Dear 4 readers:
I'll be spending a long weekend in Paris from tomorrow, so most probably won't be able to post until Sunday. I'm sure I'll be full of new insights and experiences to share with you when I'm back.
In the meantime, you might want to browse the archive, starting from September 2006, or by tags.
Enjoy!
I was reading Batz's Journal, where she comments her views on leaving Barcelona after being there two years, and going away from those friendships she has formed during her time there.
I started thinking that in fact these days it's not so difficult to keep in touch with those you care about. With e-mail, messenger, skype, blogging and of course text messaging and voice telephony you can still keep in touch. These days video conferencing is not so difficult either, as many chatting programs have integrated it.
Around a year ago, I was in a very particular situation. My parents were living in Brazil, my sister in Mexico, my fiancée in Japan and I was in Finland, so there was a minimum of 8,000 km between one member of the family and the next. Keeping in mind the time differences, these utilities were a godsend, and now that I'm in Belgium I use them to keep in touch, as my friends and family are scattered all over the place.
This is much better than the situation in the Middle Ages, or even 30 years ago. In that sense I'm glad I was born at a time when this is possible.
Today I was a little bit blue. The sky was overcast, with this annoying drizzle that isn't even proper rain but still messes up my hair and my glasses, and it was just the proper mood for being a little pensative.
Even though I have my iPod in shuffle (all 3000+ songs), it played almost exclusively during the whole day songs according to the mood: "My way", "Sunday, Bloody Sunday", "Polly", "Ayer me dijo un ave", "Denial, revisited", "Pennyroyal tea", "The wind cries Mary", "Black hole sun", "Bibo no aozora", "Long Cool Woman", "Ánimas que no amanezca", etc.
Given that when I'm happy, the same shuffle tends to play more rythmic songs, I'm starting to wonder if my iPod is semi-sentient or at least rather telepathic…
I just heard about a very good friend of ours that separated from her husband (my best wishes to both of them). As asiduous readers of this blog might know, I'm getting married as well in a couple of months, and hearing that news coupled with my preparatory discussions where I learned the divorce rates in Europe (1 out of 2 separate) and comparing it to my family history, where there have also been a couple of divorces, I couldn't help but get slightly worried.
Then I remembered who is it that I'm getting married with, who am I, and what have we been through in the past seven years. We bridged the chasm between cultures, languages and temperaments, we learned from each other and we went through the experience of living in different countries from each other for a total of around a year and a half. And guess what? We're still here. It hasn't been easy, but we still believe.
There are of course many challenges coming in the future: work, family life, and the like, but as one famous Corellian once said: "Never tell me the odds!".
Goofing around with google I found that finally the model united nations that pretty much marked my high school experience has a webpage. A torrent of memories ensued, and I just had to send them an e-mail, whose translation is below:
"Hi guys,
I found out that slightly over a month ago you had your conference. Probably the most difficult stages of post-conference syndrome are over (except for the high school seniors, for whom it is always a little rougher). I simply wanted to know how did it go this time around.
Maybe you're asking yourselves who is this guy and why does he care about what happens in TECMUN. Tha answer is very simple: I was secretary-general (more secretary than general) during the 98-99 school year, the first page that reached the position, and even though it's been a while I still remember it sometimes and I still care. My secretariat was very tighly knit and we did well, we had around 700 delegates from Mexico, Canada and Argentina (just before their peso crash), and I still get along with some of them (to the extent that my ECOSOC undersecretary will be the best man at my wedding and my predecessor at the job will also be there, even though the ceremony will take place in Finland). I cannot give you any lessons about what you have lived and learned, I can simply tell you that it will be useful the rest of your lives. Keep those friendships and continue learning.
Some of you (especially those in your last semester) are probably wondering what is next in your life. I can simply tell you that a lot of things. Some of you may go abroad to study, some may stay, some may get into diplomacy, other lean towards political sciences, others might venture into engineering, business or comms. You will find new friends, your first jobs, and lots and lots of new people. However, I can guarantee you that you will still remember what you felt in the closing ceremony, when you saw the ending video, and many of you cried.
Those who stay, take care of the MUN. It has had good times and bad times, growth and contraction. I don't know what is its current state, but I ask you to put it in good hands. There is a lot of people that wants to receive the learnings of this experience and may not even know it.
The world is a pale blue dot, take advantage of the opportunities that you find. What you are now is, in one way or another, what you will be in the future (even though you might only see small signs of it such as a terrible addiction to watching the news). Remember who you are and keep on fighting."
The time we spent together here was excellent, but she had to return to finish her own things. She will be back in slightly over two months time, for my graduation, and then we'll move together again.
The flat feels really empty without her. That's why I want to be with her the rest of my life, and so does she.
Tell us about an event that changed your life forever.
Submitted by Miss Scotch.
I've discussed this before in this post. Had I not dug from the discarded pile a business magazine where there was an interview with a person that was a friend of my dad, this person wouldn't have suggested to me some years later to go to study to Finland, so I wouldn't have landed the job I held for some years, I wouldn't have met a lot of people who are important for me and most importantly, I wouldn't have met my soon-to-be wife.
You just need to be brave enough to live it.
Or as they say in Spanish: "Dios aprieta pero no ahorca", which more or less means "God might tighten the situation, but not choke you". I'm not usually a person that quotes the Bible, but "Help yourself then I will help you" (or whatever the official English translation is) is one of my favourite quotes.
It has been a very challenging 9 months or so, and there is still 3 months for my final project, but it already feels really different. I've learned heaps, met some very good friends and got into touch with parts of myself that I had neglected.
The excellent local beer is a plus, of course.
Now I need to work on my final project, but I'lll have no more classes. Digestion process is still ongoing.
We're currently enjoying a serious partying behaviour.
Ricardo had a post at his blog discussing some symptoms that signal whether you've been travelling too much.
"
To which I added:
But I guess my dad is the ultimate authority, as his passport shows what happens when you've travelled too much:
"At
least the last one couldn't happen to me as most of my business trips
(when I was working) were within Schengen. No borders means no border
agents.
The one about visas is definitely true, though.