Den Haag

Laan van Meerdervoort
Den Haag, Nederland
62.6° F (17° C)

Time flies when you're flying to and fro... from Australia to Singapore... U.S.... then to Europe. I can't believe my first week in Den Haag (the Hague) is already coming to an end. It only seems like yesterday, when I was looking forward to spending time in Singapore... and I now, I am already dreading the gloomy autumn weather foreshadowing a dreary winter to come.

It's always tough taking over an on-going project in a new country; not only do you feel like an outsider being in a new country and culture, but also you feel like an outsider at work. I would say 'it feels like being dropped into enemy territory and being expected to survive' if I actually knew what that felt like. You get the point. You literally have NO one to slap you on your shoulder and take you out for a drink. No one to tell you that everything will be alright... just when you need to hear it the most.

[Side Note]: Anti-americanism seems to be the trend these days. Fifty some years of goodwill generated by U.S. of old is nowhere to be found. Thanks to George Duhbuhlyah, I and my American accent is not quite welcomed in many places. Example? I was in a taxi to Melbourne airport when the taxi driver asked me where I was from. "U.S," I said. "Fuck Bush!" the driver says. He didn't say much after that. I wanted to say 'my sentiments exactly,' but I kept quiet. It seemed un-patriotic to side with a foreigner especially when he said nothing intelligent to back up his very passionate conviction... but I didn't defend him either. It's always better to keep your mouth shut when you have nothing good to say.