My New York journey will end in less than a week. I am having mixed emotions right now. On the one hand I am sad to leave this electrifying city, but on the other hand I am more than happy to return back to Rotterdam and my family, friends and girlfriend. I just spoke to Laura a couple of hours ago on the phone and we were talking about how fast time has passed. We are both happy of course that our separation is nearly over, but also aware that this same separation has brought us even more closer together. The long distance between us did not make things easy, but the ride ended up being pretty smooth. It sure helped that we never considered the distance as a problem to our relationship, but rather as a challenge. Both of us did not know or could neither predict how my absence would affect our relationship. Therefore, we decided to just led it happen instead of concerning ourselves with the possible consequences.
This was pretty much the same approach I had towards this internship and my previous plan of traveling through South America. In the months leading up to my departure I received many reactions from people ranging from "Sounds great, but why are you leaving again?" "Exciting, but what do you want to get out of this?" "Fantastic, but what will you do when you get back?" "New York is great, but how will you afford living in Manhattan and how will you find an apartment?" "Courageous step, but what will happen to your apartment in Rotterdam"? "Great an internship, but why unpaid?" The actual question was in fact "Aren't you afraid?" A question that I could not answer at the time in a rational manner. To be honest, I still can't. I just follow my instincts. First, a voice inside me told me to go traveling through South America for half a year. Then, the same voice told me to apply for this internship in New York. Now, the same voice is telling me to go back to Rotterdam without really knowing what the next step will be.
Apparently, I am not the only one with this internal voice. I am currently staying in a very hot and extremely humide Washington DC. The city of the White House, the Capitol, the war memorials and of course President Obama. A couple of days ago I found his memoir, Dreams from My Father, on Meg's book shelve. Inspired as I was, I immediately started to read it. It is a beautifully written book by Obama, providing a very compelling insight into his life story. Most of us know his story by now. Growing up as a kid in Hawaii and Indonesia. Becoming a student in California and New York. Moving to Chicago to become a community organizer, law professor, US Senator and finally the President of the United States. His book illustrates to me that he just did what felt right at each different moment of his life. That he followed his instincts. Little did he now that he would become the US President.
Little did I know last year that I would end up in New York doing an internship across the street from the United Nations. I am, nevertheless, happy that it happened. It has not led to any financial gain or a new job at the UN. However, the internship has provided me with a great opportunity to further develop myself and has given me a new sense of direction in terms of interests. I have become more and more interested in international law in combination with communications and journalism. I have presented GPF's weekly vodcast and written on the GPF blog about the International Criminal Court (ICC). Furthermore, I have interviewed several interesting people about the creation of the UN Ombudsperson in relation to the individual sanctions regime of the UN and the outcome of the ICC Review Conference (click here and here to listen to the interviews). I have also attended many interesting meetings, conferences, panel discussions and luncheons both within and outside the UN. Finally, I have had the chance to work with the kindest, most funny and intelligent people from different parts of the globe.
This internship has also given me many great moments and experiences outside the office, like the regular visits from friends and family, seeing Princes Maxima walking across the street, bumping into UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in front of the GPF office, taking a picture of my sister with Chris Rock, almost touching Janet Jackson in a bar, being the best man at my friends' wedding, and seeing an NBA basketball game. But also simple things like reading a book in Central Park, getting a haircut in Harlem, unexpected music and dance performances, simply walking to work and having a beer and burger at Ruby's, my favorite cafe in NY. Of course, I should also not forget Tom. He has been truly amazing in every aspect of the word. I was fortunate to have him as my flat mate.
This was my last blog entry. I would like to thank you all for reading my blog and all the great reactions I received throughout the last six months. New York has truly been a great experience. Now its time to move on.
Apparently, I am not the only one with this internal voice. I am currently staying in a very hot and extremely humide Washington DC. The city of the White House, the Capitol, the war memorials and of course President Obama. A couple of days ago I found his memoir, Dreams from My Father, on Meg's book shelve. Inspired as I was, I immediately started to read it. It is a beautifully written book by Obama, providing a very compelling insight into his life story. Most of us know his story by now. Growing up as a kid in Hawaii and Indonesia. Becoming a student in California and New York. Moving to Chicago to become a community organizer, law professor, US Senator and finally the President of the United States. His book illustrates to me that he just did what felt right at each different moment of his life. That he followed his instincts. Little did he now that he would become the US President.
Little did I know last year that I would end up in New York doing an internship across the street from the United Nations. I am, nevertheless, happy that it happened. It has not led to any financial gain or a new job at the UN. However, the internship has provided me with a great opportunity to further develop myself and has given me a new sense of direction in terms of interests. I have become more and more interested in international law in combination with communications and journalism. I have presented GPF's weekly vodcast and written on the GPF blog about the International Criminal Court (ICC). Furthermore, I have interviewed several interesting people about the creation of the UN Ombudsperson in relation to the individual sanctions regime of the UN and the outcome of the ICC Review Conference (click here and here to listen to the interviews). I have also attended many interesting meetings, conferences, panel discussions and luncheons both within and outside the UN. Finally, I have had the chance to work with the kindest, most funny and intelligent people from different parts of the globe.
This internship has also given me many great moments and experiences outside the office, like the regular visits from friends and family, seeing Princes Maxima walking across the street, bumping into UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in front of the GPF office, taking a picture of my sister with Chris Rock, almost touching Janet Jackson in a bar, being the best man at my friends' wedding, and seeing an NBA basketball game. But also simple things like reading a book in Central Park, getting a haircut in Harlem, unexpected music and dance performances, simply walking to work and having a beer and burger at Ruby's, my favorite cafe in NY. Of course, I should also not forget Tom. He has been truly amazing in every aspect of the word. I was fortunate to have him as my flat mate.
This was my last blog entry. I would like to thank you all for reading my blog and all the great reactions I received throughout the last six months. New York has truly been a great experience. Now its time to move on.
