Happy New Year
Here we are now in 2008 and back in Taipei.
I was supposed to go to China now, for the new project, but that whole thing did not work out; so because the Taiwan project still has a few critical items left to finish the boss has asked me to remain there through Q1, at least.
Tricia and I returned to Europe at the end of November, with her staying at our house in Reading (prep for Christmas) and me zotting off to Stockholm for 2 weeks. My time in Stockholm was well spent clearing up things on the China project, to hand it over to someone else, and in winding down and getting in the Christmas mood. Mid December I rejoined Tricia and Christina arrived in the UK for the holidays, and we then spent 2 weeks together in Reading. Christina brought her boyfriend with her, and after ½ a week Tricia’s parents joined us for the holidays too. Towards new year we swapped Christina (went back to Canada) for Bernadette and her son David for the new year celebration, and had a good time with 6 of us still playing the usual silly games and champers/party-poppers into 2008. Tricia went back to Knott End, driving her dad’s car loaded up like a hippy caravan with 4 people buried under suitcases and carrier bags, on 5th January, while I headed off back to Taipei on the same day.
Such a busy time, and now it’s all over and I am back at work.
It’s great to be back to somewhere warm though; even if it is winter in Taiwan the 16 degrees there is a lot easier to cope with than the 2 degrees and damp/wet in the UK.
Finally, just a bit about the decision not to do the China project. I went to China 4 times between August and year end – 2×2 week trips and 2×1 weekers, and as a result of that decided that I did not want to spend the next 2 years in China. Basically Beijing is an awful place, devoid of any character and a hell of an ecological disaster with air quality probably equaling what London was like back in the 50’s (maybe worse); and the Chinese customer is a flat out bully and demands 24/7 attention, which I am just not up for at this point in my life. There is more to it than that really – somewhat to do with my Company’s HR policies as they are now practiced (total disrespect for employees); but that’s another story entirely that maybe I’ll write about here one day. Suffice it to say that the 2 things together forced me to re-evaluate my future somewhat. Thankfully the option to stay in Taiwan keeps us in Asia a while longer, and something more attractive may come up in the mean time.
So Happy New Year (again), and let’s see what 2008 brings eh?
I was supposed to go to China now, for the new project, but that whole thing did not work out; so because the Taiwan project still has a few critical items left to finish the boss has asked me to remain there through Q1, at least.
Tricia and I returned to Europe at the end of November, with her staying at our house in Reading (prep for Christmas) and me zotting off to Stockholm for 2 weeks. My time in Stockholm was well spent clearing up things on the China project, to hand it over to someone else, and in winding down and getting in the Christmas mood. Mid December I rejoined Tricia and Christina arrived in the UK for the holidays, and we then spent 2 weeks together in Reading. Christina brought her boyfriend with her, and after ½ a week Tricia’s parents joined us for the holidays too. Towards new year we swapped Christina (went back to Canada) for Bernadette and her son David for the new year celebration, and had a good time with 6 of us still playing the usual silly games and champers/party-poppers into 2008. Tricia went back to Knott End, driving her dad’s car loaded up like a hippy caravan with 4 people buried under suitcases and carrier bags, on 5th January, while I headed off back to Taipei on the same day.
Such a busy time, and now it’s all over and I am back at work.
It’s great to be back to somewhere warm though; even if it is winter in Taiwan the 16 degrees there is a lot easier to cope with than the 2 degrees and damp/wet in the UK.
Finally, just a bit about the decision not to do the China project. I went to China 4 times between August and year end – 2×2 week trips and 2×1 weekers, and as a result of that decided that I did not want to spend the next 2 years in China. Basically Beijing is an awful place, devoid of any character and a hell of an ecological disaster with air quality probably equaling what London was like back in the 50’s (maybe worse); and the Chinese customer is a flat out bully and demands 24/7 attention, which I am just not up for at this point in my life. There is more to it than that really – somewhat to do with my Company’s HR policies as they are now practiced (total disrespect for employees); but that’s another story entirely that maybe I’ll write about here one day. Suffice it to say that the 2 things together forced me to re-evaluate my future somewhat. Thankfully the option to stay in Taiwan keeps us in Asia a while longer, and something more attractive may come up in the mean time.
So Happy New Year (again), and let’s see what 2008 brings eh?
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