salt

• to enjoy them: basically anything that you like, and usually sugar powder, jam, nutella, honey, lemon, icecream...

Recipe

1. In a large bowl put the flour, the baking powder, the salt. Make a hole.

2. Add very slowly the milk while mixing. Mix it until the

batter is smooth (if you can’t get it that way, filter it with a sieve).

3. Leave the batter in the fridge, ideally for few hours.

4. Get the liquid out of the fridge, and add few spoons of milk, until the mix is a smooth thick liquid.

5. Prepare one or more non-stick pans. Oil them with a cooking brush or with a fork rolled with kitchen paper.

6. For the cooking part, it is really too hard to explain, and so easy to show: follow this video and everything should be fine! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1DgmbMMOgA&feature=related

Looking forward to attending more cooking classes, but this time as a student :-D

On français...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Greetings, I'm Chantal. I recently moved to Lausanne from Santa Barbara, California to accompany my partner, Alec, during his IMD year. My mother is originally Swiss so I have spent a little time in this country throughout my life, but I have never lived abroad and remain quite excited to see what the next few years bring for us. My profession is in oceanographic research, which for now I continue to work on from my apartment in Lausanne in collaboration with the University of California. (It makes perfect sense to study the ocean from Switzerland, no?) Hopefully, a new professional opportunity is soon on the horizon for me since my American salary is just about enough to buy me a daily coffee and croissant in Switzerland and that's it!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don’t know, may be it’s because I’m aging. It seems I can enjoy a glass of wine in the evening while practicing my online French-learning software, only to wake the next day with a mild hangover and acute memory loss of any of the French tutorial of the night before. This is kind of a shame because I just assumed wine went so well with French things.

My realization that I am now a resident and not just a traveler in Switzerland anymore (hence the need to learn the language) came immediately upon move-in to our apartment. My ability to greet my new neighbors lacked a certain je ne sais quoi, to say the least. They were on their way out of their apartment as I was moving into mine. I said “Bonjour” kindly, to which they rapidly spoke a bunch of nice neighborly stuff I unfortunately could not understand, to which I then proclaimed “BONJOUR!” (again, for lack of any other French phrases) and hurried back inside my apartment to retreat back into mono-lingual purgatory.

During my early education and college years I feel I had a real enthusiasm and retention capability for learning languages. Three years of Spanish, two years of German, a year of Italian. Where did any of my vocabulary go!? Also, I’ve noticed recently that even when doing simple phrase translations using my phone, I still often approach a sales counter and draw a complete mental blank on what I had planned to say en français. (I’m hoping it’s just nerves and not acute memory loss!) What generally ensues after the expectant look from the sales person is my scramble to express ‘sorry’ in the appropriate context (“Je me excuse”…“Pardon”… “Je suis désolé”…I still don’t know which to use!) This is followed by my proclamation of “Je ne parle pas français” in a feeble-minded French accent, to which the sales person invariably responds: “No sh*t, lady.” (or at least I’m pretty sure that is the translation.)

As of recent, I also tend to experience a latent sense of anxiety around town even though I love shopping. This is mainly due to the well-intended sales people asking how they can serve me better, and my knowing I won’t be able to answer properly and politely. Occasionally I can hint toward something I need, using the vocabulary of a small toddler with a French speech impediment (“Er, oranges...avec chocolat, s’il vous plait?” The rapid, incomprehensible response is usually what causes me the most anxiety: “Allorsmadame! pouletjusq’ upousvousjepardejentenjentjis commecicommecamerci beaucoupaurevoirbonjourneeeeeeemadame!!”

Yikes. And suddenly I’m paying 10.- CHF for two candied chocolate-dipped orange slices. Don’t get me wrong, they were heavenly, but my weak français holds the potential to negatively influence my even weaker Swiss bank account.

The point is, it is now due time that I take French lessons. I can’t continue walking into department stores attempting to ask to be shown something (“Bonjour, pouvez-vous me le montrer?”) only to realize I have asked them to mount me (“Bonjour, pouvez-vous me le monter?”). (And don’t get me started on the post office and my not being able to speak French. The post office is the worst; I have confirmed that postal workers are self-loathing the world over; i.e., this is not unique to the USA.)

As a last note, while I will never discount the incredible accessibility and ease of the Google Translator, state-of-the-art translation technology will only ever be able to somewhat guide (or seriously misguide) one on the nuances of français. There is a bar across the street from my apartment on Avenue de Cour called the Gros Minet - my neighborhood bar, if you will. Now, I was told by a Lausanne local that the bar’s name means “Big Kitten”; however, Google says the translation is “Big Pussy”. Mon dieu! It is time to properly learn français.

Fortunately, our IMD partner network already has some informal French classes in the works, and we are lucky there are also language schools very nearby to take advantage of. Thank you to all of those partners who are already offering their time to give many of us language lessons (français, Deutsch, English, Mandarin). I am curious to see how the year progresses and if I can finally break out of my comfy English-speaking shell! I hear wine can help with that, too. Hmm…

A week inside...

(by Maria Godsey)

I think this week has been one of the calmest since I've arrived in Lausanne. As Tahira mentioned, most of the IMD babies, including some of the partners, fell ill. Unfortunately, that included Noah as well. This was his first time getting a fever and a totally new experience for me as a new mom… one that I hope I don't have to experience again for awhile.

Instead of our normal week of daily events with the partners, Noah and I stayed home to heal. I missed being outside and hated having to cancel on the partner meetings, events and dinners planned for the week. The weather was gorgeous here (and still is for that matter), so seeing the beautiful outdoors from the inside didn't help! Despite caring for Noah without help from Joseph, being indoors for days straight, and being away from the familiar (Noah's fantastic pediatrician in Germany, friends from home and a place where I could speak the local language), it was unbelievable how I never felt alone through this process. Numerous times a day I would get emails or texts asking how Noah and I are doing, partners offering up help to call doctors, volunteering to visit the pharmacy, and offering to come by to carry Noah to give my back a break! One of our partners, a doctor, even helped with medical advice!… the partner network continues to amaze me and truly a community of friends. I've heard from previous partners how great having the partner network is, but I never expected this.

Thank you to all the partners for their support and kindness! Noah is on is way back to his normal self and I'm looking forward to getting back into the mix again!

Mama & I

I have been craving- apart from the mundane chocolate madness that I suffer from- for Chai. 

Not just any Chai-  No English tea, No Jasmine/ Green/ Mint stuff, nothing saturated with exotic fruit flavors compares to the magic of "Doodh Patti Chai" (Pakistani way of "cooking" Tea). It was what I breathed day and night back home in the company of my mother and siblings and I can't believe how in this freezing cold I have gone without it for about 6 weeks now!  

waaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

Pain, Torture, Sacrilege is what I call this!

Anyhoo, its that time of the season again- everybody's falling ill. I was the first and consider myself to have fully recuperated and armed with antibodies (Thank you God)- save for that runny nose. 

Its disturbing to see the babies fall prey to the virus too. Curling their tiny arms around mom's neck and snuggling up with them, their dazed, gaping expressions and lethargic demeanour is heart breaking- to me! I can't even begin to imagine what the mothers are going through. 

The long nights and hourly naps during the day, the absent dads and cranky babies- how tough it is to be a mother I am yet to find out, but the Niagara of motherly love, so pure and unconditional, is flowing heavily at campus during these miserable days of 'cough n fever'.

That reminds me of my Mama. Like to hear a story?

Disclaimer: The characters and events of the following story are NOT fictional. Any resemblance to real persons living (God-willingly)? Say Hi to Tahira and her Mama :P

So I received this email from the MBA office that a humongous box has arrived, ready for our collection ("our" as in the Mr. & I). Since the airlines I was travelling with gave me a meager- no, make that pittance of 30 kgs as weight allowance, I had no option but to leave most of my stuff behind and have Mama send it to me at less than 10% of the price via shipment. The postal office in Dubai had carton options of the following weights: 10kgs, 20kgs & 30kgs. The sender is supposed to stuff all the items in the carton of his/her choice and payments are made accordingly. 

Now my stuff was too large in volume to fit into a 10 or 20kg carton, so Mama had to go for the 30kg option. But here, the carton was too large. She was hard-pressed about it until the bloke at the till told her how 30kgs will give her maximum benefit in terms of costing. And the madness unraveled here. 

She made my poor brother wait at the postal office while she scurried back home to grab whatever was sight- including stuff that wasn't mine- to optimize that 30kg "benefit". When that wasn't enough, she sprinted across to the stores near by to purchase packed food and tooth pastes and other toiletries. Finally, her expedition came to an end (seemingly) but Alas! it weighed 28 kgs. And she was paying for 30! Obviously, that wasn't done. With two more kgs to go, her head was mushrooming with ideas and finally came to rest when she purchased more Sugar- 2 full kgs of it. 

(Anybody in Lausanne- No, in Switzerland want Sugar & Cumin seeds, please do not hesitate to contact me). 

And there I was- wondering how the hell was I going to move this 30kgs around! Nathalie at the MBA office had a front row seat to the fiasco. Without a car and with a spouse who has more "important" things on his mind like discussing the morning Professors' hair colour, I was left to rip the darn cardboard carton apart and make a few trips, taking the items bit by bit. It was war! The cuts and bruises and yes, there was bleeding too- and lots of angry-helpless-laughing (you will understand that term when your mother sends you such a shipment). Just when I thought it was only a Desi mother's forte to pull this sort of a stunt, Nathalie assured me: "No, no! That goes for all mothers!". The cardboard cutter was begging for its life- but oh well, there it was- everything I didn't need and 30kgs of it! 

As for the "journeys" back home- Darwin, aren't you proud?! I trudged along, stopping at every 10 steps to put my heart back in its place, as it was quite literally beating its way out of my mouth. 

And I was finally home and got on with putting everything in its place. Oh "Place"! A commodity that is out of stock AND possibility, both, as far as my life is concerned, for this year (hopefully and not more!). And it was during this exercise when I spotted: carefully wrapped and hidden somewhere amidst the junk- my Chai. And 2 full kgs of that too! 

It brought tears to my eyes, I kid you not. 

How without ever having articulated it, Mama knew I'd be craving for it. How as little as I think she knows the person that I am, I cannot even begin to fathom the Mother that she is. How sitting miles away when I fell ill a while back, she still suffered disturbed nights, her mind constantly spinning around, worrying about my health. How she has sent me a years supply of lentil and toiletries so that I don't have to purchase it from the "over priced" Swiss stores. How she has sent me blankets and woolen clothing because she knows it will take me eons to get acquainted to the cold here. How she still truly understands what I do not say. 

And as I sip my amazing Chai away in the comfort of my tiny studio, I cannot help miss her. My Chai partner, my life partner; in a context I will be able to ever explain. 

This outpouring of motherhood reminds me of the incident of the man who thought that having carried his mother (who was then disabled due to old age) around on his shoulders, he had repaid some of the kindness she had showered on him during his upbringing. And that night he dreams about himself as a baby and his mother. How one freezing, rainy night, the thatched roof with rain permeating through, the floor too cold to lie on, the tattered bed was positioned ideally in a place to avoid it from getting drenched. The sick child wets the bed and the mother, in abject poverty, then lies on it with the baby atop her, so as to prevent him from getting cold or sleeping on a dirty bed. 

About the ruthless man who kills his mother, rips her heart out and carries it to the trader who offers him riches for it. And on his way, with the heart in his hand, he trips. And out comes a concerned voice from the heart, "Son, are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?"

It makes me think of how Noah keeps his mother up, standing and cradling him all night. How Jose drops her pacifier in the mud and her mother, when running out of water, sucks on it first before Jose can use it again. How Sevara has lost all known comfort with Sevinch falling ill. How I may have left my mom, but I never quite leave her, holding her mind hostage to thoughts and worries surrounding me. 

And how, with all this, the ingrate in us can think of compensating our mother for even one day of the unconditional love she has shown us?

Mama, I have always taken you for granted and although past trends are not indicative of future trends, I doubt that trait is ever going to change. Yes I know, we postulate theories- being the (pseudo) intellectuals that we are, present our views on how to change the world and can ramble on about Economics and Physics for hours but never step forward to help you with the dishes. But I also know and am so lucky that I too am a recipient of that Niagara of unconditional love. 

I may not snuggle up next to you or stamp my feet to get you to play in the kids garden with me or harass the guests when you call them over for dinner or just wail out loud pointlessly, but I am sure I get you worked up in so many other silly ways and you have no choice but to love me still. That you hold the light when everything goes dark, that in the strength of your arms I can fight the world, that you are the fort of hope in all despair, that many a silent battles you have waged for me, and continue to do. That as I stomp the earth, go about my day and sleep peacefully at night, I am constantly shielded by the impenetrable insulation of your prayers. 

That no matter how poetic or verbose I get, I will never, ever be able to describe a fraction of all that you have done for me or how grateful I am for it. I know this because I can already see myself changing my world around for children who are so far nowhere in sight- and boy do they owe me or what!

Here's hoping the IMD babies and all other babies get well soon and give their over-worked and never-paid mothers a long, healthy, smiley break. 

And sincerely hoping that God keeps our mothers in His protection, granting them long, happy & healthy lives, Amen. 

Freud might have stated his twisted theories & Gibran may have crooned his disturbing ideas on it, but I'm going to go with Edgar Allan Poe:

"Because I feel that in the heavens above

The angels, whispering one to another,

Can find among their burning tears of love,

None so devotional as that of "Mother,"

Therefore, by that dear name I have long called you,

You who are more than mother unto me."

Sew Satisfying!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I am Verity otherwise known as the time bomb due to the imminent and overdue birth of my first baby. As well as learning how to cook gorgeous dishes from around the world, re-learning French, and being a mum, I am hoping to do my fair share of sport and socializing this year. Happily I see many opportunities to do it all!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

As many of us swap our jobs with a year of being housewives, it simply isn’t enough to be mediocre and we seem to have transferred our ambition and drive to being the best, most accomplished housewives we can be. How to keep hands from getting dry from detergents and teacups stain free without a dishwasher have become scarily common topics of conversation. So it was not surprising that Nora had 6 eager partners for her first sewing class this week, albeit a mix of active participants and interested spectators. The goal of the evening: to create a lined zip-up bag.

First we began by cutting out our pattern. The first challenge was remembering how to use a set square to ensure we cut our cloth into four equal-size rectangles, two in each material, that were the same length as the zip plus 1cm for seams. Nora explained to us how to set-up and use the machine and wisely got us to practice on some scrap materials. For those of us who are less detailed and conscientious, we were firmly advised by Nora to take our time and get it right first time. This was very good advice… Amidst bobbins, pins, and pieces of material, we cautiously sewed the zip onto the top of each of the four pieces of material. The trick here was apply logic to ensure that your outside material was in fact on the outside (and with the pattern on the outside) and similarly your lining was actually your lining… Sounds simple but actually quite a brain-strain. The seam un-doer became the favorite tool at this point, at least for me, though I still managed to unpick the wrong seam. As our patient teacher explained, learning from mistakes means you never make the same ones again.

By this point, most of us, including the spectators (who also doubled up as children entertainers and sous-chefs), needed a break. In Magali’s wonderfully vibrant house, she served us a fantastic French dish of potatoes, onions, bacon and cheese that can only be described as creamy, French heaven, followed by Tahira’s amazing chocolate brownies. The plan was to rotate eating with using the sewing machines, but the alluring smells from the kitchen were soon too powerful to resist and we all crowded into the kitchen and tucked in.

As we finally returned to the job in hand, our numbers dwindled to four as three went on to a second dinner(!). With substance in our bellies, the die-hard sewers, Magali, Alison and I, stepped it up a notch. Next was the sewing of the edges of the bag and the rather clever creation of flat feet so the bag would stand up. One hour and a third helping of French heaven later (purely for endurance purposes of course), we were ready to turn our bags the right way round and admire the almost finished product. With a final flurry of activity with the end in sight, we hand-sewed the final seam to complete our bags.

The end result: three original, individual and, even though I do say it myself, beautifully crafted bags! What a feeling of satisfaction! Thank you to Nora for her great guidance and patience, to Magali for her hospitality and excellent food, and to Tahira who knows that the secret to happy, patient participants is always chocolate brownies.

If you are interested in making a make-up bag of your own, please visit the following link: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/09/sewing-101-zippered-case.html#more-62394

Berlin insights

At a conference in Berlin I recently spoke to a German elderly man almost 80 years old. It turns out that he was offered by his employer in the 60s to do a fully sponsored MBA at IMEDE (which later became the IMD). He had just become father at the time, and thought that with a law degree of Harvard he would anyway not need further qualification to make a successful career. And so he turned down the offer. Although he actually had a successful career with banks and insurances and later with Siemens, this man of almost 80 years tells me in 2011 that he should have done the MBA in the 60s. I then describe to him what the programme looks like today, what major efforts students and their partners and families from all over the world undertake to study at IMD, and I also mention the current fee. I was arrogant to turn the offer down, he says with a smile.

The conference was the annual meeting of a network of Germans working in an international context, from business, public sector and academia. This might look like a strange concept, but in order to understand one needs to go back 60 years in history. The circle was established just after the second world war with the aim of reconnecting post-Hitler (West) Germany with the world - at a moment when one could have thought the world did for obviously good reasons not want to have anything to do with Germany. Just like the members of this network, the weekend was inspiring, and I think I felt a tiny little bit of the 'excitement of the new' which the MBA students must feel constantly. One of those weekends with a lot of discussing, meeting new people and listening to good speakers.

A US professor heading the Max Planck Institute for meteorology explaining to us that climate has constantly changed throughout the history of our planet. However, the speed at which it is happening is 40 times faster in the last 50 years than it used to be for billions of years. A guy of the earth observation mission of the European Space Agency presenting what is possible to observe and measure and analyse with the help of all these satellites up there. The US ambassador in Berlin proved to have good entertainment skills, paired with substance. He is actually one of the personally appointed, 'buddy of Barack' type ambassadors in the US system - a former senior director of Goldman Sachs for whom the ambassador salary is certainly only pocket money. He explained very well the restrictions for Obama to take a lead on fighting climate change: restrictions stemming from domestic politics at a time where economic recovery and job creation are the undoubted top priorities for (almost) every US citizen.

My personal highlight of the weekend was Dmitri Trenin, Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center and a leading thinker of the new Russia. A brilliant analytical mind, he spoke about the need for economic, social and political modernization, while setting out the politico-strategic restrictions stemming from history when it comes to today's Russia embracing (or not embracing) the West.

So this was my weekend two weeks ago. In the meantime, I have been to Lausanne (and had the pleasure of prolonging my visit by a day because I fell sick!) and will go again tonight. So my next entry will probably be more Lausanne focused again, maybe about skiing, or a delayed easyjet flight...

Building the Partner community

I've been rather indisposed lately with fever and a nasty bout of the flu. I was hoping this would help me shed some much needed pounds but instead my appetite has been increasing ceaselessly and I was left feeling miserable about the cold; both health-wise & Lausanne-wise. And then I couldn't play with Noah or Maria Jose or any of the other IMD babies. To top it all, I've been feeling increasingly flustered and realized that most days when I want to blog, I am actually infuriated at a very busy and agitated MBA spouse and with the pitfalls of being the partner. But thankfully, I'm on the recovery phase; mood wise and health wise and with this positivity, decided to leave in an entry so that I'm not labelled a "constant whiner". Yes, please consider this a forewarning for any upcoming "nagging" ones! 

There's so much that's happened in the past couple of days with cooking sessions and dinners and grocery shoppings (which is nothing short of an adventure, i tell you!).

Some good news has come to the partners in the form of the knowledge that almost all of us can now enhance our professional pursuits & apply for proper jobs, instead of sifting through the options of baby-sitting & dog-walking! (not that there's anything wrong with those options... but you know :P)

The partners visited the Balloon festival and enjoyed an incredibly beautiful train ride to Chauteau d'oex. And with all of us having our residency permits, we are now looking forward to travelling around Europe. Watch this space. 

 

There was the Chinese New year marking the year of the Rabbit, which is today.. but we celebrated it yesterday at Minako's place. And it was SO MUCH FUN that we had the concierge walk in and tell us to "keep it down, sil vous plait!". What was incredible to see was how "international" this "Chinese" celebration was. People of just about every continent working on their Chinese script, struggling to write down festive slogans in a tasteful manner. The cuisine at the table was international too. Indian Chicken Masala, Japanese Tempura, Chinese Dumplings, Pakistani Pulao, Vegetarian delights and an amazing Nutella/bread birthday cake for Christina (there were some more dishes on the table, but I can't seem to remember the names). For Junko & Marcia, we also demonstrated all the wonderful routines we've picked up at the Bollywood dance sessions- I'm absolutely loving those!

 

We've had an extremely interesting and enriching communication session conducted by IMD, focusing on bridging the gap between the diversity of cultures regarding communication. There were so many stories to share & learn from; so much that you learn about yourself. Things you take for granted and consider "normal" are actually "weird" for an onlooker. I can't imagine how many minds go "whaaaaaaaaaa????" when I turn around to offer my prayers in the middle of such sessions. 

What I do admire is the community feel that we're beginning to cultivate here at IMD. It's like we're another country somewhere in Lausanne. We maybe worlds apart with our typical behaviours & customs, and it may take quite a while till we finally begin to feel completely at ease but what is common is the community feel we already seem to have. And I think kudos goes to this amazingly tolerant and understanding group of ours because it takes that kind of a mindset to bring about that community feel. Sure enough we need to work on getting accustomed to the lifestyle here and more so, to the many different ones that we're gelling with here at IMD. It might even be a nuisance at times but then there are these little tiny gestures that require no set of cultural rules but come out of the pure goodness of ones intentions and heart that are scattered somewhere during the day, that make this entire journey so much more memorable. 

Like when Maria walks back home with me to ensure my mood is elevated in those little moments we have till we get to my place; 

like when Magi covers the edge of the table when Lorenzo and the other IMD babies are running and jumping around, casting a safety net; 

like when Iyerida is exhausting all her efforts making sure I'm not sitting home alone when the MBAs have another long day at the campus; 

like when Diana is getting the dishes done when we're gathering at Magali's place; 

like when Shuvra is rushing home to get Iyerida's laundry card topped up or when she calls just to check in on me; 

like when everyone is making the effort to understand me being a Muslim (I have some amazing stories jotted down in my memory which I will share another time); 

like when Alison's always around to give you a nice, warm hug or just listen to you; 

like when Minako is feeding Sachi to keep her entertained so that Leena (the mom) can get her cooking done; 

like when everybody is volunteering to hold Loui (sp?) as Magali rushes about to get dinners prepared for the three tiny and rather impatient mouths; 

like when every other partner can be seen trying to discipline the IMD babies in their own way, as the biological moms look on without having their heads blown off... Its a wonderful community feel!

Speaking of, the rate at which M. Jose is going she'll probably be announcing everyone's name on Graduation Day as they come up to receive their respective degree (God willingly ;)). Noah has been blowing kisses and is, hands down, the sexiest man alive without his shirt on! (sorry my darling Faisal). Here's a little treat for our followers... (:

Sachi has the cutest cry on the planet- ever heard a kid go "Bow wow" while crying? We miss Daantje (who's been saying my name) & Nell. Also, we've had our first addition to the babies- a proper celebration is yet to be conducted to mark the arrival of Sophie (if my memory serves correctly). Enough baby update I guess!

All in all, we may have our religious, behavioral and many other cultural barriers to cross, but without a doubt, its such a relief being part of such a feel good, warm and intelligent set of individuals. As much as I thought that the communication across cultures session would be boring, it opened my eyes and gave me the lens to see the entire experience in a totally different perspective. How with each of us, in spite of our biases, we're struggling to understand the limitations & norms of one another, and modifying our communication style to make everyone feel at home.