Last night was our much anticipated appointment for Curry Wurst, a special local dish. It's a favorite of Guido and Stefan and was the first time for Emrah. After work we picked up Stefan's wife Andrea. She was shy with her english which was not as good as Stefan who throughout the night kept nudging me to talk to her in english. He even told me to ask her open ended questions instead of yes/no questions to force her to use her english. They were a very cute couple.
We went to a restaurant specializing in this dish. It was very intimidating in the beginning. The place was bustling and it's up to you to find a table. We had to sit at the bar for our meal since all were too hungry to wait. Remember that the european can linger pretty long over their meals so you never know. The menu was simple enough although I didn't figure this out until later. Our waitress was rude and impatient (or so Emrah thought), when we didn't look like we knew what we wanted she just walked away! Anyway, all they have is the curry wurst or bratwurst, french fries, cole slaw and many different sauces on the side. What it looked like was a really fat hot dog with a nice gravy type sauce in which you dip the wurst and fries. Andrea ordered the satay sauce as her extra sauce which was a peanut base sauce. I thought that sounded too strange but when she let me taste it with the fries it was fantastic! Can't wait to bring Gary here. Definitely not a touristy place and I was happy to have a local experience. It was a very modern looking restaurant with uncomfortable furniture. They only had stools for chairs so by the end of the meal I had to stand up to straighten out my posture. The fries (pommes) tasted so good I ate it all. Guido finished his dinner and then ordered an extra plate of fries. Looking into the open kitchen you can see a mountain of french fries and dozens of wurst on the grill. Guido channeling our job observed how efficient and profitable this operation is. Simple ingredients - wurst and fries and some sauces, simple menu, and fast turnover.
After dinner we walked along the harbour which had some pretty awesome architectural buildings. All very funky and modern - one exterior looked like it was made out of aluminum foil and the others were crooked or were very oddly shaped. I think Gary would enjoy seeing this area. It's very different from the atmosphere of Old Town which can be seen in the distance north of the Rhine. We stopped in a bar to have a beer and I ordered the alt beer with coke. Yes, it's beer mixed with coke. They also do this with Fanta and Sprite.
We then got in the car to drive to Ratinger St. which was the crazy party street I went to a week ago. I learned that this street was also referred to as "the longest bar in the world". Apparently this street is at its craziest on Wednesday and on weekends. It was a very lively scene with people packed and overflowing into the street. There are many bars/restaurant lined up right next to each other on both sides. You can basically stop at any of the many bars and hang out along the sidewalk. The waiters go back and forth with platters full of small glasses of alt beer (a nice dark beer local to Dusseldorf). You just wave to the waiter as he passes through and pay him $1.6 euros for a beer. Ofcourse you can order other drinks but it seemed like beer was the popular drink and plentiful. Ofcourse we ran into other hkl people, how can you not when it felt like the whole city was compacted into this one block area! There were also dance clubs along this street so people usually venture into these as it gets later. How can these people stay up so late on a work night?! Ofcourse it was a younger crowd so maybe that's why! I'm not sure if Gary will like this place but at the very least it will be interesting for him to see. To be honest it was fun to see it but not my favorite place. I felt claustrophobic at times. It's a great place for anyone who enjoys the bar scene. It's more of a local place. The tourisy places in Old Town is only a couple of blocks over.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Day trip to Aachen
On the recco of my colleagues I did a day trip to Aachen with Megan on Sunday. It's the most western town in germany and 1 hour 20 minute train ride from DD. only $46 USD. It's famous for its cathedral and thermal bath house. The bath house was off the list since Megan did not have her swimsuit.
We bought tickets for the 8:40 train and thought that leaving our guesthouse at 8 would be plently of time to take the tram that will get us to DD train station. Well, as we were walking to the tram stop we saw it go right by us. Ok, we'll catch the next one. When we got to the stop it said the next tram was 25 minutes away! Note to self, trams on the weekends run less frequently than weekdays. Then Megan saw tram #701 and thought that we should just hop on. We did and about 5 minutes later realize it might not take us to the train station. We decided to hop off and take a taxi. OK, second note to self - there are hardly any taxis on Sunday. Any taxi we saw had a passenger in it. I quickly concluded that any taxis on the road is only there if they have been called. Crap, it was now 8:30 and there was no way in hell we are going to make it. We ended up wating for the next tram to come along. It was 8:50 by the time we got to the train station which meant we had to figure out how to get on the next train which according to Megan was not so easy. I asked Megan if there's any chance the 8:40 train might be late and she said there's zero chance. The german trains are always on time, to the minute. Well, wouldn't you know it, we happened to look and our train was running late!! Megan was flaberghasted saying that this has never happened. I was feeling a little smug myself.
It was forecasted to rain on Sunday and I was hoping our luck would continue. Nope. It was drizzling lightly when we got to Aachen. It was such a cute town. We walked the whole day. We booked the english speaking tour of the cathedral. Meanwhile we walked around the small cobblestone streets, ducked into cafes to buy sweets and to eat lunch. I love the sandwiches here, the bread is fresh baked. I got an open face sandwich with fresh salmon, it was so yummy. Gave some of my quiche to Megan when she discovered that her wrap had some huge slices of pineapple, not expected! After lunch we checked out the city hall. OK, just picture a typical city hall and think the opposite! The building was built in the 14th century and more of a palace. It was incredibly ornate, inside and out.
The cathedral was so pretty. It was a mix of baroque and gothic architecture. The town itself suffered a lot of damages in WWII but luckily the church was unscathed except for the windows. It was built in the year 798 during the reign of Charlemagne and the oldest cathedral in northern europe. For 600 years it was the coronation place for 30 german kings and 12 queens. On the tour we got to see Charlemagne's throne which was place high above so he could look down and see the church activities. The throne was also used for the coronations. The choir hall was incredible, all 3 sides in colorful stain glass windows that were 100ft high. Even my wide lense cameras couldn't quite take it all in. I was amazed that they allowed flash pictures of the frescoes since they were over 1,000 years old and fading. The cathedral also held the St.Mary treasury which contained 4 relics that included the Virgin Mary's cloak & Christ's loin cloth. It has been tradition since the 14th century that these relics are taken out of the sealed treasury every 7 years for the pilgrims to see. The last time was 2007. This was when we found it hard to believe that something that was 2000 years old could be taken out and exposed to the environment and not be damaged! Ofcourse we couldn't offend the guide by expressing our doubts. Megan is going to ask her dad the scientist if this is even possible!
By now it has been raining steadily. We had our umbrella but it still sucked! This called for a nice leisurely dinner. The old town had dozens of restaurants and we eventually chose this very charming mediteranean restaurant (called Aix Mediterano). The front had a huge green and white strip awning that covered some tables and chairs and a profusion of potted flowers. The inside was just as cute. It reminded me of a small restaurant on a greek island, stucco and ceramic tile floors and with more fresh flowers. The restaurant owner/waiter/cook was a very charming little man with a big black mustache. When we asked if he had an english menu he shook his head but asked if we spoke spanish or french. Great! Now I can converse with him in spanish and cut back on the sign language! We were able to order in spanish. The place had two stories . Downstairs where we were there was a little brick oven where he grills the tomatoes and zuchinis. After taking our order he went to his counter and pressed into an intercom on the wall, apparently to place the order with the cook! I pictured the computerized way they place our orders in the states and thought this was much more entertaining. It was really funny to see him do this throughout our time there. You can hear the cook talk back to him as well. The hummus was freshly made and the pita bread was thick and grilled, we were in heaven. Megan's main course came with fries so she asked our waiter for ketchup. He looked at us strange but brought it anyway. Finally he spoke up and said that on our plates were little saucers of ketchup that he made fresh from his tomatoes, much better than the ketchup from the bottle! We made a quick recovery and said we wanted to save his special "ketchup" for our meats!
We ended our day with some great dessert and hot chocolate at the bakery/cafe. OMG they know how to make hot chocolate here! They give you a cup of hot foamy milk and you add the chocolate powder. Both of us were moaning with delight over our desserts and hot coco, good thing we sat upstairs away from the crowd. We were SO full afterwards, even with the walk back to the train station. I made Megan walk back and forth on the train platform in the hopes of burning off some calories. Wishful thinking on my part. Great day, inspite of the rain. My memory of this place will be the beautiful cathedral and our food fest......
We bought tickets for the 8:40 train and thought that leaving our guesthouse at 8 would be plently of time to take the tram that will get us to DD train station. Well, as we were walking to the tram stop we saw it go right by us. Ok, we'll catch the next one. When we got to the stop it said the next tram was 25 minutes away! Note to self, trams on the weekends run less frequently than weekdays. Then Megan saw tram #701 and thought that we should just hop on. We did and about 5 minutes later realize it might not take us to the train station. We decided to hop off and take a taxi. OK, second note to self - there are hardly any taxis on Sunday. Any taxi we saw had a passenger in it. I quickly concluded that any taxis on the road is only there if they have been called. Crap, it was now 8:30 and there was no way in hell we are going to make it. We ended up wating for the next tram to come along. It was 8:50 by the time we got to the train station which meant we had to figure out how to get on the next train which according to Megan was not so easy. I asked Megan if there's any chance the 8:40 train might be late and she said there's zero chance. The german trains are always on time, to the minute. Well, wouldn't you know it, we happened to look and our train was running late!! Megan was flaberghasted saying that this has never happened. I was feeling a little smug myself.
It was forecasted to rain on Sunday and I was hoping our luck would continue. Nope. It was drizzling lightly when we got to Aachen. It was such a cute town. We walked the whole day. We booked the english speaking tour of the cathedral. Meanwhile we walked around the small cobblestone streets, ducked into cafes to buy sweets and to eat lunch. I love the sandwiches here, the bread is fresh baked. I got an open face sandwich with fresh salmon, it was so yummy. Gave some of my quiche to Megan when she discovered that her wrap had some huge slices of pineapple, not expected! After lunch we checked out the city hall. OK, just picture a typical city hall and think the opposite! The building was built in the 14th century and more of a palace. It was incredibly ornate, inside and out.
The cathedral was so pretty. It was a mix of baroque and gothic architecture. The town itself suffered a lot of damages in WWII but luckily the church was unscathed except for the windows. It was built in the year 798 during the reign of Charlemagne and the oldest cathedral in northern europe. For 600 years it was the coronation place for 30 german kings and 12 queens. On the tour we got to see Charlemagne's throne which was place high above so he could look down and see the church activities. The throne was also used for the coronations. The choir hall was incredible, all 3 sides in colorful stain glass windows that were 100ft high. Even my wide lense cameras couldn't quite take it all in. I was amazed that they allowed flash pictures of the frescoes since they were over 1,000 years old and fading. The cathedral also held the St.Mary treasury which contained 4 relics that included the Virgin Mary's cloak & Christ's loin cloth. It has been tradition since the 14th century that these relics are taken out of the sealed treasury every 7 years for the pilgrims to see. The last time was 2007. This was when we found it hard to believe that something that was 2000 years old could be taken out and exposed to the environment and not be damaged! Ofcourse we couldn't offend the guide by expressing our doubts. Megan is going to ask her dad the scientist if this is even possible!
By now it has been raining steadily. We had our umbrella but it still sucked! This called for a nice leisurely dinner. The old town had dozens of restaurants and we eventually chose this very charming mediteranean restaurant (called Aix Mediterano). The front had a huge green and white strip awning that covered some tables and chairs and a profusion of potted flowers. The inside was just as cute. It reminded me of a small restaurant on a greek island, stucco and ceramic tile floors and with more fresh flowers. The restaurant owner/waiter/cook was a very charming little man with a big black mustache. When we asked if he had an english menu he shook his head but asked if we spoke spanish or french. Great! Now I can converse with him in spanish and cut back on the sign language! We were able to order in spanish. The place had two stories . Downstairs where we were there was a little brick oven where he grills the tomatoes and zuchinis. After taking our order he went to his counter and pressed into an intercom on the wall, apparently to place the order with the cook! I pictured the computerized way they place our orders in the states and thought this was much more entertaining. It was really funny to see him do this throughout our time there. You can hear the cook talk back to him as well. The hummus was freshly made and the pita bread was thick and grilled, we were in heaven. Megan's main course came with fries so she asked our waiter for ketchup. He looked at us strange but brought it anyway. Finally he spoke up and said that on our plates were little saucers of ketchup that he made fresh from his tomatoes, much better than the ketchup from the bottle! We made a quick recovery and said we wanted to save his special "ketchup" for our meats!
We ended our day with some great dessert and hot chocolate at the bakery/cafe. OMG they know how to make hot chocolate here! They give you a cup of hot foamy milk and you add the chocolate powder. Both of us were moaning with delight over our desserts and hot coco, good thing we sat upstairs away from the crowd. We were SO full afterwards, even with the walk back to the train station. I made Megan walk back and forth on the train platform in the hopes of burning off some calories. Wishful thinking on my part. Great day, inspite of the rain. My memory of this place will be the beautiful cathedral and our food fest......
Sunday, August 15, 2010
My first washing machine experience
I had to do laundry today. Easy task at home. Not so easy here. THe machines are in the basement of the building and 5 flights of stairs! Megan assured me that it was easy. Ofcourse she told me later that she just pushes random buttons! The washer is not top load like I'm used to. Also, there were no knobs like I'm used to. AND the words were in german. There was a machine next to mine that were running and I was trying to see where the knobs where set at. I was able to imitate the celcius but the rest was a mystery. I decided to push a green button to see what happen. Luckily it was the right on. There was an indicator that shows the minutes. At first I couldn't find rhyme or reason to it. The numbers were going up and then eventually it started to count down. It didn't look like there was much water so I couldn't tell if it was working properly. I finally figured out that I pushed the righ button to start it although I just went with whatever settings the machine had before. The dryer was the same situation! The knobs were not familiar and ofcourse all in german. Again, I just pushed a random button. It worked out fine but I think it was just luck! I really thought they should have posted some signs in english!
What? I have to pay to use a shopping cart?!
Living here I knew I would make some bonehead american moves and yesterday was an occasion. Went grocery shopping at another store down the street. This time I wanted to use a shopping cart so I don't have to carry the weight until I have to. I went to grab a cart and saw that they were all chained together. I kept looking for a mechanism of some kind to unlock it but couldn't. I was trying to be inconspicious and not look so stupid struggling with a cart. I might as well where a sign that says "I'm not from around here!". I remember my first night here I went to REWE market and tried the same thing. Again the carts were chained together but at that late of day I thought they were just putting the carts away and chained them together for the night.. I didn't think much of it and just went and got a basket instead. Anyway, here I was in the same situation except it was early in the afternoon and there were people around. I was getting frustrated struggling to pull apart the cart when a man passed me with his cart with the intention of putting it back. I thought, perfect, great timing. I made the motion for him to give me his cart. At home this happens sometimes when you are done with your cart and someone is coming in and just takes your cart from you. Well, this man wouldn't give me his cart and again I made the motion for him to give it to me. He kept moving to put his cart away and I thought what a mean german he was. Why couldn't he just give me his damn cart! He was saying something to me but ofcourse I couldn't understand a word of it. He was smiling when he showed me that by putting his cart away he got a coin back. Oh, DUH! Apparently you put in a coin to get your shopping cart and you get the coin back when you put the cart away. By then I was too embarrassed to figure out exactly how much you have to put in since there were more people now. I just nonchalantly went into the store with the intent to just using the basket. Well, wouldn't you know it, I couldn't find a damn basket anywhere. Great, it's going to be a pain carrying my stuff while I shop. It was a sign when I couldn't find a lot of organic fruits and vegetables in this store. I decided to go back to REWE where at least I knew my way around and there was a basket for me to use. Oy vay, some of the simplest things are not so easy here. Next week I am determined to figure out the shopping cart and will bring lots of different coins with me!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Friday night out on the town
Megan and I were meeting Stefan for dinner at 8 and then meeting Emrah at a dance club at 11. I was actually the one to recommend the restaurant Da Noi (italian) since I've been there with Parker & his family 2 weeks ago. The only problem was that Parker had picked me up in his car the last time and we did not know how to get there by tram. Megan is only familiar with the U74 tram which takes you to Old Town and the shopping street. Stefan gave me instructions on which tram to take and told me that because of construction it was going in a different way but will eventually dump us by the restaurant. Well, not so simple. I missed the part where Stefan told me that the tram will back track looking like it's going the wrong way. Megan & I were not familiar with the routes of this tram and when it looked like it was going the wrong way we decided to jump off at the DD Bahnhofen and took a taxi to the restaurant. How embarassing, it only took about 5 minutes. Stefan said if we had stayed on the tram it would have been the next stop!!
Anyway, we had a lovely dinner with great food. It was fun to talk about our different cultures. Megan goes back to the states in 2 weeks after a 3 mth assignment in DD. I can see that this experience has changed her. I was so impressed with her handling herself in such a foreign place. She told us hilarious stories of some of her experiences here, especially with the apt manager.
After dinner Stefan drove us to Ratinger street. I had no idea where we were going but Megan has been there before. We were supposed to meet Harald & Emrah & their friends there later that night. After parking the car in a garage we walk through this very long dark alley. In the distance I can hear so growing roar of people. It was very surreal because it sounded like a rush of people getting closer and closer. It turns out that Ratinger is a popular cobblestone street lined with bars. The sidewalks are packed with people hanging out and drinking beer. Stefan explained that the crowd of people aren't waiting to get it. They are hanging outside. It was wall to wall people and we had to walk in the street to get through. It was so loud! This is the street where the locals hang out. A couple of street over is the Alsteadt (Old Town) and that's where the tourists hang out. It's also a popular place for bachelor and bachlorette parties. Apparently it's tradition for the groom to be to dress up in outrages clothing. Megan assures me that I will see men in women's clothing tonight. There were broken glass from the beer bottles on the ground, people walk around with bottles of beer in their hand. I can only liken this scene to madri gras, it's crazy.
We eventually walked along the Rhine river where there were, again, hoards of people. There was live musis and people sitting along the steps leading to the river. It was so nice out. Stefan showed us how to tell time from the blinking lights of the Rhine Tower (168m). In this small area they call Old Town there are over 260 bars, restaurants and cafes. Somehow these places are packed and overflowed with people. Where are they all coming from? I think it's because of the nice weather. We in AZ take for granted the sunny days and nice weather. The summer here is short and that why we used to say that all of europe seems to take off the month of July & August. Soon enough it will be cold and rainy!
Stefan parted ways with us by 11:30 in order to go pick up his wife from work. By that time we hadn't heard from Emrah, not sure what happened. Megan & I decided to go into Schlosser to check it out and perhaps find the guys. It was pretty crowded and I was feeling a little claustrophic. It was a younger crowd so I was feeling a little out of place. I was texting H- to see where he was. This morning I got answer from him saying he was looking for us as well. Oh well, bad planning. We had enough and left before 12:30, it was way past my bedtime!
Anyway, we had a lovely dinner with great food. It was fun to talk about our different cultures. Megan goes back to the states in 2 weeks after a 3 mth assignment in DD. I can see that this experience has changed her. I was so impressed with her handling herself in such a foreign place. She told us hilarious stories of some of her experiences here, especially with the apt manager.
After dinner Stefan drove us to Ratinger street. I had no idea where we were going but Megan has been there before. We were supposed to meet Harald & Emrah & their friends there later that night. After parking the car in a garage we walk through this very long dark alley. In the distance I can hear so growing roar of people. It was very surreal because it sounded like a rush of people getting closer and closer. It turns out that Ratinger is a popular cobblestone street lined with bars. The sidewalks are packed with people hanging out and drinking beer. Stefan explained that the crowd of people aren't waiting to get it. They are hanging outside. It was wall to wall people and we had to walk in the street to get through. It was so loud! This is the street where the locals hang out. A couple of street over is the Alsteadt (Old Town) and that's where the tourists hang out. It's also a popular place for bachelor and bachlorette parties. Apparently it's tradition for the groom to be to dress up in outrages clothing. Megan assures me that I will see men in women's clothing tonight. There were broken glass from the beer bottles on the ground, people walk around with bottles of beer in their hand. I can only liken this scene to madri gras, it's crazy.
We eventually walked along the Rhine river where there were, again, hoards of people. There was live musis and people sitting along the steps leading to the river. It was so nice out. Stefan showed us how to tell time from the blinking lights of the Rhine Tower (168m). In this small area they call Old Town there are over 260 bars, restaurants and cafes. Somehow these places are packed and overflowed with people. Where are they all coming from? I think it's because of the nice weather. We in AZ take for granted the sunny days and nice weather. The summer here is short and that why we used to say that all of europe seems to take off the month of July & August. Soon enough it will be cold and rainy!
Stefan parted ways with us by 11:30 in order to go pick up his wife from work. By that time we hadn't heard from Emrah, not sure what happened. Megan & I decided to go into Schlosser to check it out and perhaps find the guys. It was pretty crowded and I was feeling a little claustrophic. It was a younger crowd so I was feeling a little out of place. I was texting H- to see where he was. This morning I got answer from him saying he was looking for us as well. Oh well, bad planning. We had enough and left before 12:30, it was way past my bedtime!
1st day in the DD office
Good thing I had Megan walking to work with me yesterday morning. THe whole campus is frickin confusing even with a map! The campus spans approx 1 mile wide and 2 miles long with over 100 buildings! To give perspective our building in AZ is about 500-600 people while this site has about 5,000 people! It's like a little town in itself with 4 separate cafeterias throughout. People use bikes to get around.
SO, even though I mentioned that my apartment is right next to hkl it takes me about 20-25 minutes to get to my building. I was so amazed during our walk to the office, like a kid on first day of school. There are office buildings mixed in with the plants and you have to watch where you are going because there are trucks and fork lifts moving around. I was supposed to pay attention to where Megan was leading me but keep getting distracted by my surroundings. This is where is all began. SOme of the buildings were made of brick and built in the early 1900's.
How lucky that Megan works in the same building as me. My department is on one floor of an old brick building. Each office is shared by 2-3 people. I share mine with Guido who took a vacation day. I met a few of my team mates and all were very nice. We all went to lunch together to the North Kasino (they call the cafeterias kasinos). It's all very high tech. The cafeterias do not accept credit cards or cash. You take your employee badge on a atm looking maching where you scan it and deposit cash into it and then your badge is used to pay for your lunch. The food offerings were many and very good. Funny that the special of the day was cheeseburger and fries. You can bet that I did NOT get this. I had a nice salad and a plate of rice and chicken. All 4 of my colleagues got the burger special! During lunch I noticed that they were all eating their burgers with a knife and fork. What the?! Trust me, it wasn't a small White Castle size burger but a good size burger with lettuce & tomatoes. Emrah was part of the group and I know that he didn't do this when we ate at McDonalds last week. When I asked them about it they told me that it was because of the professional environment that you would do this differently. Boy, it was a good thing that I didn't get the burger because I NEVER would have thought to eat it with a knife & fork. It's just not right. It was really funny to see, you had to be there. I've learned that when eating you should have your knife and fork in your hands the hold time. It's not proper to cut up your food and then just eat with your fork.
After lunch it was customary to have a coffee or expresso. We have a little kitchen on our floor with an expresso machine with the little cups. After lunch Emrah & I had a quick plate of chocolate cake & coffee. There was even a dishwashing machine for our cups/plates/silverware that the cleaning crew takes care of. No, they don't use paper plates & plastic forks like we do at home I guess that would not be to civilized!
After lunch Megan came down so we could buy our train tickets on line to Aachen this Sunday. You have to buy your tickets on line but it's so easy and user friendly. It will be a 1 1/2 hour train ride to the town of Aachen which is a recco from my colleagues. It was only $36 euros rountrip. The pictures online is so pretty I can't wait to see it. We surfed the net a little bit and realized the reference to spa town means that we come to take in the natural thermal springs (referred to as bath houses). There are "spas" that channel these thermal waters into pools. It looks a huge public jacuzzi. Unfortunately Megan had already packed her swimsuit away and is not to keen to sit in these bath waters. Aside from this there will be plenty for us to see.
I introduced Megan to some of my team mates and she thought they were very nice and very friendly. We made plans for that night. Dinner with Stefan and then meeting up with Harald & Emrah later at a club. Let's hope I can stay up late enough for that. For those who know me, Friday night is not a good night for me to stay up late!
Marietta came by to chat. She came from Bulgaria and is new to hkl. I think she was glad to have another girl in the dept. We made plans for dinner next week since she is off to India the following week for her assignment.
After work Megan took me to the farmers market by the Holthausen tram stop which is close to our guesthouse. We each picked up a boquet of flowers for our apt. I was so happy to do something as simple as buying a bunch of flowers on the way home from work. I also bought some fruits. At these stalls the fruits are not prepackaged and you don''t take what you want. There's someone there to give you what you want. The only problem was we didn't know enough german to ask for what we wanted! How the heck do I say half a pound?! In the end I just pointed and the girl would start putting the grapes/cherries in a paper cone until I put up a hand for her to stop. OMG the cherries were twice the size at home and the grapes were so sweet. I should have bought more.
SO, even though I mentioned that my apartment is right next to hkl it takes me about 20-25 minutes to get to my building. I was so amazed during our walk to the office, like a kid on first day of school. There are office buildings mixed in with the plants and you have to watch where you are going because there are trucks and fork lifts moving around. I was supposed to pay attention to where Megan was leading me but keep getting distracted by my surroundings. This is where is all began. SOme of the buildings were made of brick and built in the early 1900's.
How lucky that Megan works in the same building as me. My department is on one floor of an old brick building. Each office is shared by 2-3 people. I share mine with Guido who took a vacation day. I met a few of my team mates and all were very nice. We all went to lunch together to the North Kasino (they call the cafeterias kasinos). It's all very high tech. The cafeterias do not accept credit cards or cash. You take your employee badge on a atm looking maching where you scan it and deposit cash into it and then your badge is used to pay for your lunch. The food offerings were many and very good. Funny that the special of the day was cheeseburger and fries. You can bet that I did NOT get this. I had a nice salad and a plate of rice and chicken. All 4 of my colleagues got the burger special! During lunch I noticed that they were all eating their burgers with a knife and fork. What the?! Trust me, it wasn't a small White Castle size burger but a good size burger with lettuce & tomatoes. Emrah was part of the group and I know that he didn't do this when we ate at McDonalds last week. When I asked them about it they told me that it was because of the professional environment that you would do this differently. Boy, it was a good thing that I didn't get the burger because I NEVER would have thought to eat it with a knife & fork. It's just not right. It was really funny to see, you had to be there. I've learned that when eating you should have your knife and fork in your hands the hold time. It's not proper to cut up your food and then just eat with your fork.
After lunch it was customary to have a coffee or expresso. We have a little kitchen on our floor with an expresso machine with the little cups. After lunch Emrah & I had a quick plate of chocolate cake & coffee. There was even a dishwashing machine for our cups/plates/silverware that the cleaning crew takes care of. No, they don't use paper plates & plastic forks like we do at home I guess that would not be to civilized!
After lunch Megan came down so we could buy our train tickets on line to Aachen this Sunday. You have to buy your tickets on line but it's so easy and user friendly. It will be a 1 1/2 hour train ride to the town of Aachen which is a recco from my colleagues. It was only $36 euros rountrip. The pictures online is so pretty I can't wait to see it. We surfed the net a little bit and realized the reference to spa town means that we come to take in the natural thermal springs (referred to as bath houses). There are "spas" that channel these thermal waters into pools. It looks a huge public jacuzzi. Unfortunately Megan had already packed her swimsuit away and is not to keen to sit in these bath waters. Aside from this there will be plenty for us to see.
I introduced Megan to some of my team mates and she thought they were very nice and very friendly. We made plans for that night. Dinner with Stefan and then meeting up with Harald & Emrah later at a club. Let's hope I can stay up late enough for that. For those who know me, Friday night is not a good night for me to stay up late!
Marietta came by to chat. She came from Bulgaria and is new to hkl. I think she was glad to have another girl in the dept. We made plans for dinner next week since she is off to India the following week for her assignment.
After work Megan took me to the farmers market by the Holthausen tram stop which is close to our guesthouse. We each picked up a boquet of flowers for our apt. I was so happy to do something as simple as buying a bunch of flowers on the way home from work. I also bought some fruits. At these stalls the fruits are not prepackaged and you don''t take what you want. There's someone there to give you what you want. The only problem was we didn't know enough german to ask for what we wanted! How the heck do I say half a pound?! In the end I just pointed and the girl would start putting the grapes/cherries in a paper cone until I put up a hand for her to stop. OMG the cherries were twice the size at home and the grapes were so sweet. I should have bought more.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
I've been assimilated!
One turning point today. I converted my laptop to the military time AND I've changed it to the european number format. I got tired of running reports and having to remember to change it to the european format which is the opposite of US format (commas for decimals and periods to represent thousands). No matter which country I am in, the rule is that we use the european format for numbers and dates. I did some powerpoint slides with figures today and gave to G to proof read. OMG I got so screwed up. I had commas where I should have had periods for some but not all numbers. It is REALLY hard to re-train your brain on something like this. At least I have gotten comfortable using the european date format, ie, today is 13.8.10.
Today at lunch I ate curry wurst for the first time. Last Friday we ordered our lunch for the week. It's such a strange set up. You get a menu with about 4 choices for each day. Each day they deliver the food at a certain time. They provide the company with a warming oven the size of a small fridge where the food is kept hot. I swear the hot dishes looked exactly like a tv dinner. It's a foil container separated by sections. By the second week we learned not to be too adventurous and stick to the salads which are not bad. We don't get any drinks and it always comes with a yogurt for desert. Ofcourse I don't want to be rude and always eat whatever's in front of me but there were days when I really didn't want to eat that yogurt. Anyway when we were ordering the food Guido saw they had curry wurst today and convinced me to order it. It's one of his favorite dish and he said it was very traditional food. I couldn't get my head around sausage in curry but decided what the hell. When we got it I realized it was like a hot dog in gravy sauce! There's a hint of curry but it's not like the curries I've had in Thai or Indian restaurants. Stefan thought I was brave to order this dish at the plant. He said if I liked it then he will take me to a much better place in Ddorf where they make really good curry wurst.
We had a great final meeting today with all involved and it went very well. Everyone felt good about the work we've done in the past two weeks. Afterwards Guido asked for feedback from the rest of our team on what we thought about this experience. I was so greatful that my first assignment was such a great experience. I learned so much more than if I started in the office. We complimented each other very well. Each brought a different strength to the table. Guido is only 28 but had a doctorate in supply chain. Emrah and Stefan each have masters degree. I was surrounded by very smart people! Each speak at least 3 languages and are so skilled. At least I felt useful helping them with english grammar when we are writing our report although our biggest argument was over the question of using a comma before the word "and" in a sentence. Stefan studied for year in Indiana so his english is very good (although I told him this doesn't count because it was in Indiana).
I was thinking that typically when I start a new job I at least get a few weeks to get situated. I learn locations of the bathroom, coffee room, order some office supplies, sit in meetings where I have no idea what's going on, and set up orientation meetings to meet people and gradually get up to speed. Well, that was NOT what I got with this job. First day was on an actual assignment. My team mates did not coddle me. Guido who is my "mentor/trainer" asked me from the beginning to take the lead in some of the interviews and write some to the chapters. Since he had no qualm asking me to do it I just did it. I am no where near their speed but catching on. Guido is so patient and is very good at training me. I feel so slow when I'm around them. He makes me do something on my own and then will give me feedback. I guess it comes from his experience at teaching some classes at the university, did I mention he's only 28?! I'm trying to picture some 28 year old guys in the states and think how far behind they are in maturity.
Today I did research on my next assignment in asia. As lead for this, I do all the upfront coordination and research. Not just about hkl company in that region but also about the country, the culture, the economy, the politics, and the history. I did not know that Taiwan was under Japanese rule from 1895 to WWII.
We were glad to be going back to DD today but wouldn't you know it, dinner at McDonalds on the way home!! OMG I am going to gain 10 pounds before I come back to Phx in October! We really didn't have a choice since there's nothing along the way. This has got to be the last time I eat at McD! AND I need to stop the coffee habit even though it tastes so good! When we met last Sunday at the office I noticed that there was an expresso machine in our little kitchen. Not good.
And they really like their carbonated water here. I like it but try not to drink too much because of the sodium content. I also have to get used to getting drinks at room temperature. You usually don't get ice in your sodas or water.
Going into the office tomorrow, I can't wait to meet the rest of my colleagues. I think on average at least a third of them are out on an assignment at any given point in time. The hkl campus is so big and confusing I have no idea how to get to my office. Megan was nice enough to walk with me to work tomorrow. This should be interesting!
Today at lunch I ate curry wurst for the first time. Last Friday we ordered our lunch for the week. It's such a strange set up. You get a menu with about 4 choices for each day. Each day they deliver the food at a certain time. They provide the company with a warming oven the size of a small fridge where the food is kept hot. I swear the hot dishes looked exactly like a tv dinner. It's a foil container separated by sections. By the second week we learned not to be too adventurous and stick to the salads which are not bad. We don't get any drinks and it always comes with a yogurt for desert. Ofcourse I don't want to be rude and always eat whatever's in front of me but there were days when I really didn't want to eat that yogurt. Anyway when we were ordering the food Guido saw they had curry wurst today and convinced me to order it. It's one of his favorite dish and he said it was very traditional food. I couldn't get my head around sausage in curry but decided what the hell. When we got it I realized it was like a hot dog in gravy sauce! There's a hint of curry but it's not like the curries I've had in Thai or Indian restaurants. Stefan thought I was brave to order this dish at the plant. He said if I liked it then he will take me to a much better place in Ddorf where they make really good curry wurst.
We had a great final meeting today with all involved and it went very well. Everyone felt good about the work we've done in the past two weeks. Afterwards Guido asked for feedback from the rest of our team on what we thought about this experience. I was so greatful that my first assignment was such a great experience. I learned so much more than if I started in the office. We complimented each other very well. Each brought a different strength to the table. Guido is only 28 but had a doctorate in supply chain. Emrah and Stefan each have masters degree. I was surrounded by very smart people! Each speak at least 3 languages and are so skilled. At least I felt useful helping them with english grammar when we are writing our report although our biggest argument was over the question of using a comma before the word "and" in a sentence. Stefan studied for year in Indiana so his english is very good (although I told him this doesn't count because it was in Indiana).
I was thinking that typically when I start a new job I at least get a few weeks to get situated. I learn locations of the bathroom, coffee room, order some office supplies, sit in meetings where I have no idea what's going on, and set up orientation meetings to meet people and gradually get up to speed. Well, that was NOT what I got with this job. First day was on an actual assignment. My team mates did not coddle me. Guido who is my "mentor/trainer" asked me from the beginning to take the lead in some of the interviews and write some to the chapters. Since he had no qualm asking me to do it I just did it. I am no where near their speed but catching on. Guido is so patient and is very good at training me. I feel so slow when I'm around them. He makes me do something on my own and then will give me feedback. I guess it comes from his experience at teaching some classes at the university, did I mention he's only 28?! I'm trying to picture some 28 year old guys in the states and think how far behind they are in maturity.
Today I did research on my next assignment in asia. As lead for this, I do all the upfront coordination and research. Not just about hkl company in that region but also about the country, the culture, the economy, the politics, and the history. I did not know that Taiwan was under Japanese rule from 1895 to WWII.
We were glad to be going back to DD today but wouldn't you know it, dinner at McDonalds on the way home!! OMG I am going to gain 10 pounds before I come back to Phx in October! We really didn't have a choice since there's nothing along the way. This has got to be the last time I eat at McD! AND I need to stop the coffee habit even though it tastes so good! When we met last Sunday at the office I noticed that there was an expresso machine in our little kitchen. Not good.
And they really like their carbonated water here. I like it but try not to drink too much because of the sodium content. I also have to get used to getting drinks at room temperature. You usually don't get ice in your sodas or water.
Going into the office tomorrow, I can't wait to meet the rest of my colleagues. I think on average at least a third of them are out on an assignment at any given point in time. The hkl campus is so big and confusing I have no idea how to get to my office. Megan was nice enough to walk with me to work tomorrow. This should be interesting!
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