Jurjen as Grand Vizier in pantomime.
Ah, some time to write. Not that much to write about, though; haven't seen any exciting new EuroSights, etc. Just trying to relax and plan my future a little bit. I was in San Jose for the holidays, and then returned to the Hague to finish my project there, also working backstage at another show with the AATG, a British panto based on Aladdin (Jurjen was in this, photo on my web site). That was fun, total pandemonium, and I have been roundly congratulated for the job I did on my last project, including a letter of commendation from the customer. Also I had a week of Oracle database administration training, very good for the ol' resume. All this is over, and last week I packed up and flew to Nice to find out what will come next. Jurjen flew down for the weekend, having never been to the area much (he was delighted with Valbonne), and this week I am in the OSI Nice office getting some odds and ends done.
I announced to my boss that I want to move to the Netherlands. I decided last Fall that I wanted to relocate to Benelux if possible, but with the Agilent acquisition of my company and the holidays I wasn't able to be sure what to do. I was leaning towards Belgium, but what with Jurjen and the theatre group and making friends, I feel quite at home in the Hague and want to be there, and visit the pals in Leuven periodically. We are now working on this; we have to talk to Agilent and my contracts have to be changed. The question right now is, will I continue as a U.S. employee with a new expat contract drawn up for the Netherlands (my current one is France-specific and would no longer apply) or should I be hired directly as an Agilent Netherlands employee? As an expat I would be paid more money, but as a Dutch employee I would have more vacation. Possibly it would be a faster process to hire me directly, also it might make me more 'visible' in Agilent. Then again, an expat contract has advantages when the time comes that I want to go back to the States.
However, I am determined to move to the Hague, it's going to happen. I can always change jobs; I've been actively recruited quite a bit up there, and Cisco is moving into Amsterdam while Amazon.com is starting up something in the Hague itself. I have looked at the legal issues, such as residency and work permits, and nothing is too awful. Probably tedious and irritating, but I have a lot of advantages as a uniquely skill high-tech worker.
I'm still very happy to be in Europe and want to go on living here, and I like what I do, but the constant travel and relocating every few months is really, really getting to me. I'm tired of always being clueless, having to hit the ground running, and being so isolated. I moved out of my Valbonne apartment at the end of September 2000 and haven't been back to get a new French apartment (of course I don't want one now), so I really haven't had a 'home' all this time. And for almost a year and a half now I have been living in furnished apartments or hotels, and I am starting to really crave a real home, with my own stuff in it, having happy ferrets around the place, and actually being there to enjoy it more than one weekend per month. Believe it or not, normal old everyday life seems to me wildly exotic and desirable, after all this footloose, fancy-free jet-setting and travel. I think after about a year the sense of adventure wears off, and it's been longer than that now.
To this end, I want to be based in the Hague so I can return there on weekends and build some kind of regular life, and I am going to look into working from an Agilent office in the Netherlands (they have a large on in Amstelveen, southern Amsterdam) and even telecommuting from home. I have taken a few days off next week and have made some appointments to look at apartments, and may go ahead and register with the Alien Police, the first step in acquiring residency status. Also my boss assures me that he will try to send me on projects in the Benelux area when he can, of course there's no guarantee that he can very much.
In fact, my next project will likely be in Sweden. I thought I would be shipped up there right away, but lucky for me, they aren't ready to start and may not be until March. That's great, as the Earth will put those northern reaches a little closer to the SUN during that time, and also because with some luck I can get myself moved to and settled in the Hague during February. Also I have asked the OSI/Agilent people who are meeting with the customer to ask them if I can develop from off-site part of the time. The other good thing is, I already have a close friend in Sweden; however, she lives in Helsingborg, extremely southern Sweden, which is six hours by train away from Farsta, in the Stockholm area, where I will be. However, we are making some plans that I am looking very much forward to, for example to visit Glasriket, a town of glassblowers, and shopping at good old Gudrun Sjoden (Swedish designer who used to have two stores in California that I always liked).
Think some good thoughts for me, hearth-and-home-y type thoughts. Luck on finding a good home for self and some future ferret darlings, and some stability. A respite from all this hubbub so I can have the energy to send you some thrilling reports from Scandinavia. I am looking at apartments in Jurjen's neighborhood, the Statenkwartier, so he can drop by and feed the ferrets when I have to be out of town. Well, and of course I like having him handily by, too. I miss him terribly, right now.
Other plans for this year include a possible trip to Iceland, just to see it; a definite trip to Abu Dhabi, offered by Jurjen's parents who have been living there (his dad works for Shell) and are moving back to the Hague this summer; hopefully another visit back to the States with Jurjen in tow; and all manner of small weekend trips hither and yon.
I hope this finds you all well. Please drop me a note and let me know how you're doing - I became so overstressed during the last project that I fell far behind on my personal correspondance. I hope to handle my business projects better in the future, and build in some breaks for myself so that I don't get overwhelmed. I suppose I made typical American mistakes and am trying to adapt myself to the European working model. Hey, the Dutch don't work long hours like we do (36 hour work week, seriously), but they are just as productive! I think it's really up to me to stay sane, no one's going to do that for me, after all.
Best wishes to all of you!
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