DC Photos

So, here is just a small preview of the photos. It was such lovely weather (except for the first days I was there), so the pictures turned out very nice as well... For more photos, go HERE, to see the rest.

The flight back was fine, and we had a nice weekend with Fedor's little brother and his girlfriend (uhm, not Fedor's girlfriend, obviously...). And today we are celebrating Fedor's birthday. Where by "celebrating", I mean "giving a kiss and a prezzy, and maybe eat something nice today"...

Tschuessi!
OJ

Observation

Call me cynical, but it feels very wrong to discuss development/conflict issues, while sitting in a fancy expensive restaurant in Washington DC, sleeping in a 450$/night hotel, and hearing people complaining about this one time, when the business class was full, and, omg, they had to fly coach !!! I mean, i know this is what the development industry is like, but I had never seen it from up close. If this meeting yesterday had not taken place, the could have saved 20-30,000€ or so and helped poor people with it: what do you think would have been more effective?

Anyway, I have networked a lot, both yesterday and today and had a great time in general. But that is not really why i got into the topic in the first place though...

One more day of networking and going to meetings, and in the evening I am flying back to Europe.

Howdy,
OJ

photo post!!!

So, as promised, finally some pictures! So, here are pictures from the UK.
Matt and me in the Cotswolds:

The Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury

Then from our holidays in Italy:
The Cathedral of Orvieto:

Undrground in the catacombs of Perugia:

Elsewhere in Perugia (i think)

Assisi:

The Monti Sibillini National Park (view from our hotel window)

Sardegna:
One of the many beaches near the house!

Just to show how much fun we had!

Back in Berlin, Ellen and Kim visiting:

OMG, a giant!!! part of the clebrations for German Day of Unification

With a little young lady giantess as well

peeing all over the pavement by the side of the Brandenburger Tor...

Weekend after, Stephie!

And going out with her, and Nicole and Kristy

Right, that was just a smaaaaaaaaaaall summary...
Howdy,
OJ

News from DC

So, here is the news from DC!

Actually, there is also sort-of news from before-DC. We had my friend Stephie over for a visit during the weekend, and it was great to see her. The weather was nice in Berlin (at least for 1 day), and we saw lots of the city. Once again, I promise to upload pictures. Except that this time, I actually have time to do so immediately, and I will.

The week after Stephie's visit was quite busy. I had several important deadlines coming up and I fulfilled all of them. So that was quite delightful. Particularly the completion of a paper that had been commissioned by someone publishing an Oxford Handbook had been weighing on my shoulders for along time and I was happy to have completed it.

Anyways, this week I am in Washington DC. For events, but mainly for networking. It started off rather negatively-turned-positively. My Air France flights was overbooked and I got bumped off the flight. And given that this was a 6.45 flight, I obviously wasnt happy about about it. However, when it turned out they were able to put me on a different flight (through BMI Baby and British Airways) that got me to DC with only a 45 minute delay, that relieved my mood. particularly when finding out that I was eligible for the "getting-bumped" compensation anyway! Unfortunately I wasnt completely awake in the morning and chose the 300€ cash reward, instead of the 500€ Air France-KLM voucher, but it is still a nice bonus!!!

When I did get to DC, the weather turned out to be quite horrible, so I spent a few hours in the Washington Plaza hotel, before meeting with my cousin Megan who lives in Arlington. We had dinner together and talked a lot. On Sunday, I met with my friend Jorida for brunch and a bunch of her friends. This was a great networking opportunity (well, sort of). In the evening I had dinner with my friend Macha who works at the Dutch Embassy.

Yesterday (Monday), I had time for sightseeing, and the weather was absolutely amazing. So that was fantastic, and I saw many of the beautiful sights DC has to offer. The trees and their autumny colours are particularly impressive right now... Dinner in the evening with my colleague Kati who arrived as well. Today I moved hotels and I am now staying in the Mayflower Hotel in DC (and am I glad I dont have to pay the 450$ per night it costs). Tomorrow the Real work starts during the German Development Day at the World Bank. We will be presenting some things there, including what was my Job Market Paper. Very exciting! On Thursday there is a Policy Forum and gala dinner, here at the Mayflower, organised by IZA. Finally, on Friday, I will have meetings at World Bank, SAIS and Georgetown Uni, before taking the night flight back to Paris and then to Berlin. busy, busy busy!

Now, as I am in my hotel anyway, I certainly will have time to upload old pictures. And I will! The DC pictures will follow (I would promise next week, when i am back in Germany, but that is probably not too realistic, eh).

Howdy!
OJ

busy nights

So, Fedor is now going to fitness on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I work extra late on those days. Tuesdays and Thursdays I go to German course (which starts really early: 18.15!), and Fridays we have visitors, or Fedor is working late.

All I am trying to say: we only see each other 2 hours a day, and that kinda ruins my efforts to write anything here.

But, good news: I am still alive!

The Italy holiday was gorgeous, particularly our stay with friends on Sardegna. it was great to see our friends again, and to meet many new people. It was absolutely fantastic, and also to have a quick visit to Milano and say hi to my Bocconi mates. The weekend after was the weekend of my highschool reunion, which a lot of people actually think is kind of a lame concept. Even Fedor said he wouldnt go if there was one of his class! Anyway, I am different and I loooooooved it! So great to hear about so many people and to find out what everyone is doing now (and of course to see their baby pictures). I mean, 10 years after the final exam: it really is kind of a big thing!

Anyways, that was obviously in the Netherlands so I took a train ride there to visit and came back again on Sunday night. The weekend after was the Tag der Deutsche Einheit (National Reunification Day) and our friends Ellen and Kim from Rotterdam were visiting. We had a fantastic weekend, which much food and much enjoyment. I even managed to drag them to the local big gay monthly celebration at Kino International. Tomorrow, it will be my Groningen friend Stephie who lives in Duesseldorf now. Another weekend of partying will ensue!

Anyway, in the meantime I have also been quite busy with work, but I wont bore you with the details. Let me suffice it to say that I have had 2 DIW discussion papers published in the past weeks (nrs 921 and 927, if anyone is interested), and I have 3 important deadlines coming up within the next 7 days. Lovely! And oh, in 9 days, I will be flying to Washington DC to present work at the World Bank, and meet with many other people for "networking" and all that. Stress!!!

When I have time (and the desire to do so), I will post a picture post soon to show the things we have been up to recently!

Tschuessi!
OJ