Going Home

I am about to embark on what is likely to be my last flight this year – the one that will take me to my homeland and hopefully fulfil a dream of almost 20 years. I have spent much of this year doing travel related things: packing up one home of 11 years and one of 2 years (not to mention packing and unpacking through two temporary homes); I have spent more time in airports this year, than even I, as a pilot, thought I would – about to embark on my 40th flight of the year (not counting ones I piloted myself) and my 7th intercontinental one; I have destroyed 2 suitcases and lost numerous items along the way. But now, I am going home – I hope.

This will be the second goal fulfilment this year – the first one being the opportunity to work in a humanitarian aid situation. Done and dusted (but of course, maybe it could be different next time?)

I approach this with much trepidation – so much more than going to Denmark or Senegal. I go without a solid home and without a job, but because I want to. On and off for 19 years I have been thinking about this. Reliving childhood memories of fun, friendships and freedom. Yet I go back with the expectation of hard times, a large pay cut, and still being thousands of miles away from my family. I am excited though – I know opportunities will await and there will be a life to live. It has been nice to be able to say: לשנה הבאה בירושלים (next year in Jerusalem), and actually mean it. It has been nice to think that, although I have rarely been directly affected by anti-semitism in the past, now, I will be living in a place where my government does something about it. I look forward to feeling my religion, rather than just practicing it. I look forward to going home.

A Cultural Divide

Since it would obviously be politically incorrect of me, and perhaps even racist by some, to generalise about negative aspects of a group of people based on their culture, I figured, since today was full of great examples, to write a post about the massive cultural divide between myself and 2 particular people – they happened to be taxi drivers in Senegal (although the latter, in a sense, drove a car and accepted payment for the ride, I’m not sure if he really was a taxi driver…) In case someone happens to misconstrue this as a generalisation about Senegalese (heaven forbid), I will throw in an example of the cultural divide between myself and a certain aspect of bureaucracy – the other person happens to be an Indian.

Stuck in Friday arvo traffic - downtown Dakar

Taxi!

So after deciding to take a weekend break at the seaside resort of Saly, I flag down a taxi after work to take me to the Gare Routiere, from where I will catch my sept-place taxi to Saly. The conversation with the taxi driver, before I get in, and following the standard pleasantries, goes something like this (I have translated in a way that I assume I would sound in French).

Me: I would like to go to the Gare Routiere. How much?
Driver: blah blah blah blah. Gare Hotel blah blah blah.
Me: No. Gare Routiere (this time, pronounced differently, just in case I got it wrong first time).
Driver: Blah blah blah. Gare blah blah. City blah blah?
Me: Not city. Near Point E. Before Place de l’Indepdance. I want to go to Saly. Sept-place taxi. Gare Routiere.
Driver: Ah, Point E. Ok.
Me: No, NEAR Point E. But Not Point E. Before Place de l’Independance.
Driver: Ah, Place de l’independance?

The Kindness of Senegalese (and work..)

The friendliness and generousity of people in Senegal cannot go unnoticed. Unfortuntaely, with my limited (or should I say, lack of) French, the only appreciation I seem to be able to show is "merci", or the occassional "merci beaucoup". It just doesn't seem to do it justice.

Bumper Cars in Dakar

Today I got a ride to my hotel with a Japanese woman in the office who happened to be leaving at the same time as me and heading in the same direction. When I mentioned that I thought she was brave to drive here, she told me that it's not so bad, and I only need to go to downtown to see 'bad' drivers. Wow! I've seen good-bad drivers (Israel), crazy-bad drivers (Bangkok), and now, scary-bad drivers (Dakar). There was certainly no need for the humanitarian aid agency I work for to have a rule about no driving when on deployment, there is no chance in hell I would chance it here!

Dear Boss, I hereby tender my resignation...

Dear Boss,

I hereby tender my resignation with immediate effect. As you are probably unaware, there are numerous issues with my job and the current workplace which makes my continuing employment here untenable. Although, these in themselves, are reason enough for anyone to leave such a workplace, I have greater things coming my way right now.

I was planning on tendering my resignation in a few weeks' time anyway, but an opportunity has been delivered to me which gives me need to hasten that act. I had planned to leave your employ at the end of July and enjoy a month or so holiday before spending the Jewish New Year with my family in Perth. Following that, I was to move permanently to Israel. This is is a plan which has been roughly (and I use that word in its extreme sense) been in place since late 1993. The dream of returning to live in Israel has always been with me, and, as a wise sage once said (I hope she doesn't mind me quoting her here...):

If I don’t go, I will be forever plagued by the ‘what if’ and it will eventually consume your life and cause me to blame any future failings/mishaps on not ever taking the plunge.

It has already plagued for for a long time. But the fact that I tend to be attracted to certainty (in some aspects of my life) has held me back. No more. It is time to take the plunge and live my dream.

Hitler Would Turn Over In His Grave (aka Frankfurt Has Left a Sour Taste in My Mouth)

Up until a couple of hours ago, I didn't have much but good things to say about Frankfurt. But having just been ripped off in broad daylight in such a way that I wouldn't expect anywhere apart from when I would be an obvious tourist in a third world country (or perhaps when taking a taxi in Sweden...), I now think differently.

Frankfurt has its very own Maggi Noodles restaurant!

New York, New York!

Ahh, New York. I now understand why they call it the city that never sleeps, though it does definitely have a bit of a lie down on Thanksgiving Day!

I arrived in NYC on Thanksgiving Eve and was totally buggared. So after an early night I woke up before dawn to go the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with a friend and her fiance`. Now I hadn't seen this friend for around 12 years when she was an exchange student in Canberra, so talk about catching up with a long lost friend. It was fantastic to catch up and relive old times (and we did so multiple times over the following 10 days) The parade itself was lots of fun - definitely something amazing for kids, but also quite nice for adults. If only from the point of view of seeing so many thousands of people out enjoying themselves (sans alcohol and drugs). We joined the throngs of people on Central Park West and watched the spectacular floats sail by, intermixed with some pretty funky marching bands (which to me really typifies America), lots of baton twirling, and a random sprinkling of celebrities.

Legoland - check

Yup, Legoland was the location for our work retreat. A whole one week into my new job and we head off on a 3 hour bus trip to a mystery location. All we knew is we didn't need our passports. And I guess when you look at a map and see where you can go in a 3 hour drive (considering West is the only option), Legoland made sense.

It was a 3 day retreat aimed at team building, getting to know each other, and a big emphasis seemed to be on getting all the teams to explain to everyone what they're all about and what they do. For me, it was perfect as it provided a fantastic introduction to everyone in the office, all the different teams, what we're all about, where we're heading, and what people actually do. Interestingly, even those who had been in the office for a while said it was very useful. About half of the retreat was dedicated to work stuff, and the other half to team building exercises and having fun. This included things such as a pumpkin carving competition (we one, though naturally I had very little input into that!), the African Choir that I've already written about, as well as learning to sing and drum along with another African band.

South African Surprise in the middle of Denmark

I arrived for my new job in Denmark just in time for a 3 day retreat! The retreat is an annual even in the office for the whole of the branch which I work for (roughly 50 people) and is partly a team building exercise, partly fun, and partly work. The retreat location has been kept secret from us - primarily so the fun part can be a surprise. But more on that (and the fact that I now have permanent accommodation in Copenhagen) in the next post (when I have some more photos too).

In the mean time, during dinner tonight, our treat was a mini-concert by a Danish vocal group called Papaya. The group is basically a collection of people who like African, and in particular South African music and sing a lot of it. They do tours in South Africa (both to sing and to learn) and also do concerts in other countries around Europe. For a group of very pale looking Nords, they were pretty impressive black singers!

Rather than posting my crappy mobile phone footage of them singing the South African National Anthem, I figured a YouTube video would be better...

An office with a view

After spending the past 2 years working in offices with little to no view, my office here is a refreshing change. For the past 2 years I have either been underground, stuck in windowless rooms, or been in sight of a window which has provided a clear view of nothing more than concrete. I am told that in Denmark there is a law that every working must be within a certain distance of a window (can't remember what that distance is), but it's a great idea. My desk is on the third floor with views over Copenhagen Harbour - I don't think one could ask for any more!

Or so I thought...

Ergonomics is a bit thing in the office, and here things are taken to the extreme. Not only is the height of desks in the office adjustable, but it can go so high that many people switch from sitting to standing at their desk as the day progresses. Additionally, unlike the clunky manual systems, all our desks are plugged into the power grid so adjustments occur at the press of a button!

How to NOT transition between jobs

Hypothysis

• That if I want to 'try something new' in terms of a job and location, the hard part is getting the job. The rest should be simple.

Inputs & Raw Materials

• 1 x job offer that sounds like a fantastic opportunity
• Appropriate leave from existing job
• 1 x shed with just enough space for all my personal belongings
• Plan to spend 2 weeks with my family interstate prior to flying overseas
• 1 x snowboarding holiday in New Zealand