I think it's my turn

So, I'm stealing some moments away from work on this Tuesday morning mostly because I'm feeling a little lazy, but also because I have a couple of hours before I have really concrete direction on what needs to happen next.

This last weekend was the first that I got to spend at home since we moved. I have to say that I like the new place much, much more than the last one. It may not be as big, but it makes up for it in everything else. This includes the two window units that keep the den and bedroom nice and cool.

The weekend before last, I was in Germany. I arrived on Friday morning, put in a long day at work, and quickly got very drunk with the other five interns from the office. There is a place in Munich called the Hof Brau Haus (I think that's how you spell it). Anyway, they sell beer in liters, and we each had three.

Most interesting exchange of the weekend:
Me and another intern standing with beer. Two girls walk by.
Other intern: "That's a cool shirt, where'd you get it?"
Girl: "Blah, blah, blah."
Me: "Where are you girls from."
Girl: "We're from the south. (in a very southern belle kinda tone) Where ya'll from?"
Me: "New York."
Girl: "Ya'll from New York? Oh, so you're someone to ask this question: where can we get some drugs?"
Other intern: "We just got here, we haven't made any connections yet."
Girls: "Oh." Followed immediately by a 180 turn and walk directly away from us.
Us: [Shrug]

Later two of us went to another bar and drank another liter and a half. I don't remember going to the hotel, but I was very happy to wake up there the next morning. I woke up to the phone ringing to tell me that the bus would leave in 15 minutes. That bus took us to the Austrian town of Pertisau, on the shore of Lake Achensee in the Alps. It was a living postcard.

SMC has an annual retreat called Somerfest, and the company takes over the town. It was organized through http://www.rentavillage.com/, as all the ads clearly told us. Saturday night was the main dinner, along with a speach by the Siemens CEO, who started SMC ten years ago. That night was also the Germany soccer match for third place in the World Cup. It was something else to be surrounded by dozens of Germans, all singing unintelligible songs, drinking beer and being generally happy.

That night, four of us interns were the last four to leave the bar at 4 AM. That wasn't too bad, except for the fact that I needed to be up at 10 AM. By 11 AM, I was firmly strapped between the legs of an Austrian man. With all the calm in the world, I ran off the side of an Alp. I'm grateful to say that the parachute took hold very well and the 15 minute descent into the town below was fantastic. We did a very tight spiral that apparently makes many people sick in mid-air. I was very grateful for the no-hangover gene.

That afternoon, we were bussed back to Munich, where we later saw the World Cup finals at a biergarten among many disappointed French fans. I was suprised to see them greatly outnumber the Italian fans. Nevertheless, those Italians made a huge raucous up and down the streets the rest of the night.

I was back in the states the next afternoon, happy for the trip, but happier to be back home and with an afternoon to recover.

My only regret: forgetting my camera. :-(