a decision had to be made

[Peter Korsten]

Hey Tom,

> I can't really go into much detail yet, but the company I work for 
> asked me to go to the states to built and start up a new factory in 
> Georgia.
>
> I said YES!

Ooh, major change and a fantastic opportunity. Congratulations!

> It's a greenfield 300m€ project that will be realized between sep '22 
> and sep '25. For me the project starts in January. It's all going very 
> fast now...
> I'll be the production manager, in charge of commissioning and start 
> up. It's not a new technology project, but it is a new process. Btw, 
> it's a copper recycling plant.

That's pretty cool. Doing recycling in a conservative area must be a new 
thing for everybody, but if there's money to be made, things usually 
become a lot easier.

> Children have left the building, wife can take a 3 years sabbatical, 
> so all is good at that point.

Having your wife with you makes things easier. One tip I'd like to give, 
from personal experience: find a good friend (or a friend of your 
wife's) that can help you figure things out. If you're not used to how 
things work in a different country, and you're on your own, it can be 
bewildering. I had the advantage that my wife (back then, girlfriend) is 
Maltese and knew all those things: social security numbers, insurance, 
possibly local legislation, etc.

During the just over two weeks I spent on a holiday in Ontario, Canada, 
what struck me was that while do you recognise many things from popular 
culture, many things are very different, too. Pretty much the only brand 
I recognised was Coca Cola.

Also, prepare for much better weather than in Belgium. 😁

> But the states, I actually hoped to go to south America or Africa, the 
> states were not on my short list. You win some, you loose some ;-)

Well, Malta wasn't on my short list either, but here we are. 🙂

> I'll try to keep in touch as much as possible, but I think I'm going 
> to be very busy the next 4 to 5 years...

Best of luck! What I can tell you is that it can be a profoundly 
enriching experience. Not in the least, you will appreciate, and not so 
much appreciate, many aspects of your native country, when you get to 
see them from afar and in a different light.

- Peter