Circle of Success - Earned a UK Driving Licence!

I did it! I'm so proud to have earned my UK driving licence. It wasn't easy and in case it helps you, and gives you a bit of a laugh, here's my experience:

There are 3 tests that you have to pass. Two of them are taken together, then there's a third test. The first two tests are called 'theory' and 'hazard perception'. These two tests are taken at a local testing centre, where you have to schedule weeks in advance, then sit in a small room with approximately 10 other people quietly taking the test around you.

I failed the theory and hazard perception test the first time. With over 20 years of driving experience, I thought I could go in and 'wing it'. Well, that didn't work. The test has 50 multiple choice questions and you need to get 43 correct to pass. I scored a 40. During the test you can 'flag' a question, so my little code to myself was 'flag a question you're unsure of, then go back to it at the end'. I flagged 17 questions, so right away I knew 'uhoh'. In fact, I flagged the first 10 questions in a row!

The hazard perception is like a video game. They play 14 short video clips on a computer monitor. You click the mouse as soon as there's a hazard. The faster you identify the hazard and click the mouse, the more points you earn. You need 44 points (I think) out of 75 possible to pass. I score a 52 on my first try.

After failing, I put my pride down and thoroughly studied for the test. I probably spent about 15 hours taking online practice tests, watching youtube videos, reading online notes and the best help was an online book that I bought. The book had hundreds and hundreds of practice questions. I answered every question in my head, then flipped to the answer in the back. If I got it wrong, I wrote down the question and the correct answer. It took a long time, but I started to learn the gist of the questions - and key facts to know - such as stopping distances, types of crosswalks, unique road signs, etc.



I felt much more confident going into the second test attempt. Not to brag, but I scored a 49 out of 50 on the theory, and a 70 out of 75 on the hazard perception - love it! Bought myself some gourmet chocolate to celebrate :)

Now comes the nerve-wracking part. The practical test. Get in a car and have an observer watch your every move. If you make ONE major 'fault', you fail. You can make up to 15 minor faults.

I paid for a professional driving lesson and flooded him with questions. He gave me feedback about my driving. I talked to lots of friends and I looked up youtube videos and pass-rate statistics. 51% of first-time practical tests are failed (average across the UK)! Some locations are as high as 61% fail rate! I honestly figured I had no chance on my first try, but I did my best to keep a positive mental state.

Taking the practical test seemed to be a perfect parallel to some people's experience of work life. I arrived at a waiting room with zero information and assumed I waited there until I was called. I talked to the woman next to me who had the same guess. That reminds me a bit of most onboarding processes. Someone eventually came out and called my name, I signed a few documents and he took me outside.

Just like youtube prepared me for, he did an eye test which consisted of reading a registration (license plate) from about 50 yards away. We then walked around the car for the 'show me, tell me'. Again, well prepared by youtube, I was aware of the 19 different questions they could ask, and all of the appropriate answers. I was asked one 'show me' and one 'tell me' straight off the video - maybe similar to how glassdoor can help you prepare for your first days at a new company.

We got in the car, I drove wherever I was told by a person that I didn't know. I didn't know where we were going or why we were going there, pretty sure there was no rhyme or reason. I was very nervous because I had my eye on the prize, a piece of paper at the end. I barely knew what he wanted me to do, but I sure felt very busy and anxious doing a lot of work, trying to be perfect. All along I was pretty sure we'd end up right where we started and I wondered if all my work was going well at all. Sure enough, when we ended up exactly where we started and he said 'what a minute whilst I grade your performance', I felt the joy of success!

I feel quite lucky that my work experience is very different from that, but I do hear many others that feel that way. I'm passionate about knowledge management, organisation development and several related fields and now I'm all set to drive around and experience even more of that joy!

KidZania

My daughters and I visited a place called KidZania today. It's amazing! Basically, it's a city for kids. It's a hands-on learning environment for 4ish-11ish year olds to learn career skills.

You start by getting a passport, you're then recommended to choose a degree at the university. You even pass a test to earn the degree! With those in hand, you now wander the city and choose from about 40 different shops. In most every shop you can spend money (kidzos, which you were handed 50 at the beginning) and/or you can train for a job in the shop. 

You have options from aerospace to engineering to music to art to design to technology to everything in between. There's even a bank to setup a bank account and keep your money safe.

Adults are allowed in the city, but the shops are for kids only. It's a nice challenge for us to "let them fly" :)

Both of my daughters loved it and are already asking to return. We'll be back!

Reflections on Greece

We wrapped up our trip to Greece in the southwest of the country. The area was called Peloponnese. Before traveling to Greece, it was a pretty big decision to choose between the north and south of the country. The north had Delphi and Meteora, the south had Sparta, Olympia, Corinth and several other attractions. We chose the south this time.

We stayed in a town called Nafplio. We asked people in Santorini about it, one person said it was great, the other had never heard of it. 

Nafplio is a great port town. It has a peninsula shaped area that rises up out of the sea. There's a main city square and two shopping streets. There's a separate street on the water that's lined with restaurants. 

It's less than a 2 hour drive from Athens, and it makes for a great central point to most of Peloponnese. We took it easy on our first day there and asked locals what to do. The boardwalk and castle were recommended - and they were great! The boardwalk was one of my all time favorites and the castle was so good!

There are 999 steps to the castle, it's quite a workout. Palamidi Castle is the name of it if you want to google it. 

On our second day, we drove less than two hours to a place called Mystras. It'sa mystical place. 

I'll try to let some of the photos above speak for themselves. We stopped at a restaurant on the way up, had great food, then wandered the upper and lower areas of Mystras. 

The next day we went to Corinth. We started at the Corinth Canal since it's such a major feat to have built that canal. They used to hand carry boats over the four miles of land there because it was better than sailing all the way around Greece??

We then went into the town of ancient Corinth. It was smaller than I expected but still quite meaningful to walk an area that I heard is 7000 years old.

Our big finale was to drive up to acrocorinth, which is the castle and town at the top of the mountain. I was pretty surprised to not see much up there but again loved it.

I found the people and culture to be very kind in all of the places we visited. We met taxi drivers, waiters, waitresses, hotel staff, shop owners, and even locals in city centres. Given the current situation and asking them about it, they were so great. One shop owner said it best when he said "some days are good, some days are bad, we do our best". I think he wisely meant it broader than days, I think he meant days, weeks, months, years, decades, maybe even longer...

The food was great. We found the portions larger than expected and everything was flavourful. Desserts were especially good. Gyros seemed abut better than souvlaki in most places. Lots of olives. And the wine is amazing! 

The vistas were fantastic - lots of mountains, oceans, and thousands of years of history. 

Driving in Greece was the easiest driving of any country for me. Very few people on the road, relatively well marked signs and very few confusing intersections. There seems to be a culture of hovering over the right shoulder if you know you're going below the speed limit so that people can easily pass you - nice!

In terms of language, if you can read the Greek alphabet, you're in pretty good shape for reading signs and menus. Kalimera means good morning and efcharisto means thanks, you can almost get by on that :) 

Really enjoyed the trip, hope to come back someday! 

Santorini is a stunning island

As a truly fortunate family, we spent 3 days on a Greek island. We heard about Kos and Mykonos (and Rhodes and Crete), we decided on Santorini. It's a short 30 minute flight from Athens.

As you may have heard, Santorini is an absolutely beautiful island. It was formed by a volcanic explosion and the volcano is still there in the middle. It's quite a unique feeling to see the volcano surrounded by water then surrounded by land. There are white sand, red sand and black sand beaches due to the volcanic chemicals. There are two main towns - Fira and Oia (pronounced EE uh). 

Oia is full of white circular houses and blue domed churches, it's beautiful. We wandered the nearly endless walkways full of open shops and every step seeking more beautiful. Ocean views and nice people are just everywhere. 

Since we were there during a time of migrants and country bankruptcy, I asked  several locals what they thought and how they felt about it. According to the locals, Santorini appeared to be unaffected by the tough times.

Our hotel was in Oia and it was probably the greatest we've ever had. It had a jacuzzi overlooking the ocean and several rooms inside. There were also two decks, it was crazy. They brought breakfast to the room each morning and then we'd wander around the island.

Sunsets are a big deal on this island. Restaurants, shops and people talk about where to watch the sunset. The castle seems to be the popular.

We made it down to Fira one day. It has donkeys that you can ride down to the beach. It's also full of shops. 

The bus system works pretty well. We also took the bus down to the red beach. We thought you could walk from the red beach to the white beach, but we learned it's not possible. We didn't make it to the black beach, the red beach actually seemed like pretty dark sand to us.

I'm sure many of the Greek islands are beautiful, but I can definitely recommend Santorini for anyone that likes a relaxed environment with good food and stunning views.

First time in Greece

It's half term, which means lots of people are taking the week to reflect and relax. We thought we'd do that on our first trip to Greece! It's a 3 hr flight from London and it's a 2 hour time difference.

We've found that taxi drivers actually give you a bit of a preview as to the culture of the area. We had a very nice taxi driver, even after midnight. It's true, the people everywhere here have turned out to be the highlight - so thoughtful and nice!

Our first morning started with a walk to Hadrians Arch. It's hard to include all the stories of history here, sorry to not add much of that. Less than 100 yards from the arch is the Temple of Zeus. The arch seemed to be about 75% still in tact, whereas Zeus' temple was more like 15% still intact.

Then you walk through a great shopping area known as Plaka on your way to the Acropolis. The road is cobblestone and doesn't really have cars on it. It's just wide enough for a car and the shops feel like stands even though they're in buildings- lots of wide open entryways I guess. Food, clothes, jewelry, sculptures, pots, and plates are what I saw. I learned about old and new bronze, and alabaster. 

Then you arrive at the foot of the Acropolis and of course it's awe inspiring.  Imagine how many thousands of years and stories have taken place right here. You do have to pay to go up, it was around €20 for four of us. 

We walked through two stadiums on the way up. One is called Dionysus and the other is Herodeon, I think. Dionysus let's you walk through most of the "seats" which are marble-looking stone rows. The Herodeon is fenced off but you can see into it. It looks fully intact, compared to the 40% intactness of Dionysus.

We ate local donuts, souvlaki, gyros and baklava - all being delicious!

The next morning we woke up and walked to another shopping and historical area known as Anafiotika. The shops were more full sized and the streets had more cars on them, but still a great area. There's a photo you see of that area online but I must admit we never really found that central area, which I guess goes to show how many side roads are available in the area.

Then we walked to an area called Ancient Agora. This is a gated area where they're protecting history of over 5000 years. It's mostly low level stones and ruins and yet you can absolutely get a feel for what it used to be like. The two main areas to see are the Temple of Hephaestus and the Stoa of Attalos. Both are fantastic rectangular buildings completed surrounded by pillars and columns. The temple is empty and blocked inside, but you can walk through the Stoa which is full of pottery and many other artifacts from 2-5000 years ago. Amazing.

We walked back through Plaka that night since we loved it and now we're off to the next part of Greece...

More info soon...

Wedding in America

I flew back to NYC for a wedding. Several times now I've connected in Iceland. You can tell how beautiful it is from the plane. The airline is apparently tied to tourism because in a brilliant way, you can stay in Iceland for a few days and they consider it a "long layover", there's no additional flight charges. I'm hoping to try that one day. Having only been in the airport, I can only vouch for their chocolate, which is excellent.

My first night I stayed with the bride and groom, how great is that. They're so wonderful. I felt a little bad as if I were interrupting important last minute planning, but we sure did have a great time and they reassured me it was great.

After they dropped me off the second day, I walked to a Thai restaurant to compare US curry to British curry. It wasn't bad and somehow I got the entire restaurant involved in a conversation about "individual purpose". Granted there were only 7 people in there, but still, pretty fun. 

Then I ran into my parents and we had great chats and food too. The next day I spent great time with my brothers and their wives. Loved it, we went to a small brewery.

We then rushed to the wedding and had a great time. The venue was a manor house. We saw the bride and groom out in the fields so we took pictures from a distance. Then the wedding started and we learned the couple in the field was a different bride and groom, so we deleted those photos :)

The wedding was like a movie. Those two are in love and the event was flawless. Lots of great food, great people, dancing, music and love.

The party continued late into the night back at the hotel - with the bride and groom being the last ones to go to bed!

The next day I met with a great old friend in NYC. We sat in a bar, watched American football and caught up for hours. Fantastic.

I then used my fav city mapper app to get to the airport and now I'm back home in the UK!

Psychology

I visited Sigmund Freuds museum this past weekend. I've always enjoyed psychology and my work in org development is bringing me back to it.

The museum is the last house that he lived in. Special place. Just outside central London, nice neighbourhood. 

You walk to the back of the house to buy a £7 ticket, which is good for a year. The ground floor has "his couch" in it. It really is awe inspiring to stand there and think about the work that happened on that couch. 

The second floor has some of his daughters work. The landing on the stairs has great energy, not sure how to explain it.

I realise that visiting a house/museum really helps me to memorise and remember someone. I now have visuals to help me remember most of Freuds amazing work!

I wanted to then run over to the Carl Jung club. I needed to get home though, so I jumped into Tavistock for 2 seconds. The Tavistock Centre is 2 blocks from his house and they still practice psychotherapy there. The Tavistock Institute is about 6 tube stops from there.

 I met 3 really nice people at the museum. I think there's something "open" about psychology people, or maybe we just had a topic in common to discuss. 

People moving over here

I've enjoyed quite a few recent chats with people that are moving to the UK or Europe. I'm only 1.5 years in, but it's amazing to think what's changed in that time. The questions are different from each person, so there doesn't seem to be much of a common theme. "How do I get a job", "is it hard to bring animals", "what's it like" might be the most common. Interesting to me that the questions don't seem to be about culture or food, then tend to be a bit more individual and tactical in nature. Wonder what's behind that.

Glamping in Devon

Let's try glamping! I think the word glamping is a combination of glamourous and camping. It basically means that you sleep in the woods, but in some kind of existing primitive housing structure as opposed to a tent that you build. 

We found a place called Loveland Farm. The website was nice and the owners were even nicer. They own a farm with several kinds of animals, and they've built several "pods". Each pod looks like half a golf ball, with a dome-like shape comprised of hexagons. There's also a nice little kitchen in a handmade wood structure. The bathroom is called compost I think, although that doesn't sound right. It means that you go to the bathroom in a hole and cover it with compost. Apparently the house flies like it. 

The pod really was great! It had a full size teepee within it, plus several beds. One bed was hanging from the ceiling, which was very exciting for the kids. 

During the days, we drove to nearby beaches. We went to Croyde, Woolacombe and a funny place called Westward Ho! The exclamation point is truly in the name of the town. 

The beach at Woolacombe was highly rated and we agreed with the rating. It had endless sand and white hillside houses overlooking the beach. I slept on the beach, only to be awoken by the water rushing toward my head. The family thought it was very funny to watch me wake up and run. 

Noticing popular words

I've noticed the word "boring" is being said a lot lately. It's said in quite a negative way. "I sure hope I'm not boring" and comments like that. Interesting to me because I don't find the stiff upper lip boring at all, I tend to find it emotionally intelligent.

I've been corrected on my pronunciation of the London tube. I've been saying TOOb, it's more like CHube. So there you have it.

Not Bad - The Key British Phrase

Not bad is not just two words. Not bad is a quintessential phrase with at least four meanings. As I've been studying Mandarin for a few years and learning about "tones", the phrase "not bad" is a perfect example of tones in English.

If you hear "not bad" with a downward town, it actually means "really bad". Especially if there's a quick "yeah" before it.

If you hear "not bad" in a monotone, that actually means not bad. "It's ok".

If you hear "not bad" with a slight uptone, almost like asking a question, then that means "pretty good actually". "I kind of liked it, but don't really want to admit that since I don't know how you feel". 

If you hear "not bad at all", that means "probably the greatest thing I've ever seen, but why be so dramatic"

I'm still working on my pronunciation, but it's certainly a key phrase to know!

French Riveria

We visited the French Riveria. Marseille was a bit rough, but Nice and Cannes were fantastic! 

French food is delicious and we had great service everywhere we went. The

drive from Marseille to Cannes was like a lush desert with rocks and trees. It appeared to be the worlds wine supply with all the grapes we saw.

Cannes is beautiful. And almost any age can laugh the first time you see the road signs that say Nice Cannes, since the two towns are next to each other. Cannes has a great boardwalk with high end stores and exotic cars.

I didn't realise that Monaco is technically a different country. It's the second smallest in the world, only the Vatican is smaller. 

We also visited "the European Grand Canyon". Actually it's called Parc Verdon Gorge. We hiked the canyon and gorge to include some very memorable pitch black tunnels where you need a flashlight/torch to see two feet in front of you.

Grasse was a secret little town that we found, we enjoyed walking around that one and eating there. 

As we woke up one morning, we found ourselves extremely privileged to be asking questions to ourselves deciding which beach to go to. Do we want a boardwalk or no? Rock formations or no? Sandy or pebbles? Amazing. 

Nice is nice! Great boardwalk small town, great beach, white covered benches. We drove all around to see and walk on several beaches. We ran into some trouble paying for parking, it didn't like our credit card and wouldn't accept cash, but we eventually got it to work.

All in all the French Riveria lives up to its great reputation!

My first massage

My wife booked my first massage. I was strangely nervous going to it. I guess it was the fear of the unknown and unfamiliar. She had booked me for a hot stone which is apparently one of the more gentle and easier places to start.

We're in a small town, so the venue was just off High Street in someone's house. That increased my nerves a bit. I pretended to be fearless and went inside the house. The masseuse was there to greet me and I instantly felt more at ease. 

We had a nice chat and the massage was great. The only catch is now I know what relaxed actually feels like, so there's probably a risk of massage addiction :)

Embrace the Ridiculousness for a moment

It's all a bit ridiculous. Everything. We all have different ways of interpreting the world and when you step back and watch our behaviours, it's actually quite funny and ridiculous. 

For example, we enjoy a popular show called the Great British Bakeoff. It's a bunch of amateur bakers having a cooking competition in a big white tent. And the whole show is full of subtle hilarious innuendo. There's another popular show called W1A, which is the BBC creating a sitcom to make fun of itself, almost a spinoff of The Office.

But bigger than tv, it's about real life. There's a guy that stands at Trafalgar Square everyday handing out newspapers. But he doesn't just stand there, he teases people, he chases them, he makes loud noises, he contorts his body to make the paper seem more interesting. It's silly and it's perfect. I often wonder if he has the secret to a happy life, embracing the ridiculousness. 

It can be interesting to watch how people react and respond to him. Of course many people just walk by. Some people steer as far away as possible. Other people walk right up to him and join in the silliness. The energy coming from stressed people on the run versus the people that embrace him is noticeably different. 

Life seems to have some fragility and futility to it. Maybe an undertone is a healthy approach. I'll not confuse this short term humour with learning and development and having a strategy to head toward something. Maybe an occasional bounce into our playful ridiculous self is a nice way to balance out the planful part of our lives?

Royal Society of Arts (RSA)

I'm honoured to become a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. If I understand the history correctly, Ben Franklin was one of the original fellows. The idea started in coffee houses as a way to get together and have great conversations. Charles Dickens was a notable fellow and contributor as well.

Today, they have several approaches for impactful conversations. One approach is called "Bounce", which appears to be an open sharing of knowledge. "Engage" is another approach for more specific kinds of networking. "Catalyst" is a channel for pitching new ideas. 

I've visited their main building a couple times and its fantastically beautiful. There's a main open room with four two stories walls and an empty centre. The second story is hand painted with a story mural. It's amazing how it sparks conversation. 

Embracing a moment at Ely Cathedral

The day started a with a startle. I stood in a queue at a shop. There was a man behind me. A woman walked up and engaged him in conversation. It seemed they knew each other well. Standing less than two feet away, it was hard to not overhear the conversation. She rattled off several stories in less than a few minutes. One story was about quitting her job to spend more time with her family. She said it in relatively bold way, saying, 'we have lots of nice things, but if we screw up the kids we don't get that back'. Then she talked about a friend going on vacation saying 'they're going to America, she likes to keep things boring and comfortable, but she did go to Abu Dhabi once'. Interesting. On one hand I took it as a nice reminder to speak politely, with consideration for others. On another hand, I felt like it was quite a judgmental soliloquy she gave. That was the first time I had ever heard someone talk like that over here.

I moved on very quickly from that experience. I began the drive up to a town called Ely. There are many signs in the UK, I especially notice all the signs on the roads. One brilliant series of signs are included in roadwork. "Kill your speed" reads on simple, effective sign. "Our dad works here" reads another with a photo of two young boys with hard hats on. "Be alert, mum's at work" says another memorable sign in the construction zone. I bet those are children are actual sons and daughters of that work crew, so I see many positives there.

Traffic was bad, so the car recommended a trip through London, or at least closer to London that I had ever driven. I must admit I was nervous for some reason. I knew about the Congestion Charge, but when I saw red curbs and Low Emission Zone, I really wasn't sure what they meant. I kept up with traffic and researched the signs when I made it back home. Red curbs simply mean no parking or stopping, low emission zone means you pay a fee if  your vehicle has high emissions.

It took nearly 4 hours for an estimated 2 hour drive. I stopped in Cambridge for food. I didn't have time to walk around the university because the last Ely Cathedral tour was at 3pm and it was already 2pm.

I made it to the cathedral in Ely at 2:50pm. I bought a ticket and the nice woman mentioned it was the last spot! I told her about my commute and she was quite happy that I made it in time and a ticket was available. I checked last night, I'm not sure its possible to buy tickets in advance.

The tour started with some nice facts. 1300 years ago the area of the cathedral was a Norman monastery. 800 years ago it became a cathedral. In 1322, there was a major collapse in the centre of the building and a stunning 'octagon' was erected in its place.

There are 288 steps to the top of the tower. The guide stops every 75 steps or so for a break. He also yells a few facts down the stairs which are spiral staircase, cold, damp and going straight up. What an experience. It actually crossed my mind that this is probably how directions were yelled in times of war.

The stained glass in the cathedral is noticeable. The tour guide commented that its all Victorian stained glass and they believe to have the largest collection of it in the world. I found it to be beautiful - very clean - very colourful - and tremendous artistry. 

288 steps west tower 

The bells for the tower were automated around the year 1700. They were done manually before that. The town of Ely used to be in marshland. There were many eels. So they named the town Ely and its pronounced EEL-ee. According to the guide, Ely is Britians 3rd smallest city. The smallest city is London because it is technically 1 square mile. I'm honestly not sure if that was a fact or a joke, I actually think it might be true.

The view from the top is fantastic of course. One of the first things you notice is that the roofs are inverted. They look like funnels as opposed to pyramids. The story is that most of the water in the area is saltwater, which doesn't work for making beer. So, the monks captured rain water. Supposedly all ages drank the beer.

After the walk up the tower, I walked around the cathedral. I enjoyed all the different areas. After awhile, I sat down because I just couldn't leave, it was too great of a place. The choir was practicing. They were practicing their magical collective voice, on their journey like so many elite voices before and after them. Their bold and gentle voices filled the vastness whilst cold mystical breezes whispered on my knees. I sat and cried a bit. I'm not sure what was happening. I thought about living in England. I thought about this point in history. I thought about family. Mistakes and successes crossed my mind. But more than thinking. I just felt. I could smell the fresh flowers. I got a sense of the pain and joy that comes in and out of the cathedral. And life. I grabbed it and embraced it for awhile. Strange maybe, but inspiring and enlightening definitely. Delightful.

New Car

We have a new car! I find myself a bit hesitant to drive it for some reason. It's marginally larger than our previous car. I notice it somewhat struggles to change gears. It is a nice car, screens and features are easy to read and understand and it will seat the whole family and several friends.

Nice Town

I ran a few errands yesterday. First I needed special dog food from the vet. I planned on running in and out, but the doctor came out and offered to "just chat". We had a nice conversation and I was impressed he could remember my two dogs without even looking them up. They were missing some of the food and they called the supplier right there before I even left to give me an update. Nice!

Then I ventured to the hardware store to find a tiny screw to fix my sunglasses. The nice clerk pondered a solution and decided to point me to the optomitrist a few doors down. The doctor there took my sunglasses, said "let me see what I can do" and walked to the back. Within minutes he came back, sunglasses fixed, and he asked me to try them on. Perfect! I said "let me give you something" and he said "no charge, but you're welcome to donate to charity". Love it. 

Next was an unrelated stop at the charity shop. Our youngest daughter slowly grows out of her toys, so we try to donate them. The employee there was very helpful, she took the toys and offered a high tech way to keep in touch to see how much they're worth (tax purposes I think).

Finally I tried the dry cleaning shop at the office. Remember dry cleaning is absurdly expensive here. This shop is expensive too, but I guess it's nice that it's right in the building I visit anyway.

It's not like I visited one small town. I travelled to a few small towns. To me, I felt kindness, generosity and compassion in all of them. 

Warwick Castle and the Dungeons

I stopped by Warwick Castle. It has a great reputation, especially for kids. King Henry owned it for awhile, he made everything gold in the castle. 

I find this castle quite different from others. There are four very thin outer walls. Basically just stairs up to the top and a few towers. The towers even seem to be in slightly random places.

There's one somewhat long corridor that connects the state rooms. I noticed a few sets of stairs that were blocked off, but other than that, there were a few nice rooms. The woodwork on the walls in one bedroom was exquisite. 

True to its reputation, there were many activities for kids. Shooting bows and arrows across the moat, sword fights, plays, etc. There's a fantastic open courtyard of just plain flat grass that connects the whole castle. 

Then I went down into the dungeons. It's like a haunted house. It's intended to be scary and entertaining. Even in the courtyard, you can hear the excitement about it.

I'd say the minimum age for this attraction is about 13 years old, give or take. There are a few relatively gory scenes and one of the actors had some relatively adult comments. 

There are 9 rooms. As a small group, you're directed by the actors how to get to each room. The actor then conducts a one-man show with many props. The final room is fantastic :) I enjoyed the entire show although I wasn't picked to be the "victim" in any room. 

Stratford Shakespeare, time for us all to excel?

The Stratford town walk is excellent. It's only £6 and worth every penny. Literally, in fact, because they give you 6 coupons that can be used all over town to redeem that cost. More importantly, you'll gain knowledge, history, stories and conversations that are priceless.

The group I joined was so large that they called another tour guide and quickly spilt us into two groups. My group had about 20 people in it. Half of the group was a reunion of old friends and colleagues that had worked together in Bangalore, India.

We started at a fountain in the very centre of Stratford. Margot was our guide and she was excellent. She rattled off 15 minutes of Shakespeare and Stratford facts to start the day. I'll put a few of them here. Most of all, she was funny, articulate, passionate and easily connected to all kinds of people. 

- 1564 Shakespeare birth 

- 400 AD Stratford started

- Romans then Saxons, first bridge - strat means street, ford means crossing 

- Avon is the name of the river 

- 1100 Robin Hood started a market with permission from the King 

- There's "New town" and "old town"

- RSc Royal Shakespeare company

- RST Royal Shakespeare  theatre

- David Garrick made Shakespeare famous 

- First theatre flooded washed away

- 1800 stone theatre built, burned in 1930

- 3rd theatre was designed in a competition, it looks like a ship

- Sister of the winner designed the red phone box

- Backstage tour highly recommended (I'll try it next time)

Shakespeare's Birthplace

You'll immediately notice the black and white buildings all over town. Margot explained that some are authentic, some are fake, and some are somewhere in between (maybe started real then updated over time). Bowed wood is a sign of authenticity, they were painted black and white during Victorian time. They thought the brown and tan wasn't as beautiful as black and white. The wood looks uneven on authentic buildings and the bricks are smaller Elizabethian bricks (about half the height we're used to seeing). 

We learned about his family, faster than I could even write. His fathers business did very well but had a few tough times. At age 14, William was taken out of school to help his father's leather business. At 18 married he Anne Hathaway, she was already pregnant and a lot older. Then they had twins 2 years later. Then there are 6 years where we don't have records, the guess is he went with traveling actors in London. He sent money to the family who was still living in Stratford. At 28 or 29 he was mending scripts, copyright law didn't exist then, so it was common for everyone to copy and modify each other, it was even expected. Now it's a little hard to know exactly who wrote what, she said to think of it a bit like writing a scene of a sitcom today - it's done quickly, in passing, and modified on the fly.

The house became an inn for awhile, then 200 years of dilapidation whilst it wasn't cared for, then Barnum (from the states) wanted it, so Charkes Dickens jumped in and bought it.

Many of the street names are literally. Corn road was used to sell corn. Sheep lane had sheep. Cooks Alley used to be a shared oven. People didn't have their own oven, so they prepped at home, then walked it over to cooks alley. This is where "prick it, mark it w a b, put it in oven for baby and me" comes from. You had to mark your pie somehow so you knew which one was yours.

One of the buildings is known as Harvard house. It comes from John Harvard, and it is currently owned by his Harvard University. Interesting to see that connection here.

"We won't make windows into men's souls." Queen Elisabeth said this at a time when most people were uneducated and couldn't read or write. The overwhelming belief was that God would judge you, and you'd go to heaven or hell, religion was extremely important and required by law. Generations were told to be Protestant for a long time, then Catholic for a long time. Lots of conflict, wars and death were the result. Queen Elisabeth may have been the very first to say "it's up to you and you won't be punished". She let people choose their religion. Huge!

By 33, Shakespeare was rich, but not from writing plays. He was rich from buying and selling property.

Women didn't got to school at the time of Shakespeare. Boys went from 7am to 6pm, 6 days a week. Church on Sunday. They brought their own wood for heat, and they were beaten if they didn't know their lesson.

There's some drama and politics surrounding Shakespeare's money. He willed his money to his daughter Susanna and John Hall (her husband, I think). I vaguely recall something about one of his daughters marrying someone that quickly fell out of grace, so there were challenges there.  

As I reflect, I learned a lot about heaven and hell, religion, and our limited understanding of the human body.  As recent as Shakespeare's time, they truly believed the human body was magical and mystical. Maybe it is :) The guide mentioned "being out of humor", which had to do with their belief that the body had 4 humors and they all needed to be aligned to be healthy. It struck me that given those beliefs, along with religion and education, it was strategically better to be quiet than outspoken. You were likely to get killed or brutally punished if you weren't like everyone else. Being killed was a double whammy in those days because then your body couldn't be seen to be judged for heaven or hell!

I can't help but wonder, how much of that "be quiet or be killed" fear still exists today? Is this why it is quite common to "go along with the flow" and "keep your head down"? I wonder, are we arriving at the dawn of "Time for us all to excel, individually and collectively, as much or as little as each of us want to". Clearly I need a more succinct way to say that :)

Back to Shakespeare, his church was built in 1260s, but mostly finished in the 1300s. He spent every Sunday here other than the few years in London. There's another building he spent a lot of time in called new place, I think it's the house he built, but it was torn down by what Margot calls a "miserable man".

Here's an example of how much the world changed in Shakespeare's lifetime, his birth certificate was in Latin, his  death certificate is in English. He's buried at the altar of his church with his closest family not because he was famous or religious, but because of his money.

Here's a fun fact that's somewhat highly debated. Shakespeare was supposedly asked to translate the bible from Latin to English. If you read psalm 46, the 46th word is shake and the 46th word from the end is spear. He was 46 years old when he was given the task. 

Graves and bones used to be moved to make room for new graves. When they did that, they'd have a bone fire, or now, a bonfire. This is important because that's exactly what Shakespeare chose to address on his tombstone. He basically curses anyone that tries to move his bones. 

Like many churches, when you walk outside, you can't help but notice the perfectly aligned trees along the sidewalk. There are 12 trees on each side, representing the 12 apostles. If you look closely, there's always one tree that's a bit further back than the others, that's supposed to represent Judas, or so I'm told. This is how it looks at Shakespeare's church.

I found it all to be fascinating. I've googled some of it to learn other perspectives as well. To me, Stratford had a very nice feel, you can walk the whole town, the water is there, people are nice, buildings are beautiful. I'd say it's quite a romantic area!

Durdle Door

There's a rock formation in southern England known as Durdle Door. I drove down there this morning. What a fantastic place!

The drive has a few back roads and parking at the beach is a little tricky, and it's all worth it. The rock formation looks like a seahorse kissing the water, or, a curved rock with a hole through it. 

It was very windy today and quite crowded. There are two other beautiful bays within short walking distance. You walk along the high white cliffs taking in the warm salty air.

Less known, there's actually some curved white rocks with holes in them to the west of Durdle Door (same beach). 

There are many tents and huts setup all around the campground next to the beach. I wonder how much it costs to rent a tent or hut.

Come prepared to hike, these are steep climbs and I heard most people huffing and puffing. The beach is half pebble and half sand - and all amazing.

Salisbury Cathedral and the Magna Carta

I drove down to Salisbury Cathedral this morning. It was a beautiful, hour-long drive through winding farm roads. One of the four original Magna Cartas is kept there, so I was excited to see that too.

Before going, I paid online for a "bell tower tour". I wasn't sure exactly what it would include, but there were a lot of warnings about steep stairs without railings, so I was excited :)

The tour was amazing! The tour guide had worked there for 30 years, he seemed to know every inch of the place and its history. It is common for a tour to walk right alongside public crowds, but not this tour. We went through a secret back door, locked it behind us, and went past signs that said no public access! 

We basically climbed through the rafters like a carpenter or roofer. We climbed hundreds of stairs almost to the very very top of the spire. At the highest point there was a framed certificate from the Guiness book of world records- for one of the tallest spires. 

One story he told us was about how the wood was sawed. Two carpenters would put a log across a pit. The two-person saw had one person on top of the pit and one below, in the pit. Each person was known as a dog. The one on top was called the over dog, and the one underneath, getting covered in sawdust, usually an apprentice, was called the underdog. 

I'm learning more and more about architectural styles. I think I can point out Tudor, Georgian and Medieval. From the top of the spire, the view was fantastic and the guide pointed out all the styles we could see.

After the tour, I walked next door to the Magna Carta. Again, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. It's in a relatively small octagonal room with a beautiful high ceiling. Inside the room, there's a small tent-like structure that allows a few people at a time to walk in and look at it.

Admittedly, I can only remember the bare fundamentals of the Magna Carta. I know it's the most formal predecessor to the U.S. constitution.  But actually....wow, there's a lot more detail behind it.

The paper document we call the Magna Carta isn't actually the Magna Carta at all?! A document two iterations later was called the Magna Carta, but even that document was called that until later. The document we know as the Magna Carta is actually a very different charter. Something about a king and his barons making a deal, it doesn't talk about "the people" at all. I think it's actually called Articles of Barons. Even more, the document we know, only lasted a few weeks, so it really wasn't very successful at all. 

All that said, I suppose you have to give credit somewhere along the line, so this document may be as close as we can get. And it's 800 years old this year, so that's fantastic.

I stopped by Durdle Door after Salisbury, but more on that in a separate post.

On the drive home I was starving, so I stopped at the most crowded pub I could find. The food was excellent and the family next to me had a young daughter. When they stood up to leave, she started talking and she sounded exactly like Peppa Pig. I quickly googled the voice of Peppa, saw some photos, and it's very possible it was her. Probably not, but still fun to think :)

 

Can you sleep on a plane?

I've struggled to sleep on airplanes, even on long flights. It's easy to find excuses, but heading into this 8 hour flight back to the UK, I thought I'd try again.

Sure enough, the excuses and problems were easy to find. I had three young children in the row behind me, and a monster in front of me that not only shook his chair adjusting himself every 5 minutes, but his entire row of seats moved too. I swear I heard screws pop, I wonder if he ate spinach like Popeye or had a green chest like the hulk. The children played a screaming game that included pounding the TV screen on the back of my chair. I involuntarily bobbed back and forth towards monster man doing the row shake.

After awhile, I took a deep breath, and seeked the positive. I noticed the air conditioning was soothingly loud, I noticed a blanket that kept me warm, I noticed the extra elbow room I had due to an empty seat next to me, I noticed the darkness after closing the window shade. Apparently it didn't take much and I was fast asleep. I woke up some time later with a dry mouth, so I have almost no doubt that I was snoring. 

What a liberating feeling to sense the environment and situation, seek the positive, and change. It seems like it was all in my head and I can't help but wonder what if the environment or situation were completely different and required feedback, conflict or conversation; this definitely relates to organisations and team work. Would I have been willing and capable to influence the situation and find the most positive progress for everyone involved? I think that's exactly what I'm studying and practicing these days, love it!

Battle Prom at Blenheim Palace

We had such a great time at a Battle Prom last year, we decided to go again this year. We bought tickets for July 4, but then we were lucky to get tickets to Minecon that weekend. I called the Battle Prom folks and they helped us switch to the next weekend at no additional cost - great!

I think they run about half a dozen Battle Proms per year, so it's a pretty special treat. The day starts around 4pm. There are cavalry runs and infantry demonstrations first, we've missed those both years. 

Around 6pm the stage lights up with musical acts. That's when we like to arrive. There are already approximately 10,000 people sitting under tents and around picnic blankets, the air is full of joy. 

The live music starts with British national songs and then a historic Spitfire airplane flys overhead- timed to the music. The orchestra comes on stage and then the canons and guns are fired, again timed to the music. 

It's a great time to sit with friends and family. Enjoy the show and make new friends as well. It turns out that my good friend that first informed me of the shows was at this particular show! In a real knowledge management fail, we didn't know ahead of time and only figured it out afterwards. Good reminder to "work out loud" and be aware of opportunities right in front of you :)

Back in America! (For a week or two)

We jumped on a plane and flawlessly made it back to the states. It's fascinating to me that most land and water looks about the same from 30,000 feet, but when you get out and walk it at ground level, it's quite different. The colors, the smells, the sounds, the structure, and certainly the culture. There are probably metaphors to corporate working and life in there. 

Both sets of our parents greeted us at the airport, such a warm feeling. It's not easy to get in and out of an airport, let alone the tough timing/waiting. The extra effort is generous and appreciated by all!

The trip was full of great meals and fantastic conversation. It took 3-5 nights before I was able to "get on east coast time" and sleep through the night.

I think it's worth noting how good the music is in the United States, or maybe I should say how available and broad the music seems to be. I've struggled a bit to find music in the UK, I know it's there (especially performed live in towns), but I haven't quite found the Sirius XM equivalent yet. I think there's something to be said about how much the U.S. seems to invest in music. Trying many, many bands; trying many, many songs. Some garner huge followings, some maybe have small niches, but all that iteration and attempt must be good, right?

Let's talk about driving. Stop lights look different to me now. What I see now is tremendous cost, electricity and infrastructure. That's different from what I saw before. The design doesn't seem safe or effective, and it appears to invade the environment. I realize what a big change it would be to try a different design,  but wow, maybe it can be discussed, if it isn't already? I bet there's a metaphor to org culture change in there somewhere. I notice how quickly I start driving aggressively - trying to beat lights, keeping up with the car in front of me, passing in all lanes, etc. Fascinating. 

It's now a slightly odd feeling to hear most everyone have a similar accent to yourself. It sounds different. I notice nuances in words. I sound different to myself.

Strange, I notice rooms bounded by drywall feel or sound different than rooms surrounded by plaster walls. I suppose the room dimensions are different as well, but now I do wonder (and somewhat notice) which rooms and materials tend to spark conversation. 

It's not surprising that places look different. That said, it's not just that I missed entire construction projects, I notice more flowers, water, trees, and space than I previously noticed. Even if they had not changed. Things change, right, but I suppose our lenses for seeing them change as well. At first, I was disappointed in myself because I was noticing problems as opposed to successes. I found myself noting the negative as opposed to the positive. I woke up one morning and simply asked myself "what's nice, what's going well". It was reassuring to easily keep that mental model for the rest of the trip. There are so  many positives to see and experience, of course! I do wonder if having a broad range of mental models, and the agility to bounce between them, is quite a fundamental change for me. Not only noticing the facade of physical change, but noticing and considering the architectural and design differences of places sparked that thought for me. A mentor once told me "It's what you look for that you see". I'll choose to look for the positive and be open to the broadest range I can :)

Time moved fast for the entire trip. I visited the office several times, prepped for the wedding, attended the wedding, visited friends and family, played golf, celebrated our wedding anniversary and birthdays, ate many amazing meals, and even played some air hockey and foosball. I bet I'm forgetting other highlights! 

They say "people won't remember what you said, or even what you did, but they'll remember how you made them feel". I'm feeling loved, connected and open to learning. I'm hopeful that I offered and contributed those kinds of feelings during the visit. 

Minecon 2015

I took my daughter and her friend to Minecon. Minecon is the annual Minecraft Convention. Actually, it happens once every 18 months or so, tickets sell out in minutes, and they move it from continent to continent. It all adds up to quite an enticing event.

Lydia Winters is the Director of Fun for the company that created the Minecraft video game. The company is called Mojang. We met her when we were lucky to attend the previous Minecon in Orlando Florida. Since that event, Microsoft bought Mojang and I noticed she now has a title something like Manager of Business Development.

10,000 tickets were sold. We fully expected long queues and a lot of positive energy. Even with high expectations, the event delivered. 

We were very professionally managed as a large crowd at a large venue. It often felt like there were as many helpful security employees as there were attendees. They herded us into swirving queues barracaded by connected metal fences. When the moment was right, they allowed us into the main stage arena which was hidden until the event officially started. 

Keep in mind the crowd looks like extremely excited 8-16 year olds escorted by their parents running behind them. I noticed the diversity of the crowd was excellent in terms of gender, race, background, etc. Hearing the roaring oohs and aahs of that crowd is heartwarming.

Within the first two minutes they brought a Guiness World Record adjudicator on stage. He announced that this event is the largest crowd ever for a single video game. 

We then noticed the screen on stage was absolutely massive as they played a couple inspiring videos. They talked about how Minecraft is changing the world through the United Nations, education systems and advanced technology. They demonstrated a new technology called Hololens which is a pair of glasses that allow you to interact with 3d images/videos right in front of your eyes!

After the intro, you're exploded into the world of Minecraft convention. There's an "expo" area. Rumor has it that Steven Spielbergs crew designs the sets, they're breathtaking. The centre of the expo hall was a 3 story physical Minecraft build of Big Ben. It had a dragon character from the game draped around it. At floor level they build a London park full of Minecraft trees and characters. If you let your imagination go, you'll feel like you're walking in the game. 

"YouTubers" is the most common word at the event. People create videos and post them on YouTube. If you're a marketing genius, you can get millions of "views" and hundreds of thousands of "subscribers". YouTube pays you something on the order of £1 per 1000 views, so there's financial incentive. The most popular YouTubers are like movie stars. Every single gamer there knows them and wants to meet them. They happen to be very nice, young people. We met several of them, got selfies and autographs, and the kids were beside themselves with elation.

The closing event on the first day was spectacular. Picture cirque d soleil. Women spinning high in the sky, bikers jumping on and off platforms and lots of explosive fire spinning everywhere. My favourite part was 4 people on trampolines. They used the entire massive stage to bounce on and off a platform to their trampolines. The back screen and platform were digitally lit by moving Minecraft scenes and the platform had 3 tiny holes near the top. They jumped and performed aerial gymnastics at dizzying heights and speed. They even jumped in and out of the tiny holes. I was mesmerized and didn't want it to stop.

We attended many panels and presentations. We also played some games and won some prizes. For me, it brings tears to my eyes and warmth to my soul to experience people having joy and learning. It's a special community full of love. 

Pants, Taxi Rank

Few more phrases for you - if something is bad, you can say it's "pants". "Next week is pants for me", "weather was pants last weekend", etc.

If you need to catch a taxi, find the nearest "taxi rank", or ask for a taxi rank. It's what we'd call a taxi stand.

That's it for now :)

Praha of Prague, Colour of Spirit

Let's try something different. Rather than facts and figures, here are some words that help me enjoy the memory of Prague. I think they're written in a way somewhere between "lyrics of a song" and a riddle. See what you think, I find it fun and strangely interesting :)  

London To Praha in such sweet passing //

Red x for return, start where you are

Car parking jet parks save cost over time remember time has cost

Arriving looking, you'll fly back, but heart shapes, and forwards as a pause

Such kind and second livings, for loved ones, felt in words and generosity

With the ksh and the krt and the provti and the schtm,  listen to the smile of tension, it's not so forced, just spoken 

Days awake in golden glow, glowing red shades of Pompei upon nightfall naturally lit by empathetic conversation 

Facial features noticeably local and more not so. architecture of diversity, diversity of architecture 

Policie contribute blue in sirening contrast, feeling prepared and protected, but from what. Unknown of not fearing

Melodious quiet buzzhumm allows a separation of sounds, whizz of a bike, putter of a car, chirp of a bird, click and ding of a cable car, note the laugh of a distant phone call

Porcelain, crystal in seek, even luck in the cards may spin your way

Coloured letters and emotions sprayed below, as you gaze up across the magnificence and tops 

The apostles will giggle on the hour if you watch the time that can't be seen, whilst the chords play rightside echoing around you 

Michael will take you over, ten stars crosses. Zlata ulicka crossbow bullseye in joyous momentum 

Sing play frolic tasting goulash and smoked spinning sugar. Segway between thoughts and places you'll see Let it be. Singing.

May the luck bring you water to cleanse, it may come and go, as we all do, enjoy  it's on and off

Curves and spikes proliferate the ancient  prayer wedding spaces of time and love. Sensing the whole city walking mindful the path back balcony like Florence Michelangelo 

Don't look for time, it isn't lost. Connect to your disconnected self finding what you seek. Integrate moments in freedom, worry not the lovely pursuit of past and future. The dungeon is real, spirit paddle bouyantly to sunset of renewal.

Such sweet momentary pass, come again!

Random - Beard and Pollen

For what it's worth, I haven't shaved in 2 or 3 weeks. It started at the NTL programme when I forgot shaving cream. Then I often don't shave on holiday, so it continued. I suppose I'm using it as something of a reminder about my deep learning at NTL. 

On another random note, there were small white things floating all over Belgium and the Netherlands. I didn't think much of them, but now I see them in the UK a little too. I'm guessing it's some kind of flower or tree pollen. I don't recall seeing such a thing in the states? (I remember invisible pollen that then piled up in a thick yellow on cars)

Amsterdam

We drove several hours from Bruges to Amsterdam. I must embarrassingly admit that I though Amsterdam was in Denmark :( It's in the Netherlands. Reminder for me to study basic geography, let alone culture!

It's a legit city. I drove on a highway with 14 lanes across both sides of highway (7 each way). The speed limit was 100 kmph. Similar to the UK, everyone followed the speed limit, apparently those cameras really do work. The hotel staff told me that tickets are issued as low as 4 kmph over the limit - I'm a bit nervous!

Once you're in the city, the somewhat predictable bikes and mopeds take over. But wow are there bikes, there must be 100 bikes at every corner.

We started at the Anne Frank house. It was almost a 3 hour wait to get in. We knew it would be long, but not that long. Given that time, I made good friends with all the people around me whilst the girls wandered around shopping. At one point I did hear two locals go by in their bikes as say "I've never seen the wait so long".

We had a great experience in the house. I wondered how my daughters would perceive it. My oldest had been well prepared in school, so she learned a lot. Seeing the rooms and her diaries is quite impactful. The one message from her dad that stuck with me was "most parents don't know their kids". He was saying that because his perception was that Anne's diaries were much deeper than she ever portrayed in reality. I find it a slightly controversial and memorable statement. Oh, before I forget, there was an oustanding violin player entertaining the queue. And, when it started to rain, the staff brought out umbrellas, very nice.

We then walked through the recommended neighborhood known as Jordaan. Honestly didn't see much there. 

We then walked all around the water based roads. It doesn't take long to see Amsterdam is heavily influenced by marijuana. It was interesting to see that shops weren't parallel to the water as I expected, all shops were on the roads perpendicular to the water, it seemed counterintuitive and "off the beaten path". There's also a heavy music influence in Amsterdam, we liked that part.

We walked back to our car to be extremely disappointed. Someone had smashed our back windshield and stolen a suitcase! :( we called local parking garage security and the police. We figured out that 2 iPads were in that suitcase, so the guess is that the criminals used a signal detection device to find them. We're still in the middle of insurance conversations. Very disheartening, but we're healing. 

We drove back to Brussels for our flights. When we checked in for our flights, I said "we're flying to Brussels", whilst we were standing in Brussels. The lady tried not to laugh, so I said I must still be flustered about the bag. Given the story, she didn't charge us for any bags, so big props to EasyJet!

Belgium

We visited Belgium! Our first few nights were in Brussels. Our flights were on time, so we had a nice, unplanned first night to wander around. We stopped by Grand Place and the Mannekin Pis statute. Grand Place is basically the city centre gathering area. Imagine beautiful buildings around a cobblestone square area. There was a live jazz festival going on in the centre, so that was great timing. The aroma waffling around Brussels is unforgettable, I'd say the best smelling city in the world as far as I know :)

The next day we walked through 7 world class chocolate shops. The people were so nice and the chocolate was excellent. My oldest daughter and I loved Passion Chocolat. 

We then took the metro up to a place called Atomium. It's an extremely unique and unforgettable structure. It was built for the World Fair a long time ago, and soon thereafter it was decided to keep it. It basically looks like a huge atom, several hundred feet tall, with large spheres connected by "small" diagonal tubes. Once you're inside, after a long queue, each sphere tells a story about the structure. One sphere is dedicated to young students spending the night for science lessons. The views from the top are great!

The plan was to drive up to a town called Bruges, but we decided we had time to stop halfway in another beautiful town called Gent. I had never been there before. What a great place! It's about an hour from Brussels, and it has the same cute small town feel as Bruges. Except Gent has an amazing area of churches and castles, fantastic. Bikes and cable cars kept the town buzzing. There's a great bridge called St Michaels I think, that gives a view of 5 different awe inspiring structures.

We enjoy researching the names and ingredients of local popular dishes when we travel. Waterzooi is apparently popular in Belgium. I tried it in Gent and loved it, it's basically a thick chicken stew.

We drove up to Bruges from there. I was a bit worried that Bruges would lose its appeal after Gent, but it stood strong. Even driving through rush hour traffic, it was about an hour to get there.

First we walked to a place called Lake of Love. See, Bruges is one of those cities like Venice where there are a lot of waterways and bridges. Bruges was larger than I remembered it, which was a good thing. We took the boat tour around town and then learned that there are only one or two cash machines in the whole area. 

We went to the city centre and had lunch in the view of the tallest building, known as the bell tower. I carried my youngest daughter up 366 steps to the top, but who's counting :)

Unfortunately the Bruges trip ended a tiny bit sour as we shopped. One store owner fussed at my daughters because they were touching the merchandise. It caused a bit of a spat with her, so I guessed we learned local culture the hard way. Still looking forward to going back to the town someday!

National Training Lab (NTL) - Org Development Certificate

I don't normally mention work-related items here, but this one is a bit of a blend between work and play. I'm extremely fortunate to be part of a certification programme for Organisational Development (OD). 

OD is a very broad field with many definitions, one that I like is "improving organisational health and effectiveness through the application of behavioural sciences". It's very close to Knowledge Management. 

The programme takes place in Oxford and it has 6 modules. Each module is 4 days, except the first module is 5 days. The entire programme runs over 11 months, so the modules are separated by about a month or two.

I finished Module 1 a few weeks ago. Frankly, it's been some of the most transformational learning I've ever had. We learned many OD models, but mostly, we learned about ourselves and group dynamics through a process known as T Group (also known as Human Interaction Lab).

I'm not exactly sure how to describe a T group. Basically, you have 8 people in a room with a facilitator for 5 days. That's about it. Very little structure, very few rules. The idea is to learn about yourself and how your "use of self" impacts the group. They sometimes call it a deconstructive process, because you'll most likely need to check your assumptions and then re-build. Gestalt principles are recommended, which means you stay "in the moment", as opposed to discussing past or future. 

I'm still digesting all that I learned. It was such a great experience, I found a renewed version of myself and a tremendous growth in understanding group dynamics.