Has it Really Been Six Years?

The epiphany of working for five years seemed to have passed me last year, so I am a bit surprised that it has not in 2010. Perhaps it is the fact that today is exactly six years to the day that I arrived at this office in a tie to a very clean desk ready for me to do my work.

Whenever I think back to 2 August, 2004, I feel profoundly wistful, because I wish I could go back and undo some of the foolish and immature things I did when I started working here. I wish I could have managed things a whole lot better.

Then again, it's never too late. I am grateful for having fantastic experiences of travelling to Tunis for a UN-sponsored conference; Guinea; and recently Mali; and Nigeria.

To tell you the truth, I have not quite gotten over my Nigeria trip; I was beside myself visiting Abuja--it really is a (safe and) noteworthy city to visit!

Every August I start thinking of my last days in Belgium; that frenetic period when we were clearing our rented place in the suburbs of 15 years worth of stuff; the greenery and serenity of the suburbs; the exposure to the "European way" as opposed to the much-flaunted "American way" in Ghana.

I thought that in 2010, I would have landed a UN job(not there yet), or an African Union one(working on it), or one where I could fully exploit my potential of a political scientist, with expertise(10 years writing about, and researching) in comparative regional integration.

My dream to work in an international public organisation where wearing a tie won't give me funny looks is no longer a dream; I think I'm a bit closer to realising it than I ever was.

We'll see.

I still have many deeper dramas to work on.

Still...thank God for 6 years on this job!

And what about you, dear reader? Would 6 years on the job kill you--or make you better?