The Year That Was 2008

Goodness! It seemed that 2008 went even faster than 2007, just like Usain Bolt setting 3 world records at the Beijing Olympics this year. And weren't those sprints a sight to watch! I had my money on Bolt to break those records, and man he didn't disappoint me. I reckon those records will be standing for quite a while, I just hope he is not on drugs! But now it's time to slow down, time to reflect, ponder and contemplate. As a final post for 2008, I would like to reflect on the year - the great times, the good times, the bad times and the ugly times. So here's a rundown of what happened this year.

There were many events in 2008, NZ and abroad, which I will remember for many years to come. The death of Sir Edmund Hillary, the inaugural Indoor Premier League Twenty20 competition with Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals winning on the very last ball, the very successful Beijing Olympics, the NZ Warriors almost dream run to the NRL final before falling to the eventual winners of the competition, the Kiwis stunning victory in the Rugby League World Cup over our favourite enemy, the first black president of the United States, the end of Helen Clark as Prime Minister, and last but not least, the deepening of the global financial crisis which has caused widespread redundancies and losses in many industries, such as Chrysler, Toyota, and Woolworths in the UK. Perhaps the most sobering event for me was the Elim Christian College tragedy, where six pupils and a teacher lost their lives in a canyoning tragedy. Every time I read an article in the paper, or saw news coverage on TV, about the incident, I couldn't help being moved inside. I don't know why that event moved me so much. Perhaps it was the compassion, grace and humanity of Elim Christian College principal, Murray Burton, who was later (and rightly so) named New Zealander of the year by North and South magazine. In the most challenging and tragic circumstances, he displayed true leadership and brought people together without anger or blame. Isn't that someone you want to aspire to?

So what about me? Unlike previous years, I didn't really set myself a list of goals to achieve in 2008. There was only one goal, and that was to embark on that great Kiwi OE to the UK. That goal was conceived in 2006, planned in 2007, and, I'm glad to report, successfully implemented 2008. Having been in the works for over two years, it's been a long time coming. And now that I'm in the UK I can finally say Great Success! But only having one goal, the rest of the usual goals had to be placed on the back seat as heading overseas was so important to me. No marathons, no new interests, and still no Sun Certified Java Developer certification which I resolved to complete before I left NZ! It just didn't happen.

However I did manage to complete the Auckland Half Marathon this year through someone else's entry being transferred to my name, and while I didn't run a personal best, I did manage a solid time with 2 weeks of training. I was hoping for a personal best, but as I reported earlier that wasn't going to happen in 2 weeks. Simply put, I didn't put in the miles, and miles produce champion runners. I hope to put in more miles in 2009?

On the Toastmasters front, my Toastmasters experience has grown to higher levels. During the 2007-2008 year I had the privilege of leading my Toastmasters club as club President. I earned my Competent Leader award, made the club a Presidents Distinguished Club (the highest distinction ever given to a club), and completed one of two of my advanced speech manuals. The manual I completed was Special Occasions speeches, so if you ever need someone to speak at a wedding, anniversary, farewell party, I'm your man! Now that I'm overseas, I hope to find a Toastmasters club in my area so I can complete the other advanced manual, which will allow me to get my Advanced Communicator Bronze award. At the moment, Toastmasters is taking a break as I settle in my new country. The distinction given to our club would not have been possible without the hard work of all the members and the leadership displayed by the committee. For that, I thank you for your effort, no matter how big or small your contribution was.

On the work front, I'm now an Implementation Consultant for my company. I think it's much cooler being called a consultant than being called a software developer or an integration consultant. The former is too geeky, the latter is too confusing. A change in job title has inspired me to rename my blog to "The Consultant". Sounds much cooler than "Two Cents On Anything And Everything", don't you think? The change in job title was a result of going overseas where only consultants roamed the region. Developers only stayed in the Land of the Long White Cloud never to leave unless they give up their developer responsibilities. After 2-3 years of developing software, I found it didn't really push my buttons. So I decided to take my career down the consulting path, and figured that working for my company in a different country (and going on the big kiwi OE to see the world) would be a great idea! It also meant that I wouldn't have to find work in a new country, which could give me all sorts of headaches. I was extremely lucky that my company agreed to transfer me over to the region, job all lined up for me when I arrived. It didn't happen overnight, in fact the entire process took 10 months, but it did happen.

Which leads me to my UK visa application. What an utter shambles, and curse my bad luck at applying at the worst possible time when British Home Office were overhauling their HSMP requirements. In New Zealand, the old HSMP regulations were still in effect at the time, so I applied under the old rules not fully knowing when the new Tier-1 regulations would be introduced. The new regulations would potentially speed up application processing time, and in hindsight I should have applied under the new rules as the application turnaround would be faster. I had no idea that applying under the old rules would take British Home Office nearly 5 months to successfully process my HSMP letter. So while I twiddled my thumbs, Home Office sat on my application from April to September. Finally they pulled finger, processed my application and gave me an approval letter. The approval letter allowed me to get entry clearance, which took an extra month to process. Had I applied under Tier-1 regulations, the entire thing would have been over and done with in 2 months, the only problem was that it wasn't clear when New Zealand would be adopting the new rules. The waiting was over in mid-October, and it took me 1 more month to tie up any loose ends in New Zealand, before I kissed her goodbye.

But I did manage to visit the UK twice while the visa application was in process, an indication of just how long the process really took. The first visit was a week-long visit to attend IHE Connectathon in Oxford; the second was a 2-month stint as a consultant on loan from New Zealand to satisfy the region's short term resourcing problems. It was then that I was originally intending to move over, but the visa wasn't ready by then. With no visa I couldn't officially work in the UK. But now I'm officially here, and I think I'm settling in fine, albeit slowly. I've decided to stay in Reading while I find my feet, and hopefully when the time is right I'll make the move to London. The only problem I can see with moving to London is that the place I am staying in in Reading is really nice, I fear I might get too comfortable, which means it could be even harder to move to London.

Making preparations to move overseas meant that everything else had to take a back seat. I didn't run as much as I would have liked. I had to quit the gym, which I have been a member of for the past 3 years. Cooking and DIY have again fallen off the 2008 radar, however being in the UK meant that I'm living more independently now, so these could feature more prominently next year. Despite cooking a few meals at my new home, my cooking skills are still limited to rice, noodles, eggs and mince meat. A couple of new interests have cropped up, most notably snowboarding and table tennis, which I am keen to expand on in the new year. But the most disappointing was that I didn't even make headway into my Sun Certified Java Developer certification. I purchased the assignment in late 2007, resolved to finish it before my departure, and didn't even come close. Thankfully there is no time limit to completing the assignment, and I really have to start laying into it while I am here in the UK.

So that basically sums up what I've done this year. In a traditional goal-setting sense, this year was a shocker, but for me it was about the OE. And I succeeded in that respect. I managed to get to the UK, but I had to sacrifice everything else that went with it. With travel being so important to me, the other goals were just peripheral. Apart from that, I've ran a half marathon, improved my public speaking and managed to pick up a couple of new interests which I can take into the new year.

So what does 2009 have in store for me? Undoubtedly more challenges at work, hopefully more travel opportunities, new interests and scope for personal improvement. Now that I'm in Europe I really want to see and do as much as I can, but right now my mind is whizzing at a rate of knots trying to make sense of everything here in this country and deciding what to do and where to go. I've realised the best I can do for now is to settle down and find my feet first, which I am currently doing. Once I've found my groove I will start planning all the different destinations and activities that I want to cover for 2009 and beyond. Not sure which countries will feature first, but let's say that a marathon might come into play somewhere. Europe has many prestigious marathons, and often they are very difficult to enter, and if I could run at least one of these marathons I could proudly say to other runners that I ran Paris, Berlin or London.

Well I'll leave it there for now. You'll definitely be hearing more from me again in future. I've given this blog a new look and title, and I hope to keep this updated regularly now that I've started my adventures in Europe, but effective blogging does take time and effort. I hope that you have gotten the most out of 2008. And I hope that in 2009 you will continue to grow and prosper, and even challenge yourself to do something you never thought of doing before. And if you're thinking of travel, consider doing some time in another country to broaden your horizons. If travel isn't on the cards, then hopefully you will be content in your home country, still growing, learning and improving. I wish you all a great 2009!

Being German For One Day

Shamelessly ripped from ChristmasSprite

Germany is home to many beautiful Christmas traditions. In fact, many of the American Christmas traditions originated there. The Christmas season in Germany starts at the beginning of Advent, which is four Sundays before Christmas Day. In fact, Advent wreaths are one of the many symbolic German Christmas traditions. These wreaths are decorated with four candles around the outer circle and with one large candle in the middle. The four outer candles symbolize the 4,000 years that the world had to wait for Christ’s coming. One candle is lit the first Sunday of Advent with two being lit the second Sunday and so on. The large candle in the center is lit on Christmas Day.

Guten Abend! When I moved into my new place, I was intrigued by a wreath decoration on the coffee table with four large red candles around the outer circle. What struck me even more was that only one candle was lit. A small glow from a sole candle illuminated the dim room. Tina explained to me that, in German tradition, each candle is lit on each Sunday before Christmas Day. So the candle that was lit on the day I moved in marked the first of four Sundays before Christmas Day, or Advent Sunday. So, if I ever need to remember the first day of my tenancy, I'll just casually say Advent Sunday. The first Sunday of Advent was 30th November where a single candle is lit, the second Sunday was 7th December where two candles are lit, and so on. At the time it mostly washed over my head, and all I remembered at the time was it was a German thing.

And so I (mostly) observed Tina lighting each candle each Sunday, all the way to Sunday 14th where three candles were lit. However, midweek, Tina left for Deutschland to be with her loved ones over the Christmas season, leaving an uneducated Kiwi bloke-cum-consultant at home alone with the Advent wreath. With her not around, who was going to light the final candle? Surely not the uneducated Kiwi bloke-cum-consultant! This person doesn't even know the tradition, the protocols, or what it really means to light those candles. And if he did, he'd likely set the house on fire!

Days passed. And I thought about that final candle on the Advent wreath. It was taller than the other candles. The wick was still white having not being lit up. How did I notice these minor details? The final candle obstructs my view of the TV from where I normally sit! I didn't dare move the Advent wreath to another place on the coffee table, in case someone might notice and give me an earful. And I was far too comfortable in my normal seat to move to another seat. But if the candle shrank a few inches in height from the burning process then I could get an uninterrupted view of the box. What a great idea! I had to act quickly though; the Sunday before Christmas Day was going by very fast and there was still no one around to light that final candle.

So I did some research. I googled "german tradition 4 candles christmas" and came across ChristmasSprite. And from that site, I finally realised the significance of the Advent Wreath. I also googled "advent wreath" and finally learned a bit of the history and symbolism behind it.

Plucking up some courage, I resolved to light the final candle, Sunday 21st December, 5:00 pm. It wasn't the time I was required to light the candle by tradition; it was just a round hour I decided on, it was the time I finished my research and days in the UK are normally dark before 5:00 pm. One by one, I lit those candles for the final time, from the first Sunday to the next, until I reached that final untouched candle. With Tina not around to do it, I felt really happy to continue on her behalf. I felt like I had found a new sense of Christmas cheer within me.

So what have I learned from this moment?

Coming from a place where Christmas is celebrated in the summer around a barbeque, a swimming pool and loads of beer, I was never aware of Advent wreaths and their significance to Christmas. I have never even heard of Advent Sunday before. From what I've seen in New Zealand, people do display wreaths, and other decorations, around and outside the house. But I think in an average kiwi household, Advent wreaths aren't displayed on coffee tables. And maybe it is less likely that they would observe each Sunday leading up to Christmas Day by lighting each candle. In a recent New Zealand Herald poll, the question posed to readers was What does Christmas mean to you? The majority of voters chose family ahead of the birth of Christ. It's interesting to note that both New Zealand and Germany have Christianity as the largest religious denomination, yet the Germans seem to take it one step further; when celebrating the birth of Christ, they light candles on the Advent wreath. I suppose it's not a kiwi thing to do. In some ways, and lots of people say this time and time again, this shows how much culture and history Aotearoa really has!

I suppose in some ways, having grown up in New Zealand all my life, I have been insulated from all these cultures and traditions, partly because of my unwillingness to learn, partly because these things aren't really recognised in New Zealand. Hence why I described myself as an uneducated kiwi bloke-cum-consultant! But now I'm here in Europe on my OE, and living with a German lady has exposed me to a little bit of German Christmas tradition. Learning about Advent Sunday and the Advent Wreath was the first step I've made in learning about these ancient Christmas traditions from other countries. I would never have gathered this if I was still in New Zealand. In saying that, a kiwi Christmas involving barbeques and pavlova would be completely foreign to those in the northern hemisphere, just as a white Christmas and the lighting of candles is completely foreign to a kiwi like myself.

So, as a final act, and in an attempt to be more cultured, I lit the final candle. I intend to leave all four candles burning, until the end of Sunday, or until I can see the TV uninterrupted.

Here's a couple of pictures of our Advent wreath, with all four candles lit, in its full glory! The first picture has that holy glow effect, which I think is quite fitting for the Christmas season.


Auf Wiedersehen!

Starting Over

Well, I've made it here to the UK, at last.

Having no commitments in NZ, it was the perfect time to go on the big kiwi OE. I could have done it much earlier, but some circumstances made it inappropriate to do so. And now that time was nearly running out, I finished everything I had in NZ and seized the opportunity with hands, feet and teeth before it got too late.

And now I'm here, and sometimes I have to pinch my arm to really convince myself that I am in the UK. Sometimes I have to take a little bit longer to look at things around me for my mind to register that I am in the UK. Though I do have the odd dream where images of home, family and friends flash in my mind.

Today marks 1 month of life away from NZ. The first month of life in a foreign country is actually very difficult. Rather than asking myself what country I want to visit and what places I want to see, I first had to cope with where to live, where to go to get things, money, bank accounts, national insurance, and buying items that you normally take for granted at home, e.g. a coat hanger, stationery items, etc. Fortunately I kept my wits, had time to get accustomed, getting my belongings (new and existing) in order, and generally starting life over again. At the moment I have done no travelling, just surviving and settling in, which takes more time than you think!

I'm currently based in Reading, which is a temporary arrangement just so that I can get settled in. I'm very keen to live in London as that is where all the action is. The place that I am currently staying in in Reading is very nice, a godsend! I am glad that I found it. If I could find a place like that in London I would be extremely happy.

Now that I've gotten myself the bare essentials of living in the UK, I've more or less started to live life again. I recently bought myself a pair of running shoes, and went for my first training run. I have entered Berkshire's premier road race, the Reading Half Marathon, and I am keen to do very well in it. But perhaps looking at the bigger picture, and one of the reasons in doing my OE in Europe, is that I can run those big marathons in all those big cities around Europe. London, Paris, Berlin, Rotterdam, the possibilities are endless. These marathons are run by the most elite runners in the world, which puts Auckland to shame. They are difficult to get into, but I can enter if I was given the chance. A great way to visit neighbouring countries and doing the sightseeing in the city holding the marathon.

I'm also very keen to get into the Indoor Cricket scene over here, and perhaps play the outdoor game as well. Indoor Cricket is quite difficult to find, but I have one or two places to check out. And I'd like to take up new activities and expand my interests. I have decided to take up snowboarding, something I've always wanted to do back home. There's so many things I want to do, and the thought of it can be overwhelming, especially when I'm still occupied with starting a new life in the UK. I have to keep telling myself: slowly, slowly, slowly, you will get there in time.

As for how long I would be staying here, well the visa is for 3 years. So I return to NZ in 2011, just in time for the Rugby World Cup held in Auckland. However, looking at the bigger picture again, I would like to stay here for the required 5 years to get residency in the UK, and a British passport which my children (if I have any) could possibly use. It's a tough decision, and one that I won't be making lightly.

That's basically my first month here in the UK. I have another month to go before I pass the mark as the longest time period I have spent in a foreign country. Will celebrate this occasion with a visit to the local pub. Or a quiet drink at home with my lovely housemate, Tina.

Finally, the title of this blog post was inspired by DEEN, a long-running popular music group in Japan, with their track also titled Starting Over.

Not Quite, But At Least I Did It My Way

Last Sunday, I ran the New Zealand's premier road race for the 3rd time, the Auckland Marathon. Unfortunately I wasn't able to run the full, so by virtue of someone elses injury problems, I managed to get an entry to run the half marathon.

I wasn't sure what time I would be aiming for and what I was capable of. I indicated on my entry form that I would get 2:00:00, but considering the intense training that I did over 2 weeks, 1:45:00 was a long shot. In the end, I ran 1:52:16. This is my second best half marathon time, 5 minutes outside my personal best. Not bad for 2 weeks training, but I felt I could have done better.

I started pretty fast during the early stages race, probably the fastest splits I have run in a half marathon race. I felt quite comfortable, but after passing each kilometre marking, I was running at approximately 5:20 splits. This was way too slow to achieve 1:45:00, so my aspirations at completing the half marathon in 1:45:00 went down the toilet by around the 5 km mark. Trying to beat my personal best time of 1:47:08 was also out of the equation at the pace I was running. Perhaps I could get under 1:50:00.

Then the unthinkable happened. Kilometre 9 saw me virtually lame. I encountered an intense stabbing pain in the solar plexus region, like someone stabbed me in the stomach. It wasn't like a runners stitch, and I have never felt this kind of pain whilst running. Every deep breath basically made the pain worse, as if someone twisted the knife deeper, so I was forced to walk for a few hundred metres. I felt as if time was slipping away from me fast. Eventually I managed to start jogging again, but the pace was considerably slower, and the pain didn't subside quickly enough. At one point I even thought my stomach was blocked!

I got to the 10 km mark in just under 53 minutes, 3 minutes outside my intended race pace. It was going to be a very big ask to set a personal best, but 1:50:00 was still within reach. But the pain in my stomach region wasn't helping things, and I was running slightly slower than I wanted. I figured the pain was probably due to the Leppin shot I took at kilometre 6, so I tried ingesting a lot of fluid, but that didn't really help things.

Then the bigger hills started to open up just before the Harbour Bridge. Normally I would accelerate up hills, but this time I had very little bounce. The Harbour Bridge, which I absolutely devoured in the marathon last year, reduced me to a mere shuffle and I was starting to get tired. On the downgrade of the bridge, I started getting cramps in both of my gastrocnemius (in layman's terms, that is your upper calf muscle responsible for generating strength and power). Alarmed at the pain, I altered my running style, which caused me to run even slower. I was afraid that if I did use the full range of motion in my stride I would cramp up again. By the time I passed 17 km, the watch said 1:30:00. That was 20 minutes for 4.1 remaining kilometres. It was a pretty tall order!

And so it was. Though I managed to stave away further cramps in my legs, I was running at reduced pace. I tried to make a sprint for the finish with around 1.5 km to go, but the finishing kick was way too early and I got tired too easily, which forced me to walk for around 15 seconds to catch my breath. Too many people were passing me at this stage. I just gritted my teeth and tried to run hard towards the finish. 1:50:00 was now not on the cards, so I had to settle for a respectable time as close to 1:50:00 as possible. The finish line was in sight dead straight ahead and I started to run hard. With around 3 metres to go to the finish line, I slowed down to a walk, raised both arms in the air as if I had won, and crossed the finish line. It may have cost me a few seconds, but I had to do that in order to finish on a high what had been an average race for me.

After the race, there was a marquee set up by my company, where BBQ food and cold drinks were on offer to replenish those tired runners. The sun started to shine, and it was a great feeling to lie on the grass in the warm sun, relaxing after a very hard running effort.

Looking back at my race performance on the day, I have a strong idea what went wrong, and how it tied back to my preparation for the race. It basically came down to insufficient training. Points to note are:

• Not enough mileage. The total distance that I ran in training was only 90 km. That is pretty poor preparation. Overall I had 9 days worth of running, and if I was to do well, I needed more time and more mileage.
• Not enough variety. I only did track work which focused on speed, and a couple of tempo runs on the road. There was very little hill running at all. That might explain how I was so flat climbing the Harbour Bridge.
• No training with Leppin shots. This was the first time that I took a Leppin shot while running. I should have done this earlier in training, rather than on race day, to see if it would affect my running in any way. The pain in my stomach may have been caused by a Leppin shot and unfortunately caused me a great deal of pain on race day. If I had practiced taking Leppin shots in training, I may have detected this earlier, and would have come up with some ways to mitigate this.

All in all, the training wasn't a complete write-off. I still managed my second best half marathon time. And it certainly brought me back to some old running form. Whether I can keep this up is another story.

Please Let Me Run Just One More Time

Tomorrow I will run Auckland's premier road race for the 3rd time, the Auckland Marathon. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to train for the marathon, so this year I've settled to running just 21 km.

But the remarkable thing was that I only entered this event two weeks ago, considering that entries sold out nearly two months ago. There is a limit to the number of runners competing in this event, and each year the entries just sell out faster and faster. A colleague at work had to pull out, and I saw it as a chance for me to take part in this prestigious event before I leave NZ. How cool would it be to run over The Bridge one final time! I arranged to get his entry transferred under my name, and now I'm a registered runner.

With that, I only had two weeks to train, and the fact that I've never run more than 10 km since the start of the year made completing a half marathon a near impossibility. So for two weeks, I undertook a super-charged training regime. If you watched the Rocky series, you would have seen Rocky Balboa undergo insane training in preparation for a big boxing fight, e.g. running in the snow, doing squats with heavy weights, lifting huge barrels above his head, punching a dead carcass as a punching bag in an abattoir. Add the Rocky theme music with it, and you have one of the most inspirational scenes in film history.

And in doing my training, I felt a lot like Rocky getting ready for my big fight. The fast tempo runs, the mile repeats, the V02 sprints that left me reeling over in pain - all quality sessions that maximised my output in the least amount of time available.

When I filled out the entry form, I indicated that I would complete the half marathon in 2 hours. My personal best is 1:47:08, and when I started training I thought there was no hope of breaking that. But now that I've finished possibly the hardest training programme I've ever set myself, I dared to dream. Having survived that harsh programme, I believe I could get close to my personal best, and even set myself a new personal best. I know it's a slim chance, and even if I got 1:47:09, 1:50:00 or 2:00:00 tomorrow I would be happy to know that I still tried.

It's going to be a fun day tomorrow, no matter what time I get. I will take part in Auckland's premier road race again this year. I will get to run over The Bridge one more time. And I will try to run hard and finish strong.

The Visa Has Landed

After around 6 months, I finally got a UK visa. A page on my passport has got the stamp of approval.

It was a long time coming. I applied under the HSMP category (because I'm a skilled migrant, of course), and at the time the rules and regulations were going through a big overhaul. Unfortunately I applied under the old rules for the HSMP category, meaning my application had to be processed by the British Home Office in the UK. They spent 5 LONG MONTHS processing applications that were lodged before mine (about 2 months worth of applications). Finally they reached my application, and in a matter of days, they gave me a letter stating that I was approved under the HSMP scheme.

Woohoo. I finally got a letter stating that I can apply for entry clearance. So I submitted another application for entry clearance, this time to the British High Commission in Wellington, New Zealand. Fortunately, their application turnover was much faster than British Home Office. In just 3 weeks, I got my passport back, complete with a page sized stamp.

At last I have a visa. I can get a job (well I already have one), I can get paid in pounds, I can stay in the UK for 3 years. But the wait was more than I could bear. The new HSMP scheme, named Tier-1, was implemented shortly after I lodged my HSMP application. The advantage of Tier-1 is that applications do not need to be processed in the UK, and there is only one application step, as opposed to the two-stage application procedure I was required to undertake.

Talk about unfair! Especially when a few people I know applied for UK visas under the new Tier-1 scheme, and got their visas in a matter of weeks. Oh, the injustice of it all!

Whirlwind Prelude

Okay, so I haven't blogged at all lately since I got my cool new toy. That's because I was living it up in the UK on a prelude to my highly anticipated OE.

It all started when I was required to head over to the region. This was at the time when my preparations for my OE were just about to begin; my visa wasn't ready and I hardly had a chance to do some research on where I will be settling. Without much time, I had to drop everything and go immediately. Not the ideal way to close up shop at home.

For most of my time, I stayed in a city called Reading. It was around 40 miles outside of London, and takes around 30 minutes by fast train to London Paddington station. Originally Reading was to be the city that I had intended to settle in, with the cheaper rents, close proximity to the office and easy access to London. But having stayed there for a few weeks, Reading hasn't really captivated me, and so I have decided to look elsewhere to settle. Since I wanted to live close to London, the only other location was London herself. When I first visited London on my first trip to the UK, I found London to be daunting and overwhelming. However during my constant weekend visits to London, my perception of the beautiful city changed. It is vibrant, and there is something for everyone here. The rent will be more expensive than Reading, but having thought about it a lot and fully internalised it all, I'm convinced that London is the place for me. There is the commute to Reading, but I'm lucky that I am not required to work from the office everyday.

For client site visits, I spent two weeks in Glasgow, Scotland. And I managed to tour most of the country too. I was lucky to go to Edinburgh, Loch Ness and Inverness during the weekend that I was in Scotland. Glasgow is a nice city, at the city centre level. Once you head to the outskirts, the city becomes quite run-down. Glasgow had a maligned history around 30 years ago, with all sorts of social and economic problems, and much of the effects of these problems are still seen in some of the run-down areas. It was only around 10-15 years ago that Glasgow has really started to pick up its image.

Without my visa, I was still remunerated in my local currency. And it was pretty hard surviving on NZ currency, it was fortunate that I can get almost everything paid for. However, it was the uncertainty of everything that was difficult for me - living out of the suitcase, always moving from hotel to hotel, not knowing where I'll be staying or what I'll be doing.

Last week I came back in NZ. My prelude to the UK had come to a slightly abrupt end. Hopefully with my visa coming in 1-2 months, it will give me a degree of certainty about what I can do in the UK and where I can live in London. I am so hoping for that visa to come soon, and really get my OE started. And even though the visa is taking nearly 5 months and counting, the thought of going on an OE to the UK has been a dream of mine for nearly 3 years, and counting.

It's been a long time coming!

Joining the iPod generation

Okay, so far I've resisted the urge to buy an mp3 music player. With all the mp3 players out there, I just couldn't see a reason to get on . Apple, Microsoft, Creative, Sony, each came with their own reasons to buy or not to buy. The iPod, perhaps the front runner of mp3 players these days, was blatantly thrown in my face, with its sexy features and innovative Apple design, but still I didn't give in to their brand and funky advertising.

But today, I've finally succumbed to temptation, and in anticipation of my impending overseas experience, my collection of music, videos and pictures must come with me.

I did the unthinkable! I bought an iPod! A 16GB iPod Touch, to be exact!

The decision on what type of iPod to buy was quite easy. I had a bunch of music, videos, and pictures to take with me, so an iPod Nano wasn't going to be enough, especially adding content to it. The wi-fi capabilities of the iPod Touch look amazing, and could come in handy, especially if I needed to access Google or if I wanted to see the latest clips on YouTube. All in all, a pretty sexy toy to have.

The bad thing? Price! The 32GB version, which was the version that I decided to get, amounts to nearly $750. But the store that I went to ran out of 32GB versions, and stocks were expected to come in 7 days. I leave the country in 7 days! Rather than wait, I opted for the 16GB version and also got a discount as well! I figure 16GB is enough for me, my collection of music, video and pictures isn't that big.

I've been converted. I've conformed to the masses of people of who own mp3 players.

Big Changes

First off, apologies for not updating this blog for such a long time. Things just happen and happen, and it's no surprise that everything got so out of control, I haven't had time to blog anything.

Big changes, in a nutshell. The biggest change is that I may be heading overseas as early as next month, to start my OE. I am excited, and apprehensive about the whole thing. Excited, as in I get to live in another country. But apprehensive, as in what happens if the whole thing goes to crap?

A couple of months ago, I applied for a UK visa under the HSMP category. I just received news that the Home Office are taking ages to process applications, and it's unlikely I will get my visa processed by the time I originally anticipated (early July). Now the company desperately needs people in July, and the only way to meet that need is if I go without my visa. This means that I will need to return home and get my visa, before heading to the UK again. This short trip to the UK means I can look around for the best places to settle before finally committing to a single location where I'll be based. It will be a great introduction to the lifestyle over there.

Of course I had an introduction before, when I went to Oxford in April as part of representing my company at IHE Connectathon. I was only there for 8 days, which was hardly enough time to look around and meet various friends over there. But it was enjoyable, and our presence at IHE Connectathon was a great success.

I will be waiting in anticipation as to whether I am able to go next month. All signs point to yes.

Oxford bound

No I'm only heading there for 2 weeks. I've been asked to go to Oxford as part of an event, called Connectathon.

Basically Connectathon is an event where all these different vendors meet up, and they see which software "connects" with the most external systems. Or so I'm told. That's basically all I know about it at the moment. I fly up in April, so that leaves me a month to find out more about the in's and out's of Connectathon

I'm pretty happy to have been chosen. I haven't been to Oxford before, let alone any country in Europe, and it will be a chance to see how it is before I go there for the long term. Too bad I don't have much time up there for sightseeing and travel. It's purely business.

Now a Competent Leader

Happy Chinese New Year, and hope the year of the Rat will bring you good health, wealth and fortune.

Now that's out of the way, I've been quiet on the blogging lately. I shall provide an update on all fronts.

Firstly, I have now earned my Competent Leader award. This was possible under the old rules which are now on the out by June 2008. All I needed to do were 2 educational speeches, as I've already earned my Competent Communicator award, served as president of the club, been to officer training and prepared a club success plan. No need to go through an entirely different manual, which could take longer to complete. So, now I've earned another Toastmasters award in quick time. Woo hoo.

Secondly, I'm now working on my Sun Certified Java Developer assignment, and it's like opening up a can of worms. Sooooo many design decisions, assumptions and questions as the specification is so vague. Kind of like a work situation I suppose. Hopefully plan to finish the whole thing by April. Watch this space!

Thirdly, I've received a new toy, a Sony Cybershot DSC-T70 digital camera, to replace my Nikon Coolpix S3. Now I'm not much of a camera expert, but it's seems the Sony Cybershot is probably better than the Nikon Coolpix after I read some reviews and ratings of the product. The Sony Cybershot has a touch screen to interact with the camera functions, kind of like how the iPhone/iPod Touch works. I'm not a big fan of using a touch screen (I hate to leave fingermarks on a nice camera), so I'm using the supplied touch pen/pointer thingy that came with the camera as a way to avoid staining the nice screen.

Ciao!