Not so Much a New Beginning, More of a New Environment
Friday, August 13, 2004
Border Jumper
Ok, so I have been in Basel, Switz for about 5 or 6 weeks now (Written in May). A lot has happened, and I wil try and get up to date with this posting, so apologies if its a bit long....
-- The Job
Real Life, Real Work...It has been a while since I have been in the workforce, spending the last 2 years working full time for AIESEC. Its surreal to be getting up at 6/7am, and going to "The Office".
I am working in the Global Marketing Department for a Multinational Agri-business. I chose this position as I figured being Australian, a grounding in an agricultural business is a good platform for later on when I am back home. Additionally, I have enjoyed my time in Europe thus far, and needed another year to travel a bit more I am responsible for providing support for the Product Intranet. It is a role that requires me to market and sell the application in-house, make it appear "sexy" to our end users and also train users on how to use the application. The company I am in has recently undergone a merger and so they are still re-shaping the management structure. Watching the politics of it all is quite impressive. Infact, I only found out this week that my project now has another manager - I am switching bosses. This is a bummer for me, because my current boss, very French, very sarcastic, with a great sense of humour, is someone I really admire and respect, with a great deal of experience that I can learn from. He has agreed to be a mentor for me, even though he is no longer my boss. My job is secure, but what I will actually be doing may change. My current manager tries to involve me in all meetings with the global marketing support team. At first I was really intimidated about walking into this environment, but I soon realised that I am well ahead of the game. In the last few weeks, I have spent hours in meetings where the outcome has been that the team agrees that a decision needs to be reached. AGREEING THAT THEY NEED TO AGREE!!!! I am sitting in these meetings thinking that my old AIESEC team would have made a decision in the first 10 minutes of the meeting. Having one year to make your impact really does improve the decision making process!!!
I have to learn an entirely different ball game in this company, and infact I will continue learning about this business and the company all year and will still not have come to grips with all of it....
Oh, and every time they pull out the butchers paper in a meeting, I nearly wet myself laughing. I thought moving on from AIESEC I would never have to use butchers paper again!!!! Ok, so enough of the propaganda, lets talk about the lifestyle.
-- Trainee Life
I have fallen in with a good crowd, the trainee network is pretty cool here. There are a lot of trainees and we tend to go out to the pub a lot, go hiking, bit of travel (we drove to Italy the other weekend) and just yesterday I went with 2 other trainees to my first yoga class. I am so sore today...I have not done anything that physical in months...I thought it was about breathing -whatever!!!! You really work up a sweat!!!I guess though, I am mentioning this because after AIESEC, you find that you tend to have a lot of spare time...At first I found it hard to leave the office before 7pm...Just that used to working back...But you slowly adjust - the offices here are lonely after 5 or 6 so then you want to leave soon enough....
So yeah, working normal hours, you have time to apply yourself...I am still trying to teach myself French (failing miserably, but will soon be paying for lessons), there is the yoga, and I am on a bit of a fitness kick now, heading to the gym, going hiking (Switz is cool for this, the landscape is really beautiful, and yes, plenty of cows everywhere too!)
I fill in most weekends so far with travelling or helping with AIESEC events - I had to facilitate an exchange preparation seminar 2 weeks ago....Its a bit hard to step away entirely, but its also good to be able to still contribute a little bit...
-- Money
Normally traineeships are reknowned for providing an income to live, but not always so comfortably...My case is a little different...
MC life is its own reward, the team, the experiences...You are really poor, but you do not care because you know that the experience is unlike anything else you will ever do. That said, I have been extremely poor for the last 2 years. (Thanks again to Keru and Kezza for being my sugar mommies when they came to Paris ) I ate a lot of potatoes and pasta.
The thing about having no money, and then earning cash is that you find it hard to break the old povo habits....Like I still go to the supermarket and will buy the 2nd grade 5 kilo bag spuds, because it is what I am used to...I buy a side of pork and cut it up myself into steaks that I can freeze....I walk to Germany to shop to save like 10 - 15 euros instead of shopping here in Switzerland. I guess my povo time has made me a little bit frugal. A good thing I think. My advice for those going on a traineeship: The salary is not so much, but 2 or 3 months before you leave, limit yourself to spending 1/5 of your usual income (in my case I was earning 1/10 of what I get now as a trainee) - then when you get that first pay check - you will think you are rolling in it!!!
-- My Apartment
I share an AIESEC trainee flat with 2 other trainees...It is a big place and close to work...One of the trainees has been there for over a year, and from what I can tell, has never cleaned it in that time...I have been told there are no cock-roaches in Switzerland. Well I am sorry to say that the few roach border jumpers that have made it into the country, reside in our apartment. I spent 2 days cleaning when I first moved in, but I have given up - it will be easier to move!! I can't fight them - and you cannot find any roach baits in Switzerland either!!!!
Well I have kind of skipped over a few things, but its already a bit long for a single posting...
