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Friday, October 29, 2010
Looking Forward to Tomorrow While Not Forgetting What We Like About Yesterday
Lately, I got very caught up in my pursuit of my next steps - further integrating myself here in Switzerland. I love my life here, and have recently gotten a little obsessed with "becoming more Swiss". My Dad is Swiss, I grew up spending summers here, but when I speak I still have an accent. My level is an advanced intermediate, and my style for life still has many American influences. Since I have such respect and admiration for the life here, I have been grasping every piece of Swiss culture I can and been trying to improve my language skills at every opportunity.
During this process, people kept telling me that my international and advanced business experience was valuable in my profile, but I kept denying it, in that I wanted to be only Swiss and be fluent in German.
Right in the middle of this, I was scheduled to attend a global reunion of the international MBA program where I studied in 2002. Not only were there going to be people from around the world, but the common language is English. As I left for the weekend, I was frustrated at all the time I would be "wasting" by speaking English, getting away from my German lessons, and being immersed in many different cultures rather than the one I wanted to focus on.
With each conversation throughout the weekend, I realized that my past experiences, in this case, my international business education, are also what prepare me for the next steps in life. There is nothing wrong with being a part of both worlds, and it is true that these topics make me a well-rounded manager. I am more able to enter successfully the workplace with a mature perspective. Speaking German is one part, but having a head on my shoulders to process properly the information is also important.
This experience with the Tbirds (fellow alumni and alumnae) reminded me that we each have our own path, and that everything we do adds up to make us who we are today. We can continue to look forward, but we must not forget what we liked about yesterday and what we can bring with us that also adds value. I truly adore my fellow alums and look forward to spending more time with them in the future. It reminded me that this is what yoga is all about - finding balance, being in the moment, and recognizing that we each have our own path. It is this path which is what makes us special and unique, allowing us to best contribute our special skills to the world.
Much peace and success,
Ingrid
Weekend Highlights
During the weekend, I had an amazing time with my fellow alums, where we were quickly brought up to speed on strategic business topics, including: green technology, doing business in developing countries, how to spell success, and being asked the question, "do we exist if we don't show up in Google?". It allowed me to see what was going on globally and how it affected me individually.
We also we also had a more leisure section of the trip, which allowed me to laugh and share stories with people I truly adore. The tone was set when we visited the church where Maria got married in The Sound of Music and had dinner in an Austrian barn with fun music.
Through each of these topics, conversations, and adventures, I fell in love again with where I came from. To get an idea of what I experienced during this great weekend, including a piece of the presentation on spelling success, plus pictures of the church and the barn, you can watch the highlights at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_Mra54dvXk.
Posted by Ingrid on 10/29 at 12:30 AM
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