I would like to preface this blog post with the disclaimer that I, as a 21-year-old college student with two months of real work experience at a single company, am startlingly underqualified to speak unequivocally and comprehensively on the topic of what defines a “successful” worker in general, let alone across cultural lines. That said,…
Category: Swanson School of Engineering
Eating on the Job in Spain
Having no work experience prior to my internship in Spain puts me in a unique position in terms of evaluating workplace culture. Coming into the program, I knew I would be experiencing two distinct but related challenges: my first real job and my first job in Spain. In the workplace, some of the adjustments I’ve…
Update: This week, the french intern left and the british intern arrived. Reading my last blog post it seemed like I was so scared to meet this girl, but we get along really well and shes teaching me more french than I think I was learning speaking only french (because they had a hard time…
mais non!
“Mais nonnn”! I really wish my time in Paris wasn’t coming to an end, it’s really freaking me out. I’ve had such a wonderful time here. Honestly I refuse to admit it. It’s still the beginning of July and the month is young. I have plenty of time. The only problem is time isn’t slowing…
Leading the Way at Pulsar
There are many different kinds of leaders and many different styles of leadership, but in my opinion, there are two general archetypes of a “leader”. The first is an active leader: someone who is vocal, passionate and highly visible. This type of leader let’s everyone know they’re in charge and leads directly through commands, direct…
Unprepared and Proud
Preparing yourself for a study abroad trip is kind of like planning a skydiving trip. No matter how many hours you spend researching, practicing and mentally preparing it’s impossible to know what’s coming until you jump. Pitt certainly helped prepare me for certain aspects of the metaphorical jump that is living and working in Madrid,…
Vernissage
This week, we had the vernissage at the gallery. The theme was life on mars, and it was literally the most incredible thing. I was given the responsibility to stand at the back door and to welcome the guests. A simple task in English, but adding that level of “i am not from here” make…
Pretty Paris
What parts of your host country’s culture do you find most difficult to assimilate? Why has this been difficult for you to adapt? Ok, so Paris today is still as wonderful as Paris yesterday, but for the last week i’ve been sick. I will say I’d rather have cold in the middle of France than…
Scheduling and Socializing in Spain
As with anything difficult enough to be worth doing, there has been a learning curve to my time in Madrid. Some of the required adjustments were relatively easy to make, while others took more time and others still have been more of a constant process than a finite change. Personally, I have had the most…
You must be logged in to post a comment.