End of Holidays..

However the Asiatic adventure is over for the moment, life is not over. The weblog was a perfect medium to report all of these adventures, but it´s not in the nature of a weblog to stop after the end of the trip. A weblog should be a continuous update of life, or of interesting facts, as you like. Of course, having come back in the low country of the Netherlands, life doesn´t stop or even stop being interesting. So that´s why I´m writing again. And this time in English as you might notice. Because I think a weblog is especially interesting for those who are at a distance, e.g. my friends in Japan. English would certainly be more convenient for them to read..

End of December I got my Master's Degree Certificate in Engineering Mathematics, which meant that from then I could really go searching for a job. And 2 weeks ago I´ve found myself a job! So, after having been fed by the dutch welfare society for 26 years, I can finally do something back. And even for the very instution that provided me with the money and opportunities: the dutch government. I will be a civil servant! From beginning of February I will start a the RIVM, the dutch National Institute of Public Health and Environment. Research on bacteria in food chains (and especially the mathematical modeling of it), which is part of a EU project that just recently started. Sounds interesting to me, although at this moment a don’t know a great deal about bacteria. Taking biological classes at Wageningen University, combined with the first trips abroad already been planned (kick-off meeting in Vienna mid-February, congress in Verona in May), it makes it all the more interesting. I’m looking forward to start!

Applying for a job was not so difficult. In fact, the first letter I wrote was to RIVM, which means that it took me only one interview to get a job. Which means that I had some time left to do nice things. I visited friends in Groningen, I read a lot of books, and I went skiing twice. The first time skiing this year was with Christmas, with my family. Reason to go was the 30th marriage day anniversary of my parents, objective was to have fun in the snow. There was not a great deal of snow, but enough to have fun. Moreover, the abundance of sunshine made the lack of snow more than good. (The fun only took my brother Erik a broken leg, which was a pity..)

The second time was 2 weeks ago, when Sarah, a friend of mine, suddenly thought of booking a last-minute trip; she asked me to come too. In fact it was so last-minute that she shouldn’t have called me 5 minutes later, else I wouldn’t have been able to fetch my ski gear (it was a matter of calling taxis, and letting them wait in front of the house when I was grabbing my ski clothes together). This time the lack of snow was more severe, even as the abundance of sunshine. It was like skiing in late May, with wet snow, green slopes, and a lot of stones (El Nino what have you done to the bottom of my skis??)..

Now it’s Tuesday, this Thursday I’ll start working. This means the end of a very nice holiday period of 7 months.. Wish me good luck!