At my graduation I received the "Gyro Gearloose Award". The prize is for a designer who invents something new in the technical field and I won it with "Endless". On the stage I received a bunch of carrots (the Dutch Gyro Gearloose is called "Willy Wortel", literally translated : "Willy Carrot"), that was the prize. I must have looked like a disappointed small child who is not at all happy with his present. The disappointment disappeared when I was called back up on stage: I had been chosen as delegate of my year to present my work at the Design Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa. Wow, a weeklong trip, fully taken care of down to the last detail, all for a 10 minute presentation.
The week was wonderful. I was treated like a prince, I had my own chauffeur, was picked up by helicopter and so on - let the good times roll! I had plenty of time to rehearse my presentation on the plane. It all came out quite smoothly on stage, until I showed the film which was followed by a burst of applause. I then realized how many hands were clapping and how many people must have been there, about 4000 or so. My well rehearsed, smooth English started to deteriorate somewhat, but I pulled it off, and they may not have even noticed.
