This is a very nice surprise. Paul has given each of us, in the office, a bottle of champagne and a Christmas card. When I opened the card, I discovered a EUR 50 note inside!
I intend to save the champagne for either Christmas or New Year's Eve.
posted by James 6:49 pm
I can't believe this. On the first day that I use Martin's bike, it gets stolen while I am at work. I had left it at the end of one of the rows, on the side away from the road, so it would be easy for me to find later. But, when I returned at 9pm, all I found was an empty space and a rather mangled lock.
I told Agnieszka the story when I got home. I described where I had left the bike and she replied that my selection was ideal... that is, if I were hoping to increase the likelihood of its subsequent theft. Shame. I guess I don't know enough about how the criminal mind operates.
On the bright side, I have a whole three and a half weeks to figure out how to break the news to Martin.
posted by James 9:06 am
Martin left to return to Hungary, yesterday. In addition to letting me use his bike, he also left his museum card. So, if I am able to pass myself off as him, I will be able to gain access to most museums in The Netherlands, free of charge.
I watched "Amelie" on television, last night, with Agnieszka. It is my favourite movie. Naturally, it was in French with Dutch subtitles. By combination of reading the Dutch and listening to the French, I could make out most of the conversation. Of course, it helps that I have already seen the movie, with English subtitles, three times before.
My plans for Christmas and New Years are coming together nicely. Lia has floated the idea for us (the trainees) to spend Christmas Day at an AIESECer's house. That sounds like a great idea to me - to experience what Christmas is like with a Dutch family. So, I hope the idea is followed through. For New Years, I have been e-mailing one of the trainees in Amsterdam and she has invited us to a New Year's party with her friends.
These days, I am becoming more careful about organising things well in advance, rather than waiting for someone else to do it, or waiting for things to "just happen".
posted by James 8:42 am
I can't find any of the Sinterklaas related confectionary in the supermarket anymore! I only noticed this last night, although it probably hasn't been on sale for ten days already. It has been replaced by Christmas "branded" cookies and chocolate Santas.
The house across the road from mine has put a "Santa in lights" on the wall above their front door. It depicts Santa with a parachute.
I decided to go to the movies tonight, to see "Love Actually". I sent e-mails to a few other people, saying that they could join me if they wished. Now, it has been promoted as the "reception activity" for the week! Does that count as me helping AIESEC Tilburg with their activities? That is one of my traineeship goals.
posted by James 5:56 pm
Martin is going back to Hungary, for three weeks, this Wednesday. During his absence, he is lending me his bike. It is smaller than my previous bike, but certainly much faster than walking. I took it for a "test-cycle" last night, when I went to the Monday night drinks. It took barely ten minutes to cycle from my place to town - a reminder of how small Tilburg is.
posted by James 8:11 am
Last night, Agnieszka, Steven and I had dinner in town. We chose from the student menu at one of the inner-city bars.
I mentioned to Steven that Agnieszka was very well set up in Tilburg - after only a few days, she already had a bike, mobile phone and a strippenkaart. Steven jokingly replied that AIESEC Tilburg had learnt from the mistakes they made with me. I think there is an element of truth in that. The AIESECers certainly gave me a good reception, but I gave them my suggestions for how they could improve it. The e-mail wasn't well received at the time, but some of its content must have had an effect. A few of my ideas in that e-mail have been carried out with Agnieszka's reception.
I like my situation at work at the moment. I am spending most of my time on the client who wishes to set up a business in Russia. There is a lot of research involving business forms, tax (really) and pricing. Much of it involves interpreting law in the context of the client's circumstances, which is interesting for me.
Paul visited a law office today and, beforehand, he asked me to brief him on the law behind some of the matters that he would be discussing. He later told me that he was impressed with my explanation and pleased with the research that I had done. This, in turn, made me feel pleased and motivated to carry on work with the project, even though it was already past 5:30pm. I like it when my work is appreciated. I also want us to find the appropriate solutions for the client, before I leave in February.
posted by James 6:28 pm