saying so long..
Last night and yesterday afternoon was something that I never thought possible for myself at my age.
My colleagues, doing the standard dutch practice, said good bye to me at work.... It was like saying goodbye when someone retires from work. I have only worked directly with them for 8 months, but the feeling I received from them as I stood before them and accepted the gifts and card was like an old colleague of 10 or more years.
A cynic might say, otherwise, but I am positive and really feel that those who came up to me and said some words to me looking me in the eyes shaking my hand, I believe that their words were genuine.
I will miss them.
After work, my colleague Gerrit took me out, chuck calls him the big dutchman, He took me to Best and we had beers with his direct colleagues, the OTM guys, the guys that build and maintain the MR systems in the factory and around the world.
We sat on the terrace, the sidewalk cafe in american, and enjoy the goed weer and drank beer. We went for dinner and then the party started. Gerrit, Paul and I went to Eindhoven to meet colleagues from the RF group. It was awesome! Kenned, Nicole, Mark, Marianne and her boyfriend, Anouk and her cousin(a hottie), Sander, and eventually Birte then Daan shows up.
Party in Eindhoven all night.
I tried something new, a shot of tequila in a bottle of Corona. Not to good, I think it needs something elses with it....
I really had fun and feel like leaving a bit of 'home" here.
This is my definition of home, a place where you have friends and feel connected by good or similar experiences. So, I have another home, and only 8 months. Like I said, I just click here. No hating on the US or any of that crap, I got love for everywhere, so don't believe the hype. My gut feelings from the past just have been verified. I remember few years back an ex girlfriend of mine confronted me when we were dating and told me that living in a different country is no big deal, that it the US is the best place to live, because at the end of the day, if you aren't wealthy, you still have to work. And working anywhere will eventully turn into the grind. I may be misquoting her a bit, the accuracy to the statement may not be entirely clear, but I remember the take away message clear enough. And that is why I am glad I broke with her so long ago. But anyway, I can tell you with clear conviction now, SHE WAS WRONG!!! No way, was that even close to how things turned out for me. I think boring people just find stuff boring and fun people just have fun.
Sorry to all the boring people out there... I still like you though.
So today, the weather is amazing but I am bit hung over, so I rest and prepare for tomorrow. I will get paperwork wrapped up with immigration and the bank and make my way south for my flight leaves from Ljubliana on the 11th of July.
I plan to just stay in eindhoven and enjoy the life of Brabant this next week.
In the end of this experience I have lived so randomly and partied alot that I am actually looking forward to the focus required to return to the academic scene as I pursue my MBA with the MBA consortium at Universiteit Maastricht.
thanks to everyone who came out last night and made me feel at home in this little flat corner of Europe.
p.s. thanks to Chris for the link in the comment section in a recent post....
found this link embedded in that sight, it looks very interesting and I think I will be going to see it when I return, if I can...
http://www.sirnosir.com/home_filmtrailers.html
My colleagues, doing the standard dutch practice, said good bye to me at work.... It was like saying goodbye when someone retires from work. I have only worked directly with them for 8 months, but the feeling I received from them as I stood before them and accepted the gifts and card was like an old colleague of 10 or more years.
A cynic might say, otherwise, but I am positive and really feel that those who came up to me and said some words to me looking me in the eyes shaking my hand, I believe that their words were genuine.
I will miss them.
After work, my colleague Gerrit took me out, chuck calls him the big dutchman, He took me to Best and we had beers with his direct colleagues, the OTM guys, the guys that build and maintain the MR systems in the factory and around the world.
We sat on the terrace, the sidewalk cafe in american, and enjoy the goed weer and drank beer. We went for dinner and then the party started. Gerrit, Paul and I went to Eindhoven to meet colleagues from the RF group. It was awesome! Kenned, Nicole, Mark, Marianne and her boyfriend, Anouk and her cousin(a hottie), Sander, and eventually Birte then Daan shows up.
Party in Eindhoven all night.
I tried something new, a shot of tequila in a bottle of Corona. Not to good, I think it needs something elses with it....
I really had fun and feel like leaving a bit of 'home" here.
This is my definition of home, a place where you have friends and feel connected by good or similar experiences. So, I have another home, and only 8 months. Like I said, I just click here. No hating on the US or any of that crap, I got love for everywhere, so don't believe the hype. My gut feelings from the past just have been verified. I remember few years back an ex girlfriend of mine confronted me when we were dating and told me that living in a different country is no big deal, that it the US is the best place to live, because at the end of the day, if you aren't wealthy, you still have to work. And working anywhere will eventully turn into the grind. I may be misquoting her a bit, the accuracy to the statement may not be entirely clear, but I remember the take away message clear enough. And that is why I am glad I broke with her so long ago. But anyway, I can tell you with clear conviction now, SHE WAS WRONG!!! No way, was that even close to how things turned out for me. I think boring people just find stuff boring and fun people just have fun.
Sorry to all the boring people out there... I still like you though.
So today, the weather is amazing but I am bit hung over, so I rest and prepare for tomorrow. I will get paperwork wrapped up with immigration and the bank and make my way south for my flight leaves from Ljubliana on the 11th of July.
I plan to just stay in eindhoven and enjoy the life of Brabant this next week.
In the end of this experience I have lived so randomly and partied alot that I am actually looking forward to the focus required to return to the academic scene as I pursue my MBA with the MBA consortium at Universiteit Maastricht.
thanks to everyone who came out last night and made me feel at home in this little flat corner of Europe.
p.s. thanks to Chris for the link in the comment section in a recent post....
found this link embedded in that sight, it looks very interesting and I think I will be going to see it when I return, if I can...
http://www.sirnosir.com/home_filmtrailers.html
posted by flockjcu at 9:23 AM
1 Comments:
Well, I know you're bummed about leaving, but we're looking forward to seeing you again back in C-town.
I've got some new digs you need to check out, and we need to hop around town and party it up, again. :-)
Safe travels. See you in a couple weeks.
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