This marks my first experience living in California, and let me say, it’s a world apart from Alaska and Montana. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring my car here, so I’ve embraced biking as my mode of transportation to work. I purchased a bike on Monday, not realizing that I had not ridden a bike since maybe 6th or 7th grade. That’s a gap of 8-9 years! Naively thinking it would be as simple as riding a bike, especially since I’ve been teaching spin classes for over a year, I was in for a surprise. It took a day to regain my comfort with biking.
Luckily, my parents were in town to help me settle into my new home for the next six months. They played the role of chauffeur, dropping me off at work as if it were the first day of school. After a day of training at the Bayer campus, we enjoyed dinner at State Flour Pizza, the leftovers becoming my lunch for the next two days. After the meal, they bid me farewell, and that night, I couldn’t sleep well, anticipating the challenge of navigating an unfamiliar area on my bike to get to work. Surprisingly, the morning rides turned out to be peaceful, and I found joy in the routine, especially when the sun is out. The rest of the week consisted of more work training, breaking a nail on Wednesday (leading to a quick fix at Time for Nails), and discovering Bayer’s Women in Technology (WIT) program supporting women in STEM fields. Today, I had informal interviews with program leads and was delighted to receive an acceptance email for a leadership role in Employee Relations. The ride home today, however, was less enjoyable due to pouring rain.
Refusing to face the rain for grocery shopping, I opted for Chicken Pad Thai from Little Plearn Thai Kitchen- a decision I did not regret. The weekend forecast is predicting rain, so I plan to spend it perfecting my newfound hobby of crocheting.
With a blend of work training, exploration, and new opportunities, my adventure in Berkeley is off to a fantastic start.