Review Meetings

My review went pretty well. I completed most of my serious objectives. My boss, Christophe, told me I have to be more assertive this year. Every one of you could have told him that. Other than that he seemed very pleased with what I did. We discussed the rumors as well that I would be sent back early, and he said that if it was mid-year and there was a manageable amount of money left, he would try to put me on the GPE group payroll so I could finish the year. So that was good news.

The START meeting was disappointing but good in its own way. They just wanted to inform us that they are actively searching with our home country HR teams to try and find us (all expats except upper upper management and experts) positions and move us back early. They didn't seem to have a real plan developed yet, but they told us they would get back to us in a month with something more concrete. In the meantime, I guess I just work as normal and wait for a call from the HR chief in the US. Then we have 2-3 months to move back is what it sounded like.

There were three of us there, and we were the last ones to have a meeting amongst the START bunch so there was a good reason for the rumors - they were more like meeting minutes.

I asked about what my manager had said and Sandra told me that the home country has priority - basically if they find a position for me, I'm going, and there's nothing Christophe, CRCD HR or I can do about it. I guess they can tell HR US not to look very hard for jobs, but that probably wouldn't reflect well on the HR manager in the US.

Fair enough, glad to know. While this isn't great news and they don't seem to have a concrete plan, at least they're telling us rather than hiding it and springing it on us without a moment's notice. I'm planning on going back in April or May. If we stay later, party. We can't go before March, I already bought my ticket to Phoenix.

Now I have some moral questions - should I take 2 months of vacation right now - which I will likely lose when I go back to the US? I'm taking a week in February - vacances scolaires - everyone takes a week in February.

My husband...in a nut shell

First of all, this is my latest fav pic of Brian. So cool, handsome, and happy:

Today is an interesting day for Brian. He's got a meeting about right now or very soon with his manager for his year end review. And then he's got another meeting about the START program (the one he's in that sends him over here to work). Which may or may not be a good thing. We're still wondering exactly what it will be about.

Anyways, you can check back soon to find out. I'm sure I'll blog about it.

We were in music class last Saturday. We go as a family. And as in any Children's music class, you start by going around the room and saying your name to a little song. And this one not only had you saying your name to a little song, but also tapping out the beat with your hands at the same time.

Needless to say...when it got to Brian, Brian did a STELLAR job singing his name. But when it came to tapping out the beat with his hands, not only was he COMPLETELY off beat with the rest of the group, but he was completely off beat with himself. So he's singing and tapping to God only knows what song and God only knows what rhythm.

AWESOME. Then we sing another song and the teacher says, "This is a good song to introduce duple and triple meter." Brian looks at me and says, "What's that?"

And I say, "You know...we are getting our money's worth out of this class because it is teaching both YOU and Michael about music."

Last night, we had this conversation while Brian is surfing espn.go.com (otherwise known as the black hole of man time on the internet...oh wait, that's myfamily.com for Brian).

Brian: You know, I don't really like the NFL that much.
Phuong: Oh yeah, why not?
Brian: Well, I like baseball.

OK. Didn't realize that you could only like one or the other!

Brian is funny. And even after nearly 7 years of marriage, he still surprises me with how funny/weird he is. I am glad he picked me to be his wife. Good thing he has a thing for Asian chicks.

Just a random post. That's all.