Hi there!
This weekend my parents came over from Holland, to bring me some of my stuff and to go sightseeing in Prague. So now I have my good old friend Hoed the hat back and also a shitload of clothes. In fact, they brought too much clothes for me, so I actually gave them some things back just because otherwise I would have too much stuff here to take with me when I move to another place. It’s just a pity it was raining pretty much all weekend. But we had a good time visiting all the beautiful places Prague has to offer and we found two very nice restaurants, where I will certainly go back to in the future.
So this weekend I also came up with an idea, to motivate you guys to come visit me in Prague soon. I will buy a special present now, and the first person who comes to visit me here in Prague will get that special present. This can be a souvenir, something funny or something completely unexpected. I still have to buy it, so I don’t know yet what it will be. :) However, there are two conditions for getting this present:
- You must be one of my penpals first, so we must have exchanged some mails in the past
- The reason that you come to Prague must be to visit me (so random Couchsurfers are excluded)
It may be a bit of a crazy idea, but I just like the thought of buying a present not knowing who will be the receiver. :) Just let me know if you’re interested in this special present and I’ll keep you updated.
Have a good week everyone!
L.
zondag 26 september 2010
woensdag 22 september 2010
Enjoying my time in Prague
Hi all!
Since my blog may have been a bit too long the last time, this time I will try to make it a bit more readable to you guys. So I’ll just quickly summarize my activities of the past few days, and after that I’ll say what I wanted to say. So. The last few days were not so much typically Czech (except for the lunch I had on Friday). I just worked, went shopping in Černy Most and went out two times with my flatmates and the two German girls that were staying over. And one of those times was after my Welcome Party, which was great! Except for the fact that they didn’t have water in Andĕl at that time. Man, am I glad that I don’t live there. I’d rather have three weeks without internet than one weekend without water.
For the rest of this post I will talk more about how I feel here. To be short: I feel great here. This totally is the challenge that I was looking for. I really enjoy my working life, it’s just a shame that I am not allowed to do any work yet. Anyway, it’s really cool to walk to the business park where Accenture is located between all those business men in fancy clothes. A few days ago I realized that I’m one of them now. So cool. :) Also I’m having a lot of fun with my co-workers. How funny is it when your colleague wanted to add a young Romanian girl to his Office Communicator (the internal msn within Accenture) and instead adds a middle-aged Australian woman, because he didn’t know her name? And it’s even funnier when you find out that he already arranged a date with that older woman for that same night. Events like this, combined with a lot of meaningless conversations between the work and trainings, make my working days a lot better. But my colleagues already told that we should enjoy our introduction period while it lasts, because the workload after that will be very heavy. So for all those people that got jealous after reading this: soon I’ll be working my ass off, then it will be over with all the fun at work. :)
Now for the subject you all came to this blog for. My salsa lesson. Well, it didn’t go through this week. I was there, but my dance partner didn’t show up and since the lesson had already started, I couldn’t find another partner. So next time I go there I’ll be sure to bring my own date, that prevents this kind of situations. The only problem now will be how to find a date. But maybe I can just pick up some random girl from the metro, or use one of the people that contact me with a Couchsurfing request (yes, of course you can stay at my place, under one condition…), I don’t know, but I hereby promise that I will go salsa dancing one day!
Na shledanou!
Since my blog may have been a bit too long the last time, this time I will try to make it a bit more readable to you guys. So I’ll just quickly summarize my activities of the past few days, and after that I’ll say what I wanted to say. So. The last few days were not so much typically Czech (except for the lunch I had on Friday). I just worked, went shopping in Černy Most and went out two times with my flatmates and the two German girls that were staying over. And one of those times was after my Welcome Party, which was great! Except for the fact that they didn’t have water in Andĕl at that time. Man, am I glad that I don’t live there. I’d rather have three weeks without internet than one weekend without water.
For the rest of this post I will talk more about how I feel here. To be short: I feel great here. This totally is the challenge that I was looking for. I really enjoy my working life, it’s just a shame that I am not allowed to do any work yet. Anyway, it’s really cool to walk to the business park where Accenture is located between all those business men in fancy clothes. A few days ago I realized that I’m one of them now. So cool. :) Also I’m having a lot of fun with my co-workers. How funny is it when your colleague wanted to add a young Romanian girl to his Office Communicator (the internal msn within Accenture) and instead adds a middle-aged Australian woman, because he didn’t know her name? And it’s even funnier when you find out that he already arranged a date with that older woman for that same night. Events like this, combined with a lot of meaningless conversations between the work and trainings, make my working days a lot better. But my colleagues already told that we should enjoy our introduction period while it lasts, because the workload after that will be very heavy. So for all those people that got jealous after reading this: soon I’ll be working my ass off, then it will be over with all the fun at work. :)
Now for the subject you all came to this blog for. My salsa lesson. Well, it didn’t go through this week. I was there, but my dance partner didn’t show up and since the lesson had already started, I couldn’t find another partner. So next time I go there I’ll be sure to bring my own date, that prevents this kind of situations. The only problem now will be how to find a date. But maybe I can just pick up some random girl from the metro, or use one of the people that contact me with a Couchsurfing request (yes, of course you can stay at my place, under one condition…), I don’t know, but I hereby promise that I will go salsa dancing one day!
Na shledanou!
woensdag 15 september 2010
Update
*This message was brought to you by the wireless internet connection at the McDonald's in Chodov Shopping Center*
Ok, so far the sponsor message, now here’s a new update for my blog. I had my first weekend and my first working days, and so far I am really enjoying my time here. I was expecting to have some tough moments, but so far I haven't had any. Let's hope it will remain that way. So I hear you thinking. What the hell has Laurens been up to the past few days? Well, here's a description. :)
On Friday night there was a nice end-of-the-working-week-party at Andĕl, the flat where a lot of other trainees live. We had some drinks together and celebrated our Trainee Coordinator’s birthday. Unfortunately the birthday-boy passed out around midnight (a mix of beer through a straw, too little sleep the past few days and a cold), but that didn’t spoil the fun for the rest of us. :)
The next day I went with Tim into the city, to play tourist for one day. I may live here now, but I think I’m still allowed to act as a true tourist during my first weekend right? Anyway, Prague really is a very beautiful city, lots of old buildings with nice architecture, nice shops and also the famous Charles bridge. That was quite a nice bridge, although it was also a biiiit crowded. I can imagine why this place is number 3 in the worldwide list of best places to get your pocket picked. But I still have all my stuff (I was prepared and didn’t bring too much with me) and I had a nice time today.
After I got home, I had an opportunity to enjoy the view from my balcony, while consuming some special kind of ice cream people in Czech Republic seem to like a lot. It was a great moment. I’d wish I could share the view with all of you, but my internet is still not working properly, so that’s not gonna work. :)
On Sunday I hadn’t anything planned, but one of the “friends” of Juan Carlos, who stayed over tonight even though JC himself was sleeping somewhere else, invited us (Tim and me) to come to a Couchsurfing-meeting somewhere in a park. The location was quite hard to find (even for three people that were living in Prague, a bit strange for a meeting that is intended to be for foreigners that sleep here only a few nights), but in the end we got there and had a nice afternoon.
So Monday was my first working day. Well, only the name included work, because the day itself consisted of just presentations about the company in general and the duties and rights of the employer and employee. Luckily for me there was a Belgian colleague named Jonathan who would also be working for the same client as I will, so we could talk a bit during breaks. At the end of the day we were introduced to the whole Dutch team and also showed what would be our working place. Then we had to wait for 2 hours, because our supervisors wanted to have a drink with us, but had an important meeting first. But well, that gave us the chance to go outside, browse the internet a bit and talk with our future colleagues. Jonathan and I will both be working in the same “street of desks” (don’t know how to call it, but I’m sure you’ll know what I mean) together with three girls, and basing myself on the 30 minutes that we were sat close to them, I’m sure we’re going to have a lot of fun during work. Soon I will get to experience some real office humor. I can’t wait!
The next day the trainings continued, the only difference being that today (and tomorrow) it’s not called Introduction any more but Induction. I didn’t notice any difference. So in the evening, my flatmate Juan Carlos invited me to come to salsa-lessons in the evening. I had never done that before, but for me it was a great opportunity to meet some new people, so I went with him. Unfortunately we were too late to join the lesson, but I could watch most of it. After the lesson had ended, I talked with some other people working at Accenture that were there and I agreed with a Dutch colleague that she would participate in the salsa lesson of next week. I wonder how that will go. But a very nice Slovak girl already introduced me to some basic moves and I will maybe get some salsa lessons at home from JC, so it’s going to be fine. Want to know how this story continues with Laurens and his salsa-lessons? Just keep reading this blog, and you will find out the answer.
So today, the 15th of September, it's my birthday. So far I have nothing special planned yet, but tonight there will be a movie night at Andĕl, so I won't be alone on my birthday. And to all of you that congratulate(d) me through Facebook, Hyves, e-mail, e-card and/or sms: thank you. I hope you understand I can't react to all messages right now. I have to get back to Induction Training soon. :)
Opatruj se, or, for non-Czech people: take care!
Ok, so far the sponsor message, now here’s a new update for my blog. I had my first weekend and my first working days, and so far I am really enjoying my time here. I was expecting to have some tough moments, but so far I haven't had any. Let's hope it will remain that way. So I hear you thinking. What the hell has Laurens been up to the past few days? Well, here's a description. :)
On Friday night there was a nice end-of-the-working-week-party at Andĕl, the flat where a lot of other trainees live. We had some drinks together and celebrated our Trainee Coordinator’s birthday. Unfortunately the birthday-boy passed out around midnight (a mix of beer through a straw, too little sleep the past few days and a cold), but that didn’t spoil the fun for the rest of us. :)
The next day I went with Tim into the city, to play tourist for one day. I may live here now, but I think I’m still allowed to act as a true tourist during my first weekend right? Anyway, Prague really is a very beautiful city, lots of old buildings with nice architecture, nice shops and also the famous Charles bridge. That was quite a nice bridge, although it was also a biiiit crowded. I can imagine why this place is number 3 in the worldwide list of best places to get your pocket picked. But I still have all my stuff (I was prepared and didn’t bring too much with me) and I had a nice time today.
After I got home, I had an opportunity to enjoy the view from my balcony, while consuming some special kind of ice cream people in Czech Republic seem to like a lot. It was a great moment. I’d wish I could share the view with all of you, but my internet is still not working properly, so that’s not gonna work. :)
On Sunday I hadn’t anything planned, but one of the “friends” of Juan Carlos, who stayed over tonight even though JC himself was sleeping somewhere else, invited us (Tim and me) to come to a Couchsurfing-meeting somewhere in a park. The location was quite hard to find (even for three people that were living in Prague, a bit strange for a meeting that is intended to be for foreigners that sleep here only a few nights), but in the end we got there and had a nice afternoon.
So Monday was my first working day. Well, only the name included work, because the day itself consisted of just presentations about the company in general and the duties and rights of the employer and employee. Luckily for me there was a Belgian colleague named Jonathan who would also be working for the same client as I will, so we could talk a bit during breaks. At the end of the day we were introduced to the whole Dutch team and also showed what would be our working place. Then we had to wait for 2 hours, because our supervisors wanted to have a drink with us, but had an important meeting first. But well, that gave us the chance to go outside, browse the internet a bit and talk with our future colleagues. Jonathan and I will both be working in the same “street of desks” (don’t know how to call it, but I’m sure you’ll know what I mean) together with three girls, and basing myself on the 30 minutes that we were sat close to them, I’m sure we’re going to have a lot of fun during work. Soon I will get to experience some real office humor. I can’t wait!
The next day the trainings continued, the only difference being that today (and tomorrow) it’s not called Introduction any more but Induction. I didn’t notice any difference. So in the evening, my flatmate Juan Carlos invited me to come to salsa-lessons in the evening. I had never done that before, but for me it was a great opportunity to meet some new people, so I went with him. Unfortunately we were too late to join the lesson, but I could watch most of it. After the lesson had ended, I talked with some other people working at Accenture that were there and I agreed with a Dutch colleague that she would participate in the salsa lesson of next week. I wonder how that will go. But a very nice Slovak girl already introduced me to some basic moves and I will maybe get some salsa lessons at home from JC, so it’s going to be fine. Want to know how this story continues with Laurens and his salsa-lessons? Just keep reading this blog, and you will find out the answer.
So today, the 15th of September, it's my birthday. So far I have nothing special planned yet, but tonight there will be a movie night at Andĕl, so I won't be alone on my birthday. And to all of you that congratulate(d) me through Facebook, Hyves, e-mail, e-card and/or sms: thank you. I hope you understand I can't react to all messages right now. I have to get back to Induction Training soon. :)
Opatruj se, or, for non-Czech people: take care!
vrijdag 10 september 2010
First update from Prague
I arrived in Prague at night. From the air it is absolutely an amazing city. It’s huge, and the lights are so beautiful from above. Almost all in the same color, and in different shapes as well. I think I even saw a couple of lights shaped like a Christmas tree. After the landing, I had to wait very long for my luggage to arrive. I felt a bit ashamed, because I knew someone from the local AIESEC committee was waiting for me. But finally I got my bag and went outside to meet Martin, who will be my so-called buddy during my stay in Prague. He would take me to my house in Rajská Zahrada (to my Czech readers: please forgive me if I do any accents wrong on this blog). However, Rajská was on the total other side of Prague than the airport and it took us over 1 hour to get there by public transportation. So it was already quite late when we arrived. However, I could still meet two of the other trainees living in the house: a Dutch guy working for the same company as I will and a Russian girl. They both were very nice, but they couldnt talk for too long, since they had to work the next morning, so I went to my room after a short talk.
So here I am now, lying on my bed in my new home. It’s my first night in Prague and I already feel at home here. My room is nice and big, although I do have to share it with one Mexican guy who is not here at the moment, since he “uses a different clock than normal people”. The only thing missing from my new home is internet. There seems to be something wrong with our provider. That’s quite unfortunate, since I am a bit of an internet addict. But I will make the most of it, and maybe it’s good that I don’t have internet right now, because that gives me the opportunity to meet some people here in Prague. And it will be easier to force myself to go to bed early, because I have to get up at 7 in the morning from next week.
Another positive thing about this room is that we have an air mattress, so it’s possible to invite someone over. That was an unexpected surprise, since at first I expected my room to be so small that I could barely store all my stuff in it. But at the moment the air mattress is serving as a curtain. That’s a bit new to me, a bedroom with no curtains. But it should not really be a big problem, because I have to get up early anyway. :)
Tomorrow I will go into the city to arrange the last few things I need to do (get a subscription for public transportation here, get a Czech bank account, etc.) and then it will be weekend. Since my Dutch housemate who arrived here two weeks ago also hasn’t explored the city yet, we will go do that together. However, the first thing we will do in the weekend will be a trip to the shopping center in Cerný Most. People say they have a free wireless internet connection there. Heaven. That will undoubtedly be our favorite part of the day.
PS. In case you were wondering how I posted this blog: I wrote most of it last night, stored it on my USB-stick and now I am at the other trainee flat, where they do have internet, so I can post it online. You have to be a bit creative if you want to keep a blog updated without an internet connection at home. :)
So here I am now, lying on my bed in my new home. It’s my first night in Prague and I already feel at home here. My room is nice and big, although I do have to share it with one Mexican guy who is not here at the moment, since he “uses a different clock than normal people”. The only thing missing from my new home is internet. There seems to be something wrong with our provider. That’s quite unfortunate, since I am a bit of an internet addict. But I will make the most of it, and maybe it’s good that I don’t have internet right now, because that gives me the opportunity to meet some people here in Prague. And it will be easier to force myself to go to bed early, because I have to get up at 7 in the morning from next week.
Another positive thing about this room is that we have an air mattress, so it’s possible to invite someone over. That was an unexpected surprise, since at first I expected my room to be so small that I could barely store all my stuff in it. But at the moment the air mattress is serving as a curtain. That’s a bit new to me, a bedroom with no curtains. But it should not really be a big problem, because I have to get up early anyway. :)
Tomorrow I will go into the city to arrange the last few things I need to do (get a subscription for public transportation here, get a Czech bank account, etc.) and then it will be weekend. Since my Dutch housemate who arrived here two weeks ago also hasn’t explored the city yet, we will go do that together. However, the first thing we will do in the weekend will be a trip to the shopping center in Cerný Most. People say they have a free wireless internet connection there. Heaven. That will undoubtedly be our favorite part of the day.
PS. In case you were wondering how I posted this blog: I wrote most of it last night, stored it on my USB-stick and now I am at the other trainee flat, where they do have internet, so I can post it online. You have to be a bit creative if you want to keep a blog updated without an internet connection at home. :)
donderdag 2 september 2010
Moving to Prague!
Hi all,
As most of you may know, I will be moving to Prague very soon since I have been offered a job at Accenture in that city. My job requires me to stay at least 18 months, which is a long time, but I am pretty excited already about the prospect of moving to such a great city and staying in "the heart of Europe" for such a long time will allow me to travel a lot through Eastern Europe, since a lot of countries are very near to my new home. Sure as hell I'm going to miss my Dutch friends and family a lot, but this is just a great opportunity for me. And of course everybody is welcome to come visit me. I've heard Prague is an amazingly beautiful city and soon I can be your personal tour guide there. Just let me know when you are coming. ;)
So at the moment I have a lot of things on my mind. I really need to arrange a lot before I can leave. Luckily Accenture will arrange my flight ticket to Prague, so I don't need to worry about that. Although I do start to worry a little bit, since I haven't heard from the woman yet that is supposed to arrange my flight. And I'm already leaving Holland next week! But well, as my favourite quote in Dutch says: alles komt goed. Everything will be ok.
I hope now all those avid readers of this blog understand that at the moment I'm a bit too busy to write creative blog posts. Sorry for that! But I will compensate all of you with great blog posts about my adventures in Czech Republic in the near future! You have my word on that.
As most of you may know, I will be moving to Prague very soon since I have been offered a job at Accenture in that city. My job requires me to stay at least 18 months, which is a long time, but I am pretty excited already about the prospect of moving to such a great city and staying in "the heart of Europe" for such a long time will allow me to travel a lot through Eastern Europe, since a lot of countries are very near to my new home. Sure as hell I'm going to miss my Dutch friends and family a lot, but this is just a great opportunity for me. And of course everybody is welcome to come visit me. I've heard Prague is an amazingly beautiful city and soon I can be your personal tour guide there. Just let me know when you are coming. ;)
So at the moment I have a lot of things on my mind. I really need to arrange a lot before I can leave. Luckily Accenture will arrange my flight ticket to Prague, so I don't need to worry about that. Although I do start to worry a little bit, since I haven't heard from the woman yet that is supposed to arrange my flight. And I'm already leaving Holland next week! But well, as my favourite quote in Dutch says: alles komt goed. Everything will be ok.
I hope now all those avid readers of this blog understand that at the moment I'm a bit too busy to write creative blog posts. Sorry for that! But I will compensate all of you with great blog posts about my adventures in Czech Republic in the near future! You have my word on that.
Abonneren op:
Posts (Atom)