first day at work

So I had my first day at work. got the laptop, company phone, lots of paperwork, project overview etc etc. so my original understanding of this position was that it was all or mostly in English. turns out, since the full-timers now know I speak German, well, it's all in German. My life definitely just got harder. having learned German before say, the cell phone existed, my ability to express things such as "I followed the instructions but the darn'd thing still tells me the SIM card is invalid. yes, I tried it twice" are lacking. hopefully I'll figure it out. oh, you say I should have received an email with instructions on how to activate the SIM card? Well I need the phone to call the help desk in order to reset my password first. Yes, I must have missed the "IT Support" chapter in Unsere Freunde (a little insider joke for those who learned German in the early 80's). Oh, and the Y and Z are switched on a German keyboard. Just for fun.

And this is the view from the front door to the office building. step outside, cows. Ok, they're horses and you can barely see them. either way, it smells like the country if you know what I mean.


On another note, went out for drinks to wish one of the consultants a fond farewell. Soneone decides to start a debate about "what country gets what." Sort of a party chat game. the goal is to debate which country is known for which edible/drinkable item. Example: what do you think of when you think of wine. Italy? France? Discuss. Don't stop until wine is awarded to either France or Italy. Continue with bread. A French baguette? Dunno, the Germans have bread too. Good bread. And really, India has awesome nahn, which is a bread. But are they known for it? Who gets rice - India or China. Bring in cheese and folks start going ballistic. Add in the fact that you have French, Italians, Germans, Swiss, Egyptians, English, Americans, Indians and Dutch all participating. A rousing good time.


Gratuitous view of Bern from an apartment I looked at today.