Every year it is the same ritual all over again. My family asks to write a little text about what has happened the past year.

2008 has been a quiet year. It is strange to be living so far away from the Netherlands and for Ana it is strange to be far away from Madrid, but we are adapting to life on an island. Life here in Spain is quite different from life in the Netherlands. There are no seasons and the difference between summer and winter may be 10 degrees. Throughout the year we can go to the beach.

We spend pretty much the entire year in Las Palmas in the Canary sun, with a few trips. At the beginning of the year I visited the Netherlands for a week. Way too short and way too busy, but still very nice to be back ‘at home’. We enjoyed a nice weekend in Fuerteventura. Lazily lounging on its fantastic beaches. Our holidays took us to Egypt and northern Spain and southern France. Egypt was very hot and very impressive! I also started Spanish classes again. Twice a week I’m back to school studying for an official diploma. I speak Spanish pretty well but my writing skills lag behind. Ana wanted to attempt to learn Dutch, but alas. Besides all the languages ??you can learn like German, English, Chinese, Indian, Russian etc. Dutch was not an option. Well, I will try to teach Ana a little bit of Dutch myself.

We wish everyone a good and happy new year!

The new year has started and 2008 promises to become an interesting year, just like the previous years. In two weeks we plan to move to a new home although we will remain in Las Palmas. I wonder if this will still be the case in a year. We still need to complete our objective to visit all the seven Canary Islands and we are thinking about traveling to Egypt for our holidays.

At the end of last year 2007 I followed Spanish traditions and ate 12 peeled, pitted grapes. One grape for each chime at exactly 12 midnight. Each grape represents a good month in the new year and it seems to have worked.

2007 was quite a tumultuous year. I began the year with a move to the center of Madrid. Here I was told that my work was unfortunately canceled and for a while I was looking for another chance. Not easy because we had plans to leave mid-year to Glasgow, where Ana would start an internship for 9 months.

Eventually we did not go to Glasgow. The plan got cancelled because Ana got a much better offer from the Canary Islands. “Do it!”, was my advice, and two weeks later we were renting an apartment in Las Palmas. Ana was working and I was enjoying the Sun

My first job in the south of the island was a big disappointment. I expected it was going to okay because the company was not Spanish, but Belgian/Dutch. But no. Unfortunately this company was located precisely in Spain because they could not be bothered with the normal rules that apply in developed countries. After 3 months I went to find my luck elsewhere.

After my first job I quickly found a new challenge, thanks the the social network on the Canary Island. A social network that works very effectively. This time I was hired by a Spanish company within walking distance of our apartment. And to my surprise everything is well organized! Salaries, pensions and even taxes were being paid.

Since we live in Las Palmas we entertain visitors almost every week and every time we visit the whole island again. Right now I can almost dream the tourists points. Usually the visitors are Spanish but occasionally there is also a visit from the Netherlands. Very nice to occasionally speak Dutch again. I am very happy with the visits from the Netherlands and the cards I have received.

Sports. Well, not everything always goes as I want. A few months it went to the gym and for a time I ran every morning a round across the nearby beach. I also took a week of surf classes. Next year I would like to do sports with a little more conviction.

In the end I look back to 2007 with a satisfied feeling. However, it is sometimes difficult that everyone, my family and friends are so far away. At least I’m a lot less white. I have a nice tan and I feel good and happy here. Perhaps the effects of the lack of rain and cold.

My good intention for 2008 is to do some more exercise. Twice a week something sporty sounds like a good and feasible objective. I would also like to master the Spanish language a little better. Then I will hopefully be able to speak without first thinking quite a bit. I also hope for a bit more stability for a while. I would like to visit Holland a couple of times and maybe see what else there is to discover here.

It is difficult to recognize opportunities when they occur, but have faith in the future and have faith in yourself. Try to grasp opportunities as they arrive, your dreams can come true if you have faith and every now and then just take a chance. I have found this often work amazingly well! When it goes wrong, see it as a welcome lesson and try it again. I wish you a very happy 2008!

A Spanish tradition that I will enjoy this year for the first time is eating 12 grapes when we move on the the new year. Each grape represents a month filled with prosperity and good luck in 2007.

The new year is almost here and it is a typical time to look back, evaluate the passed year and look forward to the new year.

This last year has been a year with quite some adventures. I quit my job and left for Spain. In Spain I spend the first three months learning the language and afterwords I started looking for a job. I did find some work, but I still need to start. It’s all quite fuzzy, but I’ve got good hopes to start in January.

Sport-wise things didn’t go as planned. I stopped running and, unlike in Leiden where I owned four bikes, I don’t have any bike any more. I do just about manage to go swimming once a week.

Next year will be a surprise, but still some things are already clear. January the 2nd I will move from Alcorcon to the center of Madrid and I will start living in an apartment in ‘Luna’. I hope to be employed for about half a year for a Spanish company and afterwards I will go together with Ana to Glasgow, to have a nice look around Scotland.

I would like to thank everyone for their comments this last year. I wish everyone a very nice 2007!

The new year is starting again. Last years good intentions have been reasonably accomplish and I enter the new year with a very good feeling.

For the family reunion (that I will miss this year) I wrote a summary covering the most important things that happened to me the last year. A nice story which makes a perfect blog post as well.

Last year was a great year. I have spend a big part of the year as a civil servant. A fun experience that I can definitely recommend anyone. I began the year in Antwerp and have visited Wengen, Prague, Prague once more, Madrid, München and Milan. The year has it’s good times and it’s not so good times. Even though sometimes people call me immature I celebrated my 30th birthday. My health is good and I still live in Leiden. I also love to visit The Hague every Friday for drinks.

Sport-wise things are going okay. I’m still continue to run every week and sometimes I run an official match. Swimming is a bit more difficult to keep up, but I’m compensating by using my bike a lot more. In the new year I hope to publish more short entries on this blog. I also hope to learn a little Spanish and maybe see some part of the world I have not seen before.

I would like to thank everyone for the nice comments the past year! I wish everyone a very good 2006! Enjoy it!

Traditionally, you need to make some good resolutions for the new year. For the new year I’ll try and repeat the pleasure and happiness that I have experienced in 2004 and to match or improve upon it in 2005. Probably I put the bar pretty high, but why not. My other good intention is to read the book the little prince, after which I’ll have a discussion about the book with my sister Kathy, Diana & friends. Reading the book should not be so difficult.

The new year will start with a very nice party in antwerp! I will miss the party at Ammer’s, where they will light a fortune of fireworks, but I’ll try and repair my absence during the next blow-cart of boarding event. In the new year I hope to visit Zuzana and Fransisca (plannen for next week), visit Ana in Madrid, enjoy a trip to Chicago (maybe) and visit the Czech republic for a nice week.

The only challenge that remains to me is entering the new year without a job. Still, there isn’t a cell in my body that doubts that a great new year is awaiting me.

I wist everyone an extremely good 2005!

It is a tradition to look back at the end of a year and draw the conclusions you see fit. This year this tradition was even formalized and given a deadline for tomorrow, the 12th of December. All the family members have been asked to write a little piece about the last year which will be bundled in the Berg family chronicle 2004 (a very nice initiative). Of course I also did my part. When I look back I look back at a fantastic year that has passed. I enjoyed two vacations in the snow, one week skiing in France and one week in the Czech republic. But there was more…

After a few month I made a big decision. One that would change my life. I quit my job without having any alternative. I brought my letter of resignation the last day of the month to my employer Daidalos, while facing a very uncommon Dutch snowstorm. There were cars piled up against trees and on the side of the road because of the slippery roads. Nature was screaming to me not to resign, but I was determined.

Once unemployed an incredible happiness came over me. I read a lot of books, ran the half marathon in Leiden, partied a lot, etc. etc. but slowly after a few month boredom started to catch up with me. In another impulse I made another decision and called a traveling agency. A week later I was in New York with a rental car, my visa card and a ticket back home from San Fransisco.

Traveling for two months through the US was a fantastic experience. An experience that will surely have an effect for a long time. I have seen a lot, experienced a lot and met a lot of (sometimes strange) people.

After my adventure in America I went home again. Relaxing for some time until suddenly a job was looking for me. It was like the world was turned up side down, all thanks to my resume that was posted online. As a result the last two months of the year I could start working for myself at the ministry of transport.