Well, a lot sure has happened in these past couple weeks. We finished up our training in Lommel, Belgium and received our country assignments. There are 7 of us in the training group, all of which are going to different countries. My country assignment was Bulgaria (located in the Balkan region right above Greece and Turkey). The other 6 people in our training group (all of which are girls) got sent to; the Caribbean (island hopping), Singapore, Finland, India, Panama, and Romania.
This past Tuesday, I flew from Eindhoven, Netherlands to Sofia, Bulgaria. I stayed there 3 full days starting on my project before I was called back for regional training here in Overpelt, Belgium. Tomorrow morning at 5:30am I will leave here and head back to Bulgaria for about 2 months.
In Sofia, Bulgaria I am staying at the Hotel Metropolitan with a business suite. It is by far the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. They do all my laundry and dry cleaning for free everyday. Evidently they even iron your boxers too which is nice. They have complimentary beverages and all the other amenities you can imagine. I very much look forward to flying back tomorrow and spending the rest of the day there. Once I get back I'll upload some photos of my room and whatnot.
After two weeks of being in Sofia, I will move to a city on the Black Sea coast for roughly two weeks. During this stay I plan to go visit a few Purdue friends who live in Istanbul. It's about a 6 hour drive south to Istanbul so hopefully border control won't be too big of an issue.
As far as what people think of the Balkan region--yes, Bulgaria is a post-communist country that still has Russia's imprint, but it is developing quite rapidly. Sofia is a great city with tons of new construction and development. The city just needs road signs because it's impossible to navigate anywhere around there. We just recently got a GPS device for our car and we have to use exact GPS coordinates because there are few cross streets let alone addresses.
But I have met with the Greece/Bulgarian Dannone CEO and the German Metro's GM for Bulgaria which was quite cool. To see these big business men in action is actually quite inspiring. Although excelling through the ranks in a post-communist country may be a 'bit' different than the States, it's still cool nonetheless. For those of you who still don't know what I do, well that's no surprise. I work for a large media conglomerate based in Brussels, Belgium called Big Media Group. They own several different country investment analysis publications. I am currently working for The European Times as a country analyst/journalist. I basically meet with ministers, CEO's, and GM's to receive endorsement to publish a country report involving their sector.
It's a very challenging job but luckily the team I am on in Bulgaria has a PR girl that is a local. That makes our job incredibly easier in regards to translation and scheduling meetings. That being said, the company is now taking us out for supper in Eindhoven, Holland. Hope all is well on your end.
(P.S. There's a few new uploaded pictures. Sorry, not many.)
Cheers.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Antwerp, Belgium
Well, it's been a week since I first got over here to Belgium and it's been pretty intense thus far. It finally stopped raining after 4 days and the sun came out! I think it got up to around 81 degrees yesterday so I was pretty excited to see that. Unfortunately there's no pool around to lay out next to but nonetheless, the weather was great.
Yesterday I headed out to Antwerpen (Antwerp in American) to visit a few coworker local friends. For those who think Grand Central in NYC is cool, you have to check out the Antwerp Train Station. It is definitely in the top 5 I've ever been to. After arriving in Antwerp, I met up with Tom, a life-long local. Tom was sitting on a new, black Vesper with two helmets next to him. I could only guess that I was going to ride behind another man all throughout Antwerp. Although riding behind a grown Flemish man was somewhat uncomfortable, he is President of the Gaylord Antwerpen Vesper Club so it was okay. This same man owns his own Corporate Sales Consultancy business, haha.
Although I had been to Antwerp before, I didn't really remember a lot of the sights. For those who are looking for great shopping and a clean, sophisticated Red Light District--Antwerpen is for you. Although partially clothed women staring at me through windows was somewhat discerning, we continued to walk through the area to the harbor area anyway. Outside this harbor area was a traveling circus group that appears every 4 years. They operate these giant puppets that are absolutely amazing. One of them stands more than 50 feet tall and came out of the water with a diving helmet on. It's somewhat creepy to see them blinking and breath but very cool to say the least.
Thousands of people crowded around the other puppet who was a sleeping girl. People waited for hours for her finally to wake up and walk around the town. Quite amusing and impressive for a group of carnies to operate a crane which controls the puppet.
I have to say, riding a Vesper is by far the best way to ever see a European town. You can literally go almost anywhere and it is incredibly fun. It would mostly like be 10 times more fun if you had a Dutch girl riding behind you but I digress...
Belgium itself is incredibly expensive. I have already spent way more than expected on food and transportation. Good news is, my student loan payments don't start until November so I at least have that time to prepare for a lessened income. I do however, find out what country I will be sent to hopefully by Wednesday. I am hoping for somewhere in Asia but I am not holding my breath. I know the company has recently made ground in Jamaica and Georgia. My next assignment is really what I am wanting to hear about.
I posted a few pictures of Antwerp and places outside our house in the Picasa gadget on the right side of the page. Until then, cheers.
Wyatt
Yesterday I headed out to Antwerpen (Antwerp in American) to visit a few coworker local friends. For those who think Grand Central in NYC is cool, you have to check out the Antwerp Train Station. It is definitely in the top 5 I've ever been to. After arriving in Antwerp, I met up with Tom, a life-long local. Tom was sitting on a new, black Vesper with two helmets next to him. I could only guess that I was going to ride behind another man all throughout Antwerp. Although riding behind a grown Flemish man was somewhat uncomfortable, he is President of the Gaylord Antwerpen Vesper Club so it was okay. This same man owns his own Corporate Sales Consultancy business, haha.
Although I had been to Antwerp before, I didn't really remember a lot of the sights. For those who are looking for great shopping and a clean, sophisticated Red Light District--Antwerpen is for you. Although partially clothed women staring at me through windows was somewhat discerning, we continued to walk through the area to the harbor area anyway. Outside this harbor area was a traveling circus group that appears every 4 years. They operate these giant puppets that are absolutely amazing. One of them stands more than 50 feet tall and came out of the water with a diving helmet on. It's somewhat creepy to see them blinking and breath but very cool to say the least.
Thousands of people crowded around the other puppet who was a sleeping girl. People waited for hours for her finally to wake up and walk around the town. Quite amusing and impressive for a group of carnies to operate a crane which controls the puppet.
I have to say, riding a Vesper is by far the best way to ever see a European town. You can literally go almost anywhere and it is incredibly fun. It would mostly like be 10 times more fun if you had a Dutch girl riding behind you but I digress...
Belgium itself is incredibly expensive. I have already spent way more than expected on food and transportation. Good news is, my student loan payments don't start until November so I at least have that time to prepare for a lessened income. I do however, find out what country I will be sent to hopefully by Wednesday. I am hoping for somewhere in Asia but I am not holding my breath. I know the company has recently made ground in Jamaica and Georgia. My next assignment is really what I am wanting to hear about.
I posted a few pictures of Antwerp and places outside our house in the Picasa gadget on the right side of the page. Until then, cheers.
Wyatt
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Neerpelt, Belgium
Well, after 3 ridiculous flights, I made it to the training place south of Eindhoven. My first flight was delayed from Indianapolis to Philadelphia which wasn't going to allow me to make my Philadelphia to Brussels flight in time. At this point, it was already too late to try and fly straight to Brussels from a nearby airport (i.e. Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, etc). So it looked like I was going to be 24 hours late to my first day of my new job due to a late plane.
Luckily, Bruce at the US Airways desk kept trying to get me and my luggage to Brussels in time. Unfortunately none of his alternatives were working out. Right before he was going to print my boarding pass for the next day, I asked, "What about a layover from Heathrow, London to Brussels?" Luckily it paid off and I took 3 miserable flights to finally end up in a mid 60degree Belgium that has yet to stop raining.
On the bright side, I did get a chance to meet several current employees who just got back from assignment and discussed some of their projects. One came back from Jordan and Cyprus; the other from Mozambique. Both had great things to say about the company and had tons of great experiences they wanted to share. They also mentioned that training is actually fun here. Who knew training could end up being fun.
A couple of the other employees were all working in Africa and southern Russia which are two areas coincidentally that I do not wish to go to immediately. Their stories are all great but borderline dangerous--in a political sense which is a line I do not wish to cross.
Regardless, I am here to begin the first two weeks of training. I did not get a wink of sleep all the way over so I think I may iron my suit and hit the hay early (it's 8pm here now). Cheers.
Wyatt
Luckily, Bruce at the US Airways desk kept trying to get me and my luggage to Brussels in time. Unfortunately none of his alternatives were working out. Right before he was going to print my boarding pass for the next day, I asked, "What about a layover from Heathrow, London to Brussels?" Luckily it paid off and I took 3 miserable flights to finally end up in a mid 60degree Belgium that has yet to stop raining.
On the bright side, I did get a chance to meet several current employees who just got back from assignment and discussed some of their projects. One came back from Jordan and Cyprus; the other from Mozambique. Both had great things to say about the company and had tons of great experiences they wanted to share. They also mentioned that training is actually fun here. Who knew training could end up being fun.
A couple of the other employees were all working in Africa and southern Russia which are two areas coincidentally that I do not wish to go to immediately. Their stories are all great but borderline dangerous--in a political sense which is a line I do not wish to cross.
Regardless, I am here to begin the first two weeks of training. I did not get a wink of sleep all the way over so I think I may iron my suit and hit the hay early (it's 8pm here now). Cheers.
Wyatt
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Trip to Belgium
Yep, I did it; I started a blog. Considering my brother had one while he was in Japan, I figured I would start one too. Plus, if I get lost, abducted, raped, or tortured over public television--there should be at least 10 people that know what country I was in last to start the Amber Alert.
Which reminds me, is there such things as Amber Alerts in other countries? And if so, do I qualify considering I am 22 years old? Where do the authorities draw the line between kidnapping and abduction? Is it; you can be kidnapped up to the age of 19 but at 20 you can only be abducted? I digress...
Nevertheless, I fly from Indianapolis to Philadelphia and then off to Brussels in 5 hours. Currently, I still reside at home sitting in my boxers packing last minute things. (I will be all about visuals throughout this blog so hopefully you liked the Reading Rainbow)
Upon my arrival in Brussels, I shall spend 2 weeks of training for my job before they send me off to an unknown country to shadow a consultant for another 2 weeks or so. So essentially, the next 4 weeks I will be nodding my head a lot and taking in the culture before they throw me to the wolves.
So, unless my plane crashes or is hijacked, I shall speak to you from the other side of the pond. Cheers.
Wyatt
Which reminds me, is there such things as Amber Alerts in other countries? And if so, do I qualify considering I am 22 years old? Where do the authorities draw the line between kidnapping and abduction? Is it; you can be kidnapped up to the age of 19 but at 20 you can only be abducted? I digress...
Nevertheless, I fly from Indianapolis to Philadelphia and then off to Brussels in 5 hours. Currently, I still reside at home sitting in my boxers packing last minute things. (I will be all about visuals throughout this blog so hopefully you liked the Reading Rainbow)
Upon my arrival in Brussels, I shall spend 2 weeks of training for my job before they send me off to an unknown country to shadow a consultant for another 2 weeks or so. So essentially, the next 4 weeks I will be nodding my head a lot and taking in the culture before they throw me to the wolves.
So, unless my plane crashes or is hijacked, I shall speak to you from the other side of the pond. Cheers.
Wyatt
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