Swiss Independence Day – American Style

My latest article on celebrating Swiss Independence Day

http://tinyurl.com/n658qp

Enfin! A Beauty Refuge for Women of Colour

Expatica.com published my article on both the French and Swiss editions today.

"Where can I find a hair salon?" is the #1 question women of color, especially, ask me about visiting, working, and living in Paris and now Geneva.

When in Paris or Geneva, check them out.

Here are more options from my pal, Priscilla Lalisse of Prissy Magazine in Paris.

Switzerland: Europe’s Best-kept Secret!

Expatica.ch, a really great English-speaking resource publication, interviewed me this week about living and working in Switzerland. It was a fun interview!

You can read it here: http://tinyurl.com/q43uho

People often ask me about the differences between working and networking in the United States and Europe. The differences are vast at times so soon I'll be blogging and tweeting regularly on these topics so stayed tuned!

 

In Praise of Pop Tarts – America’s New Ambassador …

Switzerland may be the most neutral of countries, but at times it can still be hard for foreigners to fit in completely. Take my daughters for example. They try really hard to balance being both American and French. Now that we are in Switzerland, it gets even more difficult. So on Friday, my oldest daughter came home from school and said in a huff, "Mommy, I get so tired of hearing kids say bad things about America." She didn't go into specifics so I didn't ask her right away. Once she calmed down, I asked her finally what she does when she hears negative things about home country. She said, "Well, usually, I argue with the kids but today I thought I'd do something different...I brought them a little taste of America – Pop Tarts!" Apparently, the girls on the playground loved the brown sugar cinnamon ones (our household favorites). Now, the entire class seems to be in love with them and planning to rush down to the American store to get their own boxes! It's nice to know that a package of boxed pastries has so much diplomatic power!

And now…German!

"Das ist falsche nummer. Ich bin nicht sandy."

"Danke" was my reply.

Proof that we are totally living in a global world and apparently I need to learn German now as well.

This all started yesterday, when my youngest daughter stayed home from school. It's finally getting warm here in Switzerland. While all of my daughter's symptoms seem to be those of a normal seasonal cold, no one wants to take chances these days with a growing epidemic of swine flu.

I should have called her teacher to say she wouldn't be in class, and her teachers would have certainly welcomed it. However, I know I wouldn't want someone calling me up at 6 am. So I texted one of her teachers and apparently I got the wrong number! Thankfully, I texted the other teacher as well so everything turned out fine.

"Das ist falsche nummer…" I'll have to remember how to say this. I get a lot of wrong numbers on my cell phone in both French and German. Up until this point, I've been able to reply with confidence in French and well, the other callers can at least understand me in English. One day, maybe, I can catch up to me kids with all of these languages. Then again, exactly whom am I kidding?

You're a Good Man Zidane

Okay, so I've survived two weeks of World Cup Hell! It wasn't easy but I really did manage to achieve the unthinkable - almost ignore the games. My neighborhood has never been as quiet as when the games were airing on TF1. When France scored, I've never heard the place more animated. Honestly, when was the last time you've ever heard the sound of 70,000 people cheering in unison literally OUTSIDE your window and they were NOT at a sports stadium?

But last Sunday, I did break down and watch the World Cup Final - not because I really wanted to, but because there was nothing else on television and my arm was being twisted by three children (ages 3, 9 and 37)! There they all sat in soccer jerseys chanting endlessly, "Allez Les Bleures (Go Blues)!"

I didn't really care about the outcome of the match because it was exactly as I'd predicted. However like the rest of the the world, I was very interested in the scandal surrounding French player Zinédine Zidane and what would make him snap on the field. I remember looking over at my husband on the sofa and saying, "That Italian guy just said something about Zidane's mother!" My husband ignored me, in the way only the French can, and kept watching the game. Guess I knew something that the rest of the soccer world didn't - that the only two things that will make the average person snap are derogartory comments about one's mother or racial slurs.

Over the last week so much coverage has been devoted to this story - prompting Zidane to appear on two television programs in order to tell his side of the story and apologize to young fans everywhere for his "poor sportmanship" behavior. It turned out that my assessment of the incident was correct, but I didn't think Zidane owed anyone an apology.

I respect what Zidane did because there's something to be said about men honoring the women in their lives. When they do, integrity and a sense of honor become a part of everything that they do - both in their person and private lives.

Many years ago when I was a little girl, my paternal grandmother said something that makes my point. She said if you want to measure the true character of a man, look closely at how he treats his mother and sister. If he doesn't honor them, he doesn't honor himself and he'll never honor his wife or daughters. Glad I listened because I saw that honor in my father, and I now see if in both my brothers as well as my husband. But I also see that honor in Zidane.

In a world where it sometimes appears that women are the least valued beings on the planet, and yet soccer is the most popular sport on the planet, Zidane's actions not only served as a possible example for youth here in France but all around the world. Even if the soccer world doesn't appreciate that sense of honor, I'm sure the people who matter most, the women in his life, certainly do. I appreciate it, too. You're a good man, Zizou.

Celebrating International Virtual Assistants Day!

Today is International Virtual Assistants Day! Proposed by the online advocacy group, Alliance for Virtual Businesses (A4VB), IVAD is now officially registered with Chases Calendar of Events, the recognized authority of special days, weeks and months. IVAD will appear in the 2007 edition and will be held annually on the third Friday of May. The inaugural celebration of International Virtual Assistants Day coincides with a three-day assembly sponsored by the Online International Virtual Assistants Convention (OIVAC) running from May 18 – 20, 2006. Virtual Assistants worldwide will display the free IVAD logo and creed on their websites.

I'm so excited to be taking part in this celebration for two reasons. It's time that this industry receives the recognition it deserves. There are are more that 5,000 of us working worldwide. But also it's my daughter Chloe's nineth birthay. Afterall if it wasn't for the fact that I wanted to spend more time with her almost five years ago, I never would have discovered this great industry. So five years later and two kids later, becoming a VA is even more meaningful. Plus, my daughters are already interested in business. They don't have to follow in my footsteps, but I'm glad they already understand that going solo as a business owner, no matter what industry, isn't all that scary.

So after I speak about Online Newsroom first thing in the morning, I'm off to spend what promises to be a beautiful spring day with my beautiful daughters!