Ok, so here's what I know. I know where I live - I can find my apartment without navigation, at least coming from a certain direction. I know that none of my stuff was broken in the move. I know my apartment is a mess....did I mention that there are no closets? So until I buy some cabinets or cupboards, most of my stuff (except what goes in the kitchen and bathroom) is lying all over my apartment. I know that I have climbed the stairs to my apartment 19 times in the last two days - both inside and out. I know that I never want to do that again in the span of two days. I know that the movers have a much higher number from one day - Friday. I know my cats are very confused. And I know that my couch did not fit through the doorway of my apartment. It's back with the freight company in their warehouse and they might be able to deliver it by an elevator from outside....if they can get the elevator to balance on the stairs outside my building and if it will fit through the door or window on my balcony. But that all might not be possible, so I know that I might have to buy a new couch. And my couch might have to stay in storage here for the next three years.
There are of course things I don't know, like which garage is mine and how the lift system in the garage works. I don't know if my neighbors can hear the cats when they jump down to the floor from the table, the bed or the counter. I don't know how the trash system here works.
But to go back to what I do know....I know that I'll figure it all out. And I know people to ask when I just don't know. And for that I'm very grateful!
I haven't made the guest beds yet, but they're in place. So email me with your flight information and I'll be sure to make them before you get here. :)
Pictures are to follow.....once I've cleaned up!
Good night!!!
30 July 2006
27 July 2006
Pictures....
Okay, I think I figured out Flickr. But we'll see...if I did, then you can see the scenic photos from last Sunday here. And just for fun, here are some pictures of the Jemma...I came home from work to find her here. This is a shelf on the upper kitchen cabinets.....Hmm, and I wondered what they do while I'm at work.
And then I woke up to find her here. She had found her way between the buttons on the bottom of the duvet, so that she's actually laying inside of it. She was all the way in there with her head covered, but I made her come out for the picture, which is why she's looking a little grumpy.
Yesterday I was required to go to an intercultural seminar. I was the only American. There were lots of Brazilians, some Chinese, some Japanese, an Italian, a Venezualan, an Indian couple, an Australian and a Korean couple. And basically we just had to say all the things we think are different (or strange) about Germany or the German people. We wrote these things on cards and then we talked about them. It was interesting to see how all these different nationalities found the Germans to be different. I didn't really learn much from the seminar, but I did find meeting all these people to be pretty interesting.
Tomorrow's the big move day. It's supposed to be cooler than it has been, so the movers should be happy. But it might rain, so that could be not so good.
It takes Deutsche Telekom about 10 days to set up the internet and the request went in today or will go in tomorrow, so posting might be a little sparse for the next couple of weeks.....
25 July 2006
And
one more thing....the price of gas!!!! I paid today 1.37 Euro/liter or $1.72 for a quarter of a gallon (approximately). It costs me almost 70 Euro (~$88) to fill my not so big tank! Makes the gas prices in Michigan sound pretty good, huh??? And the prices fluctuate here, too. It went up .10/liter with the conflict in the Middle East....
Wow....
...have I been deliquent! It has really been a long time since I posted! Oops. Let's see, since I posted I got a cell phone (it's so flat!! The technology here is pretty advanced!), I think I found a car and I met most all of the leadership of Bosch's Diesel System division, including the President. So, the car....it's a 1999 Mercedes A160 with only 14,000 km. That's not even 9,000 miles (thank you Apple for including a unit converter in the Dashboard of my laptop!!). That's less miles that I was putting on my car at home in a year! So I think it's a pretty good deal. But I haven't actually seen it. The older (I found out today that it's politically incorrect to say old) gentleman who is turning it in to the auto dealer is supposed to bring it this week. So the auto dealer is supposed to call me and then we'll go look at it and sign the papers if it's actually as good as it sounds.
The other big news!! My stuff is being delivered on Friday!!! It's not in the bottom of the ocean, it's in Germany! I'm really happy about that. It will be a little weird to live by myself again, but it will be nice to be close to work and to have all my stuff. I don't think that the Lauks (Simi's parents) read my blog, but I'm going to write anyway that they've been amazing hosts. I haven't felt at all like a guest, but instead really like a part of the family. And having homecooked meals all the time is pretty great! We eat pretty well around here! (Thanks, Simi and Mats, for arranging this for me!!)
It's hot here, though. Today it was around 90. We have air at work, but it's not so fantabulous. So, it's pretty muggy. And we don't have air at home. So it's just downright hot. It's supposed to be a record high 37 C on Thursday or 98.6 degrees. Lots of offices don't have air so the government is urging employers to pay special attention to the temperature in their offices and send people home if necessary.
The other thing that happened last week...I took a German test. And I did pretty well...so well that Bosch internally can't offer me any lessons. I have to go to an external company for one on one lessons. So I'm pretty proud of that. Tomorrow I have to go to Bosch headquarters for an intercultural seminar. I guess this is where they're going to tell me everything about these strange German ways. :)
Last Sunday we walked in the mountains and I have some pretty good pictures which I'll put up soon. The scenery here continually amazes me. I love that one minute you're in the city and then 20 or so minutes later, you're in the middle of a cornfield or a vineyard.
I am really struggling with the keyboard here. My keyboard at work is different, of course. And I use that so much that I'm actually getting used to the fact that the z and the y are switched. Or that I have to press shift to get the apostrophe. So then when I come home and try to type, I make all kinds of mistakes and it's (or it"s) making me nuts!
This past Sunday we went to a Backhaus fest in one of the neighboring villages. The women of the little villages used to take turns baking the bread in a "baking house" in the village. So now they celebrate and make these cakes with onions or with cinnamon and sugar (they remind me a little bit of quiche, but not exactly). So we went there and met the neighbors and lots and lots of other people. It was really fun.
Have I mentioned yet that I have to go two towns over for gas? Unlike at home, where there's a gas station on every corner, here you actually have to go aways to get to the gas station. Which is fine, as long as you keep in mind that you might have to drive to get gas. So no more "almost empty tank" Sarah (thanks for that trait, Dad), no siree. When that needle gets to 1/4, I'm at the gas station. Because you never know when you might get stuck in a traffic jam. And the next gas station might be quite a ways away. This morning, the drive that should take me 40 minutes took almost two hours (and that was with my wonderful Navigation telling me to get off the freeway, because it was backed up for 14 km because of an accident - I'm so buying a navigation system for my car!!!!). And then going home was okay, a little traffic, but not terrible, but headed in the opposite direction, the traffic was backed up for 10 km. People were actually standing out on the autobahn, because they really weren't moving. Like I said before, we don't know what we're talking about when we talk about traffic jams!
One last little tidbit....I haven't watched TV since the end of the World Cup! I'm sure my reality TV friends (yep, you know who you are :) won't really believe that!
The other big news!! My stuff is being delivered on Friday!!! It's not in the bottom of the ocean, it's in Germany! I'm really happy about that. It will be a little weird to live by myself again, but it will be nice to be close to work and to have all my stuff. I don't think that the Lauks (Simi's parents) read my blog, but I'm going to write anyway that they've been amazing hosts. I haven't felt at all like a guest, but instead really like a part of the family. And having homecooked meals all the time is pretty great! We eat pretty well around here! (Thanks, Simi and Mats, for arranging this for me!!)
It's hot here, though. Today it was around 90. We have air at work, but it's not so fantabulous. So, it's pretty muggy. And we don't have air at home. So it's just downright hot. It's supposed to be a record high 37 C on Thursday or 98.6 degrees. Lots of offices don't have air so the government is urging employers to pay special attention to the temperature in their offices and send people home if necessary.
The other thing that happened last week...I took a German test. And I did pretty well...so well that Bosch internally can't offer me any lessons. I have to go to an external company for one on one lessons. So I'm pretty proud of that. Tomorrow I have to go to Bosch headquarters for an intercultural seminar. I guess this is where they're going to tell me everything about these strange German ways. :)
Last Sunday we walked in the mountains and I have some pretty good pictures which I'll put up soon. The scenery here continually amazes me. I love that one minute you're in the city and then 20 or so minutes later, you're in the middle of a cornfield or a vineyard.
I am really struggling with the keyboard here. My keyboard at work is different, of course. And I use that so much that I'm actually getting used to the fact that the z and the y are switched. Or that I have to press shift to get the apostrophe. So then when I come home and try to type, I make all kinds of mistakes and it's (or it"s) making me nuts!
This past Sunday we went to a Backhaus fest in one of the neighboring villages. The women of the little villages used to take turns baking the bread in a "baking house" in the village. So now they celebrate and make these cakes with onions or with cinnamon and sugar (they remind me a little bit of quiche, but not exactly). So we went there and met the neighbors and lots and lots of other people. It was really fun.
Have I mentioned yet that I have to go two towns over for gas? Unlike at home, where there's a gas station on every corner, here you actually have to go aways to get to the gas station. Which is fine, as long as you keep in mind that you might have to drive to get gas. So no more "almost empty tank" Sarah (thanks for that trait, Dad), no siree. When that needle gets to 1/4, I'm at the gas station. Because you never know when you might get stuck in a traffic jam. And the next gas station might be quite a ways away. This morning, the drive that should take me 40 minutes took almost two hours (and that was with my wonderful Navigation telling me to get off the freeway, because it was backed up for 14 km because of an accident - I'm so buying a navigation system for my car!!!!). And then going home was okay, a little traffic, but not terrible, but headed in the opposite direction, the traffic was backed up for 10 km. People were actually standing out on the autobahn, because they really weren't moving. Like I said before, we don't know what we're talking about when we talk about traffic jams!
One last little tidbit....I haven't watched TV since the end of the World Cup! I'm sure my reality TV friends (yep, you know who you are :) won't really believe that!
15 July 2006
Vienna
First I have to tell you that on Monday as I was walking to work at our little plant of 12,000 people or so, I ran into Joe on the way into my building. Joe is also an expat and I have known Joe since before I worked at Bosch, because I used to work with his mother-in-law, Gisela and his wife, Tina, used to be a teaching assistant at Wayne State. Of course, I knew they were here, but I thought that I would have to email them in order to get in touch with them. I really didn't think I would just run into him. So that was a nice surprise!
On Monday afternoon, we flew to Vienna for a conference with all the HR people from around the world who work in the Diesel Systems division. The flight there is only about one hour and it's a small plane. On the way, though, there were lots of thunder storms. So just before landing, the pilot had to make some really sharp maneuvers to avoid them. I've flown quite a bit, but I can honestly say that was the first time I really thought the plane might crash. It was pretty scary.
But, thankfully, we got there safely and took a taxi to our hotel, a very nice four star hotel, the Gartenhotel Altmannsdorf. Then we met up with most of the other Bosch people and took a bus to downtown Vienna. Vienna has so many old buildings and it's really quite lovely.
We had a tour guide give us a walking tour. And this was a pretty serious tour of about 2 hours. (Europeans are serious about walking! But it was good, because we ate very well during the trip and all the walking was an opportunity to burn off the calories!!) I took a few pictures of the Hofburg palace, which was the winter residence of the Hapsburg family, who were the rulers of Austria for many years.
I promise that we worked while we were in Vienna. And actually, we worked pretty hard. But they had also organized a really great program for sightseeing in the evenings as well.
So on Tuesday, we went to the Riesenrad, which is a giant ferris wheel, originally built in 1897 and then rebuilt in 1945. It's a symbol of Vienna. It's 212 feet high and moves really slowly. It has cabins rather than seats. If you didn't know, I'm more than a little afraid of heights, so this was a pretty big deal for me. I took pictures, but I was definitely holding on the whole time. It was also very nice, because they provided champagne for us to drink while we rode the Riesenrad. So it was very luxurious!
Here are a few pictures of the view of Vienna from the Riesenrad.
On Wednesday night, we went to the summer palace of the Hapsburg family, Schloss Schonbrunn, which is very beautiful! Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos inside.
The Hapsburg family has a very interesting story, if you ever have time to read up on them!!
Then we walked to dinner at a restaurant that our tour guide said was the best restaurant in all of Vienna. We had Tafelspitz, which is meat cooked in a soup with some vegetables and bones. First, you eat the soup. Then, you take the marrow out of the bone and spread it on toast, add salt and pepper and eat. Then you eat the meat, which is served with creamed spinach, hash browns and an applesauce and horseradish mix. I assure you that I tried everything.
Except the bone marrow.
I would highly recommend a trip to Vienna. My only caution would be that you go in spring instead of summer. It was incredibly hot and as European standards are different, this four star hotel (voted the best hotel in Vienna) had no air conditioning in either the guest or meeting rooms. So it was pretty uncomfortable. And walking in that much heat is not the happiest thing. But I met a lot of great people from around the world, who I look forward to working with!!
We came back on Thursday afternoon, I worked yesterday, today I picked up my keys (my landlord is very nice, I can move in whenever I want and I met the previous tenant, who works for Bosch and is moving to Bamberg, the plant in Germany that I'm responsible for). Now you're up to date. Oh, except that I should tell you that I switched cars, because Europcar sold the Opel I was driving. So I'm now driving a BMW again! :o)
Oh, and one more thing. I said I would look for pictures of the plant. Well, I didn't find any
actual pictures. But I did find the site layout, which might give you an idea of how big it is. We have a really great arial photograph on our wall and if I ever find the electronic version, I'll share it with you. But for now, this is the best I can do. I work in building 343, which is sort of on the lower left. And I park at Tor 10 now. But before I was parking at Tor 7, so you can see I wasn't kidding about the walk!
I hope you're having a fantastic weekend! I miss you all and I so appreciate the comments and emails. Please, please keep 'em coming!
On Monday afternoon, we flew to Vienna for a conference with all the HR people from around the world who work in the Diesel Systems division. The flight there is only about one hour and it's a small plane. On the way, though, there were lots of thunder storms. So just before landing, the pilot had to make some really sharp maneuvers to avoid them. I've flown quite a bit, but I can honestly say that was the first time I really thought the plane might crash. It was pretty scary.
But, thankfully, we got there safely and took a taxi to our hotel, a very nice four star hotel, the Gartenhotel Altmannsdorf. Then we met up with most of the other Bosch people and took a bus to downtown Vienna. Vienna has so many old buildings and it's really quite lovely.
We had a tour guide give us a walking tour. And this was a pretty serious tour of about 2 hours. (Europeans are serious about walking! But it was good, because we ate very well during the trip and all the walking was an opportunity to burn off the calories!!) I took a few pictures of the Hofburg palace, which was the winter residence of the Hapsburg family, who were the rulers of Austria for many years.
I promise that we worked while we were in Vienna. And actually, we worked pretty hard. But they had also organized a really great program for sightseeing in the evenings as well.
So on Tuesday, we went to the Riesenrad, which is a giant ferris wheel, originally built in 1897 and then rebuilt in 1945. It's a symbol of Vienna. It's 212 feet high and moves really slowly. It has cabins rather than seats. If you didn't know, I'm more than a little afraid of heights, so this was a pretty big deal for me. I took pictures, but I was definitely holding on the whole time. It was also very nice, because they provided champagne for us to drink while we rode the Riesenrad. So it was very luxurious!Here are a few pictures of the view of Vienna from the Riesenrad.
On Wednesday night, we went to the summer palace of the Hapsburg family, Schloss Schonbrunn, which is very beautiful! Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos inside.
The Hapsburg family has a very interesting story, if you ever have time to read up on them!!
Then we walked to dinner at a restaurant that our tour guide said was the best restaurant in all of Vienna. We had Tafelspitz, which is meat cooked in a soup with some vegetables and bones. First, you eat the soup. Then, you take the marrow out of the bone and spread it on toast, add salt and pepper and eat. Then you eat the meat, which is served with creamed spinach, hash browns and an applesauce and horseradish mix. I assure you that I tried everything.
Except the bone marrow.
I would highly recommend a trip to Vienna. My only caution would be that you go in spring instead of summer. It was incredibly hot and as European standards are different, this four star hotel (voted the best hotel in Vienna) had no air conditioning in either the guest or meeting rooms. So it was pretty uncomfortable. And walking in that much heat is not the happiest thing. But I met a lot of great people from around the world, who I look forward to working with!!
We came back on Thursday afternoon, I worked yesterday, today I picked up my keys (my landlord is very nice, I can move in whenever I want and I met the previous tenant, who works for Bosch and is moving to Bamberg, the plant in Germany that I'm responsible for). Now you're up to date. Oh, except that I should tell you that I switched cars, because Europcar sold the Opel I was driving. So I'm now driving a BMW again! :o)
Oh, and one more thing. I said I would look for pictures of the plant. Well, I didn't find any
actual pictures. But I did find the site layout, which might give you an idea of how big it is. We have a really great arial photograph on our wall and if I ever find the electronic version, I'll share it with you. But for now, this is the best I can do. I work in building 343, which is sort of on the lower left. And I park at Tor 10 now. But before I was parking at Tor 7, so you can see I wasn't kidding about the walk!I hope you're having a fantastic weekend! I miss you all and I so appreciate the comments and emails. Please, please keep 'em coming!
Finally....
I have some pictures! First, here's the one I think is the funniest!! My cats love water and so they like hanging out in the bathroom. It's been suggested that I should perhaps leave the lid on the toilet open and maybe then they wouldn't need a litter box.....Wouldn't that be nice!
Here's where we watch football....The glass wall slides open and it's generally pretty cool inside. There's a table, so we eat in there sometimes and because of the nice weather, the TV is outside in there right now.
And there's a garden, with kohlrabi (I looked it up and it's called the same thing in English), zucchini, lettuce, other vegetables and if this was panoramic, to the right you would see raspberries and another kind of berry, but I don't know what it's called in English and can't find it in the dictionary.
The backyard is in three levels. The garden is on the highest level, the TV house (that's not what it's called, but I don't think it really has a name) is on the middle level and then there's a table on the lowest level, just outside the back door. And everywhere, there are flowers....
Oh, and sometimes there are kids around, too....This is Jonas.
And the view from the backyard is pretty good...
This weekend is very exciting! Today, I get to go pick up the keys to my new apartment. The old tenants and the landlord are doing the final walk-through today, so they thought it would be easy enough for me to come as well and pick up the keys. And then I talked to one of the former expats from Bosch, who is moving out of his apartment this weekend. He has a combo washer/drier and a TV that he's giving to me! So we're going to pick those up tomorrow and hopefully take them directly to the apartment (I have to doublecheck that this afternoon).
I'll blog about Vienna separately. But I do have one last picture to share (with Heather's permission of course!), this one from America. This is the adorable Henry (Hank) Wood on his first birthday!
05 July 2006
One more thing.....
Today the air freight came! So I will finally be able to share some pictures with you.....But at the moment, blogspot is really being difficult, so we'll see when you get to see them. Here are a few pictures of the area from some other people, in the mean time: Hohenlohekreis. (It's so humid today that the snowy picture in that link actually looks good.....the heat must be getting to me!!). My favorite thing is that you are so close to the city, but you have the mountains just out the window!
I'm sooooo happy to have the stuff I need to keep the cats fed and watered while I'm in Vienna next week!!! And having a few more clothes and shoes is pretty good, too!
So because I was late to work (the delivery guy couldn't find the little town of Scheppach, because it wasn't on his map, so he came at about 9:15, instead of between 8 and 9), I decided to drive all the way into work. It took about 40 minutes. Then I found the parking lot, which took a few more minutes. Then I had to walk - and I'm not even kidding here - like a quarter or half mile (I don't know, I'm really bad at distances, but it was so not kidding, really far away). At some point, I'll try to load some pictures of the factory or at least a site plan so you can get an idea of how massive it is. Anyway, I decided from that experience that generally, taking the train is much more preferable, due to the proximity of the train station!
Oh, my other favorite thing here - minimal speed limits on the autobahn. When there is a limit, it's usually 120 km, which is 74.6 miles per hour. When there's no limit, well, then there's no limit. My little Opel is pretty speedy!! If you know me well, you know that my lead foot is enjoying this greatly!!!!!
All right, well that turned into more than one thing.......Gute Nacht!
I'm sooooo happy to have the stuff I need to keep the cats fed and watered while I'm in Vienna next week!!! And having a few more clothes and shoes is pretty good, too!
So because I was late to work (the delivery guy couldn't find the little town of Scheppach, because it wasn't on his map, so he came at about 9:15, instead of between 8 and 9), I decided to drive all the way into work. It took about 40 minutes. Then I found the parking lot, which took a few more minutes. Then I had to walk - and I'm not even kidding here - like a quarter or half mile (I don't know, I'm really bad at distances, but it was so not kidding, really far away). At some point, I'll try to load some pictures of the factory or at least a site plan so you can get an idea of how massive it is. Anyway, I decided from that experience that generally, taking the train is much more preferable, due to the proximity of the train station!
Oh, my other favorite thing here - minimal speed limits on the autobahn. When there is a limit, it's usually 120 km, which is 74.6 miles per hour. When there's no limit, well, then there's no limit. My little Opel is pretty speedy!! If you know me well, you know that my lead foot is enjoying this greatly!!!!!
All right, well that turned into more than one thing.......Gute Nacht!
Introductions
I've been thinking a lot about introductions lately. What's the value of a first impression? How easily do we allow our perception of people to change over time? Why do we snap to negative judgement in some cases and in others keep an open mind for a while? I don't know....these are just some of the thoughts that have been running through my mind lately.
Needless to say, I've met a lot of people in the last few days. People at church, neighbors, people at work, realtors....And I wonder how I come across in German. I know I don't talk as much (some of you might be thinking that's a good thing ;). Anyway, musings.....
Yesterday was good. I was in line for thirty minutes to get an ID badge. Because of the president's visit on Monday, they weren't making badges. So there were a lot of people there on Tuesday. This badge is different than my Farmington Hills badge. I use it to not only badge in and out of the gates and doors, but also to clock in and out and I can load it with money to pay for lunch at the cafeteria. Speaking of clocking in and out - it's very odd since I haven't done that in like 5 years.
Then we had our department meeting. This is where each of the consultants (that's what Leo says the translation is, anyways) goes around the table and talks about important topics that might affect others. It was interesting, but a lot of it went over my head since I just don't know all the processes or at least I don't know how they're called in German.
Then we went to lunch, again. And pretty much it seems like my department regularly goes together. We talked about soccer. And then when we came back, my boss brought out ice cream treats that he had to welcome me. So we stood around and ate those and chatted. Then the guy from the central personnel marketing department, whom I met in Farmington Hills when we first started talking about my assignment, came in. He had an ice cream, too :) and we chatted a bit.
Then I met with one of my colleagues to start to learn about my new job. So here's the deal....I'm responsible for supporting the Diesel System Human Resources people and the Germans on assignment in Turkey, Brazil and Japan. I have to help the HR people with strategic matters and the VAs with succession planning, development, their job upon return to Germany, etc....I'm not sure how it sounds, but it's pretty complicated, because you really have to understand the Diesel Systems business worldwide, find a contact network and understand the situation in each of the plants, which includes understanding the culture in that country. So I learned about Turkey for a while. It was pretty interesting. And I thought it was close, but it takes 8 hours to get to our plant in Turkey, because you have to take a 4 hour flight to Istanbul and then drive 4 hours to the plant (including a ride on a ferry). And the plane to Istanbul leaves around 5:30 p.m....This is all unless you're going with our executive management, because they have a private plane.
Oh, the rest of my job....I'm also responsible for the Bamberg plant here in Germany, the diesel systems trainee program and the biannual (twice a year?) diesel systems HR conference. So it sounds like I'll be busy....eventually.
Last night was a sad night for the nation of Germany.....they lost the soccer game after the extended play with Italy by a score of 2-0. They were so close to the time running out and having to do the 11 meter shoot-out, which most everyone thinks they would have won. So people here are sad....seriously. Now Germany plays on Saturday to see who will be in third place. Who they're playing against will be decided in tonight's game. I have the same philosophy here as I do with the Red Wings....if Italy was good enough to beat Germany, they should win the whole thing! I don't know what we'll do with ourselves, though, now that there's no more football.......
Needless to say, I've met a lot of people in the last few days. People at church, neighbors, people at work, realtors....And I wonder how I come across in German. I know I don't talk as much (some of you might be thinking that's a good thing ;). Anyway, musings.....
Yesterday was good. I was in line for thirty minutes to get an ID badge. Because of the president's visit on Monday, they weren't making badges. So there were a lot of people there on Tuesday. This badge is different than my Farmington Hills badge. I use it to not only badge in and out of the gates and doors, but also to clock in and out and I can load it with money to pay for lunch at the cafeteria. Speaking of clocking in and out - it's very odd since I haven't done that in like 5 years.
Then we had our department meeting. This is where each of the consultants (that's what Leo says the translation is, anyways) goes around the table and talks about important topics that might affect others. It was interesting, but a lot of it went over my head since I just don't know all the processes or at least I don't know how they're called in German.
Then we went to lunch, again. And pretty much it seems like my department regularly goes together. We talked about soccer. And then when we came back, my boss brought out ice cream treats that he had to welcome me. So we stood around and ate those and chatted. Then the guy from the central personnel marketing department, whom I met in Farmington Hills when we first started talking about my assignment, came in. He had an ice cream, too :) and we chatted a bit.
Then I met with one of my colleagues to start to learn about my new job. So here's the deal....I'm responsible for supporting the Diesel System Human Resources people and the Germans on assignment in Turkey, Brazil and Japan. I have to help the HR people with strategic matters and the VAs with succession planning, development, their job upon return to Germany, etc....I'm not sure how it sounds, but it's pretty complicated, because you really have to understand the Diesel Systems business worldwide, find a contact network and understand the situation in each of the plants, which includes understanding the culture in that country. So I learned about Turkey for a while. It was pretty interesting. And I thought it was close, but it takes 8 hours to get to our plant in Turkey, because you have to take a 4 hour flight to Istanbul and then drive 4 hours to the plant (including a ride on a ferry). And the plane to Istanbul leaves around 5:30 p.m....This is all unless you're going with our executive management, because they have a private plane.
Oh, the rest of my job....I'm also responsible for the Bamberg plant here in Germany, the diesel systems trainee program and the biannual (twice a year?) diesel systems HR conference. So it sounds like I'll be busy....eventually.
Last night was a sad night for the nation of Germany.....they lost the soccer game after the extended play with Italy by a score of 2-0. They were so close to the time running out and having to do the 11 meter shoot-out, which most everyone thinks they would have won. So people here are sad....seriously. Now Germany plays on Saturday to see who will be in third place. Who they're playing against will be decided in tonight's game. I have the same philosophy here as I do with the Red Wings....if Italy was good enough to beat Germany, they should win the whole thing! I don't know what we'll do with ourselves, though, now that there's no more football.......
03 July 2006
And the President of Germany, too!
The title will make more sense later. But before you read on, I think this is going to be a long one, so grab your popcorn and your soda before you start reading.....
It was a busy weekend. On Saturday, we all had breakfast outside. Then, I picked raspberries in the garden (yep, still promising those pictures...). It reminded me of when I was a kid and we lived in Pleasant Ridge. We had a raspberry bush in our backyard and I remember eating berries right off the bush (yum!). Saturday night (between the two football games) we went to a wine fest in one of the local towns. I tried a couple different types of wine and found a really tasty one that I enjoyed. There were two bands, one playing salsa music and the other playing American oldies. It wasn't crowded when we got there, but there were people everywhere by the time we left. One thing I find really interesting here is that everything we go to/do seems to have such a mix of people, in terms of age.
Sunday, we went to church. I really enjoyed it. No one earns any money from the church, but some of the men take turns leading and speaking. The guy who spoke on Sunday spoke really clearly and I understood his talk and really appreciated what he had to say. Again, I thought it was neat, because while it isn't a big church, there were people of all ages there.
That afternoon, we went to a street festival. It was fun, but so hot that we really didn't stay that long.
So, on to today.
[ok, so I didn't finish this post yesterday. It was late and I was tired. And the cat was playing in the waterbowl, which is super annoying. So I turned off the computer and went to bed. So now it's Tuesday....]
It takes me a long time to get to work here. And on Mondays, it's especially bad. So we left extra early, at 7. I drove about an hour - because of the traffic, not because of the distance - to a train station and took the train from there to a stop down the street from the Bosch plant (supposedly, it's closer than the parking lot...but I don't yet know where the parking lot is!). That takes about twelve minutes. Then I walk for about 5 minutes or so and there I am. I was therefore about a half hour early, but that was fine.
And then I had a short talk with my new boss, whom I like very much. He thinks it's better if we speak in German right off the bat and then when I don't understand, I just have to say so. It's good, but soooo tiring. I have to concentrate so hard. Think about how it is when somebody mumbles or talks really low...you might understand, but you have to really listen to them all the time. That's how it is for me. And then sometimes I just have to say "Huh?" (Of course, I say it in a much more polite manner than that, but you know what I mean.) Then they showed me my desk (there were really lovely flowers there for me) and the computer guy was already there setting up my computer. I have a laptop, but with a monitor and keyboard.
Janina (the assistant in our department) showed me the bathroom, the coffee maker, and the drink machines....what are they called???? You know, when you put in money and it gives you a chilled beverage??? Can't think of it at the moment. But anyway, now I know where the important things are! ;)
Then I worked on the computer for a while - accepting meetings, reading some emails. Then we went to lunch. And on our way to lunch, what did we see? A helicopter landing right at our little plant (of 12,000 workers). And who's was it? Why the president of Germany, of course. That's how they welcome all new associates on their first day....Kidding, of course. But really, the president of Germany was there on my first day. (The story is here: Bosch. I don't know why it's not in English, but you can look at the pictures anyway...and maybe they'll put the English text up soon....)
[Okay, now it's Wednesday and I'm still working on the same posting! I promise to try to finish it today!!]
The cafeteria at Bosch is quite large. They have typical German food, except for this week when they're doing sort of an International theme in honor of the World Cup soccer games. As we were coming out from lunch, the president was driving away and our chairmen were all standing around, so I got a good look at quite a few of them, which is a rare occurence.
After work, I went to the apartment and signed the rental contract. So it's official, I'll be living on Burgherrenstrasse in Feuerbach for the next two years and 11 months. Feel free to stop by any time. ;)
Because work is so far from "home," I didn't get back until 8! So I was pretty tired!!! And I think that was pretty much my Monday. (Finally!)
It was a busy weekend. On Saturday, we all had breakfast outside. Then, I picked raspberries in the garden (yep, still promising those pictures...). It reminded me of when I was a kid and we lived in Pleasant Ridge. We had a raspberry bush in our backyard and I remember eating berries right off the bush (yum!). Saturday night (between the two football games) we went to a wine fest in one of the local towns. I tried a couple different types of wine and found a really tasty one that I enjoyed. There were two bands, one playing salsa music and the other playing American oldies. It wasn't crowded when we got there, but there were people everywhere by the time we left. One thing I find really interesting here is that everything we go to/do seems to have such a mix of people, in terms of age.
Sunday, we went to church. I really enjoyed it. No one earns any money from the church, but some of the men take turns leading and speaking. The guy who spoke on Sunday spoke really clearly and I understood his talk and really appreciated what he had to say. Again, I thought it was neat, because while it isn't a big church, there were people of all ages there.
That afternoon, we went to a street festival. It was fun, but so hot that we really didn't stay that long.
So, on to today.
[ok, so I didn't finish this post yesterday. It was late and I was tired. And the cat was playing in the waterbowl, which is super annoying. So I turned off the computer and went to bed. So now it's Tuesday....]
It takes me a long time to get to work here. And on Mondays, it's especially bad. So we left extra early, at 7. I drove about an hour - because of the traffic, not because of the distance - to a train station and took the train from there to a stop down the street from the Bosch plant (supposedly, it's closer than the parking lot...but I don't yet know where the parking lot is!). That takes about twelve minutes. Then I walk for about 5 minutes or so and there I am. I was therefore about a half hour early, but that was fine.
And then I had a short talk with my new boss, whom I like very much. He thinks it's better if we speak in German right off the bat and then when I don't understand, I just have to say so. It's good, but soooo tiring. I have to concentrate so hard. Think about how it is when somebody mumbles or talks really low...you might understand, but you have to really listen to them all the time. That's how it is for me. And then sometimes I just have to say "Huh?" (Of course, I say it in a much more polite manner than that, but you know what I mean.) Then they showed me my desk (there were really lovely flowers there for me) and the computer guy was already there setting up my computer. I have a laptop, but with a monitor and keyboard.
Janina (the assistant in our department) showed me the bathroom, the coffee maker, and the drink machines....what are they called???? You know, when you put in money and it gives you a chilled beverage??? Can't think of it at the moment. But anyway, now I know where the important things are! ;)
Then I worked on the computer for a while - accepting meetings, reading some emails. Then we went to lunch. And on our way to lunch, what did we see? A helicopter landing right at our little plant (of 12,000 workers). And who's was it? Why the president of Germany, of course. That's how they welcome all new associates on their first day....Kidding, of course. But really, the president of Germany was there on my first day. (The story is here: Bosch. I don't know why it's not in English, but you can look at the pictures anyway...and maybe they'll put the English text up soon....)
[Okay, now it's Wednesday and I'm still working on the same posting! I promise to try to finish it today!!]
The cafeteria at Bosch is quite large. They have typical German food, except for this week when they're doing sort of an International theme in honor of the World Cup soccer games. As we were coming out from lunch, the president was driving away and our chairmen were all standing around, so I got a good look at quite a few of them, which is a rare occurence.
After work, I went to the apartment and signed the rental contract. So it's official, I'll be living on Burgherrenstrasse in Feuerbach for the next two years and 11 months. Feel free to stop by any time. ;)
Because work is so far from "home," I didn't get back until 8! So I was pretty tired!!! And I think that was pretty much my Monday. (Finally!)
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