This week at work started off a little bit boring. I was given two overstuffed binders full of company invoices and asked to make copies of all of them, and then file the copies. Between the copy machine jamming frequently and other people printing papers, it ended up taking me a little over two full days of work to complete! Two other smaller tasks I worked on during the first half of the week were research for one of my supervisors. Recently, Sirius Facilities invested in an interest rate cap on one of their bank loans for the first time, so I was asked to do some research on what that entails and what the proper way of booking it is with regards to IFRS. The other research I did was on employees benefit trusts, which is when a company invests in a trust so that the bank can buy the host company’s shares and then make payments to the company’s employees in the form of shares, essentially.

Later in the week, I started helping my other supervisor in collecting data and putting together a procurement presentation for a deal they are trying to make in order to reduce overhead costs. This required me to collect information dating back ten years about the various sites that Sirius Facilities owns around Germany, market capitalization information, and creating a timeline of company milestones, such as when they joined the London Stock Exchange and Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Next week I am expecting to work primarily in the tax department for most of the week.

This weekend, I am spending most of my day time at some local markets around the city that sell a variety of items such as food, handmade items, art, and clothing. I am hoping to get some souvenirs to bring back to my family and friends at home. The market that I stumbled upon a couple of weeks ago is set up right along the Spree River, which is the main river that runs through Berlin. Hopefully the weather stays nice enough to enjoy walking along the water and maybe getting a bite to eat in the area!