“Life is a roller coaster.”
“Nothing is impossible.”
Just some thoughts that have been crossing my mind the last few weeks. If somebody told me I would be moving to Amsterdam within 6 weeks, I’d probably call him crazy. And if that somebody would also tell me that I would go to London for 5 months, starting in September, I’d probably thought he’d gone completely nuts.
Who would have thought that it all would go so fast?
When I came back from holiday end of June, I wanted to put more effort into finding housing in or around Amsterdam, to get rid of the daily traffic jam. I hoped that I could move before the end of the year, but considered myself very lucky if that would be the case. So on Monday June 28th, I had a look at a housing site to see what they had to offer. I saw to apartments in Duivendrecht (which is surrounded by the city of Amsterdam) and decided to send an email to the real estate agent that placed the ads. They invited me to come and have a look on Thursday July 1st, 3 days later. The apartments looked nice, they were spacious and well maintained. The neighbourhood looked nice too. The guy that showed us (5-6 people showed up) around told us that we could enroll for the apartments anyway, and if we weren’t selected for one of these 2 apartments, we would be called first if other apartments would become available. So I fixed all the paperwork and sent everything to the real estate agent on Monday morning July 5th. Imagine how shocked I was when I received an email the day after (!) that said “congratulations, you’ve been selected for one of the apartments in Duivendrecht. We’re going to fix the contract, and you’ll be invited to sign the contract and receive the keys before August 1st.”
(2 weeks later)
Last week Tuesday, I had an event from my work in Frankfurt, Germany. Together with 12 Dutch colleagues we flew to Germany to meet our European colleagues and to learn about the services and solutions they are offering. In the plane, a colleague told me he was looking for somebody who would be interested to work in London for 5 months, starting September. He asked me, and of course my answer was positive! But I have to say that these kind of questions have come by a few times the last few months, and every time it got canceled last-minute. Or the client called off, or the local office could staff the project after all. Several emails went back and forth with the UK last week, but since Friday I hadn’t heard anything anymore. So I actually thought that it got canceled again. Imagine how shocked I was when I received an email on Tuesday evening that said “congratulations, the client has approved the assignment and wants to hire you. You’ll be going to London for 5 months, starting August 30th.”
Two amazing stories, and I happen to be involved in both of them! August is going to be a very busy, crazy, but fun month. Next week Thursday I’m going to sign the contract and get the keys of my apartment. Then 2,5 weeks of hard work will start, to make my apartment ready to be lived in (only evenings and weekends, because the job goes on!). On August 15, friends and family are coming to help me move all my furniture and clear my apartment in Nieuwegein. And then 2 weeks later, I’ll be off to London, hahaha! Luckily I’ll have the opportunity to fly back home every weekend, so I can enjoy my new apartment during the weekends. And with Duivendrecht being very close to the airport, and London being only 45 minutes flying, I think it’s doable to come home often. But of course, spending the weekend in London isn’t bad either 
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So if you want to visit me for the next few months, you can choose from 2 amazing cities: London or Amsterdam. It’s your call!
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. Right now (it’s 12.30PM) 3 families are heating up their BBQ and grilling their meat 
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