On getting down to business

The problem with trying to keep up a blog or journal (I don’t think I will ever write as much as a true “blogger” doing an update every 15 minutes) is that the longer you don’t update the harder it is to figure out what to talk about.

Case in point – I’ve been in Romania for over a week now, have already had many adventures, but did not write about any of them as they occurred. Now I’m left with the daunting task of trying to get all of these things written down while not completely boring anybody who might find themselves reading this.

I suppose the only solution will be to give a day-by-day series of notes, and then expand upon things at a later date. While not all events are represented here, the important ones are, so this should tide us over until a time when more in depth writing can be done.

Day 1 – 9/8/08 – My first day in the office began with breakfast with my co-worker Anders at the hotel, we then went to the office where I was introduced to the team for the first time. Great group of people who have shown me as much hospitality as could be wanted. Since people seem to be curious about these things we ate lunch at a local cafeteria where you pick from several prepared dishes. I found that the sausage they call mititei is extremely tasty. After leaving work a little after 8pm Anders and I had dinner near the hotel at an Italian restaurant. Unaccustomed to European dining I forgot that it would take several hours. Back to the hotel where I laid awake until 3:30 am while my body told me it was still the middle of the afternoon. Strangest part of the day: staying awake long enough to see the first Monday Night Football game come on live over a local sports channel.

Day 2 – 9/9/08 – Breakfast with Anders; lunch with the team. Started getting down to brass tacks in terms of work today. More mititei with lunch – that stuff is too good. Informed of a “team building” weekend which my presence has been requested. All I want to do is sleep. After work I went out with a couple of guys from the office to the “Irish Pub” which inexplicably doesn’t server Guinness. Once again a late night – fell asleep around 3am…

Day 3 – 9/10/08 – Breakfast with Anders again; more lunch with the team – more mititei. The work day starts at 10am here since Romania is an hour ahead of CET. Of course that means you really don’t think about leaving until 7:30 or so. Unfortunately got stuck on a conference call until 9pm. Left the office by myself for the first time at night and was confronted by a wild pack of dogs. Ok – there were only two, but that was still a little strange. Was informed by co-workers that Thursday night is when we all go out – so that means I really need to work on getting some sleep tonight. 3am.

Day 4 – 9/11/08 – No breakfast this morning – early morning meetings. I know I’m in trouble when the guys from the team come into work and are already looking sharp for going out after work. Took lunch at my desk and worked through the day. Received a list of items I would need for the team building weekend. They include: sunglasses, cap, swimwear, a knife. Find out during the day that my ATM card does not work in Romania since my bank somehow has the entire country blacklisted for illegal activity. AmEx is able to help where my bank fails. After work the guys all come over to the hotel to hang out and have a drink before we are to meet up with the girls from the office. On the way to the bar my glasses break. We don’t leave the hotel until almost 11pm. The place we go is like an old wine cellar in the basement of an old building in the town square. It’s kind of clubby – but not like strobe lights and techno – just dance music. The team all seem to have a really good time, especially when they ask me to drink some of the local schnapps. It goes down like lighter fluid. In bed at 2am which is sadly an improvement.

Day 5 – 9/12/08 – Quick breakfast and then into the office. Several co-workers from the Munich office are coming into town, so we need to be ready. Thankfully a girl I work with is able to walk me over to her optometrist who also makes glasses. One hour and $5 later I have my glasses back in one piece. Informed that we need to catch the bus for team building at 7am on Saturday. “An early night” is what I tell myself. Unfortunately the Munich folks are coming in at odd times and dinner won’t start until 10pm. In the meantime head to the mall to buy some supplies for the weekend trip. Surprisingly nice mall – lots of American stores and a good food court. Go out for Italian – which is very good although I somehow end up with two plates of Risotto. Get to bed a little after midnight and actually fall to sleep.

I’ll make a separate post for the team building because it certainly deserves it. More work now, and hopefully tonight get to catch up on some television and sleep at a reasonable hour.