Brian Bond and other Matters

Yesterday I received the news that the third person joining the Geneva team is Brian Bond. I am delighted. Brian is from Australia and is a Christian Brother of the current St. Patrick's Province in Melbourne. I stayed with Brian and Sean in their place in Sunshine in 2006 and have very happy memories of my visit with them. In fact Sunshine as a suburb of Melbourne is not unlike our proposed location in Gaillard, France, on the edge of an industrial area with a mix of long-established residents and incomers. Brian has been working in the social justice field for a long time and has been responsible for some interesting initiatives. He hopes to arrive here towards the end of October. I am gradually getting used to the people in the office here. It is so international. So many languages. Everyone uses English, of course, but it is nice to be able to converse with people in their own language. Sr. Madeleine who is a French-speaking Franciscan Sister keeps on reminding us that we are after all in French-speaking Switzerland. I have enormous sympathy for her point of view. It is always a challenge for international organisations not to get caught in the trap of the Anglophone culture. Diversity is all. The weather has turned much colder. The wind has definitely veered towards the North so something is coming down over Germany from Russia towards us. It is amazing what a difference this makes. Until last night I slept with the windows wide open to catch the fresh breezes. Now I am closing the windows. Soon it will be time for the famous "La Bise", the Alpine winds that seek to sever the legs from the body. But that's another story. I am in a listening and learning mood here. "So listen to wise people and be willing to accept every wise counsel", the Book of Tobit advises. I agree. When starting in a new venture it is essential to keep the head down and to spend a lot of time listening. There are so many nuances of culture and personality to come to terms with in such a short time. I was speaking of windows. I am in the process of getting simple curtains, ready-made, from the department store across the street. Not a simple matter. First, there is the issue of the size of the windows. That requires measurements. Which in turn spawns the purchase of a tape measure. Fine. So now we have curtains. But now they have to be hung. New problem. I can't reach the poles. So this requires a small set of steps. This is how my purchasing cycle goes. Need, assessment and purchase. And always keeping in mind the question will this purchase transfer to the new house when we get there. As if life were not complicated enough. Now some people would find all this fun. Not if you are trying to fit in housekeeping around the work and commute to the office.