I have just spent another long day at work. It looks like I will be catching the 7:39pm train. I have learnt that when working on a business plan, the information that you are basing it on can change in an instant. Just yesterday, I had to rewrite a whole chapter based on updated information that we got from the client. When that happens, and your deadline stays the same, then you need to be prepared to work for a little longer than you thought.
On Monday, I am going with Paul to Amsterdam to visit McKinsey. We are going to talk about the business plan that we are entering in the New Ventures competition. I am looking forward to this opportunity to get some feedback and learn more about management consulting. However, I need to be at the office by 7:30am! This means I have to get up by 6:30am. I suppose it's not that early (especially when you compare it to AIESEC Auckland airport pick-ups), but it is still early for someone who is not much of a "morning" person!
I am a little concerned with my money situation. I checked my bank balance yesterday, and I was already down to the 200s. I wonder how I have spend so much money? I am planning a trip to Amsterdam next weekend and there is a reception weekend in Utrecht the following weekend. So, I am definitely doing free stuff this weekend!
The thought has crossed my mind of asking for more money from work. But, I think I will reexamine my expenditure and try to cut some things back.
posted by James 7:34 pm
It's 7pm and I'm still at work. There is so much to do on the business plan, so it looks like I will be here for much of the evening. I just got dinner. Yeah, McDonalds by default. I have noticed that in bars or places like McDonalds, you must pay with cash. No EFTPOS. Strange.
posted by James 7:04 pm
It's Margriet's birthday today. (Paul's wife). Paul lives above this office, so there have been quite a few visitors to the building today. Needless to say, Paul has been a little distracted, so we haven't done too much work on the business plan. We want to finish it by tomorrow evening, so he can show it to some contacts at McKinsey.
Paul just came downstairs with some cake for me! Cool! So, my decision not to catch the 6:09pm train has turned out to be a good one.
posted by James 6:22 pm
I had a big, late lunch on Friday because I planned to go for a run first thing after returning home from work. I did my short run and I powered through it. My goal was to break 20 minutes and I succeeded. My time was 19 minutes 59.84 seconds. Cool.
AIESEC Tilburg celebrates its 55th anniversary this year. To mark the occassion, a special gala evening was held on Saturday night. The evening was extremely well organised. It was held on the ground floor of a mansion house in the middle of town – very close to the central station. There was generous space for dancing and a DJ played songs until 2:30am. There was a bar at one end of the room. Each person paid EUR 30 and this included all of the drinks. It was a very formal affair. I wore one of my suits for work, and I felt a little underdressed!
Moise and I arrived just after 10pm. It was still too quiet for our liking, so we went for a walk around the city centre. When we got back at 11pm, the atmosphere was much better. The music seemed louder, drinks were flowing freely and many people were dancing. The best aspect was that people were dancing in small groups of, say, four or five. There was no huge circle of people with wasted open space within – I hate it when that happens.
As the evening progressed, alcohol consumption made people less self-conscious. So many glasses were dropped! I remember slightly knocking against Moise’s elbow causing him lose grip of his glass. It crashed into the floor, spreading glass in all directions. We used our shoes to sweep the glass under a nearby table, and we continued dancing. The same thing happened with Silvia later on, so I may have acquired a reputation of causing people to drop things.
I have learnt that you should never give your camera to a drunk person. They are likely to take more photos than you requested and of subjects that you didn’t intend. Unless you wrestle the camera back from them, they are liable to click off the rest of your film.
A modification of that rule applies to yourself. If you are drunk, then you should probably put your camera away. After a lot of drinks, I am in a very happy mood. So, towards the end of the party, I wanted to get my photo taken with all these different people. I have pictures with Katrijn, Marjoleine, Huimei and AIESECers from Twente.
Obviously, my film ran out quickly.
An impromptu “after party” was organised at Jasper’s place. I continued drinking, more for social reasons rather than to quench any thirst. I had a good conversation with Moise and Silvia about AIESEC and our experiences in the Netherlands. It is interesting that, even though the three of us have vastly different backgrounds, we have similar conclusions about the culture of the Dutch AIESECers.
By 5am, the only way that I could stay awake was to keep dancing. I walked home although Jasper had kindly offered a place to sleep upstairs. (Moise and I had walked to the party as Moise didn’t have a bike). The sky was becoming brighter in the East and you could hear the familiar sound of birds right before sunrise. I was very much drunk as I walked briskly home. I fell asleep seconds after struggling into bed.
I woke up on Sunday afternoon, and the effects of drinking seemed to have “hung over” from the night before. It was a nice recovery day. The sun was shining and I wore shorts and a singlet for the first time (excluding the times when I went running). I sat under a tree in Wilhemina Park and read a book.
Calling New Zealand with my mobile phone is so expensive. (That’s obvious). I spoke with Dad for just under three minutes on Sunday night, and it cost over EUR 5.
May 5 is apparently the best day to be in Wageningen. I was told this by Iva, a friend that I made at the Maastricht reception weekend. So, I organised to have that day off from work and I headed there, by train, just after noon on Monday. My plan was to enjoy the whole day’s festivities and go to work from there, the following day. Wieneke, the president of the Wageningen local committee, generously allowed me to stay the night at her place.
The town has a celebration on this day to recognise the signing of one of the peace treaties that ended the second world war. This took place in “Hotel de Wereld” in Wageningen.
It was past 3pm by the time I got to Wageningen. Catching the bus from the train station was crazy! It seemed that so many people had the similar plans as me. As the bus entered the town, we passed a sign that declared, “Wageningen – the city of life sciences”. AJ and Xin would have been delighted.
I spent the day with Iva and her friends. At 4pm, there was a special parade of military groups from different countries and spanning different time periods. It went down the main street in the city. Most people watched the parade from the side of the road, while others (including me) were able to see things from a window higher up. I noticed that some had even climbed onto the roof to secure the best vantage point. Everyone clapped enthusiastically for each group, especially for the veterens of the second world war, itself. It was a proud occasion for everyone.
For the rest of the day, there was a festival atmosphere around the whole city centre. An area about half the size of the Auckland CBD was closed off to traffic and there were five stages where different types of music were playing. Every taste was catered to. The group that I was with spent a lot of time at the Latin music stage, and later, the tent where pumping dance music was playing. I loved it! As I danced outside, the cool evening air kept me refreshed.
There were many food and drink stalls, and people were walking from place to place with their glass of beer. As the Dutch may say, the atmosphere was very “gezellig”. This is difficult to directly translate, but it suggests something which is cozy, friendly and people are having fun with each other.
From 10:30pm until midnight, “Blof”, a Dutch band, were playing. This is a famous band in the Netherlands, so the area where they were playing was absolutely packed. Sometimes I felt like an observer – there were songs where it seemed everyone knew the words, aside from me. I didn’t mind this, I just soaked up the atmosphere. It is quite a sight when you see a forest of hands, all clapping in time to a song. I was really pleased to be there.
On Tuesday morning, I took a stroll around the city, visiting the places that I had been to earlier. A huge clean-up must have been carried out during the night, because the streets seemed so tidy. I saw that what had been a dance floor for music, had transformed into a supermarket carpark by the following morning. The city was quiet and there were few people. This is the true Wageningen. (I guess that if you only go to a city for its special events, then you can get a mistaken impression).
I noticed that some of the streets had names that would translate as “Freedom St” and “May 5th Place”. I took a photo of a statue overlooking “Hotel de Wereld”. I felt proud when I saw a New Zealand flag suspended over a street near the bus station.
On the way home, I needed to change from bus to train at Arnhem. I told Paul that I would be at work “some time in the afternoon”, so I took the opportunity to stroll around the city centre. My impression was that it was a lot like Tilburg, but I was only there for about an hour.
When I got home from work, I found a huge package by the front door. As I suspected, it was from AIESEC Auckland. I was so happy! I took it upstairs and opened it in front of Ania, who had just returned from Poland that day. The packaging was creative – it was all inside a “Just Juice” container! I now have a replacement hacky (Yes!) and I gave Ania a demonstration of its use. I promptly kicked it into the kitchen sink, but it didn’t fall down the plug hole. I will keep it away from curb-side drains. Another highlight was an audio tape – I listened to it all (there were some very funny parts). I am really pleased with this personal touch.
posted by James 9:20 am