Update

*This message was brought to you by the wireless internet connection at the McDonald's in Chodov Shopping Center*

Ok, so far the sponsor message, now here’s a new update for my blog. I had my first weekend and my first working days, and so far I am really enjoying my time here. I was expecting to have some tough moments, but so far I haven't had any. Let's hope it will remain that way. So I hear you thinking. What the hell has Laurens been up to the past few days? Well, here's a description. :)

On Friday night there was a nice end-of-the-working-week-party at Andĕl, the flat where a lot of other trainees live. We had some drinks together and celebrated our Trainee Coordinator’s birthday. Unfortunately the birthday-boy passed out around midnight (a mix of beer through a straw, too little sleep the past few days and a cold), but that didn’t spoil the fun for the rest of us. :)

The next day I went with Tim into the city, to play tourist for one day. I may live here now, but I think I’m still allowed to act as a true tourist during my first weekend right? Anyway, Prague really is a very beautiful city, lots of old buildings with nice architecture, nice shops and also the famous Charles bridge. That was quite a nice bridge, although it was also a biiiit crowded. I can imagine why this place is number 3 in the worldwide list of best places to get your pocket picked. But I still have all my stuff (I was prepared and didn’t bring too much with me) and I had a nice time today.

After I got home, I had an opportunity to enjoy the view from my balcony, while consuming some special kind of ice cream people in Czech Republic seem to like a lot. It was a great moment. I’d wish I could share the view with all of you, but my internet is still not working properly, so that’s not gonna work. :)

On Sunday I hadn’t anything planned, but one of the “friends” of Juan Carlos, who stayed over tonight even though JC himself was sleeping somewhere else, invited us (Tim and me) to come to a Couchsurfing-meeting somewhere in a park. The location was quite hard to find (even for three people that were living in Prague, a bit strange for a meeting that is intended to be for foreigners that sleep here only a few nights), but in the end we got there and had a nice afternoon.
So Monday was my first working day. Well, only the name included work, because the day itself consisted of just presentations about the company in general and the duties and rights of the employer and employee. Luckily for me there was a Belgian colleague named Jonathan who would also be working for the same client as I will, so we could talk a bit during breaks. At the end of the day we were introduced to the whole Dutch team and also showed what would be our working place. Then we had to wait for 2 hours, because our supervisors wanted to have a drink with us, but had an important meeting first. But well, that gave us the chance to go outside, browse the internet a bit and talk with our future colleagues. Jonathan and I will both be working in the same “street of desks” (don’t know how to call it, but I’m sure you’ll know what I mean) together with three girls, and basing myself on the 30 minutes that we were sat close to them, I’m sure we’re going to have a lot of fun during work. Soon I will get to experience some real office humor. I can’t wait!

The next day the trainings continued, the only difference being that today (and tomorrow) it’s not called Introduction any more but Induction. I didn’t notice any difference. So in the evening, my flatmate Juan Carlos invited me to come to salsa-lessons in the evening. I had never done that before, but for me it was a great opportunity to meet some new people, so I went with him. Unfortunately we were too late to join the lesson, but I could watch most of it. After the lesson had ended, I talked with some other people working at Accenture that were there and I agreed with a Dutch colleague that she would participate in the salsa lesson of next week. I wonder how that will go. But a very nice Slovak girl already introduced me to some basic moves and I will maybe get some salsa lessons at home from JC, so it’s going to be fine. Want to know how this story continues with Laurens and his salsa-lessons? Just keep reading this blog, and you will find out the answer.

So today, the 15th of September, it's my birthday. So far I have nothing special planned yet, but tonight there will be a movie night at Andĕl, so I won't be alone on my birthday. And to all of you that congratulate(d) me through Facebook, Hyves, e-mail, e-card and/or sms: thank you. I hope you understand I can't react to all messages right now. I have to get back to Induction Training soon. :)

Opatruj se, or, for non-Czech people: take care!