(Days 2 and 3 have been updated)
I started my day with breakfast at 6:30am. I swear I'm eating better...well, more...now than I ever do at home. Then it was off to the train station. I'm an expert at navigating to the platform I need. I can weave and bob through the crowd and maintain a pretty good pace. Unfortunately for me, I forgot that trains leave at 17, 37 and 57 from Cologne. I mixed that up with the 07, 27, 47 from Leverkusen, so I was both late and early depending on how you want to look at it.
I arrived to a somewhat empty parking lot and a quiet office. Yesterday was a holiday and many employees use a vacation day to "bridge" from holiday to weekend and end up with a nice long four day weekend that only costs them one day of vacation.
I spent some time chatting with Andreas F. and Stefan in the morning. Stefan invited me to lunch off-site which I graciously accepted. Jeurgen, who is temporarily filling in for new father Constantin (who is back on Monday), drove to lunch. We visited a small "mom and pop" Greek restaurant and Stefan helped me order.
The food was piled on the plate and so very tasty. I spent some time talking with Stefan and Jeurgen about the US, stereotypes, cuckoo clocks and many other topics. It was nice to get out of the office for a bit and talk about things other than work.
When we returned Andreas F. had left and the others were wrapping up things from earlier in the week. The US call occurs at 3:00pm local time. Germany dials in to that every day in case there are questions regarding the tickets they reviewed in their meeting or any global topics. After the US meeting today a mass exodus occurred. I soon found myself nearly alone on the floor. I was working with some US colleagues on a couple things so I stuck around until that was done around 4:00pm and headed back to Cologne. The train was late...I think it was punishment for leaving work early.
I found a Mexican place on Google Maps a few blocks from the hotel that looked really good. Unfortunately, it's closed. I wandered around and eventually settled on a tourist bar near the Cathedral. I had the "US" burger for dinner while people watching. Cologne is a different place on Friday night...it's much busier with more locals out and about.
1 week down, 2 to go. Tomorrow I'm hoping to rent a car and get out of the city for awhile.
I started my day with breakfast at 6:30am. I swear I'm eating better...well, more...now than I ever do at home. Then it was off to the train station. I'm an expert at navigating to the platform I need. I can weave and bob through the crowd and maintain a pretty good pace. Unfortunately for me, I forgot that trains leave at 17, 37 and 57 from Cologne. I mixed that up with the 07, 27, 47 from Leverkusen, so I was both late and early depending on how you want to look at it.
I arrived to a somewhat empty parking lot and a quiet office. Yesterday was a holiday and many employees use a vacation day to "bridge" from holiday to weekend and end up with a nice long four day weekend that only costs them one day of vacation.
I spent some time chatting with Andreas F. and Stefan in the morning. Stefan invited me to lunch off-site which I graciously accepted. Jeurgen, who is temporarily filling in for new father Constantin (who is back on Monday), drove to lunch. We visited a small "mom and pop" Greek restaurant and Stefan helped me order.
The food was piled on the plate and so very tasty. I spent some time talking with Stefan and Jeurgen about the US, stereotypes, cuckoo clocks and many other topics. It was nice to get out of the office for a bit and talk about things other than work.
When we returned Andreas F. had left and the others were wrapping up things from earlier in the week. The US call occurs at 3:00pm local time. Germany dials in to that every day in case there are questions regarding the tickets they reviewed in their meeting or any global topics. After the US meeting today a mass exodus occurred. I soon found myself nearly alone on the floor. I was working with some US colleagues on a couple things so I stuck around until that was done around 4:00pm and headed back to Cologne. The train was late...I think it was punishment for leaving work early.
I found a Mexican place on Google Maps a few blocks from the hotel that looked really good. Unfortunately, it's closed. I wandered around and eventually settled on a tourist bar near the Cathedral. I had the "US" burger for dinner while people watching. Cologne is a different place on Friday night...it's much busier with more locals out and about.
1 week down, 2 to go. Tomorrow I'm hoping to rent a car and get out of the city for awhile.
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