One week from today, I begin a 6 month assignment in Ireland.
I haven't signed the offer yet. It sucks. Four months ago, this was going to be the best thing that ever happened to me. Now it's just a throbbing mass of stress in my head. Some stress is good; some stress isn't. Let me recap a brief time line:
June 2009: I participated in a 5 week High Level Design for our company's SAP implementation. It was based in Dublin. I had a blast!
September 2009: Detailed design begins. I'm told that I will receive an offer to relocate to Dublin for 12-18 months by the end of the September.
October 2009: Detailed design continues. I enjoy a few weekend trips in and around Dublin. Still loving the experience, but I haven't yet received my expatriate/relocation package.
November 2009: Detailed design continues. We do a week in Tralee and I have time to tour County Kerry. Absolutely beautiful. A colleague of mine, Conor, takes time to make sure I'm comfortable and looked after while there. Still I have not received an expatriate package. Home for Thanksgiving with a week off to enjoy the company of my wife and my infant son.
December 2009: Detailed design continues. The package finally comes. I'm underwhelmed. I'm asked to sign and return the forms in 5 days. My wife sends me an email in frustration as a huge snow storm has hit the midwest and she's thrown her back out. I book a flight home and use this as an excuse not to sign the package.
My wife as it turns out is OK, but was frustrated because I hadn't gotten everything done that I needed to get done at home before heading back to Ireland. Regardless, I'm overjoyed to be home an extra week for the holidays with some extra time to do research on what expatriate packages should look like, but have a limited time to do so. I know my company will be looking for an answer after the holidays.
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