November?!

I realized I updated only once in October, oops. So much has been going on and I can't seem to wrap my head around anything so let's try to think about the past month for a second. My mind is so full of things that have happened or are going to happen in the near future that I have no idea where to begin.

Work has been alright and I'm learning to do stuff more independently now but I still ask my coworkers and boss to check stuff every now and then because I feel like the risk of me doing stupid mistakes is too big. It's a big responsibility, handling hotel room and table reservations at restaurants and stuff like these and also making sure everything goes smoothly according to plan. After all they are real customers I'm serving and making mistakes will cost money to the company, I guess I can just do my best. In the end I'm here to learn and grow my knowledge and skills.

Tropical Islands in Berlin

My boss already asked me about my plans for next year and if she's thinking about hiring me, I really have to think about it, it would be a huge step in my life, moving here permanently. Sitting in the office for 8 hours a day is kind of driving me crazy every now and then and I still don't really feel confident with my lack of German skills but those are both things that could be fixed.

Another tricky thing would be being away from my family. Helsinki isn't that far but I'm not really used to being away from them but we'll see what happens, I don't like making too many plans for the future anyways. I got a hint that there are a couple travel agencies in Australia that are focused on booking flights and hotels and also renting vans for bands, that's basically exactly what I'm doing for business customers now so maybe I'll have a look into that and see what my chances are. One of them has an office in Sydney which is not really closer to Helsinki than what Berlin is but it would be cool to keep a door or two open for the future.

Foggy Alexanderplatz

Last week I did things quite a lot on my own as my boss was too sick to come to work. Of course there are coworkers who I can always ask for help but it surprised me how well I've been able to handle things while she was gone! Of course we make bookings for mostly Berlin as the office is here and the crew knows Berlin the best but last week was a nice change to the bookings as well, I booked hotels in Travemünde, Cuxhaven and Fürth. When someone has a request for let's say Stuttgart or Frankfurt, I had to look them up on Google Maps before but now I can see them much better in my head where in Germany they approximately are which is cool!

Last weekend I had a friend of mine from Belgium to come over who I actually met in Berlin last March while I was on a school trip for the WOW-Berlin project. My class from Helmi and other classes from schools from all over Europe were mixed up into around 15 groups and the main goal of the project was to create an imaginary travel company and a new travel product for the company. So this girl was in my group and we had fun while working on the project, not to forget our small adventures, it was really good to see her again!

I took Keila to see the East Side Gallery

Winterwelt am Potsdamer Platz

After this week I'm taking a timeout from the office on my well deserved week off! If you read any of my previous posts you'd know that I planned on going on an interrail trip but since I'm quite short on time and money, I'm just going to visit Barcelona and München. After my vacation I'm going to see my mom again and before going back to Finland I'm going to visit a very dear friend of mine in Poznan, Poland. Super exciting times ahead!!
This post has quite many photos already but I can't resist concert photos so have a few of them!

In Hearts Wake @ PBHF Club

Bring Me The Horizon @ Huxleys Neue Welt

Almost halfway through

Last weekend my family visited me and it was really good to see them again. The apartment I live in is quite big so they got to stay with me for the whole weekend which I think was really convenient for everybody. We did some shopping, a little bit of sightseeing as it was the first time for my little brother here, checked out a couple museums and enjoyed our time together.

Saturday was the German Unity Day, commemorating the anniversary of German reunification in 1990. Most of the shops were closed but we found out that many museums were open until 5 or 6 so we headed out to the Deutsches Technikmuseum. For me it was the first time there and I was surprised how huge it is. After some time of wondering what to do and with not too much time left, we decided to split up and meet before the place is closing so that everyone could see what they want. It was a really good idea.

Science Center Spectrum

Deutsches Technikmuseum 

I took my brother to the Science Center Spectrum (kind of like Heureka in Helsinki) which is a part of the museum as well and left our parents exploring the trains and textile technology and all the other stuff in the main building of the museum. It was a really good choice because me and my brother aren't really fans of regular museums where you just walk and look at stuff. In Spectrum you get to try out things for yourself and learn something in the meantime. Because the museum is so wide and has exhibits on so many different themes, I would definitely go there again. 

Because of the German Unity Day most of the shops were open on Sunday when normally they're closed, we walked around and did some more shopping. My family had to buy a new small suitcase, all our old ones are pretty much broken and they also needed a bag for bringing all their new stuff and some of mine back home. In the evening I went to see Capsize, Senses Fail and Counterparts at Cassiopeia. I just love how many concerts there are in Berlin, I'm going to three next week.

FOYER an der Gedächtnischkirche

Berlin-sculpture

Coffee at KaDeWe

Alexanderplatz

The only reasonably ok picture I have of Capsize from Sunday

I remember when October seemed so far away and now it's almost halfway through, the year will be over before I know it. I'm pretty sure it was tuesday like yesterday, is someone messing with my brain? Next week it marks two months for me in Berlin and nearly halfway through my internship. Graduating from Helmi Business College the day after I go back to Finland is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. Why? Because I have zero plans for 2016. I might get a job and save enough money to move out or just go somewhere and do something. I don't know, don't ask me about my future plans next time you see me because I don't have an answer for you.

It rained all day yesterday and all I thought was that my parents couldn't have visited me on a better weekend. While packing for Berlin I forgot to take an umbrella and didn't want to buy a new one so they brought me one. Hooray for Moomins for keeping me dry now!

On other news, NTI is officially four years old today AND it's Friday again. Party!

Favorite season

Aaand it's that time again when I check my blog and notice that more than a week has passed since I last updated. Last week's cold left me no energy to do anything else than just rest but it still amazes me how fast time can go when you have lots to do. It's October in three days and that just has to sink in for a minute, it can't be!!

Summer is over for sure, leaves are falling on the ground and mornings are very chilly, just the way I like it. I had to stay home for a couple days because I got sick so it was just better to stay in. Well, luckily there's Netflix, fluffy socks, blankets and chocolate to help me get better faster. I didn't get a fever so I could go to work last week. Having a cold at work isn't too much fun though but somehow I pulled through with the help of some tea and fruit.

Ginger tea to the rescue  

I went to see Basement at a sold out Musik & Frieden (ex Comet Club) 14.9.

Sunset at Warschauer Strasse

As you've probably noticed, I'm not much of a writer or a reader, I prefer photos and visual stuff. The windmill below is located like 800 meters from where I live, from the first glance it doesn't look like it's located in Berlin at all but it is. The weather was pretty on Sunday and getting some fresh air is never a bad idea so I went for a walk and found it.

Bockwindmühle in Marzahn

And what would be a better way to spend a Saturday evening than at the most iconic places in Berlin; the East Side Gallery and Brandenburger Tor. Well, I liked it. Could've taken my camera with me though but the idea of that didn't even cross my mind so again the quality is brought to you by my iPhone..

Tomorrow me and my coworkers are going to have breakfast at Scandic Hotel Potsdamer Platz, of course it has to be during the actual breakfast time so I have to leave the house super early to get there on time. 

It's Monday evening and I'm already really looking forward to Friday, not just because it's the weekend again but because my parents and my little brother are coming over. This is not the furthest but the longest time I ever spent being away from my family and they seem to be excited to see me too so it should be fun!

Potsdam

This week has been pretty grey and rainy but that's totally fine by me, I love this time of the year. Right now it's raining and I can't wait for the weather to get colder so I can wear sweaters and all the warm stuff all the time. Mornings are quite cool already but during the days we still get close to 20 degrees. Oh well.

Last weekend was super sunny and I didn't have much to do so on sunday I took a train down to Potsdam and walked around the Sanssouci park and the city in general. I managed to take my camera with me and took pictures of stuff I thought were cool. You could spend a whole day in the park, it's really really huge. I wanted to walk through it but it's so big I wouldn't have had time for that. So if you want to see the whole park, you need to spend a little longer than an hour or two on that.

The amount of couples in the park was absolutely ridiculous, I felt like I was the only one who came to the park by themselves but it was cool. Pretty park to say the least.

I also visited the Holländisches Viertel (the Dutch Quarter) and I have to say my expectations were a bit too high. Definitely wasn't as cool as I thought it would be but it was indeed a little bit of the Netherlands in Germany.

Aside from my occasional exploring stuff I mostly just work. I'm taking in some requests and handle them almost by myself now, I want to double check everything before sending emails because after all it's about real customers and real money, don't want to make stupid mistakes even though I'm here to learn. 

Time keeps flying by

Today marks my four weeks in Berlin and it has gone FAST. Days at work are quite long because it takes me an hour to get to work, I work ironically from 9 to 5 which leaves me no time/energy to do much in the evenings, unless I already have planned something after work. Weekends are for mostly gathering energy for another week at the office but hey, this is what I signed up for so I'm not complaining at all!

 

View from the Friedrichstr. S-bahn station on my way to work

1/2 of our office with clean desks!!

Yesterday evening me and my coworkers were invited for a dinner up in the rotating restaurant of the Berliner Fernsehturm (TV-tower)! Yes, the restaurant rotates but slowly enough, you could barely even notice it. It rotates continuously and makes a full cycle in about an hour. This was my first time up in the tower and it was quite confusing to look out the window and see a different part of the city each time.

On the restaurant's website it actually says "Please dress appropriately". Of course I had forgotten about the whole dinner until the second I got on the tram in the morning.. I wasn't exactly dressed up for a fancy company dinner but at least I wasn't wearing any merch so my clothing was decent enough.

If you want to take pictures, I would recommend going up during the daylight but if you just want to enjoy the view and the city lights, it's worth a visit in the evening. I couldn't get a good picture because the restaurant's lights got reflected on the windows too much but hey, at least I tried.

And the food! Oh, the foooooooodd..!! How could you resist a fancy buffet, it was really good! Not sure though which one was better, the ever changing beautiful scenery or the delicious food. In any case, the night was great and I would definitely go up there again. :) 

The map below is connected to something I've been wanting to do for a long time now, an InterRail trip in Europe. During my internship I'm allowed to have a full week off and at this point it's going to be in November since September and October are busy busy months at work. People usually go railing during the summer but I just have to rush through it and pick a couple places worth visiting. The end of the year has always been my favorite time of the year anyway so this will be great, I'm very excited! I don't have any solid plans yet but I'll probably get a Global Pass for 10 days which allows you to travel on 5 days of your choice. We'll see!

Tomorrow I'm up for some more company hangouts and surprises, we were invited to this "dragonboat race" and I have no idea what to expect, except for paddling boats and water. It's going to be interesting for sure!

Oh and next week I should get my camera out of the bag and use it before it's all dusty...

No plans is the best plans

This was the first weekend with zero plans and I really enjoyed just doing nothing at all.

It's getting quite busy at work and we've had a couple last minute booking requests as well but luckily when it's last minute, the customer knows exactly what they want and we can just message the hotel to book it for them.

On Thursday we left the office earlier to check out two cool Amano-group hotels. It was really nice because I've only done that kind of stuff once in Finland for a school project. The guy who presented the hotels to us was super nice although he spoke a little bit too fast (as German people always do) so I didn't get everything he said but most importantly I got to see two really nice hotels.

One of the many rooms we saw, behind the wall on the right was another bed

Rooftop terrace at Amano Grand Central (which wasn't quite finished yet)

Bar terrace view

After the tour we sat down at the hotel bar for drinks which was really nice.
For next week I don't really have plans but the on the 8th of September I'm going for lunch or dinner with my coworkers in the TV tower, I've never been up there so it should be cool!

P.S. I can't wait for the weather to cool down, I've had enough of this +30 degree weather...

Busy life in a busy city

Tomorrow I've been here for two very busy weeks, busy is actually an understatement but all I can say at this point is that I really love Berlin more and more every day.

During my time here I've had only one day without any plans and that was on Sunday after I came back from the Destruction Derby Festival in Rosslau. I stayed in bed all day because I was very tired, only got a couple hours of sleep on Saturday night but it was beyond worth it. If you know me, you know that I love concerts a LOT and Berlin (and Germany in general) is like a paradise to me because almost every tour that I'd like to see comes here. Every show has been totally worth the hours spent on travels and the not so glorious number of hours slept, can't wait for the next ones!

Stick To Your Guns @ Summerblast Festival, Trier 15/08

Thy Art Is Murder @ Cassiopeia, Berlin 18/08

More Than A Thousand's last show in Germany @ Destruction Derby, Dessau-Rosslau 22/08 - definitely going to miss these guys! :(

So as it comes to the REAL reason why I came to Berlin, so far I've had the nicest time at the office. For the first week I mainly wanted to just see how everything works there and in the meantime I helped with translating some hotel and excursion descriptions as the other Finnish-speaking person is on vacation right now. Oh and I helped writing some offers to clients too.

My second week has barely started and requests keep coming in at the office as the season starts. Today I finished writing the company's newsletter for September (in English and Finnish) and they also gave me three accommodation requests for individual customers or small groups to handle. They weren't easy, lots of email-exchanging in three different languages and I even had to take a call in from a contact person... Yikes! Tomorrow I'll get to practice writing an invoice and send it since one of my today's customers wanted to book the hotel I offered to them. :)

Coffee is always a necessity

I haven't really had time to explore the city or take pictures of the neighbourhood I live in or anything yet but here's a snap of Reichstag from one of my first days here.