The Fastest Way to Feel at Home
Friday, 9 February 2007 -- 7:28 pmIt’s been barely a week since we moved to Oslo, and already it feels like home. That’s astounding, both considering and because I’ve only been in town for 4 days!
I’ve discovered one of the fastest ways to make a new place feel like home: Before you’ve even finished unpacking your suitcase, empty one out, repack it, and leave town for a few days.
Part of the motivation behind our extremely rushed exit from Beijing was so that we could be in Oslo by the beginning of February, because my new project team was planning an off-site meeting to transition between releases and to get the entire European team together in one place. Aside from a chance to see a new place (Prague), this proved to be a brilliant way to learn about the project and meet the team. Not only did I get to learn a little about how they work and what went right/wrong during their last development cycle, I had a fantastic chance to meet everyone. With people spread across many different centers, in most cases it would have been months before I’d even talked to them all otherwise. Also, for the team from Oslo, it was a better chance to get to know them than a few minutes at the coffee machine affords during a regular work schedule.
However, the biggest surprise was how much it made Oslo feel like home. Dragging myself back to our apartment after a rather hectic 3-day schedule, I was surprised how familiar things in Oslo already felt. I knew (for the most part) how to get home, and it felt cozy being able to curl up on the sofa of our temporary apartment.