Reflections and Structures

We’re at the end of 2005, and it’s been full of events and stories. Let me offer a swift update on what my year has been like, in the hope that we’ve not been out of touch for too long so that you don’t know what I’m doing writing all this to you.

To start with, it’s slightly inappropriate to say ‘my year’ since all along I’ve been surrounded by people who are important to me. Anyway, here’s what’s been going on: Flo and I decided to get married—but to wait until next year to actually do it. This year we saw, for the first time, what it’s like to live together in one place for a significant amount of time. (She took one year in Romania as part of an exchange programme between the two universities of Antwerp and Timisoara.)

That meant closer and more intensive interaction with my parents as well, which naturally led to conflict and misunderstanding. A long-drawn process, inherent to many families that are ‘growing up’ (albeit a little late, in our case) but which has resulted in a healthier, better relationship between generations—something I am quite proud of.

Professionally, I think the best way of describing the situation would be to say that I’m ‘professionalizing’ my activity, because it’s become so intense that without rigour and order it’s actually hard to even keep track of what I’m doing! Together with others, I am working hard on building a good academic record and on leveraging that and other attributes in applied research and consulting.

In other news, a major highlight of the year was our trip to America’s east coast, but there were others too. About many of these things you can read more on my website, www.ciprianman.net.

Of course, I should add countless other facts and stories in order to be complete, but I’ll only mention one more, apparently insignificant, piece of data.

I am sitting in an armchair, looking outside at the Christmas-tree-like myriad colourful lights of Budapest Airport, having for the past hour listened to a chapter of Freakonomics, a current favourite book and having had my self-made sandwich that included a piece of ham, illegally transported over the Hungarian-Romanian border. (No, it’s not allowed to bring any meat products into the EU!) I’m looking forward to meeting Flo in Brussels and to a few days’ rest. I’ll be sending this to you using my 3G/UMTS phone, which is the same device I used to listen to the book.

What does this mean? Obviously, that I have a cool phone.

Well, that and the fact that I thought of many of the people who have mattered to me over time, during a short break in a foreign airport, at a time when my heart is set to ‘welcoming’ mode because I’m going to see my sweetheart in just a few hours’ time.

All the very best to you for the New Year!

Ciprian.