On Saturday night Drew and I went to see the Eintracht Frankfurt football (soccer) team play in Frankfurt against Mainz. It was absolutely insane, but... I. Loved. It.
There's no denying the fact that I am a crazy sports fan. I jump up and down in front of the TV screaming when both good and bad things happen. I even set my alarm to get up at 3 AM on a Sunday earlier this football season so that I could watch the big USC/OSU game. BUT, the German fan's are for real.
I have some photos and videos in my Picasa Albums linked on the right that barely do it justice. But, here is my attempt to list my top 5 favorite experiences while at the game:
5. Police. In riot gear. Yeah, for real. Apparently it was a big rivalry game and they were prepared for craziness to ensue pre and post game time. For good and bad, I did not witness any riot gear in use.
4. The Rowdy Section. Standing room only. Die hard fans. Flags required. (There were flags in the stands seriously 20 feet tall!) I am sure you must be able to sing/chant every cheer (see #2) to get in. And, I am also pretty sure that you need to consume a minimum of 4 beers before entering. This kinda reminds me of the student section at USC football games, except then when we were under 21 drinking it actually was not legal. ;)
3. Finish a beer bottle? Throw it down the stairs. I don't totally understand it, but they did it.
2. Cheers: we all do it and we do it for the ENTIRE game. Seriously it was non stop cheering and it was loud, and it was AWESOME. I only learned the cheer for the score, it goes something like this:
Announcer: Eintracht Frankfurt
Crowd: Zwei
Announcer: Mainz
Crowd: Null
Announcer: Danke
Crowd: Bitte
I LOVE IT.
1. Fireworks... in the stands. Everyone loves a good fireworks display and my favorite holidays are those that include fireworks. So, why not bring it up close and personal... like IN THE STANDS. The Mainz fans set off some bright red lights in the middle of their rowdy section. And the security guards didn't even care!
My one regret? We didn't go to a game sooner. I could totally buy into this crazy football fan action in Germany. ;)
Monday, December 7, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
How I Plan to ENJOY Documentation
So, it turns out I REALLY do not like to document things. I find it boring. I love to create something new and exciting and "solve a problem" but if I have to WRITE about it, I become unhappy pretty quickly. I have had to document a lot during the last 2 weeks at work (and for the remaining 2 weeks) and my fellow NV&D interns are getting instant messages from me nearly every hour complaining about how bored I am and posing questions such as "Why do none of my Facebook friends post updates when I am at work and looking for distractions?" On Wednesday evening, it got worse. I was in the taxi from Florence to Siena mulling over the next 2 days of training that I was doing for the inventory model I built when I suddenly realized that my thesis is a whole other type of documentation that will last til April! As a good friend of mine says, "Panic at the Disco!" Ok, I am being a bit dramatic, but this is what my life is right now.
Anyway, I kept pondering documentation for most of the taxi ride (yeah, really) and then it hit me... I love to blog. I like talking, I like typing, I like sharing my experiences, I actually really like to DOCUMENT MY LIFE. So, from that moment I decided to put aside my documentation complaints and approach documenting my inventory model and writing my thesis with the zeal I approach writing blog posts.
To my MIT thesis advisers,
I apologize if my thesis now reads something like this: After stressing over how to set up the calculations in the model so that they aren't obnoxious, I pulled out one of the books from my Supply Chain classes (a book that I am pretty sure I never read while I was actually IN class) and tried out method XYZ.... Method XYZ totally sucked, so next I decided to try method LMN and WooHoo! it worked, so that's why that method is in the inventory model.
On a side note: I really need to work on diversifying my transition words. I overuse the word "so."
Anyway, I kept pondering documentation for most of the taxi ride (yeah, really) and then it hit me... I love to blog. I like talking, I like typing, I like sharing my experiences, I actually really like to DOCUMENT MY LIFE. So, from that moment I decided to put aside my documentation complaints and approach documenting my inventory model and writing my thesis with the zeal I approach writing blog posts.
To my MIT thesis advisers,
I apologize if my thesis now reads something like this: After stressing over how to set up the calculations in the model so that they aren't obnoxious, I pulled out one of the books from my Supply Chain classes (a book that I am pretty sure I never read while I was actually IN class) and tried out method XYZ.... Method XYZ totally sucked, so next I decided to try method LMN and WooHoo! it worked, so that's why that method is in the inventory model.
On a side note: I really need to work on diversifying my transition words. I overuse the word "so."
Monday, November 16, 2009
And then there were 5.
5 weeks, that is.
I am back in Germany after 19 days wandering around the US. My flight arrived around 7 am this morning. It was actually pitch black outside when we landed... yes, at 7 am. I got to my apartment around 9:30 am and at that point wanted to climb into bed and sleep forever. But, I am mastering jet lag and know that a nap would be the worst thing to do. So, I actually went in to work and had a semi-productive day cleaning out e-mails and getting myself ready to power through the last 5 weeks. Now, I am trying to keep myself awake for 47 more minutes because I think going to bed before 8 pm would be a mistake. The fact that it was already almost dark by 5 pm has not helped this process, but I'm trying.
So, what's on the books for the next 5 weeks? Lots of stuff, actually...
... travel: there's still a number of places to see in Germany... Hamburg and Cinderalla's castle, and we also have a trip planned to Amsterdam
...Christmas Markets: this is a special trip Drew and I will take to Nurnberg because we have heard that the markets there are some of the best.
...finish my internship: got to work on documentation and training. And, most likely try to find some time to fly to both Italy and England again to train in person.
...get a job: I have some great opportunities already and I am super excited that I actually have a decision to make. Of course, the hard part for me is making the decision. But, I hope that when I sit down and really think about it, the answer will be easy.
With that, I've successfully wasted, errr, passed about 5 minutes. On to entertain myself in other ways.
I am back in Germany after 19 days wandering around the US. My flight arrived around 7 am this morning. It was actually pitch black outside when we landed... yes, at 7 am. I got to my apartment around 9:30 am and at that point wanted to climb into bed and sleep forever. But, I am mastering jet lag and know that a nap would be the worst thing to do. So, I actually went in to work and had a semi-productive day cleaning out e-mails and getting myself ready to power through the last 5 weeks. Now, I am trying to keep myself awake for 47 more minutes because I think going to bed before 8 pm would be a mistake. The fact that it was already almost dark by 5 pm has not helped this process, but I'm trying.
So, what's on the books for the next 5 weeks? Lots of stuff, actually...
... travel: there's still a number of places to see in Germany... Hamburg and Cinderalla's castle, and we also have a trip planned to Amsterdam
...Christmas Markets: this is a special trip Drew and I will take to Nurnberg because we have heard that the markets there are some of the best.
...finish my internship: got to work on documentation and training. And, most likely try to find some time to fly to both Italy and England again to train in person.
...get a job: I have some great opportunities already and I am super excited that I actually have a decision to make. Of course, the hard part for me is making the decision. But, I hope that when I sit down and really think about it, the answer will be easy.
With that, I've successfully wasted, errr, passed about 5 minutes. On to entertain myself in other ways.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Is it really time to find a job??
It took me awhile to get back into school mode, but I must admit, I have fully embraced being a graduate student. I like the freedom it offers. I can set my schedule, take what classes I want, and have minimal guilt if I need to take a personal day off for my sanity. But, of course, I loved working. Having an income, usually having my weekends free, having meaningful work and being a bit more stable are all good things.
So, now, in the LGO program, it's recruiting season. This past week many of the second year students returned to Boston, again, but this time to interview for jobs after we graduate. The LGO partner companies all come to MIT and interview during this week. It's actually really nice for those of us who have to travel far because it allows us to come for one week and get in a lot of interviews. The interviews were usually 30 minutes, and many of the partner companies were pretty quick about things; we often heard about second round interviews, offers and "dings" within 24 hours of our interview.
The week, however, was overwhelming; meeting lots of new people, being at the top of your game all day every day and doing personal soul searching. It's all pretty exhausting. However, I'm happy with how things have turned out for me. I have some terrific opportunities and still have some other companies that I am really excited about that I'm waiting to hear more from. I'm pretty optimistic that it'll work out for the best.
And, for now, I still have 1 more week to enjoy in the US. 2 more days in Boston because on Tuesday I give a presentation to the Novartis Vaccines CEO (I'm big time now ;)) and then I head to Northern California for more interview fun. Then, next Sunday, it's back to Germany for one more month of internship and European fun!
So, now, in the LGO program, it's recruiting season. This past week many of the second year students returned to Boston, again, but this time to interview for jobs after we graduate. The LGO partner companies all come to MIT and interview during this week. It's actually really nice for those of us who have to travel far because it allows us to come for one week and get in a lot of interviews. The interviews were usually 30 minutes, and many of the partner companies were pretty quick about things; we often heard about second round interviews, offers and "dings" within 24 hours of our interview.
The week, however, was overwhelming; meeting lots of new people, being at the top of your game all day every day and doing personal soul searching. It's all pretty exhausting. However, I'm happy with how things have turned out for me. I have some terrific opportunities and still have some other companies that I am really excited about that I'm waiting to hear more from. I'm pretty optimistic that it'll work out for the best.
And, for now, I still have 1 more week to enjoy in the US. 2 more days in Boston because on Tuesday I give a presentation to the Novartis Vaccines CEO (I'm big time now ;)) and then I head to Northern California for more interview fun. Then, next Sunday, it's back to Germany for one more month of internship and European fun!
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