Learning

After talking about my main difficulties in Holland, I also decided to talk about my main learnings, which certainly far outweigh the difficulties.

An exchange is a very intense phase, and this also extends to the learnings that we take when we returned home. Of course I learn a lot about agriculture here, especially the organic and biodynamic; but there are certain things that I learned that really no book would teach me.

Below I will list my key learnings out of agronomy.

1 - Some people you only see once in a lifetime so do not miss the chance to know them.

2 - When you know that your time will end you actually live with more intensity, which we do not realize before an exchange is that life will also end and we do not know when, so alive with intensity always.

3 - The more languages ​​you know, the more people can communicate; and believe me, when more you communicate the more you grow and learn.

4 - For the difficulty in verbal communication, I began to create more empathy, often can not understand what a person speaks, but I can recognize that it is in need or feeling.

5 - Try new foods and do new things. It's like I'm no more a chance to do it again, I just experiment.

6 - The impossible is just a matter of opinion even I did and do things here that even I thought were impossible for me. Today I know that a lot of doing things are not impossible, they just need a special dedication.

7 - Listen. As I am in a country that does not speak my first language when someone is talking to me you need me to put some attention and even take a break in what I'm doing.

8 - I'm not as essential as thought. It's not easy to hear, but it is reality, no one needs you to go on living; the problems you solve, someone will solve.

9 - Tell people how much you love and how to care for them. Now I know that any moment could be the last time I see and talk to someone.

10 - You can not drop everything and go running to her parents' home when things do not go the way you would like, you simply need to face.

11 - It is important to accept others' opinions, and people as they are. You can not just come in and impose things the way you want.

12 - You do not need to be in extraordinary places or occupy important social positions to lead a really interesting life, it just depends on you and how you lead your life.

13 - His life is based on the priority you give to things and people, and it is these priorities that might make your life more interesting or more monotonous.

14 - What people think of you is really their problem. The important thing is to be good about yourself.


I will end this post with a quote from Montaigne, it helps to describe the experience of living in another country:
"We seek another reality we do not know how to enjoy our own, and we left within us the desire to know how our inner"

BeeBox

On last Thursday, September 10, I had a day job a little different, I was making a delivery in BeeBox, company've talked about here on the blog, and asked to work for a few hours there with them. I will tell a little about the company, talk about the job and then show you some pictures.

The BeeBox is a cooperative formed between farmers, investors and consumers; It began in October 2012, and a major goal of this company is to shorten the distance between farmers and consumers, causing the plants reach the freshest houses.

Some things I found interesting in BeeBox:
 - The box containing the food is returnable. Thus, the customer always receives a full and an empty box delivery, in my view this is a relationship of fidelity on both sides.
 - The bread is unique. A bakery makes bread especially for BeeBox; this is a way to make consumers feel special and unique. Also you can tailor the type of bread that their customers prefer.
 - There are 4 types of boxes, after all they serve 2000 families a week, and we must try to adapt to what each want to consume.
 - The products are all produced in the Netherlands and 90% of them are organic.
 - The company name is really interesting and has help in marketing, it is as if the company were the bee goes from flower to flower (representing the farm) and take nectar (box) to the hive (representing the homes of consumers ).
 - Consumers do not pay more than they would pay for food at the supermarket.

Work on BeeBox need to be agile, because during the Thursday morning all the boxes need to be made, and delivery starts at 14:00. I worked on the assembly line of the basic boxes.

Importantly, they deliver meat and yogurt as well, and this will in a separate box, which allows the preservation temperature of these foods. Once you reach the houses, the drivers give the meat belongs to the kind of box and places it in the box.

I will leave the company's site here for those who did not see the other post: www.beebox.nl