Well work this week was less boring than usual. Herr Berger finally got around to giving me a project, which is pretty far out of my depth, but I'm doing my best. Agnes also e-mailed me and sent me on a wild goose chase for prices of materials. That was actually kind of fun because I got to talk to people all over the company. Oh yeah and it got me off of the New York Times website for a couple hours. Our office floor is being renovated, so we moved this week into new offices above the Zerodur production floor in the neighboring building. Most of our coworkers were moved into a building all the way at the other end of the campus in offices on the sixth floor with no elevator. Yeah, I like my new office just fine.
At the end of the week, HR organized a get-together for the US interns. We met up at the local brewery (Eisgrub Bräu) for dinner and then went to watch the semi-final match between Russia and Spain on the Rhein Strand (a little beach along the river). The next morning we were bussed off to Alzenau where we got a tour of the solar technology production plant, which was pretty cool. In the afternoon we went to the Kupferberg Sekt Kellerei - or sparkling wine cellar - that has been around in Mainz for hundreds of years. We tasted the local sekt and got a tour all through the cellars and fermenting areas. Afterwards, we went on our own to my favorite little pub in Mainz, Cafe Extrablatt, and had a few beers before wandering off to another summer festival at the Johannes-Gutenberg University.
My friend Sharon, who is doing an internship in London this summer, flew into town and met up with us at Extrablatt. So she and I ran amok around the town and festival on Friday. Yesterday we made our way to Frankfurt, where I showed her around the shopping district, the old town, and the Museum walk along the Main river. It was a very relaxing, very cool day. We ate dinner on the plaza in front of the Römer, which was a little expensive, but excellent food. I had fish in an almond butter sauce with potatoes and vegetables. She had the special, which were local mushrooms in a cream sauce with schnitzel, potatoes, and vegetables. In the evening, we explored another pub in Mainz, which was actually also quite nice, and I introduce Sharon to the Radler (beer mixed with lemonade - a southern German tradition). Today we are relaxing at my apartment in Ober-Olm. We are probably going to walk around the vineyard a little bit and then head into Mainz for dinner before Sharon has to catch the bus back to the airport.
Tonight is the Europa Fussball Meisterschaft! Go Deutschland!!! Have I mentioned before that I've had a total fangirl crush on Michael Ballack since my senior year of high school? Ha ha I can't believe he's still around!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Week Five
Well it turns out that they did in fact want me to be at the trade show every single day. At first I was angry, because the only thing Agnes (the head boss) told me was that they would need me to keep the product display cases clean, so I was imagining being the maid all week. Also, no one was going to be able to drive me to and from Frankfurt, so I was going to have to take the train - a two hour trip for a total of four hours of commute every single day of the week. That meant getting up at 5am in order to be ready. Yeah, I wasn't pleased.
However, the trade show turned out to be a rather fun experience. I used the time in the trains to nap or read a book. At the actual booth, what they really needed me to do was sit at the information desk and hand out information sheets and booklets about the various products or direct customers to the appropriate sales person when they had question. This was rather boring at times, particularly on Friday when almost no one was there, but it was kind of fun attempting to field really technical questions in German, and I was even able to answer some questions about the products! I also suspect that the reason they asked me to do this chore was so they could put a young female out into the front of the booth to attract all the weird techie guys. One of my funniest observations was that whenever there was an attractive young man walking around, there was always a girl with him - as if the girlfriends were afraid of their guys being stolen away because they were the only cute ones in a veritable sea of mullets and Teeva sandals.
Everyone who worked at the trade show was super nice to me. I got lots of compliments on my German, and many of my coworkers made time to tell me about their experiences with Schott. Before I felt like even though I knew their faces, I never really talked to anyone, because our office setting is not particularly conducive to socializing. There's certainly no watercooler culture in my department. After this week, I feel a bit like the department pet. One of the French employees who I talked with a lot during the initial training session told me about how French people describe wine using the same terms they would use to describe a woman's dress. I thought that was pretty funny (they actually call the legs on the wine - for those of you familiar with wine - the thighs. Yeah they are pretty sensual about their wine). The eastern European employee in the office told me how he was in my position at the trade show three years ago. I don't know. It was kind of cool to talk to everyone.
My roommate and I got into a pretty big fight this week. It started off with a dirty pan that she left sitting around and ended with her accusing me of ignoring her and being rude. It made things pretty awkward, so it was probably good that I was hardly ever home this week. Last night we ended up hanging out together with some of the other interns at Johannesfest. I guess now we're just pretending like the fight didn't happen. I don't really care since I'm only here for another two months anyway, so I don't want to make a big issue out of stupid little stuff.
Johannesfest is pretty awesome. I dropped my stuff off at Ashley's apartment in Mainz and we went to meet up with Anne. Linda joined up with us later after we'd already gone on the Tilt-A-Whirl (so much fun) and done some walking around. They basically have little booths set up everywhere and people sell almost anything you can imagine, almost like a craft fair. I found a purse I really liked, but they didn't have it in black, so I didn't buy it. I did get a very pretty necklace and I ate chocolate covered strawberries - yum! I also found the funniest t-shirt I've ever seen. It said the following:
"Caution!"
When you go me on the Nerven,
I shall put you into a Gully,
do the Deckel drauff,
and you will never come back
to the Tageslicht!
This is the best example of Genglish I have ever seen. It's supposed to mean, "If you piss me off, I will put you in a hole, cover it with a blanket, and you will never see the light of day." Obviously someone didn't pay attention in their English class ha ha! Of course I bought the shirt. I SHALL PUT YOU INTO A GULLY! I'm going back today to do more browing, because Anne wanted to go to another university party, and naturally we wanted to tag along. We met up with more interns and enjoyed an evening of dancing, beer, and students.
Oh I should also mention that I found my US sim card!!! This absolutely made my day!
However, the trade show turned out to be a rather fun experience. I used the time in the trains to nap or read a book. At the actual booth, what they really needed me to do was sit at the information desk and hand out information sheets and booklets about the various products or direct customers to the appropriate sales person when they had question. This was rather boring at times, particularly on Friday when almost no one was there, but it was kind of fun attempting to field really technical questions in German, and I was even able to answer some questions about the products! I also suspect that the reason they asked me to do this chore was so they could put a young female out into the front of the booth to attract all the weird techie guys. One of my funniest observations was that whenever there was an attractive young man walking around, there was always a girl with him - as if the girlfriends were afraid of their guys being stolen away because they were the only cute ones in a veritable sea of mullets and Teeva sandals.
Everyone who worked at the trade show was super nice to me. I got lots of compliments on my German, and many of my coworkers made time to tell me about their experiences with Schott. Before I felt like even though I knew their faces, I never really talked to anyone, because our office setting is not particularly conducive to socializing. There's certainly no watercooler culture in my department. After this week, I feel a bit like the department pet. One of the French employees who I talked with a lot during the initial training session told me about how French people describe wine using the same terms they would use to describe a woman's dress. I thought that was pretty funny (they actually call the legs on the wine - for those of you familiar with wine - the thighs. Yeah they are pretty sensual about their wine). The eastern European employee in the office told me how he was in my position at the trade show three years ago. I don't know. It was kind of cool to talk to everyone.
My roommate and I got into a pretty big fight this week. It started off with a dirty pan that she left sitting around and ended with her accusing me of ignoring her and being rude. It made things pretty awkward, so it was probably good that I was hardly ever home this week. Last night we ended up hanging out together with some of the other interns at Johannesfest. I guess now we're just pretending like the fight didn't happen. I don't really care since I'm only here for another two months anyway, so I don't want to make a big issue out of stupid little stuff.
Johannesfest is pretty awesome. I dropped my stuff off at Ashley's apartment in Mainz and we went to meet up with Anne. Linda joined up with us later after we'd already gone on the Tilt-A-Whirl (so much fun) and done some walking around. They basically have little booths set up everywhere and people sell almost anything you can imagine, almost like a craft fair. I found a purse I really liked, but they didn't have it in black, so I didn't buy it. I did get a very pretty necklace and I ate chocolate covered strawberries - yum! I also found the funniest t-shirt I've ever seen. It said the following:
"Caution!"
When you go me on the Nerven,
I shall put you into a Gully,
do the Deckel drauff,
and you will never come back
to the Tageslicht!
This is the best example of Genglish I have ever seen. It's supposed to mean, "If you piss me off, I will put you in a hole, cover it with a blanket, and you will never see the light of day." Obviously someone didn't pay attention in their English class ha ha! Of course I bought the shirt. I SHALL PUT YOU INTO A GULLY! I'm going back today to do more browing, because Anne wanted to go to another university party, and naturally we wanted to tag along. We met up with more interns and enjoyed an evening of dancing, beer, and students.
Oh I should also mention that I found my US sim card!!! This absolutely made my day!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Week Four
The mindless grunt work continues. Not only do we have the trade show coming up this week, but they are renovating the AOO offices and so next week we have to move to another building. That means that this week, aside from stuffing almost 200 folders with product information, I also was responsible for boxing up all loose materials around the office. In between doing these menial tasks, I surfed the web finding articles (see Facebook - I posted the more interesting ones) and researching my travel plans, because my boss had nothing for me to do. This internship has turned into the nightmare I was afraid it would be. I'm not getting any useful experience, I hate it, and I'm bored out of my mind. My boss, Herr Berger, seems to be aware of my frustration, saying that he would have time to give me projects and more work after the trade show and the move are over, but that's still two weeks away. In the meantime, my presence is only necessary at the trade show for two out of five days. That means I will be sitting alone in my office for three days this week doing nothing.
The only exciting prospect there is that I can pretty much make my own hours. If I want to come in a little later or leave earlier, I'm free to do so. Pretty much everyone will be at the trade show, so I'm on my own. Unfortunately, I will be just as underutilized as I am right now, so I have a lot of Facebook/Reddit/online newspaper time ahead of me. So that kind of sucks.
I participated in a company sponsored charity event yesterday, which was the Benefizlauf (or Run for Children). Companies sponsored teams and donated one euro for every lap run around a 400meter track. Each team had to have at least one team member on the track at a time for a ten hour period, so the way my team (made up of trainees and interns) organized ourselves, we formed groups of at least 5 people to take responsibility for a two hour shift. I ran about 10 laps in the two hour period and had a lot of fun. We got free food and massages and cheered on the following group.
The trainees also informed me that next weekend is the big Johannesfest in Mainz, which is the biggest summer festival in the city. Supposedly I will get an email detailing plans to go celebrate along the Rhein. I'm very much looking forward to that, even though it interferes with my plans to do a day trip to München, but hey I can go to München any week. Johannesfest is once a year! My trip to Malaga is shaping up to be a fantastic getaway. I got the go-ahead from Herr Berger to take two days off so I can really make a full trip out of it. I can't wait for August!
The only exciting prospect there is that I can pretty much make my own hours. If I want to come in a little later or leave earlier, I'm free to do so. Pretty much everyone will be at the trade show, so I'm on my own. Unfortunately, I will be just as underutilized as I am right now, so I have a lot of Facebook/Reddit/online newspaper time ahead of me. So that kind of sucks.
I participated in a company sponsored charity event yesterday, which was the Benefizlauf (or Run for Children). Companies sponsored teams and donated one euro for every lap run around a 400meter track. Each team had to have at least one team member on the track at a time for a ten hour period, so the way my team (made up of trainees and interns) organized ourselves, we formed groups of at least 5 people to take responsibility for a two hour shift. I ran about 10 laps in the two hour period and had a lot of fun. We got free food and massages and cheered on the following group.
The trainees also informed me that next weekend is the big Johannesfest in Mainz, which is the biggest summer festival in the city. Supposedly I will get an email detailing plans to go celebrate along the Rhein. I'm very much looking forward to that, even though it interferes with my plans to do a day trip to München, but hey I can go to München any week. Johannesfest is once a year! My trip to Malaga is shaping up to be a fantastic getaway. I got the go-ahead from Herr Berger to take two days off so I can really make a full trip out of it. I can't wait for August!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Week Three
I had my first week in the actual office, supposedly doing my real internship work. It's true that they're giving me more stuff to do, which is exciting, but they still haven't told me what my big projects will be. I want to do more than update databases! On Monday, I get to stuff folders for the OPTATEC trade show that we're going to next week. That should be mindless and unfulfilling. I did get to sit in on a meeting with the people who designed our booth, which was really interesting.
On Thursday, there was a happy hour for the interns, which was fun. When things started winding down, we got invited to go to a university party. I was ambivalent about going, because we live really far outside of Mainz, and the buses don't run late. Also, we have to get up really early for work and it's a long commute. However, I've been chafing all week because we're really cut off from people our age, because of our location. So Linda and I went, stayed out until almost four in the morning, and still managed to drag ourselves in to work the next morning. I was pretty useless on Friday morning, but my boss didn't seem to notice, and I rallied in the afternoon.
Still I was pretty tired, so when my friend Kiana called to tell me about the wine festival in Bodenheim, where her boyfriend's family lives, I almost backed out. Now I'm glad that I didn't because it was super fun. Unfortunately, my camera battery died after taking only one picture, so I don't have much documentation, but it was like a huge outdoor party. You buy these little glasses that have the name of the festival and the year printed on them and then you take that around to the different vendors and buy wine either by the glass or by the bottle at really cheap prices. We mostly bought bottles, because we were in a big group. Jochen's friends were all really impressed with my German, so I felt pretty good about that. One of Jochen's friends Basti got jumped by ten guys (no joke) as he was leaving and they kicked the living daylight out of him. He managed to get back to Jochen's house, where he promptly passed out in my designated sleeping area. When we returned an hour or so later, I had to sleep in a chair. Boo to that.
On the way home this morning, I took the wrong bus from the train station and ended up in Essenheim, which is one town over from Ober-Olm where I live. Linda and I tried to walk to Essenheim last week and wound up getting lost, but I knew this morning that I could walk back if I could just find the path. I made it home (success! Who says girls can't navigate?) and saw goats, horses, and a pheasant along the way. The pheasant was pretty cool. I plan on going back to the wine festival with Linda on Sunday to try to buy some bottles to bring back and enjoy it when it's not such a ridiculous party atmosphere. Also, Kiana and Jochen invited me to go watch the European soccer championship with them on Sunday night on the banks of the Rhein river. So I'm looking forward to that.
On Thursday, there was a happy hour for the interns, which was fun. When things started winding down, we got invited to go to a university party. I was ambivalent about going, because we live really far outside of Mainz, and the buses don't run late. Also, we have to get up really early for work and it's a long commute. However, I've been chafing all week because we're really cut off from people our age, because of our location. So Linda and I went, stayed out until almost four in the morning, and still managed to drag ourselves in to work the next morning. I was pretty useless on Friday morning, but my boss didn't seem to notice, and I rallied in the afternoon.
Still I was pretty tired, so when my friend Kiana called to tell me about the wine festival in Bodenheim, where her boyfriend's family lives, I almost backed out. Now I'm glad that I didn't because it was super fun. Unfortunately, my camera battery died after taking only one picture, so I don't have much documentation, but it was like a huge outdoor party. You buy these little glasses that have the name of the festival and the year printed on them and then you take that around to the different vendors and buy wine either by the glass or by the bottle at really cheap prices. We mostly bought bottles, because we were in a big group. Jochen's friends were all really impressed with my German, so I felt pretty good about that. One of Jochen's friends Basti got jumped by ten guys (no joke) as he was leaving and they kicked the living daylight out of him. He managed to get back to Jochen's house, where he promptly passed out in my designated sleeping area. When we returned an hour or so later, I had to sleep in a chair. Boo to that.
On the way home this morning, I took the wrong bus from the train station and ended up in Essenheim, which is one town over from Ober-Olm where I live. Linda and I tried to walk to Essenheim last week and wound up getting lost, but I knew this morning that I could walk back if I could just find the path. I made it home (success! Who says girls can't navigate?) and saw goats, horses, and a pheasant along the way. The pheasant was pretty cool. I plan on going back to the wine festival with Linda on Sunday to try to buy some bottles to bring back and enjoy it when it's not such a ridiculous party atmosphere. Also, Kiana and Jochen invited me to go watch the European soccer championship with them on Sunday night on the banks of the Rhein river. So I'm looking forward to that.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Possibilities on the horizon
The most exciting thing about being in Germany is its very convenient central location. My roommate and I have been discussing travel possibilities together with the other girl who is interning here in Mainz. So far we've decided that London would be an excellent choice, because I found a great deal to go to London roundtrip for €40 on Ryan Air. Also, my friend Sharon is doing an internship there and can put me up for the weekend with no trouble, so that means a considerable reduction in price for the rest of the trip as well. Yay conveniently place friends! She just booked her flight to come see me in Mainz in three weeks. =)
Other than that we've discussed trying to get to a beach somewhere. South of France is definitely out, as no one offers cheap fares to get there, and Italy is looking equally cost-prohibitive, although I was enamored of the idea of going to Sicily. Who knows, maybe it could be my one big splurge! The other intern, Ashley, mentioned Spain as a possible destination, which would also be incredible. This needs more investigation.
I spoke with my host mom last night, and she was quite excited to hear that I'm trying to travel a little. She, of course, insisted that I come up to Berlin at least twice to see her and the rest of my host family. She then mentioned the word "baden" which in German refers to their cultural tradition of going to these elaborate spa locations complete with hot springs. It seems she would like to go with me to one of these places, which would be a whole new aspect of German culture for me (will I have to get naked? Yikes).
The only problem here is that I get three days of vacation and that's it. Also I'm on an extremely tight budget after all the taxes they take out of my €600/month allowance. Luckily, Berlin and London won't have hotel or hostel fees because I have friends to stay with. If I do go to this mysterious baden activity with Gitte, she will most likely spring for the hotel, although I don't want to count on it. And I have my heart set on some European beach time, so I'm going to have to splurge a little there, but I'm ok with it. I didn't bring bikinis with me for nothing!
Does anyone have suggestions? Is anyone even reading this?
Other than that we've discussed trying to get to a beach somewhere. South of France is definitely out, as no one offers cheap fares to get there, and Italy is looking equally cost-prohibitive, although I was enamored of the idea of going to Sicily. Who knows, maybe it could be my one big splurge! The other intern, Ashley, mentioned Spain as a possible destination, which would also be incredible. This needs more investigation.
I spoke with my host mom last night, and she was quite excited to hear that I'm trying to travel a little. She, of course, insisted that I come up to Berlin at least twice to see her and the rest of my host family. She then mentioned the word "baden" which in German refers to their cultural tradition of going to these elaborate spa locations complete with hot springs. It seems she would like to go with me to one of these places, which would be a whole new aspect of German culture for me (will I have to get naked? Yikes).
The only problem here is that I get three days of vacation and that's it. Also I'm on an extremely tight budget after all the taxes they take out of my €600/month allowance. Luckily, Berlin and London won't have hotel or hostel fees because I have friends to stay with. If I do go to this mysterious baden activity with Gitte, she will most likely spring for the hotel, although I don't want to count on it. And I have my heart set on some European beach time, so I'm going to have to splurge a little there, but I'm ok with it. I didn't bring bikinis with me for nothing!
Does anyone have suggestions? Is anyone even reading this?
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Life in the Second Week
Well, like I mentioned before, I spent the first half of my week at the European sales meeting for employees in Advanced Optics with my boss, Agnes Hübscher, and my supervisor, Frank Berger. The first day was incredibly long, because when the meeting should've ended around 4:30, they sprung a surprise on us. They had hired a bus to take us to a very famous park overlooking Wiesbaden to do a ropes course, practice archery, and have dinner. This would've been fine, but whereas everyone else had been warned ahead of time to wear comfortable shoes and dress casually, no one told me. I had to go to this event in a skirt and heels, so I couldn't do any climbing and the ground destroyed my shoes. The second day was boring, and I was exhausted (over 12 hours at a meeting the previous day and only five hours of sleep to boot).
In the afternoon, my bosses told me that they had arranged for me to go to another training session, supposedly for new employees, that would take place over the final two days of the week. This time was pretty awful, because it got extremely technical and I couldn't follow it. However, some parts were really fascinating, like we had tours through the melting department, the production department, and the quality control areas. That almost made the rest of it worth it.
I like Frau Hübscher. She is very friendly and acts more like someone my age than like someone who must be at least mid-thirties. Herr Berger is more what I expected from a German boss - very reserved and formal. I'm supposed to go to a trade show in Frankfurt am Main with them in a few weeks, which I'm actually looking forward to, since trade show experience is highly sought after in the job market. Beyond that, Frau Hübscher wants to bring me to Jena, where she works, for a week when Herr Berger is on vacation. The best part of that situation is that it will be the week before my birthday and she said I could leave Thursday night to go to Berlin to see my friends and host family...so I could be in Berlin on my birthday! I'm very excited.
Tomorrow I'm supposed to sit down with Herr Berger and find out what my specific duties are with regards to the internship. I can't wait! No more meetings!
In the afternoon, my bosses told me that they had arranged for me to go to another training session, supposedly for new employees, that would take place over the final two days of the week. This time was pretty awful, because it got extremely technical and I couldn't follow it. However, some parts were really fascinating, like we had tours through the melting department, the production department, and the quality control areas. That almost made the rest of it worth it.
I like Frau Hübscher. She is very friendly and acts more like someone my age than like someone who must be at least mid-thirties. Herr Berger is more what I expected from a German boss - very reserved and formal. I'm supposed to go to a trade show in Frankfurt am Main with them in a few weeks, which I'm actually looking forward to, since trade show experience is highly sought after in the job market. Beyond that, Frau Hübscher wants to bring me to Jena, where she works, for a week when Herr Berger is on vacation. The best part of that situation is that it will be the week before my birthday and she said I could leave Thursday night to go to Berlin to see my friends and host family...so I could be in Berlin on my birthday! I'm very excited.
Tomorrow I'm supposed to sit down with Herr Berger and find out what my specific duties are with regards to the internship. I can't wait! No more meetings!
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