My first day & Utrecht

I know I didn’t write immediately after my first day – and that you are probably waiting in an-ti-ci-pation! But here it is!

The first day @ IBM Hoofkantoor went as expected. Lots of information, new people and procedures. The good news is that I received my laptop and the bad news is that I did not receive my mobile. Maybe Monday or Tuesday.

After watching a video that might have been narrated by Mel Gibson (not 100% sure, but really sounded like him) - about the history of IBM and a bit of Ra-Ra about IBM thrown in; there were some presentations from people already working there. Very interesting, and it seems like a fantastic place to work for. But time will tell.

Of course, as with any gathering of people, we had the ‘Miss-I-have-a-problem-with-everything’ in our group. Her questions (or maybe they were accusations) were mainly focused around escalation and hierarchy within IBM. It went something like this…

Miss Irritating: ‘So what do I do if I have a problem with IBM?’
HR Representative: ‘You can raise it with HR’
Miss I: ‘What if I have a problem with HR?’
HR Rep: ‘You can raise it with your Manager’
Miss I: ‘That didn’t work’

(At this point, please note that she has not worked one day for IBM yet!)

HR Rep: ‘Well, then you can try your Manager’s Manager’
Miss I: ‘Nope’
HR Rep: ‘Then I guess you should go straight to Harry’
(The boss of IBM Netherlands for our area) followed by a cold stare
Miss I: ‘So it’s Harry then?’ (In an all-knowing tone)
HR Rep: ‘Yes’
L-o-n-g- silence and icy stares….

HR Rep: ‘Okay, let’s continue….’

And so it went the whole day! Quite amusing I think.

As far as accommodations go, I stayed in a beautiful hotel (as mentioned below) booked on the internet by Godfrey. 10 Brownie points for that!

Today, I moved to Utrecht, and after driving around for 20 minutes (with taxi fare ticking!) we managed to find Pension Iris – my new home for the next two weeks. Now, it wasn’t like we couldn’t find the place (even with the help of the taxi driver’s GPS), but there is a faire/market in a big street here today. The street we needed to get to Pension Iris! Eventually we found an alternative route, and I rang the bell.

Chantal and boyfriend Walter opened the door, and they were very happy to see me. (Not nearly as happy as me!) Anyway, my room is upstairs, and Walter promptly displayed his manliness by carrying all my heavy bags up the stairs.

It is worth writing something about the stairs: I am not sure if it is because these are quite old buildings, or if there is no space of simply if it was a stupid contractor, but these stairs would definitely not make any building regulations in SA. Or in any country for that matter. They are about 15 cm deep and 20cm high, with a gradient of possibly 88 degrees! Very,very steep with a rope for a railing!

So after checking out the room – which consists of two single beds with yellow blankies; a kitchenette; a small bathroom and closet – I set out to the streets and the market! I managed to find a grocery store and bought a couple of necessities.

Now I am back in my room, and Walter kindly bought me a wireless card for 10 euros, as my Taiwan laptop does not have wireless and my IBM laptop is not allowed to have Skype installed. So now I am online and ready for action again.

I will take some pictures tomorrow and upload as soon as I can – that is if Blogger plays along.