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Hi guys,

I’m finally in the AI Office. This is my first working day here and I found some time to write you.I’ve had some “little adventures” till now:

Of course I was so stubborn to try to see 2 of my friends in the morning before my departure from Bucharest and I was late at the airport. I cut trough the lines and got trough the security check (they didn’t detect the 4 litters of good wine I was caring :)), picked up my ticket and proceeded to the check in.

There my heart stopped, it said with big red letters “check in closed”… still I asked the young sexy lady there if I could get trough, and to my relief, she agreed.Then I put my luggage on the platform in order for it to be weighted and … of course it was too heavy. She looked at me and said “take it off, quick take it off, it’s too heavy just go to passport check, I’ll take care of it” (guess I had a pretty face).

At the passport check I had real challenges, and my plane was leaving in 15 minutes… The old lady at the desk (baba scortoasa e cuvantul) looked at my passport, and then at me, then again at my passport, then again at me … I was beginning to get worried. In the next moment she said “hmmm, I can’t find a resemblance … put your chin up … hmmm, a little more up … look left … hmm, no. Let me see again … hmmm (In that moment, I wished I had an axe to chop her head off), stop smiling … hmmm, let me se your invitation.”. I pulled of the invitation from my luggage and gave it to her. “This is crap, this is not valid … (now I wanted to throw the bitch into a jet reactor) … do you have any money? 300 EUR? Well you can’t pass this is not valid! I’m calling airport security to check you out, step over there…”. Stupid bitch, I was just calling Raluca and telling her, well it seems I’m not leaving after all. After 5 agonizing minutes, a big fat policeman cam, looked at my papers, and said, “well if they cover everything … let him trough”. I smiled gracefully to him and the old lady, grabbed my password and rushed to the terminal where my plane was. (Of course after 10 meters I cursed the old lady with the worse Romanian, Hungary and Polish curses I knew).

I got aboard the plane, made a few calls, sent out some messages and took off. The ride was OK, has some altitude problems (my left eye wanted to pop out of my head) but the food was good, free drinks, etc.

When I got above Amsterdam, I’ve had a little shock, water, windmills everywhere; land is divided in strict grids … and water, water and water everywhere.

After landing, I got somehow to my luggage, but it took me some time to decipher the buttons needed on a machine to buy me a train ticket to Rotterdam. In Germany, same machines were inscribed in English and German, here … only in Dutch. Figures …

Well no big adventures from here on, I got to the AI office by myself :). I may seem little, but I’m proud of me. There was a “little” inconvenient, all the streets are here paved (bricks like) so I had big trouble pulling my luggage on its wheels. The flight was OK, airport and train were OK, but the last 1,5 KM till the office, caring the luggage were like hell cause you know how “big” and “strong” I am :).

I spent the remaining time, cleaning my desk and computer, getting home (by the way, I’m sharing flat with Pixi and Rajiv) unpacking and drinking wine with Albert, Pixi, Steve and Rajiv talking.

That’s about it … my first day in Rotterdam. Hope I didn’t bore you to death.I usually don’t write so much.

Miss you guys already,
The Lion.

PS: Wish me luck, I have GISM interview on Friday morning.