Monday, 28th of September 2015
False alarm. I’m not going to Istanbul, but my colleague, Annika will. I am happy for her, but I wonder if I will get another opportunity like this until the end of my internship. Now that I think about it, I kinda wish I was the one appointed to accompany Robert at the startup fair in Turkey. However, I do feel happy for Annika and I hope she will have an awesome time there.
Today was quite a productive day, which came as a surprise, since Robert was out of town. I had to rebuild the entire web app wireframe in UXPin, as the previous version became corrupt for unknown reasons and wasn’t able to save it. Very disappointing, UXPin… very disappointing.
Tuesday, 29th of September 2015
I wasn’t a coffee drinker at all before coming to Hamburg, but now it seems easier to be more energetic by starting the day with a nice, milky, hot cup of coffee. We usually drink the free coffee prepared by Primo Portal Hub (the building where we and other startups have their office), but this morning we were offered free coffee capsules for the coffee machine for which we would normally need an access card. Not a bad way to start the day. 🙂
My German is not very good, but once in a while I pick up fragments of conversation from people around me. Today I overheard Robert wishing “Alles Gute zum Geburtstag” to Annika on the phone. It means “Happy Birthday”. So later on I called Annika to wish her happy birthday, and she invited me and Zarko to the celebration party at her place in the evening. Of course, I accepted, but then I was faced with the dilemma of getting her a present. I knew she likes chocolate, so I went to the Alnatura supermarket to buy one, and I came across this tasting table:
Why can’t we have nice things like this in Romania? I mean we do have tasting tables in supermarkets but there’s always someone there so that people won’t be greedy and eat everything. Here at Alnatura there wasn’t anyone. Just a small sign inviting you to try it.
I had a great time at Annika’s birthday party and I met some new people. Just what I needed to end the day.
Wednesday, 30th of September 2015
In order to keep my budget under control, I am using a nice spreadsheet template in Google Drive that calculates automatically all my spending and income. It’s the end of the month, so it’s time to draw the line. Aaaand I would love to say I am sustainable, but I’m not. I have exceeded the budget by 35 EURO. It’s not so much, but next month I will keep a closer eye on my spending and hopefully I will earn at least as much as I spend. We’ll see…
Thursday, 1st of October 2015
In the evening I was invited by AIESEC to a German Dinner. I was disappointed to find out the others internationals decided not to join. It was just me, Yungfeng (another trainee just like me) and 5 other happy AIESECers. But the food was good.
I had some Original Hamburg “Labskaus” which looked like this:
And then I had a dessert called “With the Little Spoon”:
But I think all the food tasted good and the place, called Anno 1905, was also great.
Friday, 2nd of October 2015
I asked Robert to work from home while him and Annika are in Istanbul, as this way I would manage to save at least 2 hours that I normally spend commuting from home to work and back. And since eating is something I do every day :-p, today I baked a frozen pizza in the oven. It’s a good way to save money, since a pizza barely costs more than 1 EURO, and it’s delicious at the same time. I’m not sure about how healthy it is though, but probably more healthy than other foods.
Saturday, 3rd of October 2015
Happy birthday, Germany! You have given me shelter and plenty of opportunities, and I wish you’ll live many long and prosperous years from now on.
Since today was the German National Day, pretty much all the supermarkets were closed. Except for some, like the Edeka supermarket at the airport. This time I joined Dawe, my friend from the campus. But before we went shopping, he showed me a an awesome terrace from where I could see the activity of the whole airport. It instantly joined my top 3 favorite places in Hamburg.
Also, a very cool idea at the McDonald’s in the airport: you can use a special terminal to make your order and pay with your card, without having to wait in line. Then all you need to do is go and pick up your order. It’s quick, easy and smart.
Sunday, 4th of October 2015
The weekends seem shorter and shorter. I’m getting ready for a new week, hopefully an even more productive one. Mood of the day: ready for business. 🙂
I am a freelance designer.
Distance is not an issue. I can work from anywhere.
