Random musings and one year anniversary

It's been a while since I've worked in a big company, and I'm finding that it doesn't matter if it's in the US or Europe or probably anywhere else, people just behave strangely when you put them in a group in one place. The politics, the need for people to put on airs or be someone they're not seems an inevitable by-product of putting more than a couple of people together. It's weird. People are weird. That being said, I'm enjoying myself, but it is an adjustment.

A couple of things I've noticed. A lot of people at my office say good day (bonne journee) or good afternoon (bonne apres-midi) as they exit elevators. I got over my initial cynicism about it, and now I find it kind of nice, especially in the morning. What's weird is though it's an English-speaking company, and many people are Flemish, yet nobody says the equivalent phrase in English or Flemish - what's that about? Are the French Belgies just more polite than the rest of us?

One thing that's kind of sad is when someone says 'bonne journee', and no one on a full elevator says it back, so I try and always say it. I'm sure that they probably scoff at my accent but you know what, F them and their impolite non-bonne-journee-saying asses. Oui, oui!

On another note, it's our one year anniversary in Brussels. In some ways it feels longer, but in others it feels like we just arrived. I wonder if Ethan has any clue about all of this. Doubt it. I hope this will be good for them in the long run. I think it will, but I guess we won't know until they've grown up, at least a bit. Sonia is starting to communicate a lot more, mixing in French and English, and Ethan is talking up a storm. Some of the things he comes out with crack me up. The other night I was running the bath for him and Sonia, and before he got in, he said he needed to go pee, so I said OK, go to the potty downstairs, and a few minutes later when the bath was ready, he still hadn't gone downstairs to the potty, so I said what's up, thought you wanted to go pee, and he said, 'no, that's ok, pee pee and poo poo are sleeping'. I said what? (trying not to crack up) and he said 'pee pee and poo poo are sleeping in his bottom', and that 'they make his bottom big'. I lost it. If you think about it though, using his vocabulary, it's a pretty accurate way of saying he doesn't have to go anymore and probably is what he thinks is actually going on. Reminded me of that show Kids Say the Darndest Things or whatever it's called.

Anyway, it's inspired me to post a couple of throwback photos of my boy from 2 years ago this month to remind me and Sara how much he's grown up in just the past couple of years.

Our nephew and cousin!

http://www.growingfamily.com/webnursery/babypage_view.asp?URLID=5I2H0L4N4U

Natalia and Edson had a baby boy October 27th, Anthony Casto Soriano, pictured in the link above. The delivery only took a couple of hours from the time she went into labor until the time he was born, and everyone is doing great. It doesn't seem real yet, that my little sister has a child. Can't wait to meet him at Christmas, when we're going to DC.

Speaking of DC, our friend, Jo, is going to be there to join us for NYE. Don't know what we're doing yet. Jo also came to visit us here for a few days, and she and Sara managed to squeeze in a day trip to Paris.

We introduced Thanksgiving to some of Sara's Belgian co-workers, had a lot of fun. Wasn't the same without Madden on TV, but it was a good time. Sara took the day off of work and cooked up a feast.

Some recent photos:

Gezundheit!

Winter has come to Brussels, sort of. It's definitely colder, but it's still really mild relative to this time of year, and it really hasn't been raining that much at all. Don't know if this is global warming in action, but if so, I'm all for it! Gore, shmore!

Finished the first full week of work, and what a week it was. Worked 8-7 or 8-8 every day, forgot what that was like, haven't had to do that since I first started in the mortgage biz, but then it was of my own accord because I had to work that long to try and sell as much as possible. Nice not to have to sell anymore, but I'm also going to miss being able to just pick up and go to the driving range or go for a run when I wanted.

My company is an open environment, meaning there are just desks everywhere, and you have these little trollies that you can conceivably roll up to any desk for that day. The reality in my department though is that you have your desk, and you just leave the trolley by your desk most nights ready for the next day. Of course the CEO, CFO, any managing directors, have their own office, so it's just us cogs that get to enjoy the open floorplan.

I've made a few observations in my first week of work: 1. People in general, and especially high-powered execs, really LOVE to get their writing corrected. I'm a shoe-in for the Most Popular Newbie award. The CFO came down for this little champagne "meet-the-new-people" thing they had for me and this woman who started the same day as me, and when I introduced myself, he said, "Ah, so you're the one who's wasting all our time!" I just said thank you. Profound I know, but I didn't really want to get into it with the CFO my first week. Then he proceeded to tell a story to me and a bunch of other people about the former chief of Sony who said he never spoke English in the US even though he knew how to because people in the US don't speak English. It was a really stupid story, don't really care that he was trying to insult me or my compatriots for a laugh, but if you're going to rip on someone, make sure it's funny. Of course everyone gave a polite chuckle because he's the CFO (and is rumored to be our next CEO). That is, everyone chuckled except him, he was practically on the floor laughing. Those finance types, what a riot. Anyway, good to know I've already made an impression on our future CEO.

2. Office politics are the same in the US, EU, anywhere you have more than a few people working in one place. People just can't help playing games, being passive aggressive, etc. It's really funny and really annoying at the same time. What did Sartre say, "L'enfer, c'est les autres" - Hell is others. He may have been onto something that old Frenchie.

3. Last observation - people in offices sneeze a lot. I don't think it's the healthiest environment, especially this time of year when the climate is changing and everyone's immune systems are weakened. Anyway, the first day I started, there was someone sneezing quite a bit, and I sneezed a couple of times, and I didn't say bless you for some reason, and vice versa, so I thought OK, this is a good precedent to set because normally I'm a relgious bless you'er to everyone who sneezes in my presence, and it gets a bit annoying sometimes, especially if it's not reciprocated. So I've made a conscious decision to NOT say bless you, at least not in the office, and I'm pretty happy with the decision so far (though I'm sure my fascistly-polite (or is it politely fascist) mother would not be impressed). It is weird though when one grows up as a bless-you'er to suddenly stop. My Pavlovian reaction is to say bless you, so I have to consciously stop myself when I hear someone sneeze, and in fact did falter once, and the woman was very surprised of course because I had spent a week of not saying bless you and suddenly did. I hope she doesn't think I like her or something. I think it's the right choice though. Anyway, we'll see how long it lasts and if I give in and go back to my god-blessing ways. Maybe I'll just limit my blessing to America, a la W.

That's all from Brussels. Ahh-choo!

Halloween, job and Movie Hero

Couple of photos from Halloween when Claire, Dom and Ellie came to visit. Good times, as it always is when we're with those guys. Jo's visiting now, went out in Antwerp last night until 3am, feeling a little rough today. Photos to follow, haven't downloaded yet.

Halloween. Ethan and Ellie were pumpkins, Sonia a cat.




















Got that job, started last Thursday, working in the legal department, writing/editing the documents for the board and committee meetings. It's pretty dry material, but it's the first job where I'm writing and editing for a living, so I think I'm really going to like it. It's definitely going to keep me busy as there are a total of about 80 committees between the hq in Bxl and the offices in Amsterdam, Paris, London with more expansion expected.

Some other good news, this time re the Movie Hero , that movie I was involved with a few years back. It came out on DVD November 7th and is available at Netflix, Amazon, etc. I won't see a penny of any profits unless we sell about a million copies, but it's still a cool feeling. All the credit goes to Brad, I haven't lifted a finger on the film for probably 3 years. A lifetime ago.

Junk Jol

So I got that job offer last Friday, but can you believe HR still hasn't called me to officially offer it to me, begin salary negotiations, etc.?? Going on a second interview with Bank of New York today, and just sent off my CV for a job with Fortis because I really don't know what's going on with Euroclear... very strange.

Though not as strange as this... While wasting time online, predictably reading about football, I came across this in a profile of Martin Jol, the Dutch coach of Tottenham Hotspurs, one of the teams in the English Premier League.

"Martin Jol has 2 brothers, Cock (Cornelius) and Dick, who are both active in the world of football. Cock Jol is currently an overseas scout for Tottenham, whilst Dick Jol is a FIFA-accredited international referee, taking charge of the 2001 UEFA Champions League final."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Jol

What the f?? Cock and Dick?? They all speak English, they must know how that sounds. My only explanation is that those two are hung like horses, and unlucky Martin is more anatomically human, otherwise why wouldn't he be known as Package Jol or Junk Jol or something. Bizarre, but blogworthy.

Toodles,

Cock and Balls Sulaimani

Sara in the news

Sara was interviewed by an Ad magazine, and though she's trying to downplay it, it's cool that they wanted to speak with her. I've scanned the article to show it off because I'm really proud of her. She's been working her ass off, and it's been a difficult transition for in part because she's gone from having such a good network of colleagues and fellow art buyers in LA to being all by herself here, but it seems like she's coming into her own and starting to enjoy her work.

The article is in French, and I don't know if it's online somewhere, but I couldn't find it. I did find that the Eurostar campaign Sara worked on was named Campaign of the Month by the same magazine... pretty cool. Of course, she never mentioned it.

http://www.mm.be/fr/cotm.php?id=792&page=3

Here's the interview JPEG:



Also a couple of random photos from when my Mom was visiting.





I love this photo of Sara and the kids when we went to feed the ducks and swans at the park by our house. I think the kids were eating the old bread intended for the birds. You'd think we didn't feed them... the kids I mean. I think the birds did get fed in the end, after the kids had their fill. ;) The doctor today said Ethan has grown 4 cm in 4 months which is a lot I guess. Part of the reason he keeps getting sick is (besides snacking on old bread) because his body is using so much energy to enable the growth. He's been off of school since Tuesday afternoon with a chest, nose, ear and throat infection! Doc said he'll have to have his tonsils out this Spring/Summer, and then his sleeping and health will get better... a big relief. Sara and I have had to alternate sleeping with him while he's been sick and the kid doesn't sleep well at all... it's like has sleep apnea or something, and so he's constantly moving around, flopping around like a fish and kicking us in the back or ribs. Makes for an interesting night. Could be worse I guess - he could kick me in the... Then it really would be night night. Or, as he uses it daily, "But I don't wanna go nigh, nigh!"

I went in for the 4th interview with that bank today, ostensibly to take a writing test, and they told me they'll let me know Wednesday. I'm trying to remain positie, but I just think if they wanted me, they would have told me already. Perhaps this is just normal process, and the other guy (it's between me and some English bloke) is thinking the same thing as me. Had an interview with Whirlpool on Thursday that went really well I think, so that's an interesting possibility as well. I've read a lot about them, and they seem like a well-run company that is poised for significant growth as markets in E. Europe and Asia mature. Anyway, we shall see.

Nothing new

to report really. Will find out Friday about that bank job, and I have an interview on Thursday with an American multi-national, think it's Whirlpool, but the headhunter woman wouldn't tell me for sure, just the location and the industry. Certainly not my dream job, but with a big company like that, it could lead to a lot of opportunities to get into the Communications side where I think I'll probably end up, regardless of the company or my starting point.

Sick season has arrived already and with a vengeance. Sonia has a mild case of bronchitis, and Ethan came home sick today from school with a high fever. Part of the deal with having kids in creches, daycare, etc. Other than that, same old. Played 9 holes of golf today with a fellow unemployed husband, Petter, Swedish, good guy, helpful with my game, interesting to talk to. We both felt a little ridiculous out there being the only people under 60, like dandies really, but we're both actively job-hunting, and until we get the call from the Man, might as well enjoy ourselves and work on our games, which in my case could take the next couple of decades. We went to this course called Chateau de la Tournette in Nivelles, about 30 mins south of Brussels, not far from Waterloo. Really nice. Have 2 full 18's, one English, one American, and a 9 hole beginners course. We played the front 9 of the American. Really pretty and very challenging, especially with the putting. And I thought that was the one part of my game that was OK... yikes. Think I two-put maybe 1 or 2 holes, and the rest were 3 puts. Didn't play terribly overall, but had a couple of disastrous holes that really killed my round.

Photos of the last couple of weeks:

Went to visit the Waterloo Lion and Beersel Castle with our friends Eric and Jen and their daughter Cameron on the Saturday a couple of weekends ago and then the Boitsfort market on the Sunday for a picnic in the park. Sonia is finally walking, albeit trepidly. It's amazing the differences between Ethan and her. Ethan was walking at 11 months and running at about 12 months, and he can't sit still to save his life. Sonia is barely now walking at 16 months, and would love nothing more than to be in your arms and be cuddled for hours on end.


























Was starting to wonder about my Skins after the rough beginning to the season, but after the last couple of weeks, thinking maybe all is not lost. This week's game vs the Gints is huge. GO SKINS!

Ethan's 3rd Birthday and Job Searching cont...

Hi. Trying to keep the string of posting every couple of weeks going. Just a matter of discipline, as with most tasks, except this involves writing, so I shouldn't view it as a task really, and I don't. Sometimes I just don't have much to say. Sometimes.

My Mom came to visit for Ethan's birthday. Little guy had a party at his school last Friday with a "Speederman" cake. (that's how he pronounces Spiderman... with a little French accent, very cute, but yes, I will teach him the "correct" way soon Chuck). Then Friday night he had a party at our house with Sara's Mom and her friends, and then Saturday morning he had a party with all his little friends at a local indoor playground. I think it was a little much for him as he got a little testy, and neither he nor his equally-moody father were in the best of moods come Saturday post-party. It was a great weekend though, really nice to have my Mom here. Great that we're so close that she can pop over for a weekend and vice versa. Can't believe our little boy is 3! Photos:












Had that second interview with the bank/securities company, went really well, heard back today that the third and fourth interview will probably be Thursday or Friday of this week with the head of the legal department and then the CEO. The job isn't really an executive job, but I'll be basically the right hand on all internal communications for the board meetings, etc. and so interacting with all the execs, so I guess that's why they want to meet with me. The job is actually very interesting, and I really hope I get it. It involves writing and editing, and I'm interested in the content, so that helps.

The personality tests I've taken the last couple of months during my job searching basically told me I should be doing one thing in my life with my motivations and my skill set, and that is creating/writing. Out of hundreds of occupations, job tasks, the two things it recommended I pursue - international activities and writing, so maybe I should finally be honest with myself and listen. I am also really interested in economics and finance, even though i don't have the skills at present, I have the motivation, and this company/position would fit all the criteria I'm looking for, so I'm really hopeful this one works out.

I had applied for two other positions, one as a Counselor at a local high school here, but I didn't get a call back for an interview because of my lack of experience. I also interviewed for at an Asset Mgmt company focusing on Real Estate research, but I didn't get past the first round of interviews because of my age and my major. They're very personal here in interviews in that they will ask you for your age, how many kids you have, etc., and this guy was looking for someone in their mid-20's ideally with a Masters in Econ. Not me, but I thought I could make up for it with my passion for Real Estate, which I will always have, but I think it will just be a hobby, as an investment vehicle, if we get to the point hopefully where we can invest. Prices are going up here quickly, so we'll try to get in even on a small level before it gets too nuts and rates go up too much.

The Giants of Dendermonde 9.14.06

No, it's not my attempt at a Roald Dahl-ish title. A couple of weeks ago, we went out to this Flemish town about 40 mins outside Brussels, invited by a colleague, Chiara, from Sara's work. Chiara and her husband Peter and their daughter live in a Flemish town called Dendermonde, about 40 mins outside Brussels, and the town has this "procession of giants" on the last Thursday of August. It dates back to the 13th Century I think they said. See photos.

This is one of hundreds of festivals across Belgium. The Belgians LOVE their festivals. I think almost every little town/city has at least one a year. All these towns are autonomous places with their own history, completely separate from Brussels... really cool, really gives you a sense of place I think. This is the type of stuff that really separates Europe for me. You can recreate the food, the language, the art, the architecture even, but this kind of thing, a procession that dates back 800 years with generations and generations of a town having participated, that can't be recreated. It's cool for us and especially for the kids to be around, but then again, will we/they ever really feel like they're at home, like they belong in a place with such a long history that isn't like their history at all. That's one thing I worry about, in part because I always have to have something to be neurotic about. I know what you're thinking, and no, I donÂ’t know how Sara lives with me. Good thing I got her when she was young and my neuroses were charmingÂ… or something. Actually it was probably all the booze. Saw me through wine-cooler-colored glasses.





















This guy was like a goose shephard, the Pied Piper of Geese or something. He and one Border Collie had these geese completely in line. I think it blew Ethan's mind, this whole thing, with the giants and the geese, and everything really. His eyes were so wide open and his mouth agape the entire time. There was one part where all these older people were doing this impromptu stage type thing, drinking and singing and arguing, and Chiara told us that they were actually really drinking, and you could tell that a lot of them were trashed. We're talking about 60 and 70 year olds and maybe older stumbling through town, in front of everybody, shitfaced. Fantastic.

Also some photos from a couple of weekends ago in the Woluwe park on a beautiful sunny Sunday after having our neighbor, Sandra, and her kids, Alix and Maxim, over for lunch. Sandra is Dutch, but she lived in LA for 10+ years, so it's cool to have someone here who knows LA, though she doesn't have a particularly high opinion of it. When I first met her and found out she used to live in LA, I said, "Cool, nice place, huh?", and she responds "Oh god, no, AWFUL. Couldn't stand it." What do you say to that? One of many introductions to the notorious European bluntness. You get used to it, but at first coming from the US where people are generally positive and wait until you leave the room to say something negative, it takes a little getting used to. I actually like the direct route most of the time, but sometimes it really throws you off if you're not expecting it.

Also in photos are Soren and his kids. Soren is the Danish guy from down the street who let us use his and his wife's house in the South of France back in May. He's an attorney for the European Commission, and he was telling me about being at the WTO summit in St. Petersburg back in July, handling the entry negotiations with Russia. Must be fascinating work.







Speaking of work, I had a preliminary interview with a bank/securities clearinghouse today, waiting to hear back about a second interview. They told me to be prepared for 3-4 more interviews plus a test as well. I'd heard of the grueling bank hiring process, but this will be my first experience with it. Wish me luck!

The Month in Review 9.9.06

Grad School, Career Changes and Poo pretty much sums it up. But not necessarily in that order.

Ethan has twice in the last couple of months explored his artistic side, and Sara and I are very proud of his creativity. We have however decided to encourage he use materials like water-based paints, clay, etc., i.e. anything but his own fecal matter. Twice we've put him down for a nap and gone upstairs a few minutes later to check on him to find that he had painted the hallway, his bed, his door, the mirrors downstairs, literally everything in his path, in poo. FANTASTIC! I could post some really disgusting photos, but I won't... those we will keep until his first date, upon which we will unleash a photographic catalogue of his exploits in excrement.

Moving on... I'm officially set up to sell credit over here... this includes primarily mortgages, but also car loans, personal loans, etc., so that's exciting for me. I do enjoy that, and especially with rates still very low, though they can be expected to head up over the next couple of years. The real estate market is less exciting to me as an advisor or investor because I think it's becoming saturated and the gains may not justify the extremely high taxes on the front end. I think we will still invest, but in a much smaller scale (an apartment here, a duplex there) than we were initially planning. I'm also starting a part-time job at a company called DeVere and Parterns which is a financial advisory focusin on offshore investing for expats. The job itself isn't that exciting, but I'm planning to soak up a lot of information that I can use later on once I have my own financial advisory or something along those lines.

Lastly, I'm starting French classes twice a week through January, and a Post-Grad Certificate program in Treasury and Financial Risk Mgmt organized by the Belgian Finance Federation, Bankers Academy, etc. and depending on how it goes, maybe getting a Masters or something. We'll see where all of this leads me... I'm thinking now either my own full-service Financial Advisory, either as my primary business or on the side, OR working in a Risk Mgmt position with an Asset Mgr like a bank, hopefully eventually leading to getting involved in Microfinance both here and abroad and if (a big IF) things go well, starting my own bank one day. That is the ultimate goal, that and writing the Great American Screenplay, both probably years in the works, but one day maybe.

Gotta have goals, at least I do, otherwise I'd be very satisfied to drink Belgian beer, eat frites, watch football and play with the kids while I weather away in some dead-end job, writing once a month, kind of like I've been doing with this blog of late. I'm going to try and do at least a weekly posting, more for myself than anything, just to put down in writing what I've done this week, what I'm hoping to do next week, etc. I've got a gay little sign in my 'office' at home that says Be Proud of Everyday. I already said it was gay, but for me, it's important because when you don't have a traditional job to go to with goals and markers laid out for me, it's hard to track one's career, and I want to make sure I keep moving forward, never being satisfied with the status quo. Status Quo is boring, life-sapping, miserable.

Kids are good, Sonia's taking more and more steps, but still lacking confidence, we already covered Ethan's 'growth', and Sara is still enjoying work more, but apparently it's going to get crazy again. Claire, Dom and Ellie coming to visit in late October, my Mom's coming in a couple of weeks for Ethan's 3rd birthday, Eric, Jen and Cameron coming next weekend, looking forward to having a full house. We just booked our trip to DC for Christmas, it'll have been over a year since we have been in the US by then... Looking forward to seeing the family and meeting my sister's newest family member, due in November, reconnecting with our Americanness, which includes in no specific order, watching my Skins, eating Chipotle, drinking American milk, and not having to worry about people not understanding me and vice versa.

The World's Gone Crazy. Again. 08/10/06

Actually it's been crazy for a while now, but this shit at Heathrow today and in the Middle East the past few weeks just reminds us all what a truly fucked up world we live in... and we for the most part are spectators, what's it like to be a participant.

I don't know if maybe I was oblivious before or maybe I had too many choices when it came to media, but I feel like I'm much more in the middle of things over here. I think that's for a couple of reasons. 1. The BBC is superior to CNN when it comes to really delving into topics, really asking hard questions, being able to stay on an issue and not lose momentum because they don't have to cut every 3 and a half minutes to a commercial. Nothing against commercials, I happen to be very fond of someone in the industry, but when it comes to news, it just doesn't fit... issues are complicated, the world is complicated, and limiting us to soundbites and 2 minute reports from the "front lines" doesn't allow time for the in-depth reporting necessary with the state of our world today. 2. There's something about being on a land mass that is connected to the Middle East, India, Russia, China, Afghanistan, and if it weren't for a sliver of water south of Spain, the whole continent of Africa. 3. I'm sure I'm being naiive and idealistic here, but Brussels is a place, like DC, which draws people to the possibility of change... the countless NGO's, all the government programs (Brussels has 4 governments active here- it is the capital of the EU, the city of Brussels has it's own gov't, and the Flemish and Walloon governments have offices here, along with the 19 communes of the city... can you say bureaucracy?), all the international and multi-lingual people, really can't help rub off on you and makes me feel like I should be a part of it, but honestly what I see here that mosts interests me are the business and real estate opportunities. It's such a difficult place to do business, most people give up because they don't think it's worth it, and after my limited experience here so far, they might have a point, but I'm going to keep plugging away until I (officially) lose my marbles.

I know though that if I do make it, I will give back. Number one priority though is supporting my family, and that's the quest I'm on now, to find the next opportunity, especially as the mortgage biz in the US has landed in the shitter.

Sara and kids are doing well, despite the crap weather. Put it this way, August 11th, and I almost wanted to put the heat on this morning. It's been raining for days straight, with no end in sight. Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens must have never spent a summer in Brussels. I think our friends Chuck & Deb who are coming from LA to visit us are going to be in for a rude surprise. Enough bitching. It was 90 degrees and sunny for about 2 weeks straight, and I was complaining then too.

Kids are growing up fast, Sonia's almost walking, Ethan turns 3 in a couple of months, talk about crazy. Photos:


"Is there something on my face?"

































The helpful big brother.












Umm, no comment.

























On a play/dad date at the Airplane/Military museum at Cinquantinaire.



Ethan at the Planckendaal Zoo