Filed under: Nigeria
It has been more than a week since I have arrived here, and many things have happened. Arriving on Saturday evening my colleague Ralf was waiting for me, with the driver and an escort with police. Yes, we white expats do not drive here and risky trips are accompanied with escort. On Sunday the day started with a morning run over the ‘Crazy Bridge’, a bridge for which you have to pay to go from a rich to a richer part in Lagos. After seeing a great market, very bumpy roads, a shopping mall and having lunch at one of the most luxurious hotels in Lagos, we were invited by our Indian manager to celebrate Diwali with fantastic Indian food. There was I, in as Dutchie in Nigeria celebrating the Indian festival of light. FANTASTIC!
Monday I started my first day in the office. After a drive of 45 minutes (from the Islands to the Mainland), we arrived at the office. Walking into the Marketing department, a large office space with around 16 colleagues gave me a warm welcome and there was an induction program throughout the company. The first morning I was mainly busy with getting a company badge, which took around 2 hours.
Some observations in my new office environment:
- Meetings cannot be planned. You just pass by and if you really need something, be persistent. If you are in a meeting with someone, anyone can enter to discuss other matters.
- Almost everyday someone is ‘washing’ à sharing food. This is not just a cake, but a proper meal + 1L juice. Reasons to wash: birthdays, anniversaries, back from abroad, or any other good and valid reason. (note: you do not really have a choice, you are expected to do so)
- There is no toiletpaper
- During birthdays (after washing?) you’ll receive a huge cake in the colours of what you are wearing that day and everyone has to take a picture with the birthday girl/boy, finishing off with a team photo
- In market research the (only) served drink is Amstel Malt
People are very direct (more direct than I am). Some comments I have received at the office:
- You should walk smarter (more elegant)
- You white people never finish your plate
- Diet Coke? Do you not want to become as big as we are?
- Are you still wearing your Dutch winter outfits?
- That white blouse looked very nice on you!
Filed under: India
India, India, what can I say. Or actually where should I start. After one week of India it feels like a month. I wanted adventure, I’ve gotten adventure. What a week it was.
Outside the airport the madness started. Arriving at quite uncomfortable time I was an easy victim with my backpack and blond hair. Going for a prepaid taxi in the airport (Lonely Planet said it was much saver), once you are out it is worth nothing. All the stories in the travel books have been applied to me in one night, except for the bed bugs in the hotel, no one had warned me for that! I’ve been brought to some fake tourist place, hotel was fully booked (in my case true) and being overcharged.
Next morning I would find a hotel in the backpackers area as soon as possible and explore Delhi. Starting at the more quite part of Delhi and day after to Delhi downtown. I saw absolutely stunning things there, and was impressed by the Museum and life of Indira Ghandi. Though I can’t help it to enjoy the small things most. Little temples at the corner of small (and dirty) streets, families enjoying their holidays at the Indian Gate and being part of the crazy traffic in Delhi. Delhi downtown was a lot more hectic. During a visit at the Red Fort several Indians asked me for a picture (they ofcourse did not know yet I’m not very good in picture, but so I can practice :)). And at the mosque they charge people who have camera’s (basically all the foreigners). The second day the hectic of the city got me, time to move on.
On to Jaipur, India’s Pink City, via train. First time on the Indian train, I do not look around at the station (nor on the street), since I don’t want to see all the people looking at me. It is common knowledge India is a developing country, however only in the train I saw the real poverty. Going with the train through the slums of Delhi shows me how people there wash, cook, clean, live and go to the bathroom (using the few trees that are around). The smell that belongs to this is almost unbearable (windows of Indian trains are mostly open during the day). It hits me, and makes me realize how lucky we are. Arriving at the station of Jaipur my own little worries start again, how to get rid of the Indian taxi drivers. I have arranged a pick-up! Can someone please stop seeing me as a dollar sign, but just as a human being with sincere interest in the country….
Hotel in Jaipur is great, only it looks like another big city! I decided to start exploring Jaipur the next day and take it easy, it is a holiday after all. Sightseeing was good, and at one of the places there was a hidden art gallery with contemporary art. Wow! My heart started to beat faster. After a brief chat with a colleague about some artists in Barcelona, I was embarrassed. I love contemporary art, and visited the great museums in London but forgot their names. Couldn’t really talk about it anymore, haven’t given it any attention in ten years. In the art gallery in Jaipur it all came back, and I found out that India has fantastic artists! Guess what, I bought my own first piece of art! Also met a great traveler from Italy (travelling for 11 months and taking a break from its own office, what an example!) , whom I had dinner with in a garage. During the day they were repairing car’s, and serving dinner at night. Pics will follow when I’m back home.
Leaving Jaipur behind, the trip to Agra starts. Trip to the town of the Taj Mahal again by train. During this train ride I became part of an Indian family. What a great experience! After some basic chatting, it was time for a proper photo session (after some already took some sneaky pictures with their phone, like I don’t notice…). With one of the member I had a great conversation about his ideas to increase the quality of life within Indian society. Fantastic! Unfortunately the language barrier is to big to really get into detail.
More to say about India through my eyes. India chapter two (out of two) will follow shortly. Last stop in India will be Varanasi, visiting tomorrow.
India. Its beauties have captured me, but the sharp contrasts start to make me hungry for the Himalayas of Nepal.
Filed under: Dubai
August in Dubai, is not much different than June or July. Dubai is not changing; it is rather standing still on the moment. Most exiting things will happen after Ramadan that starts around the 21st of August. A lot of the expats are going home for holiday; they escape the hot weather and take advantage of the nice cool summers in Europe. Unfortunately still many are loosing jobs and during Ramadan the absolute low of the current economic situation is expected. Business is desperate, and the ultimate luxury is now almost affordable for an average student like me.
An example, here in Dubai the Friday brunch buffets are a big cultural thing for the expats. They come in al sizes, types of food and mostly including alcohol (all unlimited). Currently a brunch in the Atlantis hotel (the big famous hotel on the Palm, with a 10 million dollar artwork in the lobby) offers a brunch for 25 EU. You can eat for 3 hours from lobster to oysters to Peking duck to dim sums to sushi to chocolate fondue with fountain to a marble where they make the ice cream of your choice and many more. For an additional 12EU all alcohol is included as well. It feels almost unfair to pay soo little, and offers like this are certainly not benefiting the premium character of hotels or other businesses.
The other side of the coin is that it cost me very little effort to adapt to the luxury, and I start to be less and less aware of the fortunate situation. Aiii, will be different in NL. Gehhghge, I go everywhere in my little Yaris. Filling the car with gasoline is done by someone, so my hands to not get dirty. We have someone who does our ironing, cleaning etcera. At the gym I get two big clean white towels that I leave behind. When I push the bottom to go to the 10th floor of the apartment building there are another 35 floors above me and we have a ‘sandwich lady’ at work to provide us with fresh meals, salads and….. sanwiches :D. Pfff and many more observations, that I unfortunately do not really notice anymore…
Last weekend I had a visitor from Holland, Bram. We know each other from the INKOM. My second visitor abroad ever, and it is not that I am not going anywhere. Hmmm, probably have to draw my conclusions. I do like visitors!!! It was great with Bram. Showed him as much as possible here as well as a snapshot of Oman (good for the exotic passport stamps :)). Note: if you ever plan to visit me, do not expect to come home totally rested and recharged :).
The long weekend with Bram made me realize the fortunate life I am currently living here, but also that I miss you all very much. Life is fantastic; however there are few people who I can identify with here. Therefore I value some of the great colleagues and inspiring individuals I meet even more.
For me, as 100% extrovert person (al the personality tests agree on this part), it is very important to have people around me who I can identify with, since I get energy from people while an introvert person will recharge in individual surroundings. OMG, I really get energy from other people!, I realized here in Dubai. An open and sincere chat with one of my friends or being exhibited to a cultural insight where I was unaware of can totally make my day. Moreover, mainly due to Dubai I am starting to accept it.
Ok, long enough story for now. A small practicality, I will return to NL slightly later than planned, most probably the 11th of September.
Looking very much forward to catch up with all of you!!!
A biggg hugg from Dubai!
Filed under: Dubai
Can you imagine, one month ago I left from Amsterdam. Now I feel like I have an every day life again. Honestly, it took me a while. Well, at least longer than Norway, but what an experience!
First of all, in my first week here I realized that the life that was set up for me was not quite what I had expected; live in a hotel and every step you take by taxi. Since there is very little experience with interns within the company, I found myself a room with very nice Irish people and from the left over money a Toyota Yaris as a rental car. YES, I am driving. In 2006 I obtained my driving license, it took me 80 hours of lessons and since then I have been driven maybe an hour rounded upwards J. Moreover the traffic in Holland is not really comparable to Dubai, without even speaking about road signs or logic of the roads. U turns are integrated into the traffic of Dubai, there are even traffic lights for U turns. Overtaking cars can be done left as well as right and indicating direction is optional rather than required. Thus, when I am driving slowly because my handbrake is still on and using my fog lamps rather than my regular lamps, no one really notices. This is a good thing for me obviously, in Holland they would never accept my driving attitude J. And now, I absolutely LOVE my Yaris, it takes me everywhere!
Honestly, I do not want to talk too long about the temperature. Just would like to say one thing. DO NOT GO HERE IN SUMMER, the world does NOT exaggerate like stubborn people like me might think. I am telling you, not anymore! What the BEEEPPP. It is getting hotter every day, maybe even every second if you ask me. For illustration, I have some every day examples. Yesterday I went to the nail salon (yep, every one does it here, thus could not stay behind with dodgy nails…) and it is a 15 minute walk, were it is actually possible to walk. In general there is no space for pedestrians. And my roommate says to me ‘Are you walking?’ and I say ‘yes, why not, it is 8 o’clock in the evening, sun is gone and it is not too far’. Well, I arrived with a wet t-shirt. Luckily everyone who was walking felt the same, but still, feeling comfortable is different. Thus they need the golf carts from parking lot to final, final destination. Therefore there will be little travelling here, basically every activity is to hot to actually do.
So, how did my previous weekends look like? Enjoy all the benefits of working for Heineken. Alcohol is fairly expensive her, comparable with Norwegian prices. However I seldom have to go to the bar and order a drink. Either it is ladies night in Dubai and all women get free drinks, it is a good customer of Heineken, or it is work. Thus robbery of bank account due to alcoholic beverages does not take place here, though this is effectively never possible as it is empty. This is different when looking at exercising facilities. This is soooo expensive, unbelievable. I became a member of Fitness First, since the options are very limited. But what do I do? You can not do anything, and when I come back, I will have to run 10 mile? Therefore I decided to invest the money, with some help (thank you!!) and to go to this fancy gym.
Session one: A health test. Hmm, always watch my food and exercise frequently, though I started to notice significant signs of my exuberant and irregular student life of the past 5 years. Result, I am very healthy, accept for the fact that I am too fat and I have to little muscles.
Session 2: How to fix me. Will be tomorrow….
Ok, this is it for now, because otherwise I will stop writing and end up with never posting this snapshot. But I have soo much more to tell, smoking sheisha, studying arabic, my internship, bu not now…. Otherwise I will never make it to the gym tomorrow morning at 6h.
A veryyy big HUGGGGG
Filed under: Dubai
My dearest friends, family, relatives and anyone who reads this, I can not believe I am already for a week in Dubai!! And OMG, what a week!
Going to Dubai goes parallel with many expectations, enhanced by the media. Where Dubai was the place where the sky is the limit, during the economic downturn Dubai apparently resulted in an empty city and an airport full of abandoned cars. In addition, the climate would require strong sun tan lotion and would definitely bring me back to Holland with a nice tan. Moreover, Sirocco, a joint venture of Heineken would give me the possibility to experience a new organization.
Well, Sirocco is a Heineken subsidiary in Dubai. The people there have a very green hart and the corporate culture is very similar. But I do not have any local colleagues, due to the nature of the business. My assignment is interesting, will give me a good insight of the market and should result in a tool that improves professionalism towards the customer. Sirocco only deals with downstream activities, because producing beer in the country is not possible, thus sales and marketing are the core of the company. The market is especially interesting, since alcohol is officially illegal and there are many restrictions regarding advertisement and sales. E.g. licenses are only given to hotels, who can sell a certain amount of alcohol in the outlets they own. Thus, all the nightlife takes place in and around hotels.
In order to become familiar with the market, being in the field is very important. Consequently, the sales team organized a trade tour to visit the different bars, restaurants etc. The market is separated in between a high end segment and a low end segment. During one of the nights we went to visit the low end segment downtown, thus visiting taxi bars, hooker bars and ‘premium’ dance bars. In contrast to the cosmopolitan way of partying in the 4 and 5 star hotels, where it is all about seen and being seen. But, honestly, it all comes down to the same thing. And where in Norway the male specie would be rather identified by ‘he’s just not that into you’ or extremely drunk and up for anyone, in Dubai I think rather the Mexican rules apply. However further research is needed J.
Furthermore, I adore people and their different cultures and habits. And I must say I felt a bit ignorant. Every time I go to a new place, I have the feeling I understand less about the world. Why the western world sketches such an ethnocentric image about the east? And what will the result of the different approach of Obama be? Why do we not understand each other? This morning I went to the Jumeirah Mosque, to understand the religion and way of living of the Islam better. A little bit of effort to understand each other opens new doors.
Oh, and if people think I will return to the Netherlands with a tan, I will stay equally white. It is simply too hot to be outside. Even in the evening the temperature will not fall below 35 degrees Celsius. As a result, all the terraces are closed down and tents with air conditioning are set up, the outside activities are put on hold, the streets are empty and the malls are full. Even a ten minutes walk to the Mall of the Emirates, near my hotel, is strongly advised against (I am a bit stubborn, thus I still tried it, and indeed it is not advisable) and the people are sincerely happy when the weather forecasts temperatures below 40 degrees during the day. Thus, when returning to the Netherlands I will strongly have to consider the solarium to ever obtain a tan…
Lots more to write about, but so far so good… more to come soon…
Some facts:
– One month rent for an average room is €1000,-
– Weekend is Friday and Saturday
– Many locals do drink alcohol
– You can never become a resident of the UAE. If you loose your job you have one month to leave the country
– 75% of the population in the UAE is male
– Skype only accessible to call computer/computer, otherwise it is blocked
Filed under: Norway
This is the first and at the same time last story about my exchange semester in Norway. Some friends remember the departure closely; I was not too keen about moving again and to Norway, in particular Bergen, where it rains 300 days a year. But, it is part of CEMS, so obviously I went. However, many plans were already made for the semester, outside Norway, since I was craving to spend some time with my friends in the Netherlands. Moreover, I planned to do little outside my studies and really (THIS TIME REALLY) plan a lot of ME time.
So, January 23rd I left. What to prepare for Norway? It is almost the same as the Netherlands, and accommodation was already settled upon. Thus, I bought a Lonely Planet of Norway (never really looked into it beforehand, but having it seemed enough) and packed my suitcase without much thinking. My mum did not really saw the necessity to take a day of to bring me to the airport, as I was not leaving the country anyway. Well, it seems that she got used to my dynamic life style.
For the lack of preparation, I had to pay the price at the second day in Norway. Friends invited me for a hike (hiking in winter?!). In a long sweater (thus a dress), a formal winter coat and fashionable winter boots I went hiking on a snowy, icy, hilly and non paved track. After an uncountable number of falls, (once I took a middle aged man down with me), many bruises and several bruised ribs I reached the student complex again. Welcome to Norway!
In the months afterwards, I experienced Norway as not just any country and though there are certainly similarities between the Netherlands, there are also significant differences. Moreover I met great people from everywhere, and again experienced the power of a common goal (Nordic Forum) as the source of many valuable friendships. Large projects that shaped my spring semester in Norway were the Nordic Forum and the Business Project. However, I will not go into detail through all the things I have done in Norway, but rather mention the memorable moments with friends, the ways Norway surprised me and further aspects that characterized my stay.
One of the ways in which Norway surprised me was there way of partying. As a sorority girl, I am used to quite a lot regarding parties and their features as dress code, alcohol usage, length etcetera. The Bergen student life equaled or exceeded many of my previous experiences on this area. Though alcohol is expensive, Norwegians drink more than many well trained students in Maastricht. While the weather is cold and rainy, girls are very generous in make up usage, showing their skin and they make up for all words that are not used during the day. Thus, as you can imagine, these habits did not benefit to the plan to limit my alcohol usage during this semester.
Without the Nordic Forum, the semester would not have been the same. Many words have been said about the event and many moments are secured on photo or video. But these never match the corresponding feeling, mentality and atmosphere in the team. I am so glad I was able to work with all of you!
Furthermore, the place I lived during the semester is worth mentioning. All exchange students and several regular students are living at Hattleberg, next to the university (NHH) and around 10 minutes by bus from the city. The view from my room and the kitchen was stunning, and living next to NHH was convenient, but I missed the liveliness of the city. A place where I have spent a lot of time was the kitchen, mainly because my room was too messy to do anything. So I ate, studied, had coffees, watched television and had a great birthday party there. One of the best kitchen moments was a dance session with Anna on the music of Lady Gaga. Instead of studying, we just danced like crazy for at least an hour in an empty kitchen. FANTASTIC!!
That Norway is a special country was proven again on the last day before departure. My alarm had some problems functioning, and since I had an exam that morning it was slightly disastrous. Consequently I arrived somewhat late and considerably stressed at my exam, with the thought that I had lost my student card on the way. One of the surveillances offered to look for it while I was writing my exam (!?) and though she did not find it (afterwards the card appeared in my bag) she brought me four leaf pepperwort to wish me luck.
These are only a few of the great things of my life in Norway! And looking back, I am grateful I ended up in Norway. The experience brought me back with two feet on earth (as we say in Dutch :D), and made it possible for me to appreciate the things life has to offer so much more.
Thank you everyone! We will certainly meet again, but time secures that the environment in which we meet will be different. Nevertheless, the great memories stay forever!
Hopefully you enjoyed reading, gheghehe, if you have managed to reach this point :). I am not used to writing. In the meanwhile I arrived in Dubai where I will stay for the next three months. Instead of 300 days of rain, 0 days of rain and 45 degrees celcius instead of 15 (by the way, I sincerely do not like rain and heat….). But this is a new story, a new life and thus a new episode of this blog….
Highlights:
Hiking in the mountains
Nordic Forum 2009
Rafting trip
Kramboden
National day
Spring 2009 crush
Things I will never do again:
Hiking in fashionable winter boots
Not reading about the destination beforehand (e.g. buying hiking boots was on page 2 of the Lonely Planet)
Living in Hattleberg (I am too nosy to live outside the city)
Drinking a lot of that Swiss liquor of Marte…
Plan Dubai direct after Norway, and thus without time for friends, reflection, packing, etc.
Music that will remind me of Spring 2009 in Bergen:
Slumdog Millionaire Sountrack – Jai Ho
Lady GaGa – Just Dance
Lady GaGa – Pokerface
Milow – Ayo Technology
Alexander Rybak – Fairytale
Milow – The Priest
Milow – Stepping Stone
Guus Meeuwis – Dat komt door jou
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