Germany!

I have been in Germany for the past week with work at a trade show called Medica. It is in Dusseldorf, Germany and apparently is the largest medical trade show in the world. And let me tell you...it is huge! There are 17 halls of endless booths and I have walked past each and every one of them in the past 3 days. I have one day left and I am looking forward to resting when it is all over. Don't get me wrong though, I have absoultely loved this experience. I have met people from all over the world and have seen a lot of great marketing. I tell you what, some of the best and most expensive marketing has been done at this exhibition and I am definitely impressed. Anyway, it is a lot of fun. It has also been really fun talking to people about our company and I don't mind the selling thing at all. I thought it would be worse but I actually really enjoy it.

Anyway, every night we (the people I work with) go to eat at a fancy restaurant that usually takes 3-4 hours!! And that's not even waiting for the seat, it's for the food! Such a different atmosphere and way of life but interesting to take it all in. Most of the food we've ordered was just a guess since it was almost never in English! But it's been good...

In about 3 days though I will be back in the U.S. and I am really looking forward to that too!! :)

Chinese Laundries and Other Such Attractions

Today has actually not been the eventful last Saturday in Belgium that I might have envisioned. I went teaching with the Sister missionaries and then to work to get some of my marketing materials. As I am applying for marketing positions I realized that I need to create my portfolio of work so that I have something to show for my experience. So I downloaded a few of the important things I have created at Obelis and emailed it to a company that requested some marketing samples from me. I am excited about the opportunity to work with this company. It is in Orem, Utah and I really, really am hoping to find a good job in that area. Plus the job sounds exactly like what I'd be interested in doing. Of course I am not getting my hopes up too high but I do feel qualified and I'm pretty sure I will have an interview with the place when I get back in a couple of weeks.

Anyway, I spent a large part of my day packing up my room. I only have 3 nights left here...such a crazy thought but an exciting one. I needed to do laundry before I packed up but my preferred laundromat was closed and so I decided it would be more convenient to hand wash my clothes. Well let me just tell you that now that my room looks like a Chinese laundry (that is for Tori's benefit :) ) I realize that it may have been worth the trip to the other laundromat which is really only 10-15 minutes further down the road...and may have saved me a bit of time. :) But now I can say I've washed my clothes like the pioneers and that's what really counts, right??

So my final weekend hasn't been quite as I expected but I did merit an invite for dinner tomorrow from the Filipino ladies I visit teach so that should be very yummy! :) I'm looking forward to it!

November 22 is the Big Day!

Well friends and family, I know it has been a day or so since I updated my Blog but it has been with good reason...without further adieu, I am officially announcing my travel plans. Instead of returning on December 15, as originally planned, I will be returning to the U.S. on November 22. It does seem somewhat sudden but in reality it is a decision I have been thinking about for the past 3 months! So I get to be home for Thanksgiving and I also get to start looking for a real job that much sooner. :) I am nervous about the looking for the real job part but know it's inevitable.

Everyone has really been very kind to me in Brussels and I have had a good experience overall. I have learned a ton and I am definitely a different person. I am now "city-fied" and able to handle the stinky subways, the inability to speak the local language, and being very much all on my own. Lessons I could never have learned in the comfort of my own country.

I leave for Germany for the biggest exhibition of the year for my company on Tuesday and have to be out of my apartment on the same day so I have some packing to do for sure! :) If you'd like a few more details, feel free to send me an email...

Actual Events

The things I could describe to you about my work experience in an Israeli run Belgium firm would be actual events that have actually taken place...they would violate all labor, civil, and human rights laws in place today in the United States. It is possible that slaves were treated better in the United States, pre-abolition, than my current employer treats people. Despite these facts, I will refrain from giving the gruesome details.

Suffice it to say that I have been doing quite super as of late and I actually like Belgium! (Go figure!) I am surviving and my ward is not so bad after all...in fact they are all quite sweet. I am enjoying life--in the best way I can--and the hardest part is the management of the company I have chosen to intern with. I have grown a lot but at this moment I do not know if I will be returning closer to Thanksgiving or Christmas...stay tuned for the latest information on my return flight to the U.S. It could be sooner than anticipated...

Gym Memberships in Socialist Countries

Well I learn something new about this country everyday. A few days ago in the mail I got a letter from Passage Fitness First...my overpriced health club...and it was all in French. Of course I didn't think it meant anything but in the event that it did, I asked the resident Belgian, Max, who lives upstairs, what it said. He read it and said it was mostly nothing until the last paragraph or so where it mentioned that following my 3 month membership that I signed up for, my membership would automatically be continued for an additional 3 months unless I wrote them a letter requesting that it be cancelled and the reason for canceling! How convenient! :)

Well Max said just to go to the gym and tell them in person. I did so and was told it has to be done in writing. I guess it makes sense but even more convenient! I asked if I could do it in English but after realizing she hardly understood what I was saying...I just decided to have Max help me with the letter in French. So last night I got the letter written and will mail it off today. I tried to make it very explicit why I would not be continuing my membership (end of my VISA, internship, not a Belgian citizen, etc.). Anyway, you learn a little more everyday about the joys of socialism and really begin to love our dear capitalist country. Aaaahhh yes, capitalism....Isn't it beautiful??

Life is Just So Daily....Sometimes

Today I spent a lot of my time just trying to get prepared for the meeting I organized at a hotel a couple of months ago. This is a meeting of an association that Obelis belongs to with their competitors. Well at the last minute the members of the European Commission who were going to come cancelled so the members of the association wanted to cancel the Tuesday meeting but keep the Wednesday one. Well there was chaos in the office but I just really didn't feel the pressure. I've come to realize that it's not such a big deal if things don't go the way you planned. It just doesn't pay to get stressed out and join the club of freaky stressed out co-workers. We had a meeting for the exhibition in Germany (Medica) that we are going to next week and it got even more stressful--for everyone else! :) Jared and I just looked at each other and we were like....who cares?? They argue back and forth about meaningless things and Jared and I have been made to feel so much like outsiders (since we are not family members) that we have no investment in the affairs of this business whatsoever...

Jared is done with his commitment right after Medica in two weeks and guess what??!! I only have 5 weeks left! About 36 days or so left to be exact...so the count down is on! I hope everyone is planning an elaborate chin-dig to welcome me back! :)

Well anyway, the time will go quickly and before you know it I'll be back in the States (I can't believe I call it that now! I think I used to call in "home"... :) )

Dinner Invites

Well it always seems that life is a feast or famine. I have been longing for a dinner invite from one of the member families here. Not so much because I can't cook for myself but because it is so nice to be with families in a home. It makes Belgium seem so much more inviting and liveable when I am able to see the neighborhoods that remind me so much of my own childhood and upbringing.

So today I was invited to not just one home but two! Imagine my dilemma at having to choose between the two! I was technically already committed to the Rodgers (the Relief Society President's Family) so that is where I ended up going. It really was fabulous and they were very warm and inviting. Several weeks ago I drove to the Netherlands with Sister Rodgers so I had plenty of time to get to know her then so it was nice to spend some more time with someone I already semi-knew. Her husband was very nice and her kids very entertaining and nice as well. The missionaries stopped by at the end of my visit to challenge the family to give out 25 copies of the Joy to the World DVD!! It sounded like a lot to me but the Rodgers readily accepted the invitation and the missionaries told me I was involved too! They gave me some pass along cards (in both French and English) and sent me on my way! Anyway, it was an enjoyable afternoon but anticipating the 30 minute metro ride ahead I knew I should be on my way.

Belgium really isn't such a bad place afterall...you just have to have a bright outlook and a willing mind and anything is possible...

Brussels--Accomplished

Today I thought about going to the outlying cities in Belgium but I was just so traveled out having gone to Rome this week that I decided to stay in Brussels. (Going to Rome involved flying into Milan, taking a bus, a taxi, a train, a tram, and a metro and then all over again to come back so it was actually quite involved!!) Staying in Brussels though actually feels like I live here...it just feels so good to feel like I know where I am and know how to get around. I know, I know...you are wondering what happened to Erika and who's now authoring this blog! But Brussels is not so bad after all. I realized today that the most difficult adjustment was not Europe or the cigarette smoking or even being alone all the time...it was city life and all that comes along with that. A lot of people who live in the city actually don't have cards and they rely on the public transportation for everything. But I am just a down-home, small town, neighborhood loving type of girl. However, I really think that having this experience will allow me to adjust better to other cities I may have to live in someday down the road. You never know where work is going to take you, especially when you choose a profession that usually requires city life (marketing!).

Anyway, yesterday was quite relaxing and I was able to do the touristy thing and wander Grand Place (the center of tourism in Brussels). I am currently on the hunt for the perfect gifts for my family...sorry family, your Christmas gifts are going to double as Europe gifts! :) I also bought a cute little gerber daisy plant to brighten my dreary apartment (don't believe me that it's that bad? ask my mom who actually cried at the prospect of leaving her daughter in such "slums") and it really does help to bring a little life to the place!

The day ended gloriously with yummy fajitas...the don't sell Mexican food items here very readily so my mom sent me seasoning packets for Tacos, Fajitas, etc. and finding over priced tortillas here can be somewhat of a feat. However, mission accomplished and it was the perfect way to end a relaxing day.

Monday and Friday...all at the same time!!

Today I had to go back to work after my little vacation to Rome...but really it wasn't so bad! In fact, it was great because it was like a Monday and a Friday all at the same time. Sad because my break was over but happy because another one was on it's way! :) I have lots to do since I was gone but I am glad...I was having a bit of a lull at work and need a little bit of an overload to feel productive.

Next week I have to give another presentation to the same group of CEOs that I did in the Netherlands in September. It revolves around the same subject as last time but in more detail...I haven't really practiced yet but am hoping for the best! Then in a little over a week I leave for Germany for the big exhibition called Medica in Dusseldorf. I am excited to go to Germany and to get the experience of an exhibition.

Tonight I went to the movie theater with Jared (the guy from BYU I am interning with) to see Red Eye. Andrew loved this one and highly recommended it but I just get really tense during suspenseful movies! It was good but I just tensed up all over and may have accidently grabbed Jared in an inappropriate area when looking to squeeze his arm that turned out to not be there...oops! Anyway, I did scream at one point but overall it was a good movie. Since Andrew loves these kind of movies I think they'll be something I'll see a lot more of and if I don't already like--I'll have to learn to start! :)

Comments

Well Europe and Beyond Blog visitors...I am happy to say that I was able to figure out a way to allow you to comment without making you become a registered blog user yourself! There is the option to be anonymous but I would love it if you would at least put your name so I know who is commenting...:) Anyway, this is a handy little feature since it was so difficult to have to go through the whole process of signing up if you did not indeed really want to do so! :) I hope to get some comments on my wonderful entries in the future as a result! :)

ROME!!

Rome, Italy! Of course I have always wanted to go to Europe (which is essentially why I accepted the internship in Brussels) but I never foresaw myself coming to Rome! It is absolutely amazing here! If I only came to Belgium so I could end up coming to Rome, it would definitely be worth it. The people of Italy are so friendly and although Rome has much of the same wonderful architecture of all the other European cities...it is unlike any other. (Ok with my limited knowledge of only The Netherlands, Belgium, and France). But Rome has these spectacular ruins that are just remarkable. The Roman Forum (near the Colosseum) has these breathtaking ruins that are really just rubble mostly now but it's difficulty to accurately express the feelings I had as I looked across the ruins up to Palatine Hill.

The girls I met with were April and Sheri. Both are originally from New Mexico and are currently living in Texas. Turns out April is an inactive member of the church! Go figure! I ended up giving a Book of Mormon to Sheri since she had never read one despite her contact with many Mormons and she really wanted some reading since she'd finished all her English books already! :)

Overall the first day was the best in Rome but I did have a great time. I got to see all of the famous things...the Pantheon, the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, etc. It was wonderful and I was so glad to have April and Sheri with me throught all the hectic travels. We actually had a lot in common and April invited me to come visit her in Texas. I will definitely have to do so!

To see the full spread of my photos visit my photo website at http://photos.yahoo.com/erikaann_4