My Little Pumpkin

Happy Halloween!

Cultural Differences

one of my electives this term was "intercultural management" which i thoroughly enjoyed, because the instructor was great (she's 67, born in switzerland, from paris, currently teaching in india) and because i really enjoy learning stuff about people - what makes them tick, why they do the things they do, etc.

which is why i majored in marketing and hr; it's all about figuring out what motivates people and then using that information to influence their decisions. realizing this made me a much better consumer as well.i did a presentation for the course about an issue that happened in france a few years ago. to summarize, an anglo-saxon tourist wanted to get off on the first platform of the eiffel tower, the elevator operator wouldn't let her, she complained, he lost his job, his colleagues went on strike, the eiffel tower shut down for a couple of days. it illustrated the misunderstandings that can happen from cultural differences. you can read some of the article here.

now i'm working on my 'comparison of north american and european work culture' essay and i found an article that i thought was interesting, particularly this part:

"The average American worker gets only two weeks paid holiday a year. As a result, he or she works around 350 hours more each year than the average European. But that's just the average. In many jobs, there is even less time off. Thirty per cent of all American workers never take a lunch break. In many jobs, days off for sickness are sometimes deducted from holiday entitlement."
you can find the rest of the article here.

Quick Trip to Zurich

i was in switzerland last week, zurich to be more precise. the centre is lovely, clean, nice to walk around. i did a bit of sightseeing as you can see, but mostly i shopped ... a lot! it was a bit chilly but sunny so in between i had lots of chai lattes!zurich is fabulous for shopping, with one main street with tons of stores, including department stores so i bought some things for my apartment. But mostly i bought clothes. :) it was time as most of my clothes have traveled with me to 3 countries :)i also bought chocolate from this store that sells chocolate in "slabs". i waited to eat these so that i could take a pic, but the pics didn't turn out anyway :( the white chocolate is my fave - it has dried fruit and pistachios in it. i found the website and was hoping they'd deliver, but they only ship within switzerland... though i might send them an email :)
oh!! and i found a craft store so i bought some christmas picks, lace, and punches!

Inspirational Card Sketches #40

here's my card for this week's sketch at inspirational card sketches. click on the link to see what lovely cards the other ladies came up with this week, and to play along! we have another awesome sponsor this week - the pixie cottage, so i hope you join us!the photo is a bit dark because i wanted to show the text, but i don't think it's visible anyway :(. it reads:

may christmas bring you many joys and happiness from year to year.

although it's still very warm here, the grey skies are making it feel like christmas is right around the corner. and because i have to send stuff to canada like around now, i have to start thinking about presents and such these days. but i am always behind it seems, despite good intentions every year :(

anyway, thanks for visiting and have a good one!

Boo!

i wanted to make a halloween card and i thought the current challenge at caardvarks, which is to make a tall card, was just the perfect thing! i was a bit sad to find out that some of my fave caardvarks crew members were leaving, because i will sure miss their creative inspiration! but of course i wish them well.i love halloween! it's not celebrated here, although they are trying. by that i mean that the stores are filling with lots of decorations, costumes and such, but, like many things that are adopted from other countries, they just don't quite "get it" in europe. they have a traditional view, in that the holiday is all about witches and devils and ghosts. which of course it isn't though it may have originated from that way back then. i actually hope people don't buy into it too much. they do their own celebrations really well, and i hope they keep their own local traditions going.

this year i got a pumpkin (as you can see in the pic) which i may carve if i get ambitious, but back in the day i used to decorate my house inside and out. i had these very cool skeleton lights which may or may not be in storage, i can't remember. outside, i made graves with leaves from the beautiful maple tree in the front yard, got hay and dried cornstalks and a piece of old wooden fence from somewhere.

after i typed this all out, i realized that i might have a picture to show you, which i do !! so here it is:
thanks for dropping by!!

Inspirational Card Sketches #39

this is my card for sketch #39 at inspirational card sketches. i used the 'baby bear with sailboat' image from doodle palace, who has generously sponsored this week's challenge. they will be giving the winner 4 images!! and they are seriously cute!! i hope you'll play along this week!
i have been super busy with school and a trip out of town, but i hope to have more time in the coming weeks to be more crafty and visit some blogs, which i really need to do!!

thanks for dropping by!

Inspirational Card Sketches #38

as i'm sure you know, vintage images are very popular right now, and i am ♥ing this lovely non-traditional vintage Christmas pic!!

here's my card for this week's sketch at inspirational card sketches:
have a look at the other ladies' wonderful creations and leave a link to your card for a chance to win paper from the elliot collection from scrapbooks n stuff!

Inspirational Card Sketches #37

i am very happy to show you my very first card as part of the dt for inspirational card sketches! the gorgeous paper is from shabby princess. be sure to check out the lovely creations from the rest of the dt and, if you play along with us at ICS this week (and i hope you do!) you'll have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from my creative classroom!