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!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
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!
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!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
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?
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?
Friday, June 4, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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!
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!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
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!
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!
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