Mein Geburtstag und Sommerfest!

So this week has pretty much been a week of celebration.  This week I turned 23 years old, and to answer the big question, no, I do not feel any older!  The first notion of my birthday was on Tuesday night, before going to sleep I heard a few whispers outside of my bedroom door, and in came my roommates and some friends singing Happy Birthday to me (yes, they sing the english happy birthday song here) with a candy bar on a plate with a candle in it!  They wished me a happy birthday, and we all drank some wine together to celebrate.

On Wednesday, I still had to go into work on my birthday.  When I walked in I opened my mouth to say my usual "Morgen!" when everyone in the office began to sing to me again!  Everyone, even from the other offices of the company came in to shake my hand, and wish me "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag".  They also had on my desk a HUGE muffin and candy for me to enjoy.  In addition, a good friend of mine, Georgia, at work, who is an intern from England, had also placed an awesomely creative card on my desk.  You can see this cool birthday card (Outside and Inside) in the picture to the right.  Click to make it bigger!  Sorry, Georgia, to make your card so public!  It was great how everyone at work helped to make it a more enjoyable day . . .

That night, I also went with some friends in the park, and we played a nice civilized game of beer pong.  It is not a common game in Germany, so we of course got many looks, and even quite a few people who wanted to try to throw the ping pong ball into the cups!  It was a lot of fun and a relaxing way to spend my evening.  Don't worry, Mom, we didn't drink much.  We needed to keep our energy up for the next day . . . Sommerfest!

The atmosphere at work is definitely a work hard, play hard one.  I gave an example earlier of the Internet Marketing Conference that was really just a great party, but to top it off, on Thursday evening after work, all of us at Hitflip geared up to enjoy the annual Sommerfest party.  

We all left the office together and walked a few meters down the street to find the "Party Bus" waiting for us.  We all boarded this big blue remodeled school bus which had a bathroom, dance floor, and of course a keg of Koelsch.  The bus also had roll up windows, so we could cruise down the road with the breeze rolling in.  We were probably on the bus for about an hour, and made it to our first destination, a typical Koelsch (the word that describes the Cologne culture, the beer in Cologne, and also the dialect, but in this case, I am talking about the culture) restaurant.  It was a beautiful restaurant with open ceilings, and even a tree growing out of the middle.  It had typical German, and Cologne items on the menu, and the company picked up the tab.  

After the restaurant, we took a short walk over to an asian themed Karaoke bar.  The bar was completely empty until the 30 or so of us waltzed in, and we made it a party.  Co-workers sang everything from good ol' American classics to traditional German tunes.  We also had plenty of beverages to go around!

The last stop of the evening was at a club called the Cent Club.  The club is located on Zulpicher Strasse, the street that I wrote about before, and is a typical young dance club.  There really isn't a lot to say about this stop of the night, but that it was a blast.  Lots of dancing, socializing, and again, the company picked up the tab.  I left the club at about 3am, with only about a five minute walk home, but from what I heard some co-workers were there until almost 6am.  And, yes, I had to be at work the next morning.  Yes, I made it in.  No, some people did not.  

That's about all I've got for this one!  I look forward to hearing from all of you readers!  

Also, check out the music player that I added at the bottom of this post.  I am going to keep updating it with popular songs from here in Germany, and also here in Cologne so you can get a taste of the music here!  Enjoy!

Why yes, I work in Europe . . .

It's actually been a bit long since my last post, which is too long than I wanted.  I've finally got myself feeling a bit settled in here in Cologne after my first month of living here.  It's actually a bit hard to believe that more than a month has gone by, and my time here is already shortening.  It's really been great knowing that a lot of people have been reading, and the blog has actually started to see some worldwide traffic, which is also really great!  Please keep commenting, as I enjoy reading the comments.  It's a good way for me to hear from you, and it's always a pleasent surprise to know who is reading!

A lot of people have already asked me how work is going, and I have been hesitant to post on here about it until I had really spent some time there and felt comfortable there.  Working at Hitflip Media Trading, has just been great.  The people are all young, and friendly, it's in the center of the city, and everything is going smoothly.  I don't know exactly how much detail I can go into about what I am doing, but I will try not to be too vague.

One thing that is really difficult for a lot of online companies to deal with, is that the reliability on Google is just so huge.  Especially for a company whose business is solely run online, Google controls the market, and if you are not appearing on search results, or in Google advertisements, your business will surely take a hit for the worse.  So a lot of what I am doing is maintaining and improving the company's services showing up on Google searches.  Besides that, I am also doing some customer service work for Hitflip's UK site, and doing some translations that are still remaining there.  As of now I am the only American working there, and the only other native English speaker is a co-worker from England.  Everyone else in the office is German, but all really helpful with my German, and understanding that I can't speak perfectly.  

Last Thursday was an exciting day for work, as we were hosting Cologne's Internet Marketing Conference 2008.  It was held in a VIP section at the local soccer stadium.  There were a couple hundred people that showed up, and plenty of fun.  I think the idea was for a networking event, but I think that the German idea of networking is mostly just an open bar, and a lot of young people.  I left the stadium at 3am.  It was great fun!  There is a link at the bottom of the post where there are some photos.

There are also links already added to the side column of the blog.  There you will find the three projects that we have at Hitflip.  I am currently doing work for Hitflip UK, and Hitmeister.  Check the pages out to see a bit of what I am doing.  

Sorry I don't have any pics or anything for this post.  I hope to add some to it shortly.  Maybe a shot of my desk or something, we'll see.  

Thanks for reading!  Feel free to leave comments!

See Pictures from Internet Marketing Koeln 2008

The First Blog Post! - Herzlich Wilkommen!

So if you are reading this, I probably gave you my blog address so that you know more about my life in Germany. There's also a slight chance I suppose that people may stumble upon this blog from google, in which case, if you find this interesting, go nuts! I know that there are a lot of people who will want to see pictures, or hear about what I am doing, including friends, relatives, and probably even my parents' co-workers. All are welcome!

The title of my blog is "Andrew Gegen Koeln" which translates to Andrew versus Cologne, and even though I do not consider myself against Cologne, it sounded like a fun name for the blog!

One thing that I am really sad about is that I will be leaving all of my friends, and family behind for the next six months. I am currently still at UNCW, and the thought of finishing and not coming back in the fall is really hard to deal with. I have had so many experiences here at school, and have met so many wonderful people. There is still so much at UNCW that I would like to do! However, one cannot stay too comfortable for too long, so I am moving on to other things.

A couple months ago, I accepted an internship in Cologne with a company called Hitflip Media Trading. You can visit their website at http://www.hitflip.de/ or at http://www.hitflip.co.uk/ for more information on what they do. I will be living and working in the city center of Cologne and marketing the company's services in the United Kingdom. I have signed my contract, and I begin work on June 2, and my last day is November 28.

Luckily, I am not too unfamiliar with the city. I have spent a couple of days there before during my travels in 2006 while studying abroad in Bremen, Germany. The city is absolutely beautiful, with lots and lots going on! The picture attached to this post is a picture I took in 2006, and is taken from a bridge on the Rhine River looking at the city center, where I will be working, and living.

I will have plenty of time to experience a different place, with a different culture, improve my German, see old friends, and make new ones! Most importantly, however, I want to be able to keep in contact with all of you. This is my communication to you, and I hope that it will open up an opportunity for you to communicate back to me. Please feel free to leave comments on the blog, send me an e-mail, message me on facebook, or catch me on Skype while I am gone!

Thanks For Reading!