Jason's Daily Notes

Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Work. We've got a "Round the World" challenge running on Facebook.


In the evening, instead of watching the Champions League match, I found the (German dubbed version of) Man vs. Food. God, I miss American big portion food. I have been missing a lot of things about home.

Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Work. I'm continuing contacting ad agencies. Cool!


Had a flat viewing in the evening, on Nordstraße. The flat isn't huge (i.e. there isn't much place to have guests sleep over), but the location is great. They just showed me the kitchen and the room I'd rent. Germans and their privacy. (Ok, actually just the guy - Silva - was German. Joana is Brazilian and Rana, whom I didn't meet, is Afghanistan).

I went to Woolworths and then was about to ride home when I got a missed call from Jon. Turns out there was a team event tonight, and I was neglected to be informed. The event? An Altbier Safari! Awesome. We (a big group of 20 people or so) went to 5 different breweries and tried many different beers. I met Helena from Britain, Patricia (Sunny?), spoke with Judy, etc. Jon and Katie got into an argument at the Schlüssel brewery. People were noticing. But it was all ok afterwards.


Thursday, 25 April 2013
Work. Had the Team USA meeting.

After work, I joined Alexa, Paola, Felix, Ioannis, and some others for beach volleyball. Felix drove. The court was where the 2012 Olympic mens gold medalists train. And one of them was at the court next to us! I didn't have a change of clothes, so I just simply played in my jeans. It was warm - 26° and somewhat humid. I rode back with Alexa and then biked home. Wow, was I exhausted after that! Slept really well.

Friday, 26 April 2013
Work. Thomas was in London. I still didn't get my access to GDN activated. I had a call with Amazon, handled it all by myself! Afterwards, I hung around and had some drinks at the office. The party wasn't as big as in previous weeks, though.

We (me, Danny, and the girls - Pear, Myrna, Jun, and Anja) went to Vapiano for dinner. It was nice, but I found it annoying how you had to carry around a card and then pay afterwards.

It was raining. I returned on my bike with Danny.

Saturday, 27 April 2013
I would have loved to just relaxed, as I usually do on Saturdays, but in Germany, you have to do all your weekend shopping on Saturday because EVERYTHING IS CLOSED ON SUNDAYS. In the morning, I biked to Aldi, where I loaded up on Groceries. I then spent some time cleaning the kitchen, which was in a disgusting state. I had to scoop out piles of rice from the dishwasher.

I then biked into the city, looking for a clothes shop. Since I didn't go to Belgium this weekend, I had to get some new clothes to wear during the workweek. I found Karstadt, which had a good selection. I was surprised to discover that underwear was, in many cases, more expensive than shirts. Wtf? I stayed shopping for over an hour, overwhelmed by the variety. I bought some shirts. I then hopped over to the sports section across the street and bought some socks. On the way home, I stopped at the Rewe across the train tracks and got milk.

We were having a party in the evening. Well, not really, just the "pre-drinks" before the triple birthday/leaving event at Les Halles. I cooked some tortelloni (undercooked) and then passed out on my bed as Tom and Francesco started drinking. My stomach was not ready for more beer. But I soon joined, as people started arriving. David from upstairs. Tom's rugby friends. Monique. Katie. The girls from upstairs.

We had plenty of beers. Then, we took taxis to the club. They wanted to charge us each €9 to enter, but eventually they talked them into letting all of us in free and with a free prosecco. Yes. It was chilly outside (wtf, spring?!). The club was 60% people from my company. The music was weird at first (many people were just standing around instead of dancing) but it picked up.

Dancing happened. My boss was there. I was pretty restrained, as I didn't really know most of my coworkers that well. And, after all, we were coworkers - I didn't want to have a regrettable impression. I was surprised at how many of my coworkers were coupled up. Hmm.

Around 4 (or 5) we taxied home. Baked some more stuffed hash brown thingies, which are delicious! Danny skyped his girlfriend.

Sunday, 28 April 2013
A slow day. Francesco was really badly hung over (he did have shots of tequila, after all - rarely a good idea). He, Danny, Celine, and I cleaned up together in the morning. It was pretty painless. The sun was warm through the window. There was a marathon going on outside, but we had no interest in seeing it.

We decided to order some pizza. It took a long time (over an hour) to arrive, thanks to the road closures from the marathon. We then watched some New Girl while waiting.

Later in the afternoon, I went for a walk. Clouds had rolled in. I walked around the Zoopark and then north and back. Listening to my iPhone. Was good.

Danny invited me to dinner - it was Tom's goodbye. I shared a taxi there with Tom and his girlfriend Hannah. They were nice but typically British, all small talk but not much of substance, sadly. Dinner was amazingly delicious, but I was sat in an awkward position - at the end, next to Mikkel, who was with his girlfriend Luisa. Tom and Hannah were sitting across from me. So I couldn't participate too much in the conversation. (What's wrong with me? Why am I being so socially awkward around coworkers?! I don't want to be that guy!)

Taxied back with Tom and Hannah. They were exhausted and occupied the bathtub. I went to bed.

Monday, 29 April 2013
It's a short week at work (we have Wednesday off as a holiday). There was a new batch of new people starting at the office today. One girl from Sweden started in SEM. For lunch, we all ordered Chinese food together. But it took a long time to arrive (like 2pm). My stomach was killing me from hunger! (And also maybe because I poured spoiled milk into my coffee in the morning!)

I finally got GDN access (after lots of confusing back-and-forth with the invitation). Soon I'll actually start doing stuff. Otherwise, it was a slow day - I really didn't have much to do.

I'm getting annoyed with Germans constant focus on following the rules. I now really appreciate Americans' attitude and focus on individualism - "just do what you want. don't let anyone get in your way." Whereas here, it's like an earth-shattering sin if you dare to even nudge someone out of your way. It makes it hard to have fun. Nobody appreciates my rule-breaking behavior. :/

Homesick, I spent a couple hours compiling amazing pictures of places in the USA off Reddit. Then watched some Weeds and blogged :)

Earth day. Matt's birthday.

I had a meeting with Rolf, one of the company bosses. The conference room was booked, so I waited for a bit and then just met him directly. We had a nice chat and he reassured me to just be myself and to be unafraid of making mistakes, so that I can learn along with the company overall.

My phone was vibrating several times throughout the meeting, but I didn't dare pick it up. Apparently, Jon, Lisa, Alexa, and Thomas were all looking for me, and it was urgent: The foreign registration office, which usually takes months to get an appointment at, had a free slot today for me, but I had to leave ASAP. By the time the meeting was over, it was too late. But not to worry - Lisa managed to reschedule the meeting for Wednesday! :)

Lunch with Waldemar - I Heart Döner. It was sunny but still cool. I'm still waiting for summer (or at least a decent spring). Martin was out (still in Malaga).

I started contacting lots of US ad agencies. Woot, business!

Cooked ghetto beef with broccoli for dinner. it wasn't too bad. Francesco was chatting with me, "what's your perfect girl?"
"The female version of my best friend."
I skyped with Mike. "Dude, if I were gay..." Haha - seriously, we have the same mind! He had fun in London at Jasper's wedding this weekend. I didn't tell him how jealous I was of his life.

Slept around midnight again.

Friday, 19 April
Work.  I joined Martin, Waldermar, and their colleague for lunch - we walked to a metzgerei/imbiss on Nordstraße, where I got schnitzel with curry sauce. We walked back to eat at the office (the cafe was completely full, and standing room only anyway). Along the way, Martin told me it was his birthday, and we had an awkward moment discussing Hitler's birthday. The food was really delicious.

The weekly "party" was cancelled because Rolf needed the conference room on Saturday morning. Thomas went home shortly after 3; I left around 5:30.

Victoria's last day in the office - she's back to Mallorca.

Saturday, 4/20
I pretty much stayed in. I went to Aldi on my bike (not taking my backpack) and then walked to Kaiser's. I stocked up on soy milk, got some beets, and found some cheese-stuffed hash browns at Aldi. Yum!

Nico texted me from their flat.

I watched some Parks & Rec and comedy (Russell Peters) with Francesco, who had just bought a new HTC phone and was really (really) enjoying it!

Sunday, 21 April
I called mom briefly (before she went to church).

Everything in Germany is closed on Sundays! I hate it!

I had a flat viewing in the afternoon (16:30) - it was in a sketchy neighborhood near the Hbf. The flatmates (Antoine, Elias, Katharina, and the girl from Sweden) were all really nice, but I couldn't find a place to park my bike, and I would have to buy a bed (mattress) and some other furniture. So I would turn them down. I started catching up with The Office.

For the last 3 days I have been spending my days at the office, learning the systems and trying to teach myself the world of display advertising. There is a lot to learn!

The weather has been awesome. Sunny everyday and relatively warm - like 18-22°C every day! I have been riding my bike everyday. The room I have (in the company apartment) is massive, but mostly empty. I simply don't have anything to decorate it with!

Lunch: Tuesday, I went to the local registration office to get my tax registration sorted. I then went home to eat lunch (leftover chili). I tried to make it to the bank, but they were closed between 1 and 2pm! Argh. On Wednesday, I had lunch with "Team America" (Jon, Patrick, Katie, Sydney, and Alexa who looks a lot like Anne Hathaway); we went to the Schwan and everyone else got (or shared) a burger while I had the goulash. Thursday (yesterday), I was going to get lunch with Victoria, but instead I was pulled last-minute into a meeting (USA) where I met Judy (Social) and Peter (SEO). Fun. Thus, I just got a döner from the cart and ate it in the park by the river, basking in sunshine.

The trees are in bloom and starting to grow back their leaves! Finally. I like it.

At 5pm everyday, they pass out beers. Awesome. I still need to figure out how to open a beer from another bottle. Or get a bottle opener ring or something.

I had a flat viewing on Tuesday night. It's a furnished room, not too big, but really close to work. At €450, it's slightly more pricey though.

Wednesday, I returned home after work and caught up completely with HIMYM. Slept around midnight.

Thursday, after work, we had our team event: Go Kart racing, pizza, and laser tag! Wow, what a great time. I drove there with Jose, who offered to take me in his BMW Z3 convertible. We got a little sidetracked by the construction in the city center, but still made it well before everyone else. Go karting (my first time) was unexpectedly intense. The turns were fast and I was slower than most of the group at first, but I eventually found my way and was rolling through the turns easily. Still, 7th place, but I'll take it. Laser tag was great too :) But wow, I was sooo exhausted afterwards.

I asked my friends back in the US to complete some reviews to help our company.

I might go to Antwerp tomorrow, to pick up my luggage. Had no response from Nike. We'll see.

Mike is in London this weekend. I'm honestly jealous of him (I know, I have this amazing job and he's jealous of me), but I would never get invited to a coworker's wedding. And I worked for 2 years at a job. He made closer friends in 6 months than I did in over 2 years -.-

Michelle just joined viber! So, thanks to the time difference, we had a little chat in the morning as I woke up. She was on an overnight bus from NY to Boston.

I was to be at the office at 10am. Danny and I biked together there (everyone else in the flat had left earlier). There were several newbies waiting in the lobby. Jon picked me up and gave me a tour of the office.

Wow, what an office! There are small task rooms, and larger conference rooms, all creatively decorated and named; a climbing/bouldering wall; kitchens everywhere, fully stocked; beer fridges; foosball ("kicker") tables, and so on.

I had an orientation with all the other interns - looks like Danny and I are the only full-time employees starting today. But the company is expanding, so there's lots of new people joining. I then was led to my desk. I sit between Martin and Wildemar. I already had tasks assigned to me (mainly setting up my work accounts, and so on), so I got straight on to that. My "boss," Thomas, was out, busy with appointments. Across from me sits Jennifer, doing Social Media; Vicky, here for just 1 week, from Mallorca; and Felix, who I think does SEM.

Before I knew it, it was lunch time. I joined Martin and Wildemar for some döner. Thomas had a meeting, so he didn't join us at the döner car; instead, we walked to I Heart Döner.

The afternoon was spent doing more of the same, setting up accounts, and so on.

Returned home at 6pm. Danny was there with me. I biked to the grocery store (Aldi), filling up my backback with necessary supplies. (Why do grocers scan so quickly in Germany? There's no space. I can't even fill up my backpack at that pace!) I also stopped by REWE to get what I couldn't at Aldi.

I cooked chili for myself. Tom was back, and he was cooking curry with David (our neighbor from upstairs). He put on A Night at the Roxbury, which was really funny (and which I don't really remember).

I then found out that there were some bombings at the Boston Marathon finish line. I checked that Michelle was ok. Watched some news about it for a few minutes, then retired to bed. What a day.

Friday, 12 April 2013

I left Duisburg and moved into the company-owned flat in Düsseldorf. I made two trips - the first in the morning (while Martin was teaching). It was a nice day so I had a lamacun from the shop around the corner, which I ate in the park. It started sprinkling rain. I returned to Duisburg, meeting Martin at his place. We made burgers (very oily and missing many ingredients such as lettuce and mayo).

We played tennis. Indoors. And I made a fool of myself. Rain began to pour down. It cost €11 per person. Blah.

I then left, with just my backpack of stuff left to carry to the flat. No one was there. I watched TV for a few hours - a behind-the-scenes of South Park, some news, and some Family Guy. I went to bed and then heard everyone return. They were drinking at the office (it was Friday, after all). I met Francesco, Italian/English, from Glasgow. And there was Danny from Denmark, and Todd, Bulgarian but raised in Germany. Danny starts work on Monday as well.


Saturday, 13 April 2013

Danny and I went to the flea market in the south of town. We looked for bikes, shopping for a while before finally choosing a cheap bike each. Mine cost €30 and is a single-speed. But it works.

We (Francesco, Todd, Danny, and I) walked to REWE to stock up on food supplies.

Jan came to visit! He drove from Mainz to see me and to compile his reportage. He accompanied me to my flat viewing in Friedrichstadt. The flatmate, Lars, seemed nice at first but then became increasingly uncomfortable and asked us to delete the pictures we were taking. What a loser. Jan and I kept making fun of him the rest of the day.

Returned to the flat (Jan forgot his wallet) and then we took the tram into the city. Walked around the Altstadt, and we ate at Space Burger, which has a crazy selection of hamburgers but the burger itself was overcooked and on the dry side. We walked, in the warm afternoon sun, along the river, past the Rheinturm to the Medienhafen. We were now craving ice cream, and we walked to an Eismacher (so my phone said) but it wasn't there. At the tram stop, there was a froyo shop which would do.

We returned to the Altstadt and had an Alt bier at Uerige; the beer was more bitter than I remember, bleh.

Back at the flat, Jan conducted his "interview" of me. Francesco was cooking. Jan stayed until around midnight, helping me eat my chocolate bunny, then drove home.


Sunday, 14 April 2013
It was a warm and sunny day. I woke up around 9am and wrote an essay for a travel writing contest. The winning writer gets $500, and the previous years' winners did not seem as well-written as my writing, so I actually think I have a shot. I wrote about my experiences trying to get a UK visa.

Around 2:30pm, I went out for a bike ride. I went past the office to the Rhine and saw all the people enjoying the first "warm" day of the year. It actually felt somewhat humid in the sun. I biked to the Nordpark, taking pictures here and there.

Returned to the apartment, watched several episodes of HIMYM, snacked on bread and leberwurst, and watched some of the football game (AC Milan vs Napoli 1:1). I put a frozen pizza in the oven.

I start work tomorrow!!!! Exciting! Hope I enjoy it - but let's not expect too much! :)

I scheduled two viewings for the day. Just because I still officially have no flat.

Still awaiting the decision from Tobi and my #1 flat. I'm trying to prepare myself for a "no" answer.

But I did get word from the company that I could move into one of their flats temporarily until I found my own place to live. Awesome! So that means I finally, for the first time in 2.5 months, have my own place to live!

My other goal for the day: register with the city. To do that, I needed my rental contract. I emailed with the company to see when I could get it, but Lisa didn't respond until the late afternoon.

In the meantime, I explored a bit (walking across the bridge) and then went to view my first flat of the day. It was being let by an agency; the guy (Markus) arrived 10 minutes late on his bike. It's in Flingern Süd, walking distance from the Hbf (with some new development, including pwc's office, nearby) but not really the most convenient location for me to get to work. But the room would be furnished. Meh. It's like my #3 or 4 choice, just for being furnished.

I then took the tram from the Hbf to Düsseltal, to at least see the neighborhood where the company flat was. It's a good area. Perfect biking distance to work. I walked onward into Pempelfort/Derendorf, where I caught the 701 tram from Münsterplatz (I'm learning these places already!) into the city center and returned to Burger King (which is now my go-to spot for free Wifi!). I got a crispy chicken combo, which tasted really artificial, and checked my email/chatted with Oli and Topi a little on fb. I then got Lisa's email that I could come pick up the contract, so I rushed through my meal and went straight to the office, trying to make it before 5pm. I got there at 4:58 XD and picked up the contract and keys from Monique, the receptionist. I also briefly met Marko? (crap, I'm going to have a hard time remembering everyone's names).

Straight from there, I went to the Bürgerbüro to register. They are open until 18:00 on Thursdays (the only late day) so I was lucky to arrive there at 17:20. I was at first unsure where to go, but I got a number from the information desk. Waited ~15-20 minutes and then was called to a desk, where the guy was really friendly. He just needed my passport really, so I didn't really need the rental contract! Oh well. I'm now officially a resident of Düsseldorf. I also got a welcome package :)

From there, I took the S-Bahn to Zoo and walked to my new (if only temporary) flat. It was on the "ground floor" but upon entering, it split into upper and lower floors. I tried the lower floor first, but no key would work. Then, quietly (so as not to upset the wrong neighbor) I tried the upper floor, and voila - it worked! Inside was Tom, from the UK (Yorkshire, near Leeds). He works in marketing as well and has been in the flat since November. Celine (from Germany) also arrived right after me; she's doing a praktikum (internship). I discovered my room, which is huge, and has a bed (but missing slots in the bed frame). Chatted for a little bit, helped Tom search for a flat, then went off to my other viewing of the day.

I went to an area in Friedrichstadt, not far from the Hbf, and met Flo and Andreas in their 4th-floor flat. The flatmate moving out is taking everything, so the room would be unfurnished, and the two guys are moving out at the end of June too, so it's not the most ideal situation. Flo is moving to Delaware to work, and I chatted with him about commuting there from DC/Baltimore. "Dein Deutsch is verdammt gut." Said Flo. Said bye and headed back.

I caught the first train to Duisburg. It was an inter-city train, which I wasn't allowed to travel on with my ticket. Oops :X. But the ticket checker let me go.

Martin was out on another date with Dunya. He returned, tired (and she was tired too). I skyped with Mike in the evening. He's going to London next week (for Jasper's wedding). He was "bored" with classes so he has taken up another job (selling instructional MS Office-training software) and is applying to be on the board of directors for a company. WTF?! How can one person be so productive, or have so much motivation?

I have been trying to force myself into enjoying the taste of mineralwasser. So far, it only works if I make a schorle (a mix of juice and sparkling water).

I had no viewing in Düsseldorf today, so I stayed in Duisburg and did some sightseeing. It was raining on and off in the morning, so I waited for the rain to clear up first. I ran into Martin, who was just arriving home as I walked out the door. As I walked into the city center, I passed a hair salon that had men's haircuts for €11, so I went in and got one. The ladies working there were really nice, unable to speak English but impressed with my German. (They were surprised that I wanted to cut off my locks of curly hair!) They also said that the way I said "danke" sounded like a French accent XD

Anyway, I continued into the city center. It's a standard Fußgängerzone (pedestrian-only area) with stores and cafés. It was cool (but not cold!) and cloudy. I tried to explore the whole area, finding the city hall and an old church, and then I got slightly disoriented and wandered north when I meant to go east. Anyway, I stumbled upon the dock area, with a park next to it, and a Jewish memorial. I walked back into the city center and got a döner box (with salad).

Returned to the apartment. Along the way, I bought some chocolate soy milk from Edeka. I wasn't very hungry, and Martin had a date (with Dunya, a girl he met on the internet and who lives nearby). So I made dinner late (around 10pm), cooking up some minced meat with balsamic vinegar and tomato sauce.