CHANGING JOBS & LUXURY HOLIDAYS
11 November 2008

Last Friday was my last day at my old job and next Monday I'll start a new one: Bye to the old and soon hi the the new! Although it was rather sad to leave my colleagues and the best office space you can ever imagine, the change will (hopefully) do me good. I'm leaving a small office with about 15 colleagues and a boss being based in Sweden - i.e. 1000km from me. We had the cosiest red lunch sofas you can ever imagine and never-ending tea drinking sessions, working or non-working. The warmth of the office was extremely good for my wellbeing-it was the kind of office I was looking forward to coming back to after the holidays. Like a smalltown, everyone knowing everyones' whereabouts. But working for a small NGO and being my own boss was not only good as I realised I was missing colleagues. Not colleagues who I could lunch with or have teas, because those I had, but colleagues involved in the same tasks as I was, someone I could juggle thoughts and strategies with. Someone to delegate to. So I decided to say bye to my bright and spacious 16 m2 office.

Next Monday I'll start a job in the European Commission which surely will be very different: Apart from being a huge French-style bureaucracy and at times quite hierarchical (so most would argue), it will be beneficial to me in terms of professional and personal development. It will be absolutely great to have access to lunchtime language courses and a multitude of other training courses.

As the heading of this post suggests I am on a luxury holiday at the moment! Guess where! Not in the Carribbean or anything, but at home in our new flat in Brussels. Oh, I tell you, lovely times are had pottering around getting things in order, organising and making it feel more as our home every day! Sitting in the sofa watching the clouds pass by on the (at the moment) blue sky, seeing the trees moving in the wind and listening to the CD with by Greek composer that I was given when I was in Greece earlier this year. Not too bad!