Trying to Sit Out

I just returned from a week in Germany. I was there for work, to participate in Medica, the world's largest medical exhibition. Over the course of the week, whilst I ran around 17 exhibition halls and did my best to make a dent in talking to the 4,000 exhibitors there about entering the European market, I learned a lot. There are some things that I never even wanted to know but am now sure of. Sorry, I realize that I just ended that last sentence in a preposition.... deal with it. Among the highlights:

1. Twenty-four hours a day with the family of a family business of which you are an employee but not a member of the family is way too much.

2. Hearing your bosses voice whilst in your pajamas is super freaky.

3. Seeing your boss in his pajamas (or lack thereof) is even more freaky.

4. These people really are work-aholics. The show opened at ten. What time did we get there? Eight. It closed at six. What time did we leave? Eight. I got home from the day at 11:15 pm each night.

5. Talking to people from America or Brazil will always make me a little nostalgic, regardless of the level of coolness of my current living situation.

6. Five Israeli men + One French man + One American girl = Six people actually picking up my fork and knife and trying to teach me the "correct" way to hold my utensils. I was pretty upset when this happened. I think they could tell and backed off.

7. Despite the amount of laughter that accompanies a conversation, Hebrew is still not funny.

8. Getting a break from the office is... not as fun when you're still with your bosses and doing work.

9. It is possible to get car sick - even in the best Mercedes on the market - if you get lost in a parking lot for over an hour while trying to follow a GPS that is unfamiliar with the territory.

10. Day six of 24x7 with me and my 30-year-old-son-of-our-CEO manager = me saying things to him that I would normally regret immediately, but cannot and do not because of his joyous reaction at me actually speaking my mind.

Example:
him: "How old are you again?"
me: "Twenty-four, I'll be 25 in a few weeks"
him:"TWENTY-FIVE?! What are you doing with your life?"
me: "I don't know. Maybe I'll work for my dad and let him pay my cell-phone bill."
him:"Ouch. Good job."

11. If you want to get a word in edgewise, sometimes it's best to just find the nearest medical dummy and vent to him.
-Field Music-