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.

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!

I need a 6th gear.

Ok, so, that’s a pretty terrible reference to driving a manual car. But, I am kinda OK with being a big dork and doing that.

Anyway, the point is that I need to somehow kick my butt into a faster gear. Sometimes I think internship allows you to run in 4th or 5th gear for most of the time, at least compared to school. In my opinion it’s not nearly as intense as classes are and allows for a lot more time flexibility than we had with classes. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not all cupcakes and puppies (how I wish I could have both right now!), but it’s also not nearly as time or energy intensive as the normal school year.

(No more manual car driving references from here on out…)

And, internship is even different than a full time job. When I worked at NG, I was pretty easily working 50 hours a week. On a light week. And, it was sometimes stress city because I had so many people asking me for help and wanting me to get involved in new things. Since your internship project is typically something you own yourself and might not allow you to fully integrate with the organization since it's short term, the level of involvement is naturally much less.

BUT, there may come a time, as there has for me this week, when you realize that the laid back summer is over and the Fall is here – full-time job recruiting and finishing your internship project are upon you. This might mean a lot more intensity than before. Not just at the internship but also in the evenings. In July, I worked my 7.5 hours (I’m in Europe after all; I was just trying to blend in!) and accomplished what I needed to; I then went home, maybe played tennis with Drew or ran, cooked dinner, learned German on Rosetta Stone and still had 2 or 3 hours to stalk, err, catch up with people on Facebook or read my Google Reader articles. Times have changed. Now, I am not only working a lot harder, but when I go home I have to motivate myself to write cover letters, practice for interviews and really do some serious soul searching about what I want to do when I grow up.

So, with the new stresses (and possibly the fact that I turned a year older last week), I seem to be noticing more grey hairs. But, the bottom line is, I need to find that 6th gear again and push through the next 2 months (ok, I lied about no more driving references), cause come this time in December, I will hopefully have accepted the “perfect” job offer and will be enjoying the Christmas holidays and a 6 week break.

P.S. Our car actually doesn't have a 6th gear. It's sometimes a bummer.

My Newest Skill

I kinda pride myself on being a rock star driver. I'm not perfect, but I'm pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. Also, I am a Californian, so I LOVE driving. But, sadly, I was missing a key skill, because I never had the chance to drive a manual. A good friend in High School let me drive his truck in the parking lot occasionally so I could do it in an emergency, but mostly, I just knew "the rules" but not really HOW to do it.

Fortunately, in Europe, nearly every rental car is a manual. This means, I can now drive one. And. I. Love. It. It was a slow beginning at first because Drew lives further from work than I do and loves driving, so he drove about 99% of the time. Until finally, I got so frustrated one day when I drove the car cause Drew wasn't around and I totally sucked. That's when I told Drew I needed to drive more. And, since then, it's been great.

I'm kinda proud of myself because it's almost a skill I never thought I'd have. Not because I didn't want to learn, but because in the US, there's really no reason to learn unless you want to drive something specific.

So, the best part about this is that the new car opportunities are now wide open for when I graduate. I am open to car suggestions. :)

P.S. I am sure Drew will make a more detailed post about this at some point, but our Ford Fiesta had to go back to the rental place (we think for an oil change and whatever other services were needed), so now we have a new car. Introducing the Orange Nissan Micra, the color might actually be duller in the picture than it appears in real life.