One of the downsides of having dual nationality is that you have to pay twice as much for your passports, but that is outweighed a million to one by the benefits! I am lucky enough to be in the position of having both Kiwi and Dutch passports - two of the least offensive countries in the world. This allows me access to so many places, and also allows me the freedom to work in the EU whenever and for however long I wish. I can't thank my parents enough for doing that for me (and my brother).
My Dutch passport is now up for renewal, and I need to jump trough a few hoops, like learning to read Dutch ASAP! Yes, the application form is all in Dutch, and I think I can figure it out enough myself. I will need to get more passport photos (cringe). Actually, the old passport photo wasn't too bad, and I noticed with interest that it was taken the last time I had long hair. So I have indeed come full circle.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Friday, January 28, 2005
you can rationalise anything
I feel as though I should explain my reasons for resurrecting my OE plans.
When I left the last time (late 2000) I was following my girlfriend on her OE. I don’t think I was ready in any sense to take such a step. I was not mature enough, and I hadn’t even finished university. I arrived in London to an already set up flat in a nice, quiet, leafy suburb with two Kiwis I already knew. I didn’t really meet anyone new nor did I do anything that I wouldn’t do at home. It turned out that most of my OE was spent working, and I saw precious little of the place I was living, let alone other cities or countries. I was afraid of venturing outside the insular cocoon of familiarity that I had built around myself. I was constantly looking for an excuse to come home, and the triple blow of the September 11 attacks, my grandfather becoming ill, and girlfriend returning to NZ was more than I needed. I turned tail and fled back to NZ. That said, I don’t regret a second of that trip, as I had some of the best times of my life, and saw some of the most amazing things with the best people.
Why now? I have realised that there will be no better time than now. If I don’t start living my life, instead of just treading water, I will never get a chance. Right now I have no attachments; my girlfriend of nine years and I have split up, I am finally going to graduate, and although interesting at times, my job is not inspiring me. Now that I am older, I feel that I am far better equipped to handle the full OE. It is time to step outside my comfort zone and challenge myself. The last time I had things handed to me, whereas this time I am going to take them for myself. It is also a way of proving my own value to myself - proving that I can stand alone and succeed. That is an aspect of the OE that I haven’t considered before. It is actually a rite of passage, a statement that you can make on your own. I am also desperate to see the things I missed the last time: Spain, France outside Paris, England outside London, Germany, Holland, Greece, Austria, America, the list goes on and on…
Although it looks, on the surface, like I’m running away; when you really get down to it, that’s exactly what I’m doing! Responsibility be damned!
When I left the last time (late 2000) I was following my girlfriend on her OE. I don’t think I was ready in any sense to take such a step. I was not mature enough, and I hadn’t even finished university. I arrived in London to an already set up flat in a nice, quiet, leafy suburb with two Kiwis I already knew. I didn’t really meet anyone new nor did I do anything that I wouldn’t do at home. It turned out that most of my OE was spent working, and I saw precious little of the place I was living, let alone other cities or countries. I was afraid of venturing outside the insular cocoon of familiarity that I had built around myself. I was constantly looking for an excuse to come home, and the triple blow of the September 11 attacks, my grandfather becoming ill, and girlfriend returning to NZ was more than I needed. I turned tail and fled back to NZ. That said, I don’t regret a second of that trip, as I had some of the best times of my life, and saw some of the most amazing things with the best people.
Why now? I have realised that there will be no better time than now. If I don’t start living my life, instead of just treading water, I will never get a chance. Right now I have no attachments; my girlfriend of nine years and I have split up, I am finally going to graduate, and although interesting at times, my job is not inspiring me. Now that I am older, I feel that I am far better equipped to handle the full OE. It is time to step outside my comfort zone and challenge myself. The last time I had things handed to me, whereas this time I am going to take them for myself. It is also a way of proving my own value to myself - proving that I can stand alone and succeed. That is an aspect of the OE that I haven’t considered before. It is actually a rite of passage, a statement that you can make on your own. I am also desperate to see the things I missed the last time: Spain, France outside Paris, England outside London, Germany, Holland, Greece, Austria, America, the list goes on and on…
Although it looks, on the surface, like I’m running away; when you really get down to it, that’s exactly what I’m doing! Responsibility be damned!
Thursday, January 27, 2005
let's push things forward
I've moved! The OE-related bits and pieces will from now on now be located at Dave's OE. I'll keep this blog active for other random observations, so don't delete this link just yet.
a detour on the career path
Work has taken an interestingly meandering path of late. Two weeks ago I was drifting along without any real purpose in my job, then last week I became a boatbuilder, up to my neck in carbon fibre, and this week I am the manager of the new test laboratory! This means I have multiple super-urgent projects to complete, not the least of which is to actually equip the test lab with test equipment. Lab Manager is a bit of an empty title, as I’m the only one I get to manage; I’m more of a glorified lab technician than anything else. But that actually suits me fine. It is work that I enjoy, and it will be extremely valuable experience, along with the opportunity to put the word ‘Manager’ on my CV at last! I can’t wait to start breaking things with the new Instron UTM.
the irony is in there somewhere
If you’ve just joined us, welcome along. I’ve only been killing time ‘til you got here anyway.
Last weekend, the weather was absolutely stunning. It was hot, but there was a nice cooling sea breeze blowing. It shows how bad the weather has been recently when a nice weekend comes as such a surprise; but I digress. This perfect summer’s day presented me with an unexpected problem: I couldn’t decide what to do. I had a powerful compulsion to make the absolute most of the day, but I couldn’t think of how I could do that. This happens to me sometimes. I get so caught up in wanting to do something that I end up doing nothing at all.
I ended up going for a cycle, visiting my parents, and going to see Coffee and Cigarettes by Jim Jarmusch at the open-air cinema at the viaduct. The atmosphere was fantastic at the movie – such a change from the impersonal multiplex boxes I’ve become used to. I felt much more of a connection with the people around me, and there was so much more interaction amongst the moviegoers. The eccentric preamble by the projectionist/organiser helped a lot, I’m sure. Before the movie you could wander up to the front and buy a (good) coffee, food, or wine, but mostly we just sat there, munching on blueberries and watching a dramatic sunset. The movie itself was good fun – it was a series of almost unconnected vignettes all revolving around coffee and/or cigarettes. The scene with Meg and Jack White was almost worth the admission price on its own; it was absolutely hilarious. Jack’s deadpan delivery was inspired. Steve Coogan and Alfred Molina were very good, as were Iggy Pop and Tom Waits.
Last weekend, the weather was absolutely stunning. It was hot, but there was a nice cooling sea breeze blowing. It shows how bad the weather has been recently when a nice weekend comes as such a surprise; but I digress. This perfect summer’s day presented me with an unexpected problem: I couldn’t decide what to do. I had a powerful compulsion to make the absolute most of the day, but I couldn’t think of how I could do that. This happens to me sometimes. I get so caught up in wanting to do something that I end up doing nothing at all.
I ended up going for a cycle, visiting my parents, and going to see Coffee and Cigarettes by Jim Jarmusch at the open-air cinema at the viaduct. The atmosphere was fantastic at the movie – such a change from the impersonal multiplex boxes I’ve become used to. I felt much more of a connection with the people around me, and there was so much more interaction amongst the moviegoers. The eccentric preamble by the projectionist/organiser helped a lot, I’m sure. Before the movie you could wander up to the front and buy a (good) coffee, food, or wine, but mostly we just sat there, munching on blueberries and watching a dramatic sunset. The movie itself was good fun – it was a series of almost unconnected vignettes all revolving around coffee and/or cigarettes. The scene with Meg and Jack White was almost worth the admission price on its own; it was absolutely hilarious. Jack’s deadpan delivery was inspired. Steve Coogan and Alfred Molina were very good, as were Iggy Pop and Tom Waits.
Saturday, January 22, 2005
how to sort out your life in one easy step.
If you feel like you've got too much stuff in your life - you know; physical, tangible stuff that bogs you down, clutter, that sort of thing - I highly recommend going on an extended overseas trip, or at least planning to. That will force you to question what is really important. I have been sorting out all the crap I have accumulated over the years (man, there's a lot of it!) and trying to get rid of most of it. It's a really hard job if you're a compulsive hoarder like me, but planning the OE has really put things into perspective. If I hesitate for even a moment over whether I'll use it, it gets chucked. I want to travel light and most importantly, I don't want to have to burden my folks with storing all sorts of unnecessary junk. I'm currently selling stuff on an online auction site, but it's early days yet. Time will tell.
One thing I have yet to decide is whether to take a laptop with me. It seems almost essential when I think that I have a digital camera and Ipod to deal with. But how do you keep all that expensive gear safe when you're backpacking? I guess you take it everywhere with you. Thankfully a friend gave me a Sony laptop which is very small and light, but it's a little old and slow (it's only running Win98). On the plus side, it has Firewire and a memory stick reader built in.
One thing I have yet to decide is whether to take a laptop with me. It seems almost essential when I think that I have a digital camera and Ipod to deal with. But how do you keep all that expensive gear safe when you're backpacking? I guess you take it everywhere with you. Thankfully a friend gave me a Sony laptop which is very small and light, but it's a little old and slow (it's only running Win98). On the plus side, it has Firewire and a memory stick reader built in.
Monday, January 17, 2005
Friday, January 14, 2005
plans are afoot...
It's only been three years since I came home, and already the call of the OE is almost irresistable once again.
Thus it begins...
Last time I went away, the timing was bad. I came home too early, without taking advantage of the opportunities laid out before me in London, let alone the rest of Europe. This time there will be no such mistakes, the timing is about as good as it is going to get. No attachments, nothing holding me back. So my plan is to leave at the end of May 2005 for San Francisco, where I will stay with Mark for perhaps ten days. Then I'll join up with Chris who is flying over from China. We'll spend about 3 weeks travelling America, then I'll take off to England, while he moves on to mainland Europe. EU passport at the ready.
I am excited at the prospect of going back to Europe on my own, and a little apprehensive. I think that I am much better equipped for it this time. Hopefully in the course of the coming 19 weeks, I will become even better prepared! 19 weeks seems such a long time to wait, and yet such a short time to organise everything.
On a whim, I have just enrolled in a couple of night courses at the performing arts school. We will see where that takes me, but I doubt it will alter my travel plans. Both courses finish in March, so won't clash at all.
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