Hello, all!

I am back for week two, and let me start with a review of the end-of-week results: my work has been unexpectedly fun. I knew that I loved talking about politics before entering the program, but I have loved every second at work. This is due, in part, to my incredibly welcoming coworkers.

An important goal for me on this trip is learning some functional German. Frank, my coworker, and I have begun a bit of a language exchange. As well as that, I have started to exchange a bit more with my other coworker, Juliana. Both of them have been nothing but sweet and supportive during this entire orientation.

While that covers the work section, as any exchange student knows, work is only part of the experience. This week, I have gotten to know my fellow exchange students and have bonded over our love of travel! In fact, this weekend, we visited Amsterdam. Amsterdam is my favorite city in the world, and I could not have been happier to see it again. Our group had separate arrangements, but I loved the bits we shared during the day.

I was lucky enough to make a couple of friends in Amsterdam as well! On the overnight train there, my five sleeper-car neighbors were all fluent in English and all happened to be on exchange programs too. We quickly bonded, and I ended up spending the majority of that Friday with Aditya and Irene. As a keepsake, I got to keep some Polaroids from Aditya!

There were some other connections over the weekend, but to keep it short, I love how social that city is. I cannot wait to be back in Berlin, and it is insane that it already feels like home. I have grown a bit of a social circle this week: regulars at my gym, travel buddies who may visit me in Berlin, as well as some club connections if I ever go back to Amsterdam (I will :)).

Alongside some socialization, I brought my buddies to some hotspots in Amsterdam. Tony’s is always a hit, and the hot chocolate is delicious. We also took a peek at the Anne Frank House, which I am lucky enough to have previously visited (formally) with my family. The canals have always been gorgeous, and they were beautiful at nighttime. Finally, while the food is not the best, it fits the energy of the city like you would not believe.

As far as work projects go, I dove into legal analysis and research last week. I have a presentation tomorrow, which I am very excited for. My job, as mentioned in the last post, is very self-determinant. Accordingly, I decide what projects to pursue. I picked my goal, and tomorrow is when I get approval.

While I could give the whole explanation again, I will leave those details for next week when I am formally approved for this new goal. Though, speaking of self-determinant work, time management has been very interesting this week. I am entirely responsible for my own schedule. This means that, aside from occasional meetings, I am completely free to choose when and where I work.

I would say that this system differs from remote work in nature because I do have an office—I just get to choose when I use it. Accordingly, I spend most days in a hammock, enjoying the sun and saving up the vitamin D for my upcoming years of law school. While I have a more lavish work environment, that does not mean the work is anything to sniff at. I have already arranged about 30 pages of prep research and presentation prep for Fiete on Monday. That preparation requires an incredible amount of time-management capability.

I have found that I am most productive during about three hours of the day, so something I have worked on is completely ignoring work unless it is within those three hours. One might think this would cause boredom or purposelessness, but I come into those three hours energized. I remember reading somewhere that people cannot work efficiently for the entire standard workday, and I’ve never had personal proof until now.

I have enjoyed every second of planning my day, and it has been delightful to have such a clear work-life balance. Overall, while I do not have many specifics for time management, I have not had many problems being productive. In fact, I love the work culture here. I have always been one to believe that compliments are given in the form of a paycheck at the end of the month, so I fit in perfectly here—LOL.

I am thrilled to come back to Berlin, and I will update you all again next week. 🙂

See y’all soon!
Alistair N