It’s been 4 months of ‘radiosilence’ from my side. In this period, I sampled the restaurants, tried the work-life balance and got a dog, so I’d say it’s time for an update!
So, what’s different here?
We live on the top floor of a building, in a duplex with our own terrace.
We celebrated my birthday there 3 weeks ago – it fits a barbeque, a ‘caipirinha table’ and 30 people.
The nice part is having lunch outside and laying in the hammock in the sun.
A bit less nice is the 3 helipads within 200m (one of them on the left-most tower on the picture below), but you get used to those quickly.
We have a dog! Her name is Pinga, which is the slang word for the alcohol in a caipirinha. She’s a crazy little pug – running around the house and ‘spreading her joy’ everywhere (if you know what I mean). Fortunately we have a park 3x the size of the Vondelpark within walking distance to take her to.
Martine is an entrepreneur now. Her plan of setting up the Brazilian branch of a Dutch start-up here is going very well. They are officially setting up the ‘BV’ in the coming months, and she already has 2 part-timers working for her.
What’s more or less the same is Bain.
I’m finishing my second project this week, and both projects were/are really interesting.
The first was a 8-week PE project on a specialty retailer. Nice industry, and a plan to triple the number of stores in the next 5 years.
The second project looks at opportunities in infrastructure. I’m flying to ‘mystery shop’ tomorrow.
What’s interesting in how the office works here, is that there is a very strong drive to really ensure complete understanding of how the business works.
This means you learn a lot and really immerse yourself. Starting off with 4 months of PE and at the same time trying to ‘land’ in the country has not been easy. You work hard during the week, and then spend the whole weekend going out to dinner and bars getting to know people. An intense life!
But, I’m definitely learning a lot. The first presentations to the client in Portuguese were a nice milestone.
I hope all is well in with my old colleagues in the Amsterdam office. Looking forward to seeing you all again this summer!
Eske
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