Moving Back to Chi
Trip Start
Apr 06, 2003
1
68
69
Trip End
Ongoing
Amsterdam,
Netherlands
Sunday, July 9, 2006
While we haven't written a t-pod lately, it is certainly not because there has been a lack of activities. We have been traveling like madmen lately (Greece, western Ireland, and Chicago in the past 6 weeks) and have been extremely pre-occupied with our transition back to Chicago as well. That's right, this crazy adventure is coming to a close. And it is all happening VERY fast.
Back in Jan, we were in the US. I discussed with my US manager a gameplan and at the time, we agreed to extend my visa for 2 years knowing that I would not stay in A'dam the full 2 years but at least giving ourselves some time to sort everything out. It was estimated that we would be back in Chi around Sept/Oct. About a month ago, my manager asked me if we could push the date up to Aug 1 instead. So our heads have been spinning since!
Basically, the bank reorganized at the beginning of the year and determined that it really needed to focus a lot more attention on developing international business - lucky me, exactly my job. As this discussion continued in the Board Rooms, it was decided that they wanted to create a job similar to mine in that they wanted an American in Europe to develop this business but also different than mine in that the person would not have a portfolio or deal with day-to-day operational issues. This role would be primarily a marketing role. He or she would identify opportunities, visit the client with locals to sell the bank's capabilities, and then hand it off.
This seemed like a great opportunity and one I really wanted at first but the more I learned about the role, the more I realized that I was not qualified for it (mostly due to the fact that I have been out of the US for 3+ years and thus, away from LaSalle and the role of a Relationship Manager) and the more I realized I would not want to do it (mostly due to the fact that the 'territory' is all of Europe, which I think is too big a 'territory' for 1 person, and the role will probably require being in a hotel at least 3 nights a week, something I did not want to do having Julie and Natalie here). So while I have been excited about this role, then disappointed to not have been considered, than happy to have not been considered, I am thrilled about how this evolved.
Upon return to Chi, I will be doing a job similar to the European role described above, however a little bit different - I will be joining 2 others in helping LaSalle Relationship Managers in identifying opportunities throughout the world within their existing client portfolio, then structuring the deals and working the internal issues in getting that business done. It will allow me to utilize the network I've developed over the past 3 years, will keep me involved in the international side of banking, and will put me in a department with immense strategic importance. This job will also involve some travel but not too much - a few nights a month in various US cities, and probably a week in Europe and a week in Asia per year.
The 2 others I will be joining are the people I have been working with the past 9 months, however I was on the receiving end of the business they provided me. So I know them well and have a good rapport with both of them. My new manager is also someone I know well as she was my trainer when I first joined the bank and we have worked together for a few years when I worked in Risk Management in my first role in A'dam.
Due to my work as LaSalle's A'dam Relationship Manager the past 9 months, I have a good feel for what my new job will be. Of course I have a lot to learn and need to get up the curve quickly with regards to the rest of the world since my knowledge is primarily Netherlands, but that's what makes this so exciting! And of course I feel that as the only member of the team to have worked abroad, being on the receiving side of the international business, I can add true value to how we work.
This being said, it certainly does not mean that we are thrilled to be leaving A'dam. We came here over 3 years ago determined to make this our home, not just a temporary place of residence. We have developed some amazing friendships with people from all over the world. Even our American friends span the country. It will be heart-breaking to say good-bye to these people. While we had to say good-bye to our friends upon leaving for this journey, the difference is we knew we would be back in Chicago eventually whereas, we will say good-bye to some people knowing that we might seem them 3 more times in the rest of our life (and that's being extremely optimistic). I mean, there are planets closer to Chi than Australia is. But that is what makes this experience so special. We have friends to visit and keep up with all over the world.
And we will be sad to leave A'dam itself. For those of you who have never been here, you are missing out. It is a special place. It is known as the 'capital' of Holland but it is certainly NOT a city. This is a village. From the slow pace, to the friendly people, to the quiet of the canals, it is a village. As I write this, it is early Sun morn and the window is open. I can hear nothing, just a distant church bell chiming and the gentle lapping of the boats in the canal below, not another noise. No cars, no talking, nothing. It is peace on Earth. Which of course is the exact opposite of the image of A'dam, with its prostitutes and drugs. That is for the tourists, the real A'dam is peaceful. And the real A'dam is what we will miss. We are just so fortunate to have gotten a chance to really experience it! And we are lucky that my job will require visits back!
The lifestyle here is simply amazing. We Americans mock the Europeans as a people who take off the entire month of August to vacation. While I don't think that is the way to go, they have got the work-life balance down! We have definitely benefited from that in terms of the travel we have done these past years and I hope I don't loose that balance upon my return to the American office.
We were in Chicago a few weeks ago to look at houses. When we left 3 years ago, we were 'city-folk'. The thought of moving to the 'burbs was unheard of. But during our house-hunting visit in Chicago, we realized that maybe we are not 'city-folk' any longer. A'dam has ruined us. This 'village' experience has changed us. We looked at homes in the city but it was too crowded, noisy, dirty, etc, normal city stuff. Places we could afford were not exactly in neighborhoods we loved so we decided we would look in Oak Park, the 1st 'burb west of the city. We realized that places in the city we were looking at were a 40-min commute for me whereas Oak Park was only 20 min's. Both were only 10 miles away from work. So while it is a suburb, it's not any farther from the work than the city. And Oak Park offered more of an A'dam lifestyle, with cute independent restaurants and shops around the corner, quiet streets, parks and pools, a real community feel. The hustle-and-bustle of 'city-life' was not as interesting as before, now we want the village-life.
Oak Park is close to downtown, convenient to the highways for easy trips to Madison and other Midwest destinations, and has everything we would want and need for everyday life. It is a mixture of people (aka not surrounded by only Jews in the North Shore), has nice schools, has some history to it (Frank Lloyd Wright was born and built many homes there and Ernest Hemingway was born and raised there), has a European feel in that there are plazas with free music and weekend outdoor markets, and most of all, we would be able to buy a single-family home, complete with a front and backyard, a basement, and all those grown-up things. And I suppose as we looked at the 'burbs closer, we realized that we didn't want to avoid the 'burbs but that we didn't want to begin eating at Olive Garden and spending all weekend at the mall! We feel very good about Oak Park and look forward to showing you all around when you come and visit.
As we've been wrapping up our time in A'dam, we have spent a lot of time reminiscing about our extensive travel. We have seen some AMAZING places! We have had experiences that will last a lifetime. Visiting the French chateaus of the Loire Valley, bathing in a Hungarian bath in the dead of winter, spending 5 hours at the Alhambra in Granada Spain, relaxing on the black beaches of Santorini, seeing an Opera in a 3000 year old Roman coliseum in Verona, and many many many more! And the crazy thing, the more we've seen, the more we realize there's tons more to see. Luckily we are leaving A'dam with 300,000 Northwest Airlines miles and the 250,000 American Airlines miles...and it's not as if the boarders are closing. And there are plenty of places in our own country we have yet to see. So the travel will definitely not be ending, although it will probably slow down (it has to, I'm exhausted).
And of course, besides all the reasons above that make these past 3 years amazing, a time and place we will never forget, we leave A'dam with the best souvenir ever, sweet little Natalie. I only hope that some day she chooses to investigate her 'hometown' the way we got to.
At this point, I have 1 more week in the office to wrap up my job and transition it to the new responsible parties. The movers are coming the following week, the week of the 17. After the movers have taken our stuff and we have nothing left to worry about, we will relax for a week in Lisbon and the Algarve in southern Portugal. We return from Portugal on July 31 and leave for Chi the next morning. My manager has asked me to come into the office that day (welcome back to the American way) and then the house-hunting begins again. So as you can see, we are SUPER busy. But we'll make it work and are ready to go.
So we are spending a lot of time lately thinking back with a smile on our faces, and looking ahead with a smile on our faces. I am excited to get back to LaSalle and demonstrate what I have learned in A'dam. We are excited to see our friends and family more often. We are excited to buy a home and settle-down a little bit. We are excited to travel throughout US. We are excited to bring our European view to our American life and see that balance take shape. We are excited to keep in touch with our non-American friends across the globe. We are excited to reconnect with our A'dam friends throughout the US. All in all, we are excited!
So we will continue to keep you all posted on things, including our reintegration.
We hope all is well wherever you are and look forward to speaking with you soon!
-Stephen and Julie
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