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I haven't written anything for quite a while, actually I am experiencing the 'normal life' in Crete. I'm not a tourist although I'm a foreigner, and I have to adapt to whatever rules and regulations appear to be in Crete. 'Appear to be' because you never get a chance to know, not even the locals know... 
"Normal life" is like everywhere in the world: Most of the day is just work-work-work. Being self-employed in translations though I am happy to say that as for office hours my boss is not too hard on me. Sometimes I would have been out late the night before, and my boss doesn't mind if I'm not too early at my computer. 10 o'clock is just fine to start work. But normally I turn the machine on at 8, spend an hour to read the online paper, check my mail, read ExploreCrete and whatever belongs to the 'must' list, and at 9 I start working. When it comes to leaving the office, my boss is quite tough: Nobody leaves till the work is done. Sigh!... Often 10-12 hours of my life disappearing into the thin air before I can turn off the damn'ed machine!
Crete is out there. I can actually see the sea from my office window, but there isn't much time to enjoy it. Most of the weekends are just like normal working days, something always pops up, urgent business, real urgent, forget about weekend! If I want to see Crete I pull down a slideshow of the photos on ExploreCrete....
I wonder if people wanting to move to Crete thinks about this? Well, of course, if you're retiring, no worries at all, you'll have al the time you want to explore the island. But if you're just dreaming about moving to a warm and friendly place while still having to work, then you should remember that you'll probably not have much more time to explore the place than if you were leaving 2-3 weeks on holidays to come here from whereever you live now. Life is tough. Also in Crete.
But I don't regret moving to Crete. Because, even though I don't have the necessary time to enjoy the place, I still have the HOPE to be able to get some time sooner or later. And it's right out there. No mornings with pouring rain, no cold winters, if I'll ever get some time (and sometimes I DO) I'm just two steps from Paradise.
Friday 23rd I put my last word in a translation. Then spent the rest of the day invoicing the work of the month. And now... TAAAA TAAAAAAAAAAAA .... I'm on holidays! Just a ordinary tourist in Crete with all the time I want to do anything I want. Oops, forgot, when you leave your home country to live in Crete, then your holidays will be "going back home" to visit whomever you have left behind. In fact, in a few days I'll be leaving for Copenaghen to see the family. Fortunately, the weather in Denmark is nice these days, and since it's 36-38 degrees here right now, I shall probably enjoy the 24 degrees of Copenhagen. Must remember a warm sweather though....
"Normal life" is like everywhere in the world: Most of the day is just work-work-work. Being self-employed in translations though I am happy to say that as for office hours my boss is not too hard on me. Sometimes I would have been out late the night before, and my boss doesn't mind if I'm not too early at my computer. 10 o'clock is just fine to start work. But normally I turn the machine on at 8, spend an hour to read the online paper, check my mail, read ExploreCrete and whatever belongs to the 'must' list, and at 9 I start working. When it comes to leaving the office, my boss is quite tough: Nobody leaves till the work is done. Sigh!... Often 10-12 hours of my life disappearing into the thin air before I can turn off the damn'ed machine!
Crete is out there. I can actually see the sea from my office window, but there isn't much time to enjoy it. Most of the weekends are just like normal working days, something always pops up, urgent business, real urgent, forget about weekend! If I want to see Crete I pull down a slideshow of the photos on ExploreCrete....
I wonder if people wanting to move to Crete thinks about this? Well, of course, if you're retiring, no worries at all, you'll have al the time you want to explore the island. But if you're just dreaming about moving to a warm and friendly place while still having to work, then you should remember that you'll probably not have much more time to explore the place than if you were leaving 2-3 weeks on holidays to come here from whereever you live now. Life is tough. Also in Crete.
But I don't regret moving to Crete. Because, even though I don't have the necessary time to enjoy the place, I still have the HOPE to be able to get some time sooner or later. And it's right out there. No mornings with pouring rain, no cold winters, if I'll ever get some time (and sometimes I DO) I'm just two steps from Paradise.
Friday 23rd I put my last word in a translation. Then spent the rest of the day invoicing the work of the month. And now... TAAAA TAAAAAAAAAAAA .... I'm on holidays! Just a ordinary tourist in Crete with all the time I want to do anything I want. Oops, forgot, when you leave your home country to live in Crete, then your holidays will be "going back home" to visit whomever you have left behind. In fact, in a few days I'll be leaving for Copenaghen to see the family. Fortunately, the weather in Denmark is nice these days, and since it's 36-38 degrees here right now, I shall probably enjoy the 24 degrees of Copenhagen. Must remember a warm sweather though....
