en route

It’s 14:06 in Newark, and I’m waiting at gate 80 to board my connecting flight to Detroit. The journey so far has been pretty smooth. I must have been screened, scanned, patted, and questioned a half dozen times between arriving at the airport and boarding the international flight. They gave me a cheap plastic trash bag to carry a book, some important documents, and my work laptop onboard.

I was so tired I passed out before we even took off. Next thing I knew, we were a couple hours in and they were serving lunch (chicken parm—a dubious claim if you ask me). It was freezing on the plane, so I tried to keep warm with the tiny blue blanket they give you. I spent most of the flight sleeping, waking intermittently to adjust the blanket, which could not simultaneously cover my shoulders, arms, and abdomen.

In Newark, I went through customs/immigration and had perhaps my first culture shock. The agent saw I was bringing beer and said, “Beer?! How old are you?” I gave him a blank look for several seconds before answering. I hadn’t been asked that in 6 months, so it caught me completely off guard. My previously blank passport now contains 39 stamps, and every time immigration agents let me pass, I feel a subtle sense of accomplishment inside.

After immigration, I had to go claim and then recheck my luggage, which was a bit annoying. As I was waiting at the carousal I noticed a pleasant, yet very familiar, smell. Then I realized it was the smell of my shampoo, which had exploded in transit. I did my best to clean it up using the tiny airline blanket, but that was only marginally effective. Sorry, but if I give you a gift from Europe it will now smell pretty clean.

Well, we’re starting to board, so I’m gonna shut down. Can’t wait to be home.

in flight

It’s 04:45 in Brussels and the hotel is very quiet. I’m all packed up and about to head to the airport. I think I’ve organized my belongings in such a way that I’m compliant with all the new aviation regulations, but I’ll find out soon enough.

It’s a short 15 min drive to the airport and the hotel is calling a taxi for me. I remember arriving here in March and taking a cab from the airport to this hotel. Wide-eyed, I stared out of the windows in awe of everything around me. I was in Europe! Since then the "novelty" of Europe has faded slightly as it’s started to feel more like home, and that taxi route is now a familiar one. Even so, the excitement of living and working abroad has remained, and the memory of this is my best souvenir.

See you all soon!!

a bare desk

For the fourth time as an IMLP I packed up my desk. The exercise always makes me feel a bit sad – carrying out all your belongings in a cardboard box is somewhat depressing. But, the time has come.

Last night Andreas sent a note out to the entire team thanking me for my contributions and informing everyone that I was leaving. As a result I received a number of e-mails throughout the day that made me feel proud of what I’ve done here the past 6 months.

Other than that, the day was fairly quiet. It’s a bank holiday so I was actually the only one in the office. This allowed me to wrap up my work and take care off all the usual "last day" tasks. By 6pm I had cleaned out my desk and e-mail box, changed my voice mail greetings, and turned in my mobile and badge. Then, I left the office for the last time and headed to the hotel to repack for the flight.

I’m heading to the airport at 5am so that I get there in plenty of time for any hassles that may arise.

the final weekend

Well, it’s here -- my final weekend in Europe. Appropriately, I’m spending it in Brussels and for nearly the first time in the last 22 weeks I hadn’t made any plans! The entire weekend was cold and wet, but that didn’t really matter. I decided to spend it just soaking in the sights, sounds, and tastes of the city one last time. I also spent time updating my blog so I wouldn’t lose all these memories!

Through an awesome stroke of luck it happened that this weekend was the Le Tapis de Fleurs in Grand Place. Only ever other summer do they hold this impressive event in which Grand Place is filled with an elaborate arrangement of begonias and other flowers. You see this on every postcard in Brussels, and so it was incredible to see it live. There were star-shaped portions that were even rotating like a kaleidoscope.

I also spent much of Saturday and Sunday walking around familiar parts of town taking photos. There are areas of the city I’ve begun to take for granted, so I decided to document them to help trigger my memory several months and years from now. It’s amazing that in such a short time I’ve come to know this city so well. Sure, my French still stinks (though sadly it’s probably as good as it will ever be!), but I think I immersed myself in the culture as well as any American can in 6 months.

On Saturday night I went to a favorite Italian restaurant of mine off Avenue Louise called Il Vecchio Mulino. It’s a place I’d been often -- so much so that when I walked in yesterday the waiter greeted me with a smile and handshake that said he knew me. After I finished eating, I told him – with the pride of a kid who just got his first adult tooth – "This is my last weekend living in Europe." We had a short conversation in broken English about my future plans, he wished me well, and we parted with another firm handshake.

He’s just one example of the people in Brussels who I’ve come to know without really knowing. In addition to him there are the three ladies at Pause Café who make me a sandwich (Mozarella Tomate or Croque Monsieur) at least once a week. I always laugh inside when I speak to the owner in French and she insists on replying in English. Then there are the two ladies at Pulp Café, the guy who sells waffles in the Metro station, and the girls who work at Le Pain de Chatelain by my apartment. All people who have been part of my life here. I wonder if they’ll notice when I stop coming around?

Anyway, I’ve got two more days of work ahead of me. Things are still in full swing despite time running out. I’m working hard to ensure a smooth transition to the next IMLP.

the inspection

I have been living in the Renaissance Brussels again since my things were packed up on Wednesday. I managed to score an upgrade to the "club level" by asking nicely. This gives me free breakfast and evening snacks/drinks along with free Internet in the hotel room.

I returned to the apartment this afternoon for the "exit inspection." In Brussels when you move into an apartment an "expert" comes and does an inspection of the apartment furnishings, appliances, cleanliness, etc. He then issues a rather impressive-looking report summarizing his findings, including photos. I have a copy of that report, but it’s all in French.

Well, when you move out the "expert" returns to see what you’ve done to the place. In my case I figured I had nothing to worry about. The place was clean, no damage, and in fact I had actually repaired a few items. So, I felt I was actually leaving the place in better shape that I had found it.

The expert disagreed. He spent 15 min or so checking things out and in general found no damage or anything. But he didn’t think the place was clean enough and asked me to pay 75€ to hire cleaners to come. I was pretty surprised and pushed back heavily. He reduced it to 50€ for 2 hours of cleaning. I have to say, my place is not very big... so I’m not sure how anyone could spend 2 hours cleaning it.

I asked what needed to be cleaned, and he cited a few things. I said I wanted the opportunity to clean them and he said that was not possible. As any of my former roommates know, I am quite capable with respect to cleaning, so I honestly couldn’t see paying someone else to do it for me. I only pay for things I’m not capable of or to lazy to do myself.

He was pressuring me to sign his paperwork but I insisted we wait for the relocation agency rep to come. When she arrived I explained the situation but it was clear there probably wasn’t much she could do. She and the "expert" went back and forth in French as she walked around doing a look-see of her own. I didn’t follow much of what they said, but at times it seemed a pretty heated debate. She kept winking at me, which seemed a good sign.

End result, though, was still a 50€ charge. Again, pressure to sign the paperwork. Fortunately, at that moment, my landlord arrived (20 min late, but I was shocked to see him at all!) Now there were three of them going at it in French and I sat back quietly waiting. I hadn’t really said much since the relocation rep arrived. Before I knew it, the landlord was winking at me too, and in the end he said the place was clean enough for him and that he hoped I had enjoyed living there.

Victory.

mad’s last day

My friend Madeleine who used to sit next to me at work is starting a new job tomorrow that requires extensive travel. Since today was her last day in Brussels, she invited several of us out for dinner and drinks. We went to Fanny Thai on Rue Jules Van Praet in the city center. Mad’s been a great friend in Brussels – hooking me up with the latest in UK music and introducing me to many of her expat friends. Good luck to her in her new job!

moving out

Wow, things are moving along quickly now. The last few weeks have been so busy it's been a bit of a blur, and now all of a sudden I'm moving out! I stayed up late last night to finish packing, etc. because the movers came bright and early this morning to load up most of my stuff. I say "movers" but it was actually just one guy. I felt sort of bad for him having to haul all my things down the stairs alone.

It was a bit interesting because the mover spoke only a little English. So, with a combination of English, French, and hand gestures I explained which things needed to get packed and what either belonged to the apartment or needed to come with me. For the most part, we communicated. But, when I walked into the bedroom I saw he had packed up every single article of clothing I had! He felt very bad—as did I for not speaking better French!—and we had to unpack several of the boxes.

Packing up took him just two hours. It’s funny, I thought about now I’d be feeling mixed emotions about leaving Brussels. I suppose to some extent I do. In general, though, I’m excited about the next adventure. I feel like I’ve made the most of every day here, and I think that feeling of "no regrets" makes me feel pretty comfortable moving on.

All that said, as I turned around and looked at the empty apartment, I couldn’t help but think "I’m gonna miss living here..."

reading, uk

A few weeks back I had been to Reading, UK, and I was back again for the day. With all the relocation tasks I’m trying to coordinate it’s not a particularly good time for extra travel, but I was asked to go and give a presentation to some of our non-GE team members there. I was sort of filling in for other leaders who would have given the presentation were they available, so some parts were a bit on the fly. Overall I think it went well. The best part was I got to meet face to face some of the people I’ve only heard over the phone for the past five months. Too bad it was one week before I leave town!

lost in translation?

I came into work a little early this morning because I had to give a presentation to a team in Tokyo. What made it interesting for me was the fact that they had a live interpreter onsite in Japan so as I was giving the presentation they were translating me live. I was disappointed they had their phone on mute so I couldn’t hear what I sounded like in Japanese! I had to speak slowly, and everyone said the presentation was good… so I hope the message got across!

vienna - part 3

coming soon