sprocket i/o - Latest Comments in My country, my teacher

Re: My country, my teacher

Thomas Stromberg — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:04:44 -0000

Thank you all for the many kind words -- especially Dlb =)

Re: My country, my teacher

Todd — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:07:27 -0000

Wait. They have bowling alleys in Belgium? Add a tacky shirt and Budweiser and your right back in NC.

Re: My country, my teacher

Derelys — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:18:43 -0000

It might help to know that what you're going through is normal, although annoying. A year from now you'll look back on this post and laugh. (from your counselor aunt-in-law)

Re: My country, my teacher

debbie — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:11:02 -0000

well even though you were feeling the Belgium Blues... im glad you can look at the good side of things.

{hugs} i hope you adjust to the slower pace!

I agree with the other comments as well!

wishing you all the best!

Debbie

Re: My country, my teacher

Lilacspecs — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 08:04:38 -0000

Wow, Belgium is indeed an exercise in patience. You really hit the nail on the head there. I've been living in Gent for a little over a year and I think I'm much more patient now then I was even 6 months ago. For me language and isolation are definitely the hardest things, especially because I came here for love, not cause I had a job waiting for me and finding a job has been difficult to say the least.
As far as dinner goes, that killed me at first and it's really a matter of getting used to it. My best advice is to make sure you have plenty to talk about with whoever you go to eat with, drink your drink slooowly, and consider maybe even having a very light snack before you head to the restaurant.

Re: My country, my teacher

Dlb — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:25:17 -0000

Wow... it's going to take a bit to comment on this one! Usual for a Thomas post!

>>I just have never had to work very hard for anything before.
*Ahem* bullshit. You've worked plenty hard. The thing is that you happen to normally love what you do, so it goes easy. I seem to remember many days of Thomas studying and rehearsing for Sun exams. And the motorcycle endorsement. And creating a body of work & CV that got you into one of the most sought after positions in IT. Step back for a minute and let the awesomeness that is your career shine a bit.....you're blocking the light my friend.

IMHO, It's just that being on the tail end of something that you don't pick up instinctively after a fraction of the time it would take a normal person is new and frustrating to you.

That. Is. Acceptable.

You're amazing, not Godlike. Appreciate your achievements and embrace the opportunity to be truly challenged....something I think computing haven't done for you in a long, long time. kthxbye.

>Everything in Belgium is slower
Everything in almost every country is slower than the US. That's why we did in 200 years what many other countries took a millennium to do. That said, it's also likely that will eventually be our downfall as well.

>Dinner often takes two hours, though I have yet to learn how to properly eat slowly
It's hard to appreciate something absorbing an "inordinate" amount of time. But I think if you think of this just like your camping escapades, it'll make more sense quicker. You could sleep at home but taking Dallas and the bus to a campsite took you away from the world for just a little awhile. Enjoy the fact that you can take a break. I'm sure you do 10 things in a day that more than make up for this time. 'Sides, if it was that important you wouldn't be getting 2 months off a year!

>At work, we speak English, but the isolation......The ability to bounce ideas off of people sitting next to you is a gift
Yeah, yeah. But you didn't transfer there because you wanted to work. You did because you thought the experience would be amazing. You're going to take a hit in your learning vs your US counterparts.....thing is that you're probably ahead of most of them. Enjoy the experience, retrain yourself from thinking your IT development is key. You're going to be able to assist your company in ways they don't even know! You can express to them, in understandable terms, what the deltas are between here and there. Something that your co-workers may have had a hard time explaining. You also have this knowledge with a developer's understanding of the overview, which is something they don't have. That in of itself is a skill.

Anyway, you know all this. You're venting which is good. I just thought I'd reinforce your thinking.
l8r g8r

Re: My country, my teacher

Thomas Stromberg — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 07:55:15 -0000

Thanks.. I'll be honest and say that I wouldn't let myself post such a rant until I was able to discover the right attitude for the situation.

Re: My country, my teacher

Georgy — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 07:40:52 -0000

This is a great post, Thomas. It's not easy to do what you're doing, but it certainly seems like you've got the right attitude. :-)