The past few months have been quite hectic.
On December 28, I quit my job at Amazon. Then, I went to live with Sylvia at the hotel her company was paying for as part of her relocation package. I went back to the state of Washington for an interview with Microsoft where I clearly stated that I did not want to live or work in Redmond and that I wasn't interested in the technology that the position I was interviewing for was using. Not surprisingly, I didn't get an offer from them.
Since I had had an offer from Ubisoft before leaving Montreal, I figured I could try my luck with EA in Vancouver. I got a phone interview scheduled with them, but had on-site interviews with two other video game companies before I even got to make the phone interview. The two companies are Blue Castle Games and Nexon. Both companies gave me offers the same day I had an interview with them! And by then, I knew better than to want to work for EA (which has long hours, is far from downtown and limits creativity).
Both offers sported exactly the same salary and similar benefits. I ended up accepting the offer from Nexon as the office is located downtown (three blocks away from where I now live) and has a more comfortable work/life balance.
Nexon is a Korean online video game company. I had never heard of it before, but it's huge in Asia. It's now making its way into North America. It will launch its IPO in a year or two and is setting up a work exchange program. All this is great news for me as I have the potential of making big bucks and getting to work in Asia. We'll see how things will unfold.
After signing my job offer, Sylvia (and, thus, myself too) moved to an apartment. Given our past together, we agreed it would be best if we each had our own place so that we can both move on. So, the same day, I applied and got accepted in a condo tower. The next day, I left for a trip to Asia to get to travel a bit before starting my new job. I went to Thailand and Hong Kong. That trip is the subject of other blog entries.
On my flight to Asia, I reconsidered the lease I had just signed in Vancouver. It was 1250$ a month for a 440 sq ft studio. While in Asia, I had to deal by email with the damn landlady who wouldn't let me break the lease without having me pay an astronomical sum of money. In the end, I got out of the situation by saying I would sublease the place instead of breaking my lease. Then, she agreed to let me off the hook for a few hundred bucks. It was an unpleasant situation which gave my trip a not-so-great backdrop.
Finally, I did find an apartment in downtown Vancouver, in a neighborhood called Yaletown (the yuppy district of Vancouver). As mentioned before, it's three blocks away from where I work. It's brand new. The building was just finished and I'm the first person to ever live in my unit. It's a studio with a den and a small office. It's got hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, in-suite laundry, a fireplace (although an electric one) and a deck on top of the building for BBQ's and city-watching. It's around 500 sq ft and goes for 1050$ a month. In Vancouver's market, that's a steal! I'm quite happy with the place.
I've got the basic furniture already; got connected to the Internet by cable; changed my address in my accounts... I'm making Vancouver my home. All that's left to do is buy the missing furniture and establish a social network here. For the furniture, I'm going to the States next week-end. For the social network, it's a work in progress.
In the near future, I'm taking Sylvia to Hawaii as a way to thank her for all she did for me. I'll go enjoy Montreal's summer a bit too.
For the long term, I see myself sticking here for a while. Then, I'll either go to Asia with Nexon or fulfill my dream of living in New York. I could also try Toronto. There are so many opportunities in this life.
