Carpe diem. Ready for new challenges !

Six eventful, challenging and exciting weeks are coming to a close. It's Saturday morning, two days left here in the Dominican Republic, before I take the long trip home to Copenhagen, via Miami, New York and London. I'm sitting at the breakfast restaurant at a mountain hotel, with a view on the roaring Jimenoa river right beneath me - and pondering what I have spent the last 6 weeks doing....and the last 8 months...? With the fear of sounding cheap, I'll say I've been around...;-).

It started out with Tokyo and New Zealand - a city vacation and a road trip. Just what I needed at the time, having quit Maersk and wanting some time on my own, just to relax, enjoy, set my own pace.

Next came Fred and Anne-Mette's wedding, then a week in Dubai, then two great weeks in Greece with my family, a week in Switzerland, a weekend in Newcastle with Daniel and his family, then another four wonderful weeks in Switzerland in August. I love Lausanne - it's a beautiful city. Then two weeks of studying in mom's summer house at Mols (very cosy, by the way - will have to remember that !), before another short trip to Lausanne.

And then off to the US and the Dominican Republic; a few days in New York, two weeks working for the Obama campaign in Durham, North Carolina, back to New York and now two weeks here on the island of Hispaniola.

I can't complain, can I ? But what have I actually achieved, what have I done ? Well, I have studied and applied to get into a business school, let's see how that works out. And I have helped make history in the US - even if just a tiny little part of it (I saw the dude himself, up close and almost personal). There's the un-quantifiable, but potentially even more important, part about having had time for myself to think, philosophise, challenge myself creatively and wonder where to go next. And besides that, I have relaxed, enjoyed, experienced and taken a break from working since I was 19.

The negatives may say I'm lazy. I'll say that life is not only about working hard - as long as you don't drift around for the rest of your life. I saw a chance for a mini-retirement (in the words of Timothy Ferriss), and grabbed it - carpe diem, or carpe the opportunity ! But don't look at these months as a reward for good, faithful service to the working community; no, I believe you also achieve something for yourself, when taking time off like this. So, instead of saying that the whole experience is coming to a close, lagging towards the end, I'll rather say that I'm now bursting with ideas, recharged and ready to take on new challenges !

Bring 'em on !

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Hotel Haven - the first review

The light just went off in the entire neighbourhood here in Zona Colonial in Santo Domingo. That happens almost every night, so we're used to it. Earlier today I returned to the capital, after two days in a small house in the countryside about a hours drive out of town. Out there we didn't have any electricity, except what the generator provided. For two days I have been eaten skinny by mosquitos, slept in a hammock and lived on whatever Mother Earth provides - voluntarily ! Here's the story.

Berit and Willie had a dream - well, actually two dreams. Willie wanted his own land, grow his own food and raise animals - and Berit wanted a life, away from the 70-hours-per-week-rat race, where materialism and speed were not the main factors, but where the two of them could build a family and a little business. So they moved to the Caribbean, to the Dominican Republic and bought 22,000 m2 of land filled with coconut palms, avocado trees, lime trees, bushes and a lot of other good stuff. Now there's also four dogs, two horses (soon to be three) and a guard - plus the occasional rat, a million mosquitos (of which I've killed 999,999 - the last one kept bugging me till the end...!) and some Haitians running past once in a while. See www.beritjeanette.com for good reading, when you need a little escape.

Having arrived in the Dominican Republic on Sunday, I spent Monday walking around Santo Domingo with Berit and enjoyed the sunset from their rooftop terrace. Life is beautiful. Tuesday, I took the bus to the east coast to try out a few days of so-called all-inclusive resort life. White sandy beaches and beautiful blue ocean, with a first-class view from the my terrace....and fat Americans and middle-class Dominicans, loud music for those coming here to drink free coconut punch all night, every night for two weeks and a noticeable ambience of low-class, charter-vacation-to-Lloret-de-Mar. Am I being judgmental...? Perhaps I just didn't pay enough for my all-inclusive ? Life was still beautiful, though. Thursday, going back to Santo Domingo, I had two funny experiences in the bus; first, a preacher stood up and blessed the entire bus, made a long sermon, blessed us again, asked the audience some quiz-like questions about the bible, blessed us again, asked us to come to church on Sunday and donate some money - and blessed us again. Next, they put on the new James Bond movie, and I thought the piracy business here in country was quite cool - until I heard James speak to Q in German, with Spanish subtitles. Besides that, they hadn't really calculated the trip correctly, so half-way into the movie, we were back in Santo Domingo...

A quick repack and then we went straight to Berit and Willie's land of dreams. And you could hear my jaw drop to the cement floor, as we arrived ! Oh, it was primitive - especially coming straight from Lloret de Mar. But we had a great time there, though; what beats lying in the hammock at night with a freshly opened coconut drink, watching the stars to the sound of thunder and lightning (and the buzz of that last mosquito !), with a candle light and burning coconut leaves (to chase away that damned mosquito !), while chatting and being served great, fresh (it doesn't get any fresher that this) food ? What beats swimming in the Caribbean with good friends and two dogs, while the locals turn their stereos louder and louder to lure us into their beach restaurants - where we then get served the best fish I've tasted in a very long time ? Forget about the rat, the lack of electricity and running water; those obstacles will be overcome soon. Forget about the mosquitos (unless the one that's left finds a partner, it will die within a week) and the humid heat; I can see why Berit and Willie wants this so much !

 

The verdict

It's all very exciting and so completely different from everything we know in our safe, cocooned normal life in the Western world, that no matter what your expectation were before coming, you can't help being taken aback. Both by the hardship (yes, honestly; I had to flee that damned last mosquito, back to the civilization in Santo Domingo) - but also by what Berit and Willie are building out there, with their bare hands !

So, the verdict on Hotel Haven - the first-ever such review, before it becomes world famous; this zero-star, all-inclusive soon-to-be-cabana resort is so pure an experience that you will love it just for that. The host couple provides an excellent service and are very knowledgeable about all the facets of their kind of ecological tourism, from how much a coconut palm produces per year to riding the horses and cooking simple, but excellent meals. If you are a high-powered CEO, do this to de-stress in a cold-turkey-away-from-your-laptop kinda' way; if you are a backpacker or all-inclusive resort traveller, combine a four-day stay here with all the rest of the attractions this island offers. You will not regret the experience, you have my word !

Thank you, Berit and Willie !

 

Next

Back in Santo Domingo, I am now sitting on the terrace of Berit and Willie's nice apartment. The electricity is still out - but the little corner shop downstairs unfortunately has a generator somewhere in the back, so that doesn't stop them from blaring out loud music all night long. The cousins of that damned mosquito are all here, although not as numerous as out in the country side. I've rented a car - and tomorrow I'm driving north, up to the Samana Peninsula and the north coast, where there should be more bounty beaches and beautiful nature (can you get enough), plus the historical sites of the first European settlers in the Americas (besides the Vikings, of course !) and cute little villages. I'll drive back through the mountains, planned arrival in Santo Domingo on Sunday, the day before my flight back to Denmark. I better enjoy the last week of the Caribbean, before it's back to colder (aaaahhhhh....) climates - and see if I can get my mosquito kill tally over 2 million !

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Verdict on the USA: The Friendly Nation

I already knew the US would be a land of contrasts - I never expected them to be this stark, though. Here are the new, polished, suburban neighbourhoods with their prettily manicured lawns, clearly built for the wealthy, well-educated PhD's from the research triangle - and then here are the incredibly (at least for a Dane) poor neighbourhoods, with worn-down ramshackles, barely keeping out the weather and certainly not fit to pass a test by Danish authorities. Here’s the beautiful, beautiful nature with everything you need – and the boring, boring inner cities and mall landscapes.

But mostly, here’s a country whose reputation in many countries is of a superficial and arrogant people – and all I saw was a lot of incredibly friendly people. Yes, I have to get used to everyone (even the guy passing me in the street) asking me ‘how are you’, without answering them back ‘well, you know, I’m a little bit...’. But you certainly make so many more friends in this country, than you do living in for example Paris.

Take it from me; of the 25 nights I have spent in the US since arriving on Oct 15^th, I have only spent 6 in hotels. I spent 16 nights on Lansing Avenue with Meredythe and Irwin in Durham, 2 nights with their wonderful friends Karen and Bill in New York (oh, we’ll just call them, they’re really nice people, I’m sure they don’t mind you sleeping there !) and one night with Hendrik in Washington. And I’ve known Hendrik the longest; less than a month ! All of these people let me into their homes, just like that – I’m amazed and grateful.

Besides that, I also briefly met the nice Danish family, the Bollerslev’s ! A funny co-incidence, I bothered them with phone call number 50 from the Obama campaign – and I ended up having breakfast with Marian and Tim halfway round the world on a Tuesday morning. Funny, isn’t it ?

I had expectations and prejudices when I arrived – we all do. The AT&T company was exactly as incompetent, inflexible and piss-me-off-annoying as I had feared it would be. But the hope and Yes, We Can attitude won a big victory. And the American hospitality exceeded my already high expectations – thank you for doing that, guys !

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North Carolina called; I take credit !

On election night, I had rushed downtown later that night, to be with my team the rest of the night. They were all happy and partying, as we went back to the office – but there was one little issue nagging us all; North Carolina had not been called for either candidate, as the numbers were simply too close. As the night wore on, it became clear we would not get an answer, a closure on what we had been working so hard on. Some had been here for months – so don’t tell them that North Carolina is not important, even as Obama had already won by a landslide.

But today, finally, somewhere in the constant flow of other news items, North Carolina was finally called – for the good guys ! I can only imagine that Eric, Damian, Spencer, Nora, Victor, Jessica, Donna, Stephanie, Becky, Dan, Chris, Alex, Phoenix, Kathy and Charles (who did I forget ?) were cheering as much as I was !

When people here in Denmark ask, I take credit. The margin ended up at only 12,000 votes in Obama’s favour – and I’m sure that’s exactly the 12,000 doors I’ve knocked on ! Who said that sticking flyers in doors doesn’t help ? I chose to believe that I made a tiny little difference in electing the next American President – we all made that tiny little difference...

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Durham ain't that bad, after all...

The morning after – and I’m about to leave Durham, on my way back to New York.

I quickly liked the people I met in Durham, from Meredythe and Irwin, over the team around the Obama campaign, to the Americans whose doors we knocked. But I’ve never hidden that as a city, Durham leaves much to be desired ! It has a boring downtown (or none at all, actually) and quite simply lacks life ! I’ve already gotten the history lesson about how the white people fled the inner city as segregation was banned, sparking the suburbanization, the segregation into black and white neighbourhoods instead – and the death of the inner city. But it doesn’t change the fact that a young man can’t go to a decent cafe after 20h to get a beer and read a news paper or his emails – while the malls stay open till 23h !

That was my impression until Wednesday morning, when Meredythe and Irwin took me on a guided tour. We saw the beautiful surroundings in the Research Triangle Park (can we do something like that in DK, please ?), the inspiring Duke University campus (British style, big parks, old buildings – just bigger !) – and we were lucky with the sun bringing out all the best of the autumn colours everywhere.

Durham ain’t that bad after all – and I may have to come back in a couple of years to check up on the progress...

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Obamania / E-Day

E-Day is upon us ! Good morning to the day America has been preparing for the last two years. This is the big game, bigger than Super Bowl and The World Series.

Today is also a tragic day; yesterday, the day before the grandson she helped to raise is likely to become the first African-American president, Obama’s granny died from cancer, aged 87 - she was the last of his parents and grandparents alive. Obama had been in Hawaii the week before to see her – but we had all hoped for her to at least get to experience his big night, the big night for the whole family. Passing away less than 48 hours before this incredible moment in history...makes you wonder a bit, doesn’t it...? Condolences from Denmark, Barack...

The radio show hosts are spilling over with enthusiasm – and so are the weather Gods; it’s pouring down for the first time since I arrived in the US three weeks ago. Starbucks and Ben & Jerry’s are quick to see the opportunity to catch freezing or wet voters waiting in line; they are giving out free coffee for those waiting in line tonight between 17h and 20h.

Coming to work this morning again amazes me. Even more people have showed up today, to go out and ring those last door bells and make those last phone calls. No more flyers today; now it is just about getting out that vote, knocking on all the doors possible. If we find an unlucky victim who admits to not having voted yet, we drag him into our cars and drive him to the polls ! Before noon, we run out of turfs to cover, or list of doors to knock – so we start diverting volunteers to other counties where they need them. Late afternoon most bets are off, and Eric, myself and another volunteer just drive out into a neighbourhood and start knocking on doors in the darkness and pouring rain. When finally we find Bryan, who hasn’t yet voted, I drive him straight to the poll site, while the others keep knocking. Coming home, we high five for having literally dug out one more vote for the good guys !

After a short stop at a staging location, where rumours are already starting to fly through the air about who has taken which state, I drive down town and watch the coverage on a big screen set up for the purpose. This is a day of partying; bands are playing and people are braving the rain, standing in little clusters and looking at the big screen, cheering when something happens (mainly when the networks announce that Obama has carried a state). After a little while, though, I get tired of the rain – and start missing the remote controlled cinema at Irwin and Meredythe’s house, so I rush home and viola, election nights as it should be, the American way; in a big chair, with chocolate pop corn and two screens to follow several networks at one time. ABC seems to be a bit faster on the trigger than the other networks – but I prefer CNN, for some reason. As the night rolls on, it becomes clear that McCain’s chances of coming anywhere close to winning are as small as all the pundits had predicted – and growing smaller by the hour.

At 22h00 Eastern Time, ABC calls Virginia to Obama – yet another upset to McCain, and a clear victim to the 50-state strategy. With that, and as the polls close on the West coast, ABC immediately calls California for Obama, pushing him beyond the magical 270 electoral votes. History is made; we now officially have the first African-American president of the United States of America. Within 30 seconds, all the other networks also call it – and scenes of joy erupt all over the nation ! Live scenes are shown from Grant Park in Chicago, Times Square in New York and.....downtown Durham !! Meredythe’s silently sheds a tear here at Lansing Avenue...;-) What a beautiful moment – I know I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.

Soon after, McCain goes on stage in Arizona to make his concession speech. His supporters are understandably disappointed and he has to calm some of them down. And he only adds to the emotional moment for the nation, by giving probably his best speech of this election. He is gracious, he tells us how much he loves this country and will continue to fight for her, how he will fully support President-elect Obama and do anything he can to help the transition process – and you can see on him, hear it in his voice, that he 100% sincere. More sincere than any of the mud-slinging or political stump speeches; he truly loves his country.

The crowd in Grant Park is working itself up and after a short while, the new First Family comes onstage in Chicago. The pictures will go down in history; everything from Michelle’s dress, to the young girls, to the kiss between Barack and Michelle, to the tear rolling down Obama’s cheek as he shortly mentions his grandmother. They will all be shown again, published in books, remember and pulled out many years from now. In his speech, Obama continues to pound on his ‘Yes, We Can !’ mantra – and the 250,000 people in Grant Park go nuts, along with the half or whole million outside the park and the many, many more around the country. Jesse Jackson and just about all the women (and many men) in the crowd shed a tear – many cry openly. I probably had a little lump in my throat, too...;-).

My dear hosts, Meredythe and Irwin, grew up in a time where segregation was the law in many states. It is only a little more than 50 years ago, when a black man couldn’t even sit next to a white man on the bus – something that my generation cannot comprehend. Irwin was in the middle of this, being the first African-American to graduate from University of North Carolina and a visible figure on the various sports teams when he was young. Meredythe and Irwin never thought they’d see this day. I dedicate this victory – if I may be so grand – to them, because they opened their house to me and tolerated me for two full weeks. That in itself is a test ! ;-)

Thank you, Meredythe and Irwin !

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The Obamachine

The experts on CNN tell us that every generation has a new way of organizing. Already before E-Day, they predict that not only may Obama win the election – but he has already redefined how a campaign is organized in this time and age. Although they try to remain objective (some networks more than others), they are all in awe over the way Obama and his chief strategist David Axelrod, have redefined this game. The Obamachine is particularly strong in its ground game – the hard work out in each of the battleground states, of which I have been lucky to be part.

For the Americans, convenience is king – for better and for worse. This is what has brought about drive-through McDonalds as well as drive-through pharmacies (I’ll take three Advils, two bags of morphine and a bottle of mouth wash) – but it also means that participation in elections has been slack for many years – and he, who can bring the voter everything on a silver platter, has a good chance of ‘getting out the vote’, as we call it – and win the election.

Look at how one of the best staging locations in Durham is run; a house opened up to volunteers, simply because the owners believe in the cause. Freshly brewed coffee, snacks, breakfast and everything you need to keep the energy going. Phoning stations are set up everywhere, from the bed room to the front porch. 5-10 people constantly sitting around the dinner table, hooked up to the voter database, and punching in numbers all day long. And then the all-important game-changer; so many volunteers, that a poor Dane cannot believe his eyes. Families, older couples, young students, single moms – the front porch is filled with people, just waiting to be told what to do, which doors to knock or who to call. They’re given a pack containing a list of addresses, flyers or door hangers, a 10-minute introduction to today’s talking script – and off they go !

Yesterday alone, the team in Virginia knocked on 1 million doors – 1 million, baby ! That’s one sixth of the Danish population – in one day ! If only Kraeftens Bekaempelse or some of the other charity organizations had these resources, imagine what they could accomplish...

Some people say it comes from Obama’s days as a community organizer, combined with David Axelrod’s impressive organization – which is probably true, you do need a strong management team. But I give these grassroots much credit as well; they’re not just hands and feet – there’s a lot of brains here, too !

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