Yes, I am alive…

… and doing well absolutely fantastic here in Germany.

I know, I know. I owe you an update.
The last week just has been so insanely busy, what with the workshop and travel that I didn’t really get the chance to write something down. I am trying to catch up a bit today, but I unfortunately know already that I won’t make it all the way up to today. It’s way too late already and I have way too much to talk about.

So here’s last week’s summary: The workshop last week went really well. I am so, so glad that my supervisor let me attend the training, because I learned so much! I am usually very good with the “do-it-yourself” approach, but I really shouldn’t be paid for figuring out a software, but for using it on our projects efficiently. That’s why I think training is very important most of the time. My supervisor will be very happy about all the information I’ll be bringing back to office.

I had a very good time with the other attendees as well. I thought it would be kind of embarrassing to admit it, but we talked about work-related stuff most of the time, even in the evenings when the workshop was over. (Kim called it my own personal “geek-week”. Heh.) It was just so interesting to talk with people who do the same things that I do and to talk about the different work strategies and approaches.
I won’t go into it, because I don’t want to bore you to death, but I want to say this (once again): I really have a very cool job!

I spent most of the evening with the other two girls women that I met at the workshop and we went out to dinner together both Tuesday (Sushi) and Wednesday (Chinese) night.

Thursday afternoon, we went to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, which is located in Huntsville and which is probably the most exciting and  important attraction in a 50 mile radius.

The company who had organized the workshop had also organized a free event at the Space & Rocket Center including a dinner and a presentation. It was really cool. I am not really into spaceships and that kind of stuff, but the exhibitions were very interesting and they had some rides/simulators.

I went on the G-Force Accelerator which spins you around really fast and you experience  three times the force of gravity on your body. It’s a pretty crazy feeling.  Some others went on the Space Shot, which rockets 140ft straight up in 2.5 seconds. Ah yes, I skipped that. It was a little bit too crazy for my taste.

I bought myself a T-shirt at the gift shop as a souvenir, because you know, I have NO IDEA when or if I will ever come back to Huntsville, AL. ;)

I have to say it was almost kind of sad when the workshop came to an end on Friday. I had a great time, really met some nice people, but hey, I didn’t have much time to be sad, because I was heading off to Germany from there…

… and sadly, I will have to tell you about the reunion with my family in my next post. Hopefully some time this week.

Stay tuned.