Happy 2011!

Happy New year, and yes, I'm still alive.
It has been a while since my last post.
So many things happened. I've been back to the Netherlands, and returned to the USA. Got engaged, bought a new car (no, I still have my Honda Accord, and yes, more credit score fun.... :( )
And, been working on some other things as well.
One exciting thing is my wedding here in Atlanta!!! Coming up in March.
Most of it has been taken care of by now. a lot of filling in the details.

A fun one I have been working on is on the Webcast. With family and friends all over the world I know some won't make it. But with the technology of today, that doesn't need to be a problem.
So far, it actually seems pretty simple. I created an account with ustream.tv, fiddled around a bit, and saw myself "life" on a second computer!
Pretty awesome :)

Tomorrow I'll do a little test "on location".
I'm very excited, and interested in how that will go...

And then set it up/write instructions so that I can pass the operation to someone else, and I can actually be the groom in my own wedding, instead of the webcast operator :D

May; Month of Marathon Madness

Oke,
Having a new girlfriend and all is nice, but I guess that we're doing something wrong, as this month is turning in a serious Month of Marathon Madness!
Let me explain. We have 3 weekends, in which we are covering a total of more than 5700km! (~3500miles) Yes, that is by car.
Now, we have 2200km (~1400miles) done. And still coming up, a 1040km (~660 miles) roadtrip, and a 2500km (~1500miles) roundtrip.

But, the madness is not complete, to balance all that sitting in the car, we decided to go and do something more active...
Catie and I signed up for a half marathon in March 2011, and a 5K October 3rd 2010, and are planning on another half marathon in May 2011, and possibly some others... Yes, marathon as in running.

What have I done...

Spring? They call THIS spring?

I know, different places in the world have different climates.
Put so far, this must have been the oddest spring of all!

Spring; the time of year where after a cold winter, you open up every window in your house to let the fresh new air in. Where the grayness is replaced by blooming flowers, and the temperature rices a little again.

But not here in Georgia.

Here, after the freshness of the winter leaves, people close up every window, seal of every opening, and hope their air conditioner holds. Then, temperatures soar up to 30degrees Celsious (86F), cars turn a Uni-color, and if we had more brick roads, they all would be Yellow Brick Roads. Now, we ended up with just yellow roads. And
I think I might also know where the Beatles got their inspiration for "Yellow Submarine"..

The reason for it all (apart from the temperatures) is the pollen Pine trees release here in clouds. Cars, streets, windows, plants; everything gets a yellow coating.

Quite an experience...
And well, I can imagine a worse color than yellow...

Snow

I have to admit, when I arrived in the Netherlands, just before Christmas, I arrived basically in the eye of a snow storm. And it basically took out most forms of transportation. But, it did snow quite a bit, to Dutch standards. Probably like a good 20cm/8inch, in very little time (the plane landed while it was maybe 4 inch, after taxing and waiting for an available gate, it doubled that.) Which meant, I was going nowhere that day.

Now, just last week, it snowed here in Georgia too. It started in the afternoon, and somewhere late in the evening, more snow had fallen than usually in a whole year!
...
It was a good 7cm/3inch:

I completely took out traffic. (Now, 3 days later, there's no snow left, even in the shadows :(     )

How it reminds me of when I lived in Lake Forest, IL. The snow knee deep, the piles along the parking lots more than man-high, and traffic just continued going...

PS. I heard The Netherlands has ran out of salt?! hmmm, next time only 2cm/1 inch of snow falls, it will take out traffic completely again too :)

There and back again

I'm back in the U S of A.
Yes, I've been gone for a little. Back to the Netherlands for 4 weeks around Christmas and New Years'. Just a short trip.
Catching up the family, and with the colleagues at work.
And while the snow was 8inches/20cm back in NL, here, the sun is shining over the green grass. (Okey, the trees are leafless here too). It has become a small world.

And you know, the world gets smaller, the more you travel; The flights weren't as tiresome as they used to be, but, they weren't the great and exciting Events they used to be either.
One time, the scent of kerosene mixed in with the chill of the morning would remind me of adventure, of travel to wonderful places, of meeting new and interesting people...
Maybe the difference now too, is that I'm returning here for work. No new people, no expectations of travel, no plans for new adventures...
Or are there...?
;-)

Burning rubber

Americans might have less days off than the Dutch, but around Thanksgiving, the country is locked down. Thanksgiving is Thursdays, and most people get the Friday off too, and take the Wednesday, and while they're at it, they just might start to travel on Tuesday.

And starting to travel on Tuesday actually makes sense, as Wednesday is the single busiest travel day of the USA; Everybody wants to be with friends or family on Thursday. Not having the luxury of having the USA holidays, I only took the Thursday and Friday off, with plans to go visit my sister in Texas, a good 800 Miles/1300Km, or almost a 12 hour drive, without stops, one way.

Leaving Wednesday afternoon, I mainly caught some delays crossing Atlanta, but nothing out of the ordinary compared with some traffic jams in the Netherlands. And thereafter, the drive there, and back again, was an interesting experience. Basically one Interstate only, for hour after hour, and it still didn't get boring.

Yet next time, I just might book a flight....

Oh, that freedom!

Obviously, the car I thought I had,.... was gone before I could pay for it.
But... I now DO have a car...
It's paid for, insured, and therefore all mine! Still some little things left to organize, but they're not taking it away from me anymore. You know, you just don't realize how much you get used to having your own car. The freedom to go where-ever, whenever you like.
My ride of freedom? A 2002 Honda Accord Coupe LE:

And shortly after that... A place to stay too.
Sometimes the sun DOES shine behind the clouds, and DOES every cloud have a silver lining.
(The great temperature here and beautiful fall colors help too ;) )

Oh, that sweet freedom!

1 week until departure

It's one week left.
One more week, and yet another adventure starts.
It's finally starting to feel real. Only since like the beginning of this week I've started to feel some tension of: I still need to do this, and I shouldn't forget about that...
You would expect at one point I'd get my act together on that, right?
Actually, right now, I'm only wondering about which clothes to bring.
Oh, and not to forget about appliances, and all that while keeping within the weight limits!

Just a little longer, and then... Off to the USA again :D

New years, new adventures

Luckily, Life's full of adventures!
And a new big one is on he brink of starting!

Finally, 4 years after graduation, I'm heading to the USA for business from my current company, VDD IQware. Long term business. not just a week or so.

We'll see what new stories, experiences and adventures it will bring, but it's a sure thing that it will bring them :-)

The End

Well, not entirely the end. But today I will get on the plane, heading home again. My time here in Pittsburgh is done again, although the project I was here for, My master thesis project, is not over yet. Now I will continue back in the Netherlands for a bit. And then hopefully in June, I will realy be done; graduated with my masters degree. Now THAT will be the end of an era. And the START of a new one. New experiences will be waiting, new people to meet, new places to go,... I can hardly wait for that to start again.

Anyway, for now, I just packed my bags, and am waiting till it's time to head to the airport... Long flight.... Hope they have some good movies...

Well, I'll try to continue to keep you up to date this way, but for now, I'm off...

See you around!

Overdoing it

As many people who regularly talk with me know; I don't realy like Pittsburgh. I've been here now for over 5 months, and I still don't like the town; it's ugly, and it knows it. The prove is out there, in the form of Asian Ginko trees that will color the brightest yellow with fall (but are without leaves deep into spring), Japanese cherry trees, with their amazing blossom in the spring and Dutch Tulips for immediately thereafter, and they are very busy to turn a highly needed parking lot into yet another park. They are overdoing it; they try so many things, but don't fully engage into any one of them. Moreover, through the mixture of all these seperate attempts, they only seem to be able to emphasize that they are trying to cover-up, to hide the uglyness of the town. It's sad...
Hehe, besides, in dutch there is a saying, "even if a monkey wears a golden ring, it is and will be an ugly thing". Pittsburgh is much like that monkey... sorry people of Pittsburgh...

Anyway, I still have slightly over half a month to go, then I'll return to home again, back to the Netherlands, away from this place again. I don't think I'll miss it. Defenitely not the way I miss Japan... Awell, I'm off to bed now, another day's over again. See you around!

Walk down Memory Lane

Now 6 years ago, I was in the USA as freshmen for 9 months. That was at Barat College, Lake Forest, IL, and I had a great time there. I guess that kinda was the start of my wanderings around the world :)

So, now that I am back in the USA, I decided to go and visit my former college again....
I walked there via the bikepath from Lake Forest station to the Barat that I always used to take when I would go grocery shopping... It's about a 20 minute walk, and passed several places from where I still had memories. But it became even better when I arrived at Barat. Walking around campus revived memories long forgotten, and I refound memories long lost. Not many of the faculty was still there, but Sister Patsy and Michael Borouch were. Had a wonderful chat with them. Do you know how nice it is to walk back into a memory? I found out that day right there. Although that wasn't all. I was there one weekend, and my visit to Barat was only part of it. I also met up with a friend that I had managed to stay in touch with since. To see her again after almost 6 years was truly amazing...

Happy New Year

Another year has started. And I hope that the previous one was as good for you as it was for me, and this coming year even better.

I'm just back from Xmass break, which I spend with my family at my sisters place (again). But this time my parents drove me here by car. Much better than greyhound ;-)

Still not many photo's, like I said before, I'm not making many trips, and Pittsburgh is not that pretty on its own. But I hope you'll enjoy the ones I have. Also, after Japan, USA has very little amazing surprises, no blue apples or anything, which leaves me with very little to post here, sorry.
For now I'll just say: 'Till Next Time!

And one month down

Last weekend was Thanksgiving, which I spent with my sister & brother-in-law, and my youngest brother. Sorry, no photo's...

As I expected, I am busy with everything and nothing, not realy getting out of the house as much as I'd like maybe, although I have gone for a walk in a park nearby several times. hmmm, I don't think I ever took photo's there. I'll try to remember to bring my camera next time. I only don't know when that will be... It's getting colder every day, although we haven't made it to freezing yet. But I do think I saw a couple of snowflakes mixed in the rain today.

Oh, before I forget; only travel by Greyhound if you realy have to! going to my sisters place, we had to make a detour of an aditional 2 hours (on a 4 hour busride) just because they apperently do not keep an eye on the traffic, nor do they seem to know any other road than highways. And as for their resources... going back, I had a driver who maybe looked at the road 20% of the time, and a bus of which the engine kept shutting down, like every 5 minutes. oh, did I already mention we were passing through the mountains? It was an.... "interesting" experience. I might look into taking the train for Xmass...

One week here

Yesterday exactly, I am here in Pittsburgh already for a whole week. And a busy one it sure was. After a first night in a hotel, I have gotten me a (very partially furnished) appartment. It's bigger than what I had last year in Japan, but also more empty. Hehe, It wasn't even untill 2 days ago that I had a chair to sit on... But after a week running around I now have most necessairy things, although still no internet yet... I just hate answering machines >:(

Well, slowly I'm gathering the things to make this place enjoyable for the comming 6 months too, and as soon as I have internet I will start updating this page again. I don't think I will realy make as many as trips (and photo's for that matter) as in Japan, but I will try to post as often as possible.

There is a new adventure starting...

...and I know it will be a good one
Can't remember who said it first, I know it wasn't me, but it is definitely true. Tomorrow I will get on the plane again, this time heading for the USA. I will be working on my master thesis project there. Neh, no classes for me anymore. Therefore, it might me a little similar to Japan, although I am sure it will be very different at the same time again too...

I can't wait to go again, 'coz new adventures, new challenges are waiting. Let's not make them wait to long.
:)
Feel free to check in often, and stay up to date through this page and/or email

See you around!

Never forgotten

Oops, have I forgotten to update my page for too long already again...
I am ashamed... 'cause how can I forget the time I have had in Japan. I am back in the Netherlands now, and missing Japan still almost every day. The experiences, the country, the people... Yeah, you could say they have all taken a little place in my heart, and a little of that same heart remained in Japan when I left. No, I have not forgotten about it all, nor will I ever. How can a country and culture so different, make you feel so at home?
My time in Japan has ended for now, and so I will end this 'diary' as well. However, because I am far from bored of traveling, I will start with my Master Thesis Project soon, which I partially will do in Pittsburgh, USA. Although USA is no Japan, I will try to post a message here now and then. So, Check on in again soon!

Now one last word to all the Japanese in general, all the people I have met while I was in Japan, and some people in specific:
Thanks! 'Till we meet again.

The glass is half full

Or in my case, I still have almost 6 months still to go... but those last 6 months passed way to fast. Oops, there goes my positive attitude...

Anw, looking back at those last 6 months, so many things happened. Arriving in a country from which I couldn't speak nor read the language (Now I do, at least a little), meeting so many interresting people, seeing and experiencing so many new and amazing things. I do feel at home here in Japan, and if it wasn't for little kids chasing you (at a polite distance) through shops, amazed by seeing a non-asian I guess, I would feel as if I had lived here all my live. Although I am still amazed/surprised by many things here.

More color blindness

Before, I already wrote about the colorblindness from Japanese concerning traffic lights, but there is more!

Ever wondered what the color of an apple is when it's not red? Yellow, or green? Well, in Japan, it apparently is very easy, it's all blue! For that matter, an unripe banana, when it's not yet yellow.... it's ....

...indeed, blue!

Hmmm, There seems te be a pattern here, every greenish color that changes into another color (when it ripens) is called blue!
Ok, some Japanese would trow in an nice excuse; long time ago, there were 2 different mays of writing the word for "blue" one represented the green color, and one the blue.

December again

I can't believe it's December already again. Where did the time go?

Now another year's over, another year's gone.
Mine was a good one, so many things done.
Hope you had some fun too,...
I hope you enjoyed.

Another year'll be starting, many surprises it'll bring.
some good and some less ones,...
lets treasure them all!

I'll continue trying to keep you up to date of my surprises here, but please keep me up to date from your side as well!!!
Happy New Year! �މ�V�N (kin ga shin nen!)