The plan to get my shit together and move to Holland is coming along nicely. Trina was right, once I got my ticket booked, things started falling into place. It's almost like magic, but not quite. Subconsciously, I think we all make an effort to get our lives onto the direction we want it to go.
After sending out a few emails and what not, and getting generally positive replied, I've established that there is no shortage of design jobs in Holland, far from it. There's a whole variety of work in design if you're good and you want to do it. From what I gather, the focus in that region of Europe is primarily graphic design. Not so much animation work, but there's a fair about of film/documentary stuff as well.
Also, the Dutch, being traders by nature (which is something they will tell you multiple times a day until you link trading with Dutchness; or should it be the other way around? ) Anyway, they have managed to keep their economy healthy, so the aftermath of the GFC in Holland is not something I'm particularly worried about. Frankly, I'm not feeling the GFC as much as I thought I would feel it back in 2008. In fact I'm glad that people have stopped ostentatiously splashing money about.
So far, prospects look good.
In preparation, I've also started making lists of stuff I needed to complete, and was quite glad to realize that most of the things are on 'finishing' status. That leaves around 3 more weeks to make some new shit, then put everything together and start applying for work.
I'm kind of hoping to get freelance jobs more than anything, because that means I'm not really tied down and will have the freedom to do random things, like MGM's idea to enter us into the Amazing Race Asia.
I'm actually quite keen on the idea. I don't think there's anyone else I would rather enter the race with. It's a match made in heaven. Possible CIA agent (nobody knows this for sure, not even MGM) and once-notorious sex blogger and actress of art-house porn. Is that good value or what. All I need now is to practice climbing a few rock walls and we're set to win.
Who knows. I'm going ahead with the Holland plans, and just going to wait and see what happens with the application for TAR.
Showing posts with label holland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holland. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Friday, February 05, 2010
Guts vs Money.
So, while planning this move to Holland, I have sent my dear friend Trina a message to ask for some advice on "just packing up and going" with a lot of guts and very little money. I have met several people like that in the last few years. One of them was a girl from Siberia who moved to Budapest on exchange... and never went back. If you think your luck is though, some other people have it tougher. And they make it anyway. All you need is a whole lotta guts, a lot of determination... and a ban from Facebook.
Here is Trina's advice for cute girls in the artistic/writer industry that just wanna pack up shop where ever in the world they are and GO.
1) Book a ticket. a lot of things will fall into place once you've decided to go.
2) In Holland (or whatever country X), get out there!!! attend events, functions, get inspired, party, and make contacts, socialize and figure out what exactly you want to do first, either by doing all sorts of random things or talking to everyone. i'm lucky cuz nyc has all sorts of trade shows for fashion, which is where i get contacts. partying is important too!! all the contacts i get is from random basis! there are many jobs in the world which spore doesn't have, esp creative side... just try to get exposed to the existence of them first.
-- LOOK GOOD. seriously. see how the people in that industry dress up and step up to those standards... it's all superficial, at least in NYC, and people need to know that they're talking to a professional. not sure how Holland is though, but Europe is generally more chill.
2) WORK on your portfolio!!! Once you've figured out what you want to showcase, make specific ports for whatever industry. Don't just put out general work from school and expect employers to place you... esp given the current economy. show how you think, and definitely brush up conceptual and technical skills. start by buying magazines or whatever to see who you're competing with in Holland.. design is super advanced there be careful! if you're thinking of story-based work then focus on that... don't try to do everything-- do what you're good at and be honest with yourself.
3) Come prep with CASH! i wasted too much time looking for places to stay... in fact my first three months here was more survival than anything else. which is good in a way, because I'm more integrated with the city now that i've stayed in 7 (!!) locations. (I.e. Cash is important, but something good can always come out of not having enough).
As for visas and all that, honestly you can't do a thing about it without at least an employment offer (freelance or otherwise) to get approval. So do what I did and get out of Europe and back to renew your thing, or try to find company sponsored job in three months. so don't think about that until you're there.
I will write more on prep-ing to move to Holland as this plan unfolds.
Manifest Destiny I say! Namaste.
Here is Trina's advice for cute girls in the artistic/writer industry that just wanna pack up shop where ever in the world they are and GO.
1) Book a ticket. a lot of things will fall into place once you've decided to go.
2) In Holland (or whatever country X), get out there!!! attend events, functions, get inspired, party, and make contacts, socialize and figure out what exactly you want to do first, either by doing all sorts of random things or talking to everyone. i'm lucky cuz nyc has all sorts of trade shows for fashion, which is where i get contacts. partying is important too!! all the contacts i get is from random basis! there are many jobs in the world which spore doesn't have, esp creative side... just try to get exposed to the existence of them first.
-- LOOK GOOD. seriously. see how the people in that industry dress up and step up to those standards... it's all superficial, at least in NYC, and people need to know that they're talking to a professional. not sure how Holland is though, but Europe is generally more chill.
2) WORK on your portfolio!!! Once you've figured out what you want to showcase, make specific ports for whatever industry. Don't just put out general work from school and expect employers to place you... esp given the current economy. show how you think, and definitely brush up conceptual and technical skills. start by buying magazines or whatever to see who you're competing with in Holland.. design is super advanced there be careful! if you're thinking of story-based work then focus on that... don't try to do everything-- do what you're good at and be honest with yourself.
3) Come prep with CASH! i wasted too much time looking for places to stay... in fact my first three months here was more survival than anything else. which is good in a way, because I'm more integrated with the city now that i've stayed in 7 (!!) locations. (I.e. Cash is important, but something good can always come out of not having enough).
As for visas and all that, honestly you can't do a thing about it without at least an employment offer (freelance or otherwise) to get approval. So do what I did and get out of Europe and back to renew your thing, or try to find company sponsored job in three months. so don't think about that until you're there.
I will write more on prep-ing to move to Holland as this plan unfolds.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Counting the Electro Beats to bed.
Sven Våth was a spiritual experience. He went on till 5:30 and kept on going. Well past Zouk's closing time indeed. I had an epiphany while on the dance floor. I was spacing out (a combination of sleepiness, awesome and really loud Trance- minimal ish beats) thinking about my move to Holland when the little voice in my head said, "Fuck it you know. You should just go. It's a free country there, people do whatever they want there and fuck it all. The only thing being a citizen of a country entitles you to is the license to live as a useless bum in said country. So don't carry on staying here if what you wanna do is go. The only difference about you there is that you don't have an EU pass. So what." Epiphany man.
The other time I had one like that was outside the Budapest war museum (very depressing place indeed). It was 8 in the morning, I felt surprisingly good, the winter weather was crisp and the sun was shining, and I thought, "You know, the only reason why people do evil things is because theya re ignorant, afraid and insecure. Or perhaps just insane. But evil in an of itself doesn't really exist as an entire entity in itself."
The other time I had one like that was outside the Budapest war museum (very depressing place indeed). It was 8 in the morning, I felt surprisingly good, the winter weather was crisp and the sun was shining, and I thought, "You know, the only reason why people do evil things is because theya re ignorant, afraid and insecure. Or perhaps just insane. But evil in an of itself doesn't really exist as an entire entity in itself."
Monday, January 18, 2010
Fold your Ears and Make Love to a Tree.
We had a little 'Garden Warming' party at MGM's, on the account of Joris who had this crazy idea that happened to coincide nicely with the delivery of robust Frangipani trees to the Spirit Roof (christened thus until the owner complains that I give everyone and everything crap aliases on my blog :P ) It's the Spirit Roof because MGM said after the Frnagipani trees were delivered, that all it would take to complete the garden now was a Spirit House. A Thai one is what he has in mind for it, I think.
The Spirit Roof takes a bit of organization to get it fully functioning and one of the things needed was lamp oil. Joris and I attemped to get it at the Carrefour, because if there was somewhere that would have any random thing you might want on a weekend, Carrefour was the most likely place to stock it. Tom and I did manage to find a paddle pool on a hot Sunday morning while we were wondering what other nonsense we could get up to while nursing a mild hang-over. Unfortunately they didn't have the lamp oil (although they had an excess of paddle pools) so we had to look for substitutes.
Apparently olive oil is the best substitute for lamp oil, but it would clog up your lamps if not washed thoroughly after. Also there seems to be a trend with olive oil and MGM's place for all sorts of bizarre reasons that have nothing to do with the preparation of food.
When J and I turned up at MGM's flat, he was in a flurry making sure his new plants were being delivered properly to their final destination. Standing around were a few pissed off Bangladeshi workers cursing when they realized they had to lug the plants up two flights of narrow spiral staircases.
The party kicked off at a reasonable time (around 10) after the lamps were lit, the plants were nicely arranged, and a couple of other people had arrived. One of them was AJ and this crazy Japanese girl, Yuko. She was completely mental, all over the place and all over MGM and Joris (and if there had been any other men she found attractive that night would have been all over them too), and she gave a vibe that she was up for anything.
Bastiaan turned up after them and we greeted each other. That afternoon while hanging out at his place watching the Dutch equivalent of Little Britain , I had been staring at his ears with a strange fascination thinking "Man! Those are ears I'd like fold. Oh my god I am going to fold his ears... Must resist..." Anyway, while greeting him, I folded his ears (since he's European and they all do that kissing thing, it was possible to get close enough to do this) They were very soft indeed and I announced this to every body. This caused a fair amount of confusion and henceforth every other guest that arrived had their ears folded. Mostly by Yuko.
MGM came back onto the roof and she greeted him in this manner and started to refer to the plants as conscious sexual beings. MGM and Joris were both assigned one as their girlfriend, and I was assigned one as my boyfriend. Later on I discovered that the trees actually represented the people at the party and it was a cover up from having to go straight out at the men. It was really weird. I.e. the guys were supposed to get it that when she said she wanted to get it on with the tree what she actually meant was something slightly different... At first I think everyone thought it was a joke, and I think she must have meant it to be a joke too, but the night wore on, and it got annoying when she asked me if I liked my 'boyfriend', referring to one of MGM's new Frangipani trees but actually meaning Joris (which was what I assumed because by this time I had forgotten all about her tree world) and then telling me that she meant the tree -_-"
The Spirit Roof takes a bit of organization to get it fully functioning and one of the things needed was lamp oil. Joris and I attemped to get it at the Carrefour, because if there was somewhere that would have any random thing you might want on a weekend, Carrefour was the most likely place to stock it. Tom and I did manage to find a paddle pool on a hot Sunday morning while we were wondering what other nonsense we could get up to while nursing a mild hang-over. Unfortunately they didn't have the lamp oil (although they had an excess of paddle pools) so we had to look for substitutes.
Apparently olive oil is the best substitute for lamp oil, but it would clog up your lamps if not washed thoroughly after. Also there seems to be a trend with olive oil and MGM's place for all sorts of bizarre reasons that have nothing to do with the preparation of food.
When J and I turned up at MGM's flat, he was in a flurry making sure his new plants were being delivered properly to their final destination. Standing around were a few pissed off Bangladeshi workers cursing when they realized they had to lug the plants up two flights of narrow spiral staircases.
The party kicked off at a reasonable time (around 10) after the lamps were lit, the plants were nicely arranged, and a couple of other people had arrived. One of them was AJ and this crazy Japanese girl, Yuko. She was completely mental, all over the place and all over MGM and Joris (and if there had been any other men she found attractive that night would have been all over them too), and she gave a vibe that she was up for anything.
Bastiaan turned up after them and we greeted each other. That afternoon while hanging out at his place watching the Dutch equivalent of Little Britain , I had been staring at his ears with a strange fascination thinking "Man! Those are ears I'd like fold. Oh my god I am going to fold his ears... Must resist..." Anyway, while greeting him, I folded his ears (since he's European and they all do that kissing thing, it was possible to get close enough to do this) They were very soft indeed and I announced this to every body. This caused a fair amount of confusion and henceforth every other guest that arrived had their ears folded. Mostly by Yuko.
MGM came back onto the roof and she greeted him in this manner and started to refer to the plants as conscious sexual beings. MGM and Joris were both assigned one as their girlfriend, and I was assigned one as my boyfriend. Later on I discovered that the trees actually represented the people at the party and it was a cover up from having to go straight out at the men. It was really weird. I.e. the guys were supposed to get it that when she said she wanted to get it on with the tree what she actually meant was something slightly different... At first I think everyone thought it was a joke, and I think she must have meant it to be a joke too, but the night wore on, and it got annoying when she asked me if I liked my 'boyfriend', referring to one of MGM's new Frangipani trees but actually meaning Joris (which was what I assumed because by this time I had forgotten all about her tree world) and then telling me that she meant the tree -_-"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)