#7 - 2009 Recap

2009 was a good year; better than many. Time for a short recap.

After surviving Snowmageddon 2008, I had a busy Janauary-March as usual. This year I worked on a couple of very large and challenging projects, but both ended up being great learning experiences. Time really flew by. During this time, I had no clue what I’d be doing in six months. I was hoping for an international transfer, and things were looking likely for 2-years in Tokyo. Wasn’t my first choice, but the more I thought about it the more exciting it sounded. Europe’s cool, but Asia is really cool too. I wanted to experience a new culture, and Japan would be an exciting challenge. While this dragged on, I wrapped up busy season and then it was time to travel.

Some friends that I met on a previous trip to Egypt graciously showed me around Toronto for a long weekend. Toronto is a great city – very international, lots of things to see, and great nightlife, restaurants, etc. I don’t know if I could survive the winters, but otherwise could easily stay a couple years there. Only a week after returning to Seattle, it was time to head off to Rome for a week. I found a cheap ticket that I felt would have been a travesty not to buy, so I booked a 6-day trip to Rome on a whim. Luckily, Jill always wanted to see Rome so I had some company. Despite having been to Europe several times, I hadn’t made it to Italy yet. It was awesome – the perfect mix of sightseeing, relaxing, partying, eating, and just getting away. It was a good amount of time to see the whole city without being rushed. Plus, we survived Naples with all of our belongings intact!

Got back into hiking in June, and climbed Mt. Si several times, as well as finally trying some new hikes closer to Mt. Rainier and Stevens Pass. In late June I got the call I had been waiting a couple years for – I was moving to Amsterdam! Japan didn’t have a need anymore, so “unfortunately” I would have to accept my original first choice of Amsterdam. Bummer. I also went to my 10-yr reunion in June and was able to reconnect with a few people, but also, a lot of people didn’t show up which was a bit disappointing.

It’s funny how when you are moving, you suddenly feel like you have a million things you wanted to do, never did, and now’s your last chance. This was probably the best summer ever in Seattle. Highlights included seeing Seafair from a boat in the middle of Lake Washington (thanks Jacobsen family for always being out of town at the best of times and letting us borrow your toys!), fireworks over Lake Union on July 4th, trying all the restaurants I never made it to, one last trip to Vancouver BC, and Went to Maui for about a week with several buddies also; it was great to be able to fit in one last trip with friends before heading over to Europe.

Summer was coming to a close, so that meant lots of packing, international phone calls, and annoying to-dos prior to moving. Even when your company handles everything, including the moving, it’s still very stressful. Packing up and moving out of my place was a strange experience – living there for 4 years and it being my first home. Luckily I was able to find renters right away.

Labor Day weekend meant one thing: bachelor party! After only 7 years of dating, my brother and his (then) fiancée finally got married. For the bachelor party we rented a house in Sunriver, OR for the weekend. I think the Bend Costco’s beer sales doubled that weekend, as our livers could attest (not to mention the friend we made from the house next door). I also don’t think I can ever eat a Costco hot dog or Kettle Chips again. The wedding was a week after. Great ceremony, survived the best man speech, and had a great hangover the next day for my own going away party. Just about everyone was able to make it, which was great.

You can read more about the move and the trip to Turkey in previous posts. Turkey was amazing and my favorite place by far was the Cappadocia region in the center of the country. Amazing scenery, great hiking, and cool towns. The first few months in Amsterdam I focused on settling in and adjusting to a new country that’s very similar, but in many ways different than my own. Learning a new job, a new city, and new country is not easy, but I’m happy to say that I’m feeling more settled as we enter 2010. I was able to go back to the US for Christmas, and it was a great chance to see family and friends, and enjoy the land of bottomless fries, free refills, good TV, and cheap shopping (relatively speaking).

Here's some things I'm looking forward to in 2010:
- Dubai in late January
- Paris in June
- Seeing lots of visitors (hint, hint)
- World Cup
- Oktoberfest!
- Seeing if the Cougs can make it out of the cellar of the Pac-10
- Going to a European Soccer Game
- Hopefully seeing the US Soccer team play Holland in March
- Visits home in July and December
- Being in Amsterdam during Summer

Happy (late) New Year everyone, and here’s to a great 2010!

A few pictures of Amsterdam in early January:

Views near the Amstel River:




Canal Houses:


Frozen Canal, with houseboats: