Family • Photo Restoration • 43 • Gabičko • Chapter III

Chapter III • 7,197 Days

• After graduating from university I treated myself by visited my friend Robert Fridrich in Prague. He had arrived two years earlier to teach English. By the time I visited in June of 1991 he was starting Mac Source, an Apple reseller business with two partners, Tony Hasek and Glen Emery. I witnessed how the market was developing and the opportunities to make a fresh start. My challenge as a fresh graduate was entering the workforce in the middle of a North American recession. After struggling for over a year to get my career off the ground, I gave up on Canada decided to move to Europe. I arrived in Prague on the 21st of September 1993. Although I was grateful for my Canadian education, I ran out of patience and became apprehensive of the fact that my brain capacity was in perpetual state of decay. Besides, I saw the move as an opportunity to reconnect with my cultural roots. At twenty five I was ready for a tangential change to my life.

• Success is often defined by “time and place”. In 1993 I felt I had arrived late to the Czech Republic. In hindsight it was perfect timing. I was confident, ambitious, and brash, but had little experience in corporate business. I remember what Rob asked me, driving home after picking me up from the airport, “So what do you think you’re going to do here?” Clenching my teeth I said , “I’ll get a job.”