Kakao in the biergarten

Friday, 12th May.
Officially my first day at office.

Met my predecessor for the first time, Natasha from Russia, really nice girl. And she will the person whom I will probably bug for the whole of term!

She has been absorbed into the company, and all previous person taking up this job got absorbed as well! Great sign!

So for the whole day…brain was in automated sponge mode…listening and bombarding questions about the role, the company, the culture etc.

Whatever it was…I was realllyy looking forward to lunch!

And that's for the rest of the working day. Brain soaked with info…

Most notable event was finally being able to meet Amit, by far the most metro person ever, period! Putting him, me and Kygan (officially the "best looking" AIESECer in Malaysia, after I left) would have been a threesomeful of facials, sexist jokes, gossips and weird laughters. Now Amit would be like the 2 nd highest priority person for me to see in Bonn , and I had the pleasure of working with him while facilitating in India . So seeing him was such a welcome relieve in a period where everyone I see are total strangers. We gave each other the tightest of hugs (or perhaps it was just me), of cuz in an unBrokeback way! Pleasant to see him being surprised when I just appeared in his office out of the blue! His eyes wide open you probably need to be alert when it might actually drop out!

It being a Friday (Freistag in German), he invited me to chill with some other trainees. Finally…I thought…an invite to hang out with the trainees! I excitedly blurted out that I was heading for a "trainee party" when I was on the phone with Al. But that "trainee party" turned out to be nothing more than just a gathering of 6 trainees in a beer garden! Yippee…!

I made myself a vow…me being a person who totally dislikes beer and coming to a country where beer is cheaper than water (I´d drink the pipe water anytime!)…that I wouldn't drink a single drop of beer for a least two weeks! And I believe most of you would trust me to head for more than 2 weeks! So what do I do when a crowd order pils, beer and whatever else alcoholic…I order hot "kakao"…mit crème! Thats hot chocolate with cream! And the crowd goes "huhh"?!

Now this bier garten / beer garden…literally means an open area (hence the garden), with a café that serves drinks, mostly alcoholic (hence the beer) can be found almost everywhere in Germany! Which again explains how the Germans just love their beer. And I wouldn't wanna waste my time posting bout something which I dislike…hahaha!

Clockwise from left: Amit (Indian), Sandra (Dutch + Mexican), Jenny Lee (Filipina), Kenneth (Hongky) and Portuguese Tart

Me and my Kakao!

Anyways, the topic of the table was who would be joining the Family Day event the next day organized by the company. I remembered that there was lots of activity happening at the open space surrounding the tower…like inflated giant foosball arena (where humans actually play in it…inclusive of being bonded around their body), a rock climbing err…rock….and many more stuffs! I also noticed there was an open application for employees to run in the 5km and 10km marathon.

So coming back to the topic of conversation…I was thinking it would be excellent to know a little bout the company´s culture, its people and of cuz have fun. Well its not like I have any welcome party for me, nor was I invited to any cool trips on that Saturday…so what the hecked, I told the gang that since they would be there as well…count me in for the 5km run!

So…me, legs still aching and hurting, decided to join my first marathon! The last time I ran THAT FAR was 2 weeks of jogging distance combined…back in Uni days! And the last time I RAN…was when I was warming up for futsal every Tuesday! Chien, Peter and Alan knows for sure…I don't run when I play futsal! I just POSITION myself in great scoring positions! J Juggle the ball a few times and ppl know you re a good footballer!! (but that's another story)

And thus the night (which was bright) ended with us saying our goodbyes. I didn't wanna go home though…too early! And it's a Friday!! Gosh…and I don't wanna be lonely!

Trudged home…mind solely focused on the next day! I was mental exercising for the run…decided to increase my walking pace!

Shit…I think the kakao really made me do stupid things…did I just said I will run a 5km marathon!?


………………………………………………………………did Portuguese tart run the marathon?