Review of 2012

Wow how fast a year goes by !!!

Its been another year of experiences for me, having spent the freezing temperatures of winter in Kyiv, Ukraine to the heat of the summer in Tbilisi, Georgia !!

Starting the year in Kiev brought another Drum and Basslines party this time to Xlib Club and to headline the event we brought Doc Scott over from the UK. It took a long time to find someone who would fit the bill for the Ukranian market and there were possibly better options available but nobody else that could fit in with my pricing structure. The party as a whole went fine, although out of the 4 parties we have held so far my favourite has to be the one we did with Raiden and Mutated Forms, closely followed by the first with James (Unknown Error) Gash.

Anyway after the party in Kyiv it was time for another flight back to Tbilisi. The main intention of this trip was to try and finally after 4 years travelling was to settle down a bit (my bank balance also needed it as well).

The first few days I sent out maybe 30 emails to various companies here in Georgia, and within a few days (and speaking to a handful of different companies) I had an interview at ITDC. After an hour or so interview with Sergo, George and Theo they decided I could fit into the organisation and utilise my skills not only from an IT point of view but also as an Englishman. It was a big step for me joining a company in not only a different country, but also where I knew it was not going to be a simple task to integrate with everyone else where I dont speak the language.

After picking up the details of how the main systems are organised (basically myvideo.ge) with the help of Theo things were progressing well. It has been always my intention to learn at least some basic Georgian as I am well aware it will help with communication and explaining things to others maybe a bit better than Im able to in English.

It is now almost 9 months after joining ITDC and im the first to admit I have not made nearly as much progress on that side as I would have liked. From my point of view I think there are a number of reasons for that... firstly settling into living in a new country is not an easy task in itself and there are lots of things that I have needed to work out. Secondly is having the time in which to actually learn. The weekdays in the office means I lose the entire week (no real difference to being in the uk where the pattern is work/sleep/work/sleep etc), but it meant that my only real chance was at weekends. I would say that maybe I havent put in enough effort to find a teacher who can spare me 1-2 hours on a saturday or sunday to get me at least a start. Saying that I have picked up the alphabet (even thought not 100% confident), and can read most words written in Georgian so there has been a tiny bit of progress.

My main aim after I get back from UK after christmas is to put as much effort as I can into not only finding a teacher, but to have as much of a crash course as possible to manage to string together a sentence or 2. If I can achieve that then im hoping during the rest of 2013 then that can develop much further.

In my own mind its perfectly simple the task that I have... my year contract at ITDC will be up for renewal at the end of March. The projects I have completed since I started at ITDC have been fine, but it would be better in during 2013 I can play more of a role within the company. Breaking the language barrier will help make that happen (barrier is the wrong word as everyone at ITDC can speak some english, but it is not always easy for them. Plus I am the visitor in Georgia so it is my responsibility and desire to learn their language).

Cant think of anything else to write at this point but will add over the coming days or weeks when things come to mind !!