Friday, February 15, 2008
Your mission, should you choose to accept it...
Dear Agent JE551 -
We are currently in the process of integrating a new project known as the "N-project." Immediate assistance is required regarding the exportation of a certain, undisclosed product. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to report to the N-project site near the Croat-Hungarian border at 0900 hours exactly one week from today.
This message will self destruct...in ten seconds...
Ok, so that's not EXACTLY what the email said, but that's more or less how it felt. It was like being assigned some secret mission, where you receive minimal details and just pray that you get what you need as you go. I was pretty shocked when they asked me to go. My thoughts jumped from "Wow, they're actually sending me on a business trip!" to "what on earth have I just gotten myself into?!" to "I wonder if I'll get to visit Croatia...."
They didn't do much to prepare me. All I knew is that there was a new business that we needed to integrate into our logistics process and I was going to be the one to oversee it...sort of. I think they just wanted all the important people to put a face on the girl who will be doing all of the grunt work, but hey, at least it'd be a learning experience. Monday rolls around - I'm supposed to fly out that evening - and my boss calls me into her office mid-morning to discuss what presentations I'm going to be giving.
"I'm sorry, what now? I have to PRESENT something to these people?"
By late afternoon my bp was probably something like 2000/90. I wasn't so nervous about the trip, but just about the possibility of missing my flight. I was packed and ready to go (I had decided against the black jacket and dark sunglasses, lest I look too suspicous for my mission), but I wasn't released until about 4pm. Ran full speed over to the company that actually pays me, who are located across town, to pick up my plane ticket and advance money, and high-tailed it to the airport. I have never in my life felt so "corporate": small rolling suitcase, dressed up since I'd just left work, laptop bag over my shoulder, cell phone to my ear as I was frantically trying to take care of the rest of my shipments, the whole time thinking "dear Lord, how did it come to this?" I swore I'd never be like that...
Arrived at Budapest 9-ish, and was delighted to discover the hotel was very close to downtown and one block from the Danube. Ready for a walk an a little exploring, I dumped my bags in my room, changed clothes real quick, turned on the TV to check the news, and then...wait, I have a TV in here? I haven't seen a TV since CHRISTMAS!! I wonder what English channels they have? Oo look they have German MTV! And Spanish news - I really should practice my Spanish more. What language is this one? Sounds like...no, it's not anything I recognize...oh, duh, must be Hungarian then....
and so on...
So I spent my first night in Budapest flipping through the channels (Dad if you are reading this, I promise I won't do that again!). I shouldn't admit to these things, really. But it was just as well as I had to meet the "big boss" - my boss's boss - for breakfast at 7:30.
After a lovely continental breakfast, a surprisingly scenic taxi ride to Avis Rental Cars, and a minor arguement with staff as to why they didn't have a car with GPS that we'd requested, I found myself riding shotgun with a map trying to navigate us out of the city. Slightly nervewracking, as it's always good to look like you can read a map in front of your boss when you work in logistics...
Luckily, we made it out no problem, and found ourselves on a 2 hour journey to Nagykanizsa. We call it the "N-site" because none of us can actually pronounce it. I slept a good portion of the way, and we finally arrived around 10:30 or 11. I'll skip the boring parts since it was basically just a business meeting, but we met with (to my surprise..and joy) a lively Southern-American guy who's overseeing the integration, the quiet but very nice plant manager, and two very unenthused locals who will be my logistics contacts. Overall I think it went well. I had to give an on-the-spot presentation of our tracking database system because the phone our IT guy was going to use to do it via conference call was probably from 1974 and it sounded like he was calling us from the moon.
The odd thing was, we never broke for lunch. We talked with finance people, logistics people, materials managers, just about everyone you could involve (and all were very nice and laid back, which is a good thing because I'm always afraid they will be the really important people who take themselves to seriously), but there was never any mention about food. I downed a coke just to get my blood sugar up, but soon my mind started drifting as I tried to will myself to NOT get a headache. I don't dare tell my boss that the reason I don't know some of the information discussed in the meeting is because I was thinking about food...
We finished up around 5:30. Long day, but I felt good - and a bit proud of myself for making it through my first real business meeting. Thankfully my boss stopped so we could get pastry's for the road, and once back in Budapest we walked around the downtown area of Pest until we found a restaurant that looked good.
I'm not one to take advantage of company money, but the fact that I wasn't paying for this just reduced my guilt for wanting something more than the cheapest thing on the menu. Feeling adventurous, I ordred the Pumpkin Raviolli. So I was a bit surprised when it was set down in front of me in a bowl with a spoon. Yup, it was Pumpkin Soup.
Waiter "Oh, I'm very sorry. We have no more Pumpkin Raviolli."
Somehow I don't think bringing a different dish with the same ingredients really counts, but I just went with it and got a side of spinach leaves, tomato, and mozzarella (the official name sounded much more appetizing). Even treated myself to dessert, although I swore I'd never eat again I was so full.
Had to rise and shine at 5:30 to catch our flight. We drove to the airport in a dense fog, and the closer we got, the lower the temperature dropped. By the time we arrived it was -9 (ok, in Celsius, but still). It took some time to find where to return the rental car, and by the time we figured it out, we were so disoriented we didn't remember which direction the airport actually was. Visibility was about 20 feet, not kidding, and so we stumbled around in the freezing, white oblivian until we finally saw a light ahead that WASN'T a street lamp.
Made it back to Prague, and I worked until almost 8 that night. Exhausted (ha..I almost said "knackered"), I dragged myself home only to find that we had no heat. I quickly jumped into the shower to warm up only to realize we had no hot water either. Then, after months of silence, the banshee in the bathroom returned. That horrible, screaming noise coming from the pipes. I really just could not be bothered with it at that point, so I put on enough layers to trek to the north pole, threw on my headphones, and promptly fell asleep in the living room chair.
And so ended my first assignment. Back to Budapest next week where I get to do it all again! This time to Verigs...Verehzy...Veresegyhaz...who knows!!
Cheers : )
We are currently in the process of integrating a new project known as the "N-project." Immediate assistance is required regarding the exportation of a certain, undisclosed product. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to report to the N-project site near the Croat-Hungarian border at 0900 hours exactly one week from today.
This message will self destruct...in ten seconds...
Ok, so that's not EXACTLY what the email said, but that's more or less how it felt. It was like being assigned some secret mission, where you receive minimal details and just pray that you get what you need as you go. I was pretty shocked when they asked me to go. My thoughts jumped from "Wow, they're actually sending me on a business trip!" to "what on earth have I just gotten myself into?!" to "I wonder if I'll get to visit Croatia...."
They didn't do much to prepare me. All I knew is that there was a new business that we needed to integrate into our logistics process and I was going to be the one to oversee it...sort of. I think they just wanted all the important people to put a face on the girl who will be doing all of the grunt work, but hey, at least it'd be a learning experience. Monday rolls around - I'm supposed to fly out that evening - and my boss calls me into her office mid-morning to discuss what presentations I'm going to be giving.
"I'm sorry, what now? I have to PRESENT something to these people?"
By late afternoon my bp was probably something like 2000/90. I wasn't so nervous about the trip, but just about the possibility of missing my flight. I was packed and ready to go (I had decided against the black jacket and dark sunglasses, lest I look too suspicous for my mission), but I wasn't released until about 4pm. Ran full speed over to the company that actually pays me, who are located across town, to pick up my plane ticket and advance money, and high-tailed it to the airport. I have never in my life felt so "corporate": small rolling suitcase, dressed up since I'd just left work, laptop bag over my shoulder, cell phone to my ear as I was frantically trying to take care of the rest of my shipments, the whole time thinking "dear Lord, how did it come to this?" I swore I'd never be like that...
Arrived at Budapest 9-ish, and was delighted to discover the hotel was very close to downtown and one block from the Danube. Ready for a walk an a little exploring, I dumped my bags in my room, changed clothes real quick, turned on the TV to check the news, and then...wait, I have a TV in here? I haven't seen a TV since CHRISTMAS!! I wonder what English channels they have? Oo look they have German MTV! And Spanish news - I really should practice my Spanish more. What language is this one? Sounds like...no, it's not anything I recognize...oh, duh, must be Hungarian then....
and so on...
So I spent my first night in Budapest flipping through the channels (Dad if you are reading this, I promise I won't do that again!). I shouldn't admit to these things, really. But it was just as well as I had to meet the "big boss" - my boss's boss - for breakfast at 7:30.
After a lovely continental breakfast, a surprisingly scenic taxi ride to Avis Rental Cars, and a minor arguement with staff as to why they didn't have a car with GPS that we'd requested, I found myself riding shotgun with a map trying to navigate us out of the city. Slightly nervewracking, as it's always good to look like you can read a map in front of your boss when you work in logistics...
Luckily, we made it out no problem, and found ourselves on a 2 hour journey to Nagykanizsa. We call it the "N-site" because none of us can actually pronounce it. I slept a good portion of the way, and we finally arrived around 10:30 or 11. I'll skip the boring parts since it was basically just a business meeting, but we met with (to my surprise..and joy) a lively Southern-American guy who's overseeing the integration, the quiet but very nice plant manager, and two very unenthused locals who will be my logistics contacts. Overall I think it went well. I had to give an on-the-spot presentation of our tracking database system because the phone our IT guy was going to use to do it via conference call was probably from 1974 and it sounded like he was calling us from the moon.
The odd thing was, we never broke for lunch. We talked with finance people, logistics people, materials managers, just about everyone you could involve (and all were very nice and laid back, which is a good thing because I'm always afraid they will be the really important people who take themselves to seriously), but there was never any mention about food. I downed a coke just to get my blood sugar up, but soon my mind started drifting as I tried to will myself to NOT get a headache. I don't dare tell my boss that the reason I don't know some of the information discussed in the meeting is because I was thinking about food...
We finished up around 5:30. Long day, but I felt good - and a bit proud of myself for making it through my first real business meeting. Thankfully my boss stopped so we could get pastry's for the road, and once back in Budapest we walked around the downtown area of Pest until we found a restaurant that looked good.
I'm not one to take advantage of company money, but the fact that I wasn't paying for this just reduced my guilt for wanting something more than the cheapest thing on the menu. Feeling adventurous, I ordred the Pumpkin Raviolli. So I was a bit surprised when it was set down in front of me in a bowl with a spoon. Yup, it was Pumpkin Soup.
Waiter "Oh, I'm very sorry. We have no more Pumpkin Raviolli."
Somehow I don't think bringing a different dish with the same ingredients really counts, but I just went with it and got a side of spinach leaves, tomato, and mozzarella (the official name sounded much more appetizing). Even treated myself to dessert, although I swore I'd never eat again I was so full.
Had to rise and shine at 5:30 to catch our flight. We drove to the airport in a dense fog, and the closer we got, the lower the temperature dropped. By the time we arrived it was -9 (ok, in Celsius, but still). It took some time to find where to return the rental car, and by the time we figured it out, we were so disoriented we didn't remember which direction the airport actually was. Visibility was about 20 feet, not kidding, and so we stumbled around in the freezing, white oblivian until we finally saw a light ahead that WASN'T a street lamp.
Made it back to Prague, and I worked until almost 8 that night. Exhausted (ha..I almost said "knackered"), I dragged myself home only to find that we had no heat. I quickly jumped into the shower to warm up only to realize we had no hot water either. Then, after months of silence, the banshee in the bathroom returned. That horrible, screaming noise coming from the pipes. I really just could not be bothered with it at that point, so I put on enough layers to trek to the north pole, threw on my headphones, and promptly fell asleep in the living room chair.
And so ended my first assignment. Back to Budapest next week where I get to do it all again! This time to Verigs...Verehzy...Veresegyhaz...who knows!!
Cheers : )
# posted by Jessica @ 9:59 AM 
