Vervroegd kerstcadeau; vliegtickets zijn geboekt!

Have you ever felt like you have been thrown in the deep? It feels like you do not have any boundaries anymore and you have to figure a lot out yourself. Well these are my expectations of my work placement. Not so much, that I do not have boundaries during my stay with XPO Exhibitions Ltd. Because I know there will be as they are one of the biggest trade show organizers in New Zealand and want to keep this name up. But more that I am going as far as I could possibly go, seeking for my own boarders, figuring out a new culture and a new way of living all by myself. Surviving one may call it. Well that’s what I expect it to be at first but then I will blend in and find this new and unusual live, called; work live, very normal. At least that is what I think. Let us see if all these expectations have become reality on 1st July 2016, the end of my work placement with XPO Exhibitions Ltd.

So who am I then and what in the world made me choose for New Zealand?
Well I am Linda Adriana Adriaans, just turned 21 years old when I am leaving the Netherlands for a half year abroad. I grew up on a farm in a small village, all the way up to the most north easterly corner of the Netherlands. However, I have this big passion to see more of the world and learn about other cultures. I love to challenge myself and set some high goals to get the most out of life. At least that is, what I think of it. Although, my family is going through a hard time since two years ago. We never let this stop us. We encourage each other to get best out of life and to support each other with whatever we do. All of this together and the big stories every traveler brings back with them about this fabulous country, made me choose for New Zealand. I wanted to explore New Zealand with my own eyes. To see and discover what it is, that everyone is always so enthusiastic about this country.

But besides the wonderful country I chose, I chose for an event company. As my heart is within the event industry (which market within this industry, I have not figured out yet). My friends and family immediately said that they could really see this thing happening, when it became known that I would not do my internship whit a hotel anymore, but that I would work with an event company. The company that I was applying for; XPO Exhibitions, seemed like a right fit. XPO Exhibitions organizes trade events for business-2-business markets. This branch of event management seemed really interesting for me, as I haven’t been in contact with this side of event management before. Before this internship, I have only been to business-2-consumer events and did not have any clue about business-2-business events. This is also why this internship is very interesting to me.