Know your worth, Finding your element - Day 35

So its the last day...at least of this leg of the journey...only to begin another.

Here I am, wondering if I'm a changed man. Sometimes I think not. But "this is who I am"
I also think about how i got myself here and all of the crazy decisions, the luck and hard work its been. Its a dream, a prayer and a touch of hope.

Again, looking forward is really the best thing to do and wondering what's going to happen in the next few years. The future is a little more laid out in front now.

But one should look back, lot of people and experiences that brought me here and constantly being grateful.

I'll finally be independent, loving my job and living a life with meaning to many people and most importantly myself.

The last of my pix aren't up yet, but they'll all soon be taken off public view and will only be available to my friends on facebook. if possible, they'll be moved to my flickr account, with the entire set of photos.

This is it.
Big parties to come, life changes are happening - not just to me ...people getting engaged, married, buying houses, and even the other way around.

last words?
I've found my element, now go find yours.

Don't lose the creativity - Day 34

With all the craziness happening with work and all that, I'm starting to take a look at the next 5 years or so. Stuff flashing before my eyes.

I'm giving up a lot to pursue this, but I hope I don't lose what brought me here. There are so many influences to everything that's gotten me to this place, working with teams and children, schools and teachers and just having it as a hobby. Having all that really made an impact on the skill level that I have for this job. Can't lose that, and hope that I can put it in somewhere that I can still stay in contact with that experience.

Just one day left though, but so much more to do. Its like a long vacation..but to go do more work. Gotta get packing really. Its gonna be an exciting summer.

Don't know what tomorrow holds...
giving back the ID card.. and walking back to the hotel one last time.

Din Fart in Denmark - Day 33

Oh man what a weekend. Din Fart (Your speed) in Denmark..and me speeding through land and sea.

Yesterday we strolled through Odense, buying small trinkets and racing through churches and Hans Christian Anderson's Museum and houses there. It was crazy and wet.
Egeskov Castle was quite the amazing and large. The grounds alone were huge and the castle truly something of fairytales - moat and all. They had a motorcycle and car museum there too, fantastic! And among all the exhibits, some familiar faces from LEGO were there too. what a great trip.
And a Boat ride !
The clouds chased us all the way to Mons, after finding a hotel who helped us very much in finding a Bed and breakfast we moseyed on over to a cozy spot not too far from the cliffs.
An early Sunday brought us to Mons cliffs, and almost 500 steps down a nice couple let us look at the baby Perigrine Falcons near the cliffs. Walking by the white chalk cliffs felt like walking on glass with all the flint around. Guess what, another 500 steps up.
Bakeries are saviors!
Off to Copenhagen and souveniers. Running through castles, eating some chicken and getting the heck out of there.
Kronberg castle or Hamlets Castle on which Shakespeare based his play. Just stunning.
Road tripping back, after figuring out how gas works and the amazing Storbaelt bridge. Back to Billund after the crazy weekend with 30 minutes to spare.

yay, pics to come soon!

land and sea - day 32

long day of castles, boat rides, and being chased by rain.
more when im on a proper computer. at a cozy bed n breakfast..well just bed and ready to see the cliffs of mon at sunrise.

I got my lamb - Day 31

Last time I ate at Hotel LEGOLand they messed up my order and gave me a steak instead of the lamb I ordered. I was determined to get it at some point and it was SOOO worth it. It was fantasmagorical!

Its pretty gross outside still, been like this all week! Can't believe Yvonne only got to see the gloomy weather since she's been here. Hopefully our big weekend trip will be better.

At work there are a couple of people who've been through the whole going over process. Its incredibly comforting to know that someones gone through the same thing and can help if i needed it.

Tomorrow, Mons Klint and some other stops! Its gonna be a great weekend to leave on. There's still so much more to see and explore though.

"Hey don't you know that we're off to see the world"

Honest Self Expression - Day 30

This time next week I'll be back home busting my butt to get ready for a very short summer.

Feels like my life is really coming around to itself and I'm finding my place in this world. I'm really preparing for a great life and lifestyle change in the coming year. I think this is the right thing for me though. This is how i express myself honestly and truthfully. All roads would lead me here somehow.

I probably can't even fathom the craziness that'll need to happen in the next few weeks and months. Before summers end there's a lot of work to do. heck, before summer theres a lot of work to do.

The weekend's coming, the final weekend really. Time to see the East coast of Denmark and travel the bridges. Fun fun. !

End is the Beginning - Day 29

This final week of weather is just depressing.

People are asking at work about my leaving and coming back. As soon as possible I tell them. So we'll see what happens. Still on a bit of a block, but i guess i need to clean stuff up now. I can't think with a messy desk, cleaning and organizing is cathartic..so the Virgo trait I've heard. Usually once a week i think, but its necessary.

Von went to Esbjerg and had what seemed to be a great time. I went shopping for more ramen and got me a Carlsberg Master Brew. Cripes its 10.5%

Looking forward to work tomorrow though. I've got my lot to do. I didnt even realize that it was 530 already today! Another cake today or cakes. I should start thinking about a cake for my last day. A thank you to the great team thats here. And also a see you later.

Feeding Rabbits - Day 28

Laundry again today, back to the family hostel laundromat. So instead of just hanging around the vending machine like i did last time, we walked around the little village. Found a zoo! they had goats and ponies and rabbits! After feeding some goats we found some cute rabbits to feed too. And a small walk around led to some donkeys to pet. I found some plum blossom poles to walk on. Fun times! wish i had my camera.

And yay clean clothes again.

Counting down the days at work.. and still lots to do. I'll miss the team for sure but i'll be back. It'll be good to go home and recharge my batteries though, even though i'll be running at full speed once i get back.

As the big project is on a timeline, the pace gets more and more frantic...

gotta do some shopping and survive the last week here!..and that it is, just 7 more days.

Preparations - Day 27

I really am dreading going home. Its pretty crazy whats out there for me when i get back. Everything from switching jobs around and getting a work permit, scheduling, all this nutso stuff.

Work is work, its playtime as someone said to me. One of the interns left today, and soon a bunch more of us will leave for the summer. I'm still wrapping my head around one 'big' motion thing and cleaning up what i need to clean up. Its less than the number of days on my hand and the rest of my future.

'Von went to Kolding and took pictures all over the place, she can tell you her story about the Queen being in town and the Toy museum and my camera finally running out of battery. Where's she going tomorrow?

Now where's my flashlight, it'll be a late night laundry. 'Von got back late. And gotta get up early for a meeting at 8 am!

Skipping Stones in Fjords - Day 26

Of all days for it to not be sunny.

So yea, yesterday I rented a VW Polo 5 speed (yay!). Today we got up early to go and explore Western Jutland via roadtrip! Definitely an experience for the ages, with just the right company.

My Navigator got us due west with our first major stop at Rinkobing (sp) after a quick reststop at a Fakta and another type of store. I found Powerade! Rinkobing was a nice town with a view into a lake. Yvonne and I were skipping stones and it was great! Further up the west coast we stopped at a Museum area to eat and see some old ship wreck stuff. Cool stuff there too! We found a small inlet to a beach and found some more stones there. While trying to find a rock, Yvonne found a jellyfish which she tried to make me eat. GROSS! Further up we took a short cut to our northernmost point. It led us to a boat ride across a fjord with the car! I never been, That was awesome. And there was a Viking totem pole at the end. In Nykobing there was a hostel and park with a beach too. More skipping stones! 4 Hrs in, and about 250km. Time to head back to Billund! We found ourselves to Herning to have some pizza and a walk around another town. Possible candidate for me to live there, maybe who knows. Back to the hotel, Yvonne got her luggage and we went to return the car (Nooo!) And a walk back to the hotel. A bit of a nice moment when we walked by the airport and the lights turned on for the runways. So fun and great times. Pix up on FB soon. Back to work tomorrow! and my last week in Billund (for now)

Its gonna be a CRAZY week!

New York State of Mind - Day 25

After all sorts of delays, a rerouted flight to Paris and a total of 5 hours delayed.. Girlfriend made it here!

I spent the early afternoon searching for the Billund Friluft festival. So i walked through the sculpture garden and found some fun things. I eventually decided on following the loud music that you can hear through out Billund. And there it was, like a secret garden no one knew about. A quaint little festival with classic cars, hotdogs beer and blues in an ampitheater. Its great! One of the Bands sang a new york state of mind and really made me think of home.

Of all days the bus decides not to show up. I power walked over to the airport to pick up Yvonne and a car! So great to have her company here, hopefully she'll have a good time in Europe and Denmark traveling around. I rented a car so we could travel the west coast of Jutland. Ahh to drive again, and to drive manual to boot. Where was the reverse gear?!

And back to the festival for some Danish 'theater' and rock music. Wasnt as good as the first two bands that I saw. But they were great. Now to plan for the long road trip tomorrow. Shooting for 12 hrs of driving! It'll be real fun. Maybe 2000 Km or so.

Is it really 10 days left?

The Budget Strikes Back - Day 24

Show and tell today, with a much bigger crowd! At this point its still nerve wrecking but I feel pretty confident on my things. But three weeks of churning out models and I mean really churning them out and I'm bound to hit a little bit of a wall. Looking for inspiration everywhere again. I'll be back in full force on Monday. A job where you look forward to monday? Is there such a thing?

Its about time to start buying souvenirs for my friends. I got to visit the P-Salg again today, personnel store here. They have all these bags and things I cant get in the US. I picked up 32 of the Collectible minifigs and a bunch of stuff for friends. Can you believe out of 32 I'm missing just one! ARRGH! More than I spent last time, but this stuff will get dispersed. But yea, my pocket feels it.

Yvonne will be here in the morning, and I gotta survive the week with my limited budget. I dont think i've been so frugal, but it is expensive here. Looks like my last week will be grabbing sandwiches again from the breakfast buffet. It can be done! But I'm pretty sure i'll be crawling home. Who cares, once in a lifetime..well sort of.

Soon, I'll be calling Denmark home.

Reflection - Day 23

My diploma is exactly 7 years old from I think June 6th. Not too far from today..so 7 years ago I left university, bright eyed and bushy tailed without knowing what would happen in the next few years.

But sometime along that summer I visited my grandmother for the last time in the Philippines. It was my first trip outside of the US alone, heck anywhere. Quite an experience there. I got to visit my family and my dad in Baguio, and see some churches there too. In Baguio City I visited Pink Sisters and there I prayed for many things, probably more sincerely than for anything else. I asked for health and for the health of my family, i asked for things just to be well and just a little direction and I even threw out there that maybe I ought to get a job at a cool stop like IDEO or working on prosthetics or building balisongs, dancing, martial arts, all that good stuff, and maybe even work for LEGO.

Here I am, at the cusp of a crossroads. I've dreamed up many things, told my friends that i'd be a millionaire before I was 30, but surely ..this is better. I'm not exactly sure if this is what one wanted when i was growing up. My family is full of people in nursing, doctors, some maids, but not this. I never knew this existed.

Sure, there's lots of luck involved, lots of persistence and pushing. Letting go and letting things come back. I know in 2006 i left the retail job voluntarily, and it was messy. If they wanted me back, they'd call and that they did. There weren't as many brick walls as there were hardships. Salaries looked better on the surface than they were, jobs were hard and the work tedious. Commuting and maintaining the car. I've also been the least thrifty out of my friends, with probably the least salary and a pretty lavish lifestyle of traveling, buying big boys toys and enjoying life. And of course, family troubles - hopefully to be put behind.
It was all rewarding, doing things you enjoy or love. Finding other passions in teaching and sharing information. The joy of winning and the agonies of defeat - all as worthwhile experiences. Finding someone amazing to share things and life with. And taking a minute to step back and feel the wind in your face, relax and find some peace. My last class taught me that at around my age, I'd be doing this and looking for meaning and place and validation. For now, I have some of that, but as i was told today, i'm still a young man.

Its a good time to look back especially after running hard and just going forward for so long. And soon, back to running, run forward, make the path if you need to.

Have Passion, Work Hard, Do Good, Focus, Push Yourself, Serve Others, Foster Ideas, Persist.

Flexibility, Fluency, Originality, Elaboration.

The Routine is Common; The Man is not - Day 22

And here goes week 4,

With another Show n tell this friday, trying to finish up my the stuff I've been doing. There's probably still a lot to do masked in the glow of just a single finished piece. I know there's much much more.
It took three weeks, but things are feeling routine, even though it'll end. Maybe it'll keep the days just that much longer for me, but its hard to have long minutes to enjoy right? As the days pass I have my quiet hopes and wishes that I get invited back again - believe me its not a mystery to my co workers! I feel like i've been doing well, hopefully on friday I can show off a little more. Humility always settles in though. I can only ask for more without expectation. There's a lot of life left to do!

I was checking on renting a car and driving around Denmark! Road trip for reals. Car isnt as expensive as i thought for a weekend. It should be fun!

Second Wind - Day 21

Is it really day 21?

Got up ridonculously early to send of YiJia. And man I paid for it. I must've looked like a zombie at work.

I had to hold out though. Today I got to take a tour of Brick production in the Kornmarken factory. I got to take home a LEGO Piece that was FRESH ..and i mean FRESH off the mold. A lego Chain piece that's made with just one mold! so crazy. But really, it was cool to see the molding in action. This place has more than half of the worlds LEGO molds and is the actual vault for the ones in Denmark. Can you imagine they used to bury and build the factor with the old molds so that no one would steal them? Can't do that now. The warehouse of brick is this cathedral of boxes as people have described with robots in each aisle, it looks like the matrix!

Back to work for some Danish cake, mmm chocolate cake with a coconut topping mmm. So good. But man was I beat, I think i was seeing double. I was able to get my computer up and running and now have a LEGO email address and all the applications! I love proper server networks!

After a second wind I was able to really finish up the mechanics of my latest project. Its been my longest task since I've got here! But maybe tomorrow I can have it running. I am a genius!

But the body gets the best of me. Back to the naps, and catching up. Just two weeks to go, and its the shortest two weeks ever!