CariAnne Behr's IBM CSC Experience

I'm very pleased to announce that I’ll be facilitator for the IBM Corporate Service Corps China 32 team, which will deploy to Guangzhou from April 15 to May 14! The CSC was such an incredible experience for me, so I hope to apply what I learned with CSC-Vietnam-12 to help this new team prepare and succeed. I have to again thank Krista, my CSC-Vietnam-12 teammate and friend (now facilitator for the Vietnam-13 team), for telling me about the opportunity, as I probably wouldn't have seen the post for several hours (at least). Continued thanks to my Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs mentor, Beth, who always encourages me.

I can’t think of a better way to start 2016 professionally!

The CSC-Vietnam-12 team met officially for the last time today, closing the project. Fortunately, we continue our friendships and benefit from lessons learned.

During our call, we discussed several topics:

Our projects

What we could have been done to better prepare for the in-country experience

What we miss the most

Our key take-aways

How we’re sharing the experience with colleagues, friends, etc.

As to the third point, so many of us miss each other -- me included! In fact, I cried with happiness and sadness twice during the call, first upon hearing familiar voices.

As we wrapped up, most of us agreed we wanted to continue talking. As a result, our first optional “catch-up / social” call is in six week. Plus, as we discussed before leaving Vietnam, we’d like to consider a reunion some day, quite possibly in Vietnam with our families. I hope we can do that!

I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking on my IBM Corporate Service Corps project in Can Tho, Vietnam today for two reasons:

I had a brief conference call with my friend, Krista, today - the first time I spoke with anyone from the team since we finished one month and two days ago (until we spoke, I hadn’t even realized we had said farewell that long ago).

Part of the CSC post-work experience is to share with others, internal to IBM and externally. I’ve been working on my presentation materials for this purpose for a few weeks and finished up today (just in time to present on Monday to my IBM team).

Since I’ve been home for nearly four weeks, I think I’ve “processed” my experience as a whole enough to look back fondly, share some highlights, and mention things I miss. (As usual, these are in no particular order.)

Keeping company with some REALLY great people: It’s been nice “seeing” my CSC friends on Facebook and the internal IBM Connections product and chatting with What’sApp, but it’s not the same as talking with them or better yet, talking a quick walk down to the Saigon Bakery or Tea Shop, chatting the entire way about our day, work, the city, etc. I especially miss my “CSC besties!”

Focus on ONE project with ZERO conference calls: I handle multi-tasking at work quite well (weather it’s good or not), and sometimes I even relish a change in focus, but it was quite wonderful to focus on only one project for a full month! Better yet, I had NO conference calls and nothing on my calendar other than meetings / presentations with CUSC. There were no interruptions. Can you imagine working like that full time?

Fresh, healthy, delicious food: The Vietnamese people made every effort to obtain the freshest foods and prepare it carefully to deliver the best flavor! Fruits and vegetables were plentiful, as were vegan and vegetarian options. While I said I missed a few foods from home, now that I’m back, I know I should eat more fresh fruits/vegies and less cheese. That will take more discipline than I care to exercise currently.

Clean clothes delivered daily: I don’t recall every blogging about it, but all of my laundry was done for me -- as frequently as daily when we were in Can Tho! Sure, we lived in a hotel, but we may have had to do our own laundry. Fortunately, the hotel (and many other Vietnamese businesses) did laundry each day, so I never had to deal with it (sort, wash, dry, etc.). I just left my dirty clothes in a basket in my room for housekeeping each morning and then put it away when it was returned clean at the end of the day. This reminds me of my glorious laundry-free year in Okinawa, Japan (though I payed $20 US per month for “mama-son” to do that).

$.50 US (that’s 50 cents, folks) cold beer delivered: Okay, this really refers to me time in Da Nang (central Vietnam) for my honeymoon after the CSC project, but still -- a single, cold can of beer was 50 cents US, and the employees working the beach “stand” delivered it to our beach chairs! We had very inexpensive beer in Can Tho also, though it was more difficult to get it cold to start there.

I was speaking to a former peer and friend, Karen, today. She applied for the Corporate Service Corps during 2014, just as I did, and was accepted in July 2014. She’s received her official assignment for Turkey team 12.

While the CSC-Vietnam-12 projects completed the week before last, I was on vacation last week, honeymooning on the beaches in Da Nang. Thus, I wasn’t missing work -- or my CSC work family.

Today, I find myself wishing I could grab Krista and Robert and walk a couple of blocks to the Tea Shop for an afternoon cafe su da. I’d like to joke with Carol and listen to her and Elma discuss Harry Potter (”would you like a spot of milk with your tea?”). Alas, the chances of any of us working in the same country, more or less city, again are very slim.

Today is our last day in Vietnam. We will leave for the Da Hang airport at 1700 (0700 US Central time) for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Once there, we’ll retrieve our bags and head to the international terminal to start our journey home (via Seoul, South Korea, and Chicago). Once in St. Louis, we’ll retrieve Serina (my car) and start the 1.5-hour drive. Our total estimated travel time including layovers and driving: 35 hours. I’m guessing we’ll get to our house by 1730 on Saturday, June 13. That leaves us only Sunday to recover from jet lag.

Since it is our last day, we headed back to China Beach for one last awesome session of walking, swimming, and sunning. As we approached the sand, we saw enormous bird houses (full of pigeons). We had seen them scrounging on the beach in the past, but didn’t know they nested here.

As we walked along the sand, a friendly family waved from the water and then walked out to speak with us. The father spoke a fair amount of English; his sons, Viet, Nam, and Tom, spoke much more. We talked about our favorite foods, colors, sports, and other interests. If we weren’t leaving today, we would have spent more time with them. It was another example of how wonderfully curious and friendly the majority of Vietnamese people are! We wish them the best in their continued holiday (they are from HCMC).

After we had enough sun, sand, and sea for the morning (neither of us can get enough beach time, though we’ll be happy to be in our home and see family and friends), we walked to Nha Leo Pizza-Cakes. We sat in the shade by a fan and shared a yummy, fresh Greek salad and a delicious goat cheese pizza (also had American bacon and honey).