Posts Tagged With: Moving

4 years (Or: Change I believe in)

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Niki

From Marco…

Change.
In November 2008 the world as we knew it changed. The unthinkable happened.

Since then, we’ve been on a crazy roller coaster filled with steps forward and steps back. We’ve slowly climbing up towards the top of the mountain, creating a better place, a better world. No, I’m not talking about politics, but I cannot help but bring up the timeline and make some comparisons.

In late October ’08 I visited Niki and saying goodbye was so hard to do. When I left it was still just as a friend but that changed when we got to talk a few days later. Basically we just said “let’s try this..see where we can go from here”. Or, to tie it in to the political storm at the time.There was change in the air and we said “Yes, we can!”

A lot has happened in those four years, even though it seems like we’ve only made small steps. Back in early ’09 we already talked about our future plans, knowing that if we wanted to make the long distance work it couldn’t be just a simple “boyfriend-girlfriend” thing. We thought ahead, talked about living together eventually and even about family plans (see if each of us wanted kids)
Then for a while there was a little status quo. We knew what we wanted, we didn’t actively work on getting there yet.

Moving to another country (in either way) is a big change and while we believed in it, we didn’t want to rush into anything. Then of course the past year the wheels have been set in motion.
Four years, it seems like such a long time..so much has changed around us in the world. But also for ourselves. Niki went from going to college to working at a college. We’ve gone through a lot together, visiting places, spending time, figuring out the future. Yet in a way it’s just like many say about the Obama presidency the past four years.. “How’s my life different than it was four years ago? How have things improved?”

Well..I say that life definitely has changed for both Niki and myself but in a way it’s all been small stuff. Setting the stage for the big one, the actual move to the Netherlands. And then we can move on with life, move….Forward!

(Yes, I am very pleased with myself that I started with the slogan from 4 years ago and ending with the current one)

Categories: Marco&Niki, Moving | Tags: , | 4 Comments

Shoes (Or: Move over, rover)

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Niki

Written by Marco…

When I left Niki about a month ago, I took home a (new) pair of her shoes.
We had bought them the day before, and it was one of those “if you let me take them now, we don’t have to carry them in December.”

Yesterday, it amused me to put the shoes next to mine.
And chuckle at how small her shoes and feet are compared to the huge vessels that are my shoes… But why is this do news worthy? Well I’ve already told about how I’m making room at my place..

But this is the first time that I’ve actually was able to place an item in the apartment already 🙂 It’s the first of many items where I have to move over and make room for Niki’s belongings. Well to be honest I don’t believe it’ll be that bad 😉 I mean..how crazy can it be, right? (Famous last wo

Categories: Marco&Niki, Moving | Tags: , | 8 Comments

Euronews (Or: Missing the US)

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Niki

As I mentioned a few days ago, I have a new cable box and thus many more channels than I have had in years. Yesterday night I was flipping through the channels to see what was available and I came across a channel called “Euronews” – ch. 103 to be exact.

When I first watched it I felt a bit confused as they just happened to be reporting on something in America (I forget what) although they switched afterwards to Ukraine and other European countries.

After about 10 minutes of watching the channel I began to feel a pang of something unexpected – it hit me that I would be moving to Europe. You know, but you don’t really understand… Keep in mind, when it comes to moving around I have always been pretty easy going. Move halfway across the US with only two suitcases to my name – not a problem. Move an hour and a half north to NY – not a problem.

This really isn’t a problem, either. In fact, I am sort of relieved to feel some sort of negative emotion, be it minor. The only thing that I ever felt conflicted about was leaving my job, but that is mainly because the economy is in shambles these days. So to have some proof that I actually minded even a little bit was nice. If that makes sense…

Categories: Moving | Tags: , | 2 Comments

Wrapping up (Or: The end of these classes)

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Niki

Today I had two classes for EN112 – College Writing and Research. Last summer, it was decided that rather than trying to introduce the students to the library during their freshman seminar, it might instead be better to introduce the them to the library during their research class. The only issue with that is some students test out of it completely, but those students also tested out for a reason.

I had two EN112s this morning – 8:15 and 9:45. My general outline for these types of classes is to go over how to search the book catalog and how to search the databases for journal articles. The basics – but at this point I’ve been searching the databases for three years, so I am able to add in some of the tricks I myself have learned along the way.

But, like all things, work seems to be a countdown these days. This many days left, this many classes left… etc. I only have 4 more classes to go (2 next Monday, 1 next Tuesday, and 1 the last Monday of October). There’s also workshops (which last until the end of November), but classes by and large are how I see most of the students.

Over the months I have expanded on some of the details I tell the students:

1. “I work Monday through Friday, 8AM to 4PM.” So don’t expect an answer Saturday night…

2. “I am a weird person who doesn’t drive, so I need to leave at 4PM sharp to catch the bus.” So don’t come in at 3:58PM (this hasn’t really happened lately).

3. And sometimes, depending on the class… “I am moving to the Netherlands at the end of the semester, so feel free to ask me any questions before that. My last day is the last day of finals.” (Usually at least a few students say “Awesome!” or similar at that.)

…Today I mentioned point #3 at the end of the class after the professor brought it up. As today’s research topic example was the therapeutic uses of marijuana (with a potential look at legalizing medical marijuana in New York), I did slip in a joke that I was not moving to the Netherlands for better access to drugs. (That got some laughs.)

It hasn’t really hit yet. Today someone from my bank called, and I realized for the 53rd time that I really need to figure out how to close my account from overseas, as I will still have direct deposit checks arriving for another month or so. Little things that I must remember… or more accurately, throw into Outlook as a reminder.

To do at some point down the line.

Categories: Moving | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

All in the details (Or: Resume applications)

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Niki

Yesterday Human Resources started emailing our library all of the resumes for my position. Yeesh.

Each set (mostly of 2) is one person, so I had received 13 applications at the time. Shortly after I left work to go home, 5 more arrived. Looking over them definitely made me realize I now known what it is like to be on the other side of the interviewing table (however briefly):

If x is a major component of the job advertisement, I would really like it to appear in the resume, and perhaps the cover letter. But if it’s only in the cover letter, you should state how long you have been doing x. Details, people! I need details!

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Changes (Or: The dreaded “female touch”)

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Niki

From Marco…

Niki’s arrival is coming closer and closer. And with that, the changes to my apartment.

My bedroom will be redone (it currently has a one person bed and obviously I’ll need a bit more closet space). But the biggest changes will be in my living room. I will be getting a new pair of couches (the current ones are at the end of their life cycle) which I am totally cool with.
But beyond that..we’re going to have to try my single guy’s room into a couple’s room. As you can see in evidence A below – the picture of my DVD cabinets I have a large collection of movies.And while Niki’s fine with that and is looking forward to watching (some of) them with me, is she okay with adding another one of the huge cabinets, letting it dominate one side of the room? Well, it already dominates one side..but maybe they’ll conquer another wall as well..

Then there’s evidence B. My tv set-up. There’s an xbox, dvd player, blu-ray player and even an old vcr which isn’t even hooked up anymore. (And actually another dvd player that isn’t working/not hooked up)
Not pictured is the stereo that connects my 5.1 sound system.

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Categories: Apartment, Marco&Niki | Tags: | 6 Comments

Packing (Or: She’s about to take over)

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Niki

From Marco…

So my trip is almost coming to an end (I’m leaving on Tuesday) and obviously I’m not thrilled about it.
But unlike pretty much all of the previous visits (both mine and Niki’s) this time it feels different.
Of course there’s the fact that we both know it’s going to be about 70 days until we’re together again. I think it will be one of the shortest periods between seeing one another (I think the shortest was in 2009). But most important, we know this will be the last time I fly to the Netherlands without her.
The last time we have to say goodbye at the train station or airport.
Knowing that makes it a bit less sour and annoying.. 😉

One of the worst things at the end of each visit is packing up my stuff again, back into my luggage. It’s always a sad moment…


But this time it was a bit more amusing and maybe..dare I say…entertaining.
We spent some time this weekend packing up some of Niki’s belongings to see how much suitcases and such we’re going to need at the end of this year.
It seems that if I manage to bring as little as needed then we just might be able to squeeze everything into three pieces of luggage and two-three items of carry-on.  Cool.

I am bringing some stuff over already though. Just some books, some spare shoes and such.
That means the moment is here. She’s about to take over my closets, impose her will on the layout of my apartment.. oh boy. I’m looking forward to it 🙂

Categories: Marco&Niki, Moving | Tags: | 2 Comments

Changes (Or: 3 months of work left)

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Niki

Today is September 14.

My last day of work is December 14. That’s the last day of finals. It just hit me that there is only three months to go.

Now that I am in the final semester, each class seems like the last. For example, today was a Nursing Research 101 class in the morning. For them, I went to their classroom and spoke about how to use the databases for articles and the catalog for books. In the afternoon I had a genetics class where the professor brought her class to the library. She wanted me to talk about the distinction between primary and secondary sources within the sciences and how to look at only a journal article abstract and figure out which is which.

Closeup of a tree on campus, Spring 2012

At this point, when I introduce myself I’ve taken to jokingly explaining to the students that if they need help they need to come find me this semester before I move. Today after hearing where I was moving half of the class clapped, a few said “awesome/cool” and one said “Congratulations!” There’s just something about Europe that people tend to like.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: | 2 Comments

Reflections (Or: College conferences, past and present)

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Niki

Today was the fall college conference. We always have one the week before classes start in August, and one in January before classes begin. In addition, the month of May brings a “service recognition luncheon”. At some point I realized that this was my last college conference, just like in May it was my last service recognition luncheon.

Odd, how time flies. Odd how I see others being introduced for the first time, and I can still remember being introduced myself, and the joke that was cracked to me in front of everyone: “Your predecessor served for 30 years. Did you know that the contract you signed stipulated you would stay for 30 years as well?” There was a chance back then, however small. But there is no more chance. But this is by no means a pessimistic post.

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To the Netherlands! (Or: Immigration forms and apostilles)

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Niki

So I have made progress since posting the previous blog post about forms and apostilles, specifically for birth certificates and “certificate of single status” (i.e. I am not currently married).

Here is what the “Application Residence Permit without MVV or change of purpose or stay” has to say:

Any official foreign documents about persons that are required for the
application must have been legalised or provided with an Apostille
stamp by the competent authorities of the issuing country. This may
relate to documents such as birth certificates, certificates of unmarried
status (not older than 6 months), marriage certificates, and court decisions regarding adoption and guardianship.

[Note: Some countries require the MVV first, but it is not required of United States citizens.]

Here is what I learned for my situation (for birth certificates and the certificate of single status, both documents with apostilles):

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Categories: Forms, etc. | Tags: , | 14 Comments

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