Life is a Mosaic

ER stories: Netherlands... and something from the past

Last week I got to got to go to the Netherlands for the second time. This time for a meeting. Special one, coz - 1. it was in the Netherlands with a Dutch AIESEC member, forst time a multi-country meeting that i run. 2. The company was super super cool. Before leaving I was checking their website and almost got tempted to send my CV :)
I won't get too deep into the details of the meeting, in fact Wouter, teh Dutch guy I was goingt o the meeting with, was very good in figuring out the logistics to teh office, and the meeting went smoothly. What was the most unique is that I our bus back to the station was going every hour...And, of course, we had to wait for almost 40 minutes for it. I got to try hitch hiking in The Netharlands, however, Dutch people don't understand the concept of giving a ride to random people on the road.

When I think about it, I had some kind of situation when I was still in Lithuania, when we also had a meeting in an industrial section just outside Vilnius. The company boss was highly surprised that we are not having a car and I had to twist the conversation so that we came by taxi, and we now want to catch any form of transportation... Some companies don't understand the concept of going to company meetings by public transportation... of course, when teh office is in teh middle of nowhere. Anyway, that time we got a ride very easily :) And it was sooo much fun, it was summer and we both were wearing formals and and were followed by surprised looks :) And got a good start of the conversation, when you already get a ride :) So that time in Lithuania we got a funny dude taking us with his sports car :)

That was back home, but it is different when you are an international in a different country. Once I had to go to the meeting in one Belgian province (called The Limburg :) ) The logistics to that place was also quite challenging :) I had to take a train to Geel (name of the town which doesn't say anything), and then a bus to Laakdal (also doesn't say anything). Even the drivers didn't have a clue where is the address I am looking for, and maporama.com map is out of date (marks a train station which doesn't exist). The only good thing is that everyone is so excited to see a foreigner in those rural areas, and everybody is very nice and helpful. And, as the company is big enough to have a street name under it's name, i finally got there :) And what I love about my job, is that sometimes peopel you meet in the company are kind enough to give you a ride to teh nearest train station :)

posted by Vija @ 9:50 PM