My boyfriend Terry (who I went to college with and have been with for 3+ years now) and I have moved to the Netherlands! Which leaves me unemployed in a country where I don't speak the language, but hopefully I'll be able to find something. The company he works for (Epic Systems based in Madison) transferred us over here and paid the 1250 Euro for my residence permit and everything even though we're not engaged! So we're doing well. Terry and also I registered at the Dutch City Hall as domestic partners so that I could be the partner of a knowledge worker and be free to live and work here as long as he's employed by Epic and we're together. It's not really a big deal, but it makes me happy anyway.
The move over here was super sudden - we had actually purchased tickets for a year of around-the-world travel in 2012, but Terry's company was so desperate to keep him that they pulled this opportunity out of a hat for us, and reimbursed us the thousands we had spent on air fare. The idea is that we'll be here for a year and then do our around-the-world trip, but Epic has made it clear that we're welcome to stay as long as we want, so we'll just have to reassess at some point and decide how long we want to stay.
Since the move took place only 6 weeks after they suggested that it might be a possibility, I pretty much stopped working out so I could help get ready for the move. And by that I mean do EVERYTHING associated with the move. Terry was going back and forth between the two continents in the month prior to the move, alternating each week where he was working, and with him being that busy I basically gave my 2 weeks notice at work, had my last day on a Tuesday and packed/got rid of ALL our stuff! There wasn't even time to drive our car back to CA. It would have been fun to make a US road trip before heading over here, but instead the car transport was a tag team effort between Terry's Madison-based aunt and uncle driving the car to Denver, and Mom and my cousin Sophie flying to Denver to drive it back the rest of the way. So it was pretty crazy.
So we moved here on Oct 15, but only just moved into our permanent apartment last Saturday, which means we never fully unpacked, and I was looking for apartments and jobs, while trying to file for residency, set up bank accounts, cell phone and gas/electric/water contracts, find health, renter and liability insurance, etc...it just doesn't stop! And back in Madison I was cancelling dentist appointments, setting up mail forwarding and changing our addresses with banks and whoever else, cancelling car insurance.... But now that we're all unpacked and settled in I've felt able to hit the trails again, and I am proud to say that I have gone running for the last 4 days straight in the nature preserve that's a 5 min walk from our door!
A friend from Madison and I also did the WI Tough Mudder this past July which was awesome. If you haven't heard about the event, you should check it out and seriously consider doing it. It's SO FUN! http://toughmudder.com/ One of my UK travel buddies and I are doing the London one in May 2012. Can't wait! These past couple months were the first I've ever taken off from working out besides a bit of time off after a big sporting event or when traveling (which somehow doesn't seem to count), and it was weird to be living a "normal" life just minus working out. I didn't like it one bit!
The move over here was super sudden - we had actually purchased tickets for a year of around-the-world travel in 2012, but Terry's company was so desperate to keep him that they pulled this opportunity out of a hat for us, and reimbursed us the thousands we had spent on air fare. The idea is that we'll be here for a year and then do our around-the-world trip, but Epic has made it clear that we're welcome to stay as long as we want, so we'll just have to reassess at some point and decide how long we want to stay.
Since the move took place only 6 weeks after they suggested that it might be a possibility, I pretty much stopped working out so I could help get ready for the move. And by that I mean do EVERYTHING associated with the move. Terry was going back and forth between the two continents in the month prior to the move, alternating each week where he was working, and with him being that busy I basically gave my 2 weeks notice at work, had my last day on a Tuesday and packed/got rid of ALL our stuff! There wasn't even time to drive our car back to CA. It would have been fun to make a US road trip before heading over here, but instead the car transport was a tag team effort between Terry's Madison-based aunt and uncle driving the car to Denver, and Mom and my cousin Sophie flying to Denver to drive it back the rest of the way. So it was pretty crazy.
So we moved here on Oct 15, but only just moved into our permanent apartment last Saturday, which means we never fully unpacked, and I was looking for apartments and jobs, while trying to file for residency, set up bank accounts, cell phone and gas/electric/water contracts, find health, renter and liability insurance, etc...it just doesn't stop! And back in Madison I was cancelling dentist appointments, setting up mail forwarding and changing our addresses with banks and whoever else, cancelling car insurance.... But now that we're all unpacked and settled in I've felt able to hit the trails again, and I am proud to say that I have gone running for the last 4 days straight in the nature preserve that's a 5 min walk from our door!
A friend from Madison and I also did the WI Tough Mudder this past July which was awesome. If you haven't heard about the event, you should check it out and seriously consider doing it. It's SO FUN! http://toughmudder.com/ One of my UK travel buddies and I are doing the London one in May 2012. Can't wait! These past couple months were the first I've ever taken off from working out besides a bit of time off after a big sporting event or when traveling (which somehow doesn't seem to count), and it was weird to be living a "normal" life just minus working out. I didn't like it one bit!
No comments:
Post a Comment