US-New York 1986

United States
In 1986 I arrived for the first time in New York to check my new workplace, located on 21st and Broadway. I stayed the very first nights at the Novotel on Broadway and 53th. From the very first minutes I liked New York and felt that I was part of a big movie production. I lived and worked a few months before my wife Inge and one and a half year son Jorrit arrived and was able to explore New York City and to meet various people. At first we lived in a studio in Chelsea, then moved to Oak Avenue in Larchmont, a small village in Westchester County, and ultimately moved to the Parkway in Mamaroneck. Ultimately we stayed in the US for almost 13 years and I worked for 3 different companies. I worked downtown, Rockefeller Plaza and Times Square.

It was ultimately a desire to return back to Europe that we decided to focus on an eventual return. Stay closer with aging parents and being able to show the children that Europe is a different place than the US with different landscapes, culture, history and values.
America is clearly a melting pot the way we experienced living there. My subject will focus mostly on the North east and in particular Westchester and New York City. The fact that I traveled frequently to the major cities provided me with benchmarks versus New York as well as other parts of the world in particular Europe. I left the US early 2000 at the age of 42.