I am in the process of counting down my last two weeks before my move to start on a new role in London. I have mixed feelings about it. On one side is the apprehension and implication of what it means to uproot yourself from a place you have called home for a long time and going to a new city. On the other hand is the excitement of living a lifetime dream of living and working in a first world capital, and to boot, my favourite city long before I made up my mind about this move.
There are lot of the things that I had underestimated that are now coming back hard and fast at me. I have been reluctant to let go of some things that I will not need in a long while like my car, some household fixtures, friends that i will not see in a long while et al. One that is very devastating is letting go of Bishop and Knight to the kennel where I go them from. Regarding this I am holding on to the hope that the relationship i have built with my german sheperds is strong enough to last my time away which at present is undetermined. I am also holding onto the hope that dogs, unlike cats are more faithful and we will be able to pick it up at some point in our lives.
That aside, a lot of further adjustment has to be made. Three hours might seem little but that adjustment in timezone requires a lot of work. I already realise that I will have to take lunch 3 hours later! and dinner 3 hours later! yaaaawn...but that's the reality. The bit I am looking forward to is waking up 3 hours later:-) ...that my body will relish, but only for so long.
The biggest one for me for now is recalibrating my world view. For a while I have had Africa and my local regional and national statistics at my fingertips...populations, GDPs, mobile penetration, mortality rates, exchange rates, current affairs, name it. On this pedestal I stood and ruled the roost. The scientist in me has been very factual and kept abreast of everything that matters in this microcosm is now being challenged to spread my wings and fly, and fly I will.
Now I have started getting the feeling like I am in the movie "Who shrunk the Kids". All of a sudden, my known world has become global. I have to think about China, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, India...Oh boy and aren't the numbers staggering? Changing from managing a large team looking after a region to a smaller team of specialists looking after a global business is a different cup of tea that calls for a different skill set and gets me out of my comfort zone. I am in the process of evaluating if there is any additional help I need to make sure my "gun" does not get jammed and is always "smoking"
I am in the process of recalibrating my world view and I know that this is going to be exciting. I look forward to sharing every step of this journey for whilst i know nothing is new under the sun but peradventure it would help others coming along in the journey so that they may not have to reinvent the wheel.
So, London, here I come, a proud son of Africa with lots to offer and lots more to learn.
There are lot of the things that I had underestimated that are now coming back hard and fast at me. I have been reluctant to let go of some things that I will not need in a long while like my car, some household fixtures, friends that i will not see in a long while et al. One that is very devastating is letting go of Bishop and Knight to the kennel where I go them from. Regarding this I am holding on to the hope that the relationship i have built with my german sheperds is strong enough to last my time away which at present is undetermined. I am also holding onto the hope that dogs, unlike cats are more faithful and we will be able to pick it up at some point in our lives.
That aside, a lot of further adjustment has to be made. Three hours might seem little but that adjustment in timezone requires a lot of work. I already realise that I will have to take lunch 3 hours later! and dinner 3 hours later! yaaaawn...but that's the reality. The bit I am looking forward to is waking up 3 hours later:-) ...that my body will relish, but only for so long.
The biggest one for me for now is recalibrating my world view. For a while I have had Africa and my local regional and national statistics at my fingertips...populations, GDPs, mobile penetration, mortality rates, exchange rates, current affairs, name it. On this pedestal I stood and ruled the roost. The scientist in me has been very factual and kept abreast of everything that matters in this microcosm is now being challenged to spread my wings and fly, and fly I will.
Now I have started getting the feeling like I am in the movie "Who shrunk the Kids". All of a sudden, my known world has become global. I have to think about China, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, India...Oh boy and aren't the numbers staggering? Changing from managing a large team looking after a region to a smaller team of specialists looking after a global business is a different cup of tea that calls for a different skill set and gets me out of my comfort zone. I am in the process of evaluating if there is any additional help I need to make sure my "gun" does not get jammed and is always "smoking"
I am in the process of recalibrating my world view and I know that this is going to be exciting. I look forward to sharing every step of this journey for whilst i know nothing is new under the sun but peradventure it would help others coming along in the journey so that they may not have to reinvent the wheel.
So, London, here I come, a proud son of Africa with lots to offer and lots more to learn.
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