TGIF

I had a really interesting day yesterday that I wanted to share. My work had what's called their "Away Day". They planned some fun team building experiences for us. It was good for me because I didn't really know a lot of people. I got to meet people that I normally wouldn't have the opportunity. So our day started out at this really nice exclusive club called The SoHo House. Apparently it's this club that is really hard to get into. They have one in New York and one in London. We had lunch there in the "library". The Library was a large room with pictures of books on the walls. I did learn that they just filmed a movie there with Kirsten Dunst so that will be fun to see. This restaurant made the best grilled cheese sandwich I have ever had. It had tons of cheese and slices of fresh tomatoes. Don't worry it was the little tomatoes (minus the salmonella). Anyway after lunch the fun began!!
We were given an envelope with our name on it marked "SECRET". We were put into groups. My group was Goldfinger. We were given a map and sent to a location in Downtown Manhattan. It was the South Street Seaport. I have been there before with my parents when the visited but I forgot how cool it is. Below are pictures I took from the port. The Brooklyn Bridge is amazing to see up close. And to think they built it so long ago.





So we were told to wait by the anchor of this boat. We waited and waited and suddenly a guy with sunglasses and a brief case came up behind us and whispered "follow me" and took off like a bat out of.... well you know. We had to run to catch up to him. He took us down an alleyway. He had that Brooklyn Mafia accent and told us how he needed us to help him and his "Boss" get plane tickets to their "Crew". He kept ducking when helicopters flew by. He asked us all where we were from because he wanted to give us all new identities. I think since I work for the British Consulate he was expecting us all to be Brits. So when I said Utah his reaction was "oh my you Mormons are crazy out there with all your guns!" hmmm... whatever that means. Anyway he gave us our first clue to start our journey. The day was full of interesting characters and lots and lots of walking. I took a picture (below) of one character. He was a blind guy waiting in a park for us. When we figured out he was with us we all crowded around him to hear our next clue. We had 10-15 people join in that were not with us just to see what was going on. It was funny.

One clue we got took us to Chinatown and we were given a fortune cookie with a Chinese fortune. We had to find someone to translate it for us. What did it say "Buy one FROG!!!" that's right people a frog. Where the heck do you find a frog... well we were in chinatown soo....

Don't worry people no animals, people, or insects were injured in the making of this fun day! After circling downtown Manhattan and meeting some interesting people we made it to our final destination. It was a pub where dinner was waiting for us. It was a really fun afternoon. I guess the people who put it together is a company that do it for tourists. I definitely recommend it to anyone coming to NYC to visit.

After the "Away Day" I had to rush back up to work because they had a summer party at the Ambassadors Residence. May I replace residence with massive huge apartment!! It was the nicest apartment I have been in here. It took up one floor of the building with a terrace that wraps around the whole outside. We had British food and I finally found out why people go to France for good food!! But they also had a palm reader. That was fun. She said I have a "young innocent beautiful palm" I am not even making that up!! She said I was good at my job. But I am pretty sure she told everyone that. But she did tell me something very specific and wouldn't go into it anymore. She said if I wanted to have kids that I needed to do it in the next two years. So stay tuned to the blog for updates on that.... haha....

All in all it was a great day. I really love my job and it was so much fun to get to know more people there.