| 1st Stay in Berlin: 1998 - 2000 |
| So 1998 was pretty chaotic for me. I was literally messing around @ Goethe Institut occasionally & trying to figure out what I could do for my future. Here are some photos from this language school, which used to be located in front of Checkpoint Charlie Museum. In case you don't know what Checkpoint Charlie is, please go to the link below! |
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| I actually do not want to waste my time mourning about my relationship in this period (i.e. about Kristian) but for your information, we officially broke up in December, just around the time I had an offer to work for my old company Industrial Investment Council in Berlin. The way I got this job was pretty strange. Well, a very good friend mine Andrea got married in Berlin that year (i.e. 1998) and of course I attended the wedding, which was taken place at the suburb of Berlin.... it was so sweet! There I met my future boss Dr Stefan Feurestein (-------> if directly translated, "Fire Stone")! We didn't talk that much but he indicated his interest in me to work for his company (well, Andrea's husband was also VP there). Few weeks afterwards I went out for dinner and we discussed the opportunities - he then offered me an internship for three months, and invited me for an interview! I thought this interview was quite pathetic... It was quite obvious, that the HR guy wanted to "eat me up", but he couldn't, simply because I was very prepared for this interview and I didn't find any of his questions challenging. Towards the end, he said, "OK, then let's talk in German now! Als Praktikantin, ist es immer wichtig, dass Sie deutsch sprechen koennen...." or something blah blah blah. I said to him, "I told you that I do not speak German. Why (the fuck) are you doing this now?" This guy was simply to sad.... besides, his American colleague who was also present at that meeting said, "hey, I speak English all the time in this office!" So, I am quite sure, that he just did not like me at all. Fortunately by the time I joined the company in April, he was sucked anyway! I was actually quite content that he was gone, because he will probably try to make my life living hell. |
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| If you are interested in getting world-class ass kissing experience... visit the website of Industrial Investment Council! |
| The time has passed, and I guess I've had a very interesting experience. I did not really care about the salary - I really could do whatever I wanted to do, to learn more about Japanese companies, this business about official location promotion, etc etc etc.... The fact that I was working for the "German governmental organisation" helped me a lot to get in touch with prominent Japanese managers/directors, who would not be otherwise interested in talking to a young girl like I was. Just by talking to them, I heard so many fascinating stories about their companies, their experiences and... you name it. They opened a new window for me. It is a bit cynical to think, that now I am re-learning about my own country. In April 2000, I've made a decision to leave the company. I had nothing more to learn, and the company had no capacity to accommodate me as Project Manager, who was only 24, and spoke no German. I wanted to challenge the German work environment. This attitude really PISSED ME OFF!!!!!! Anyway, I had less self-confident because our chairman was always making a "joke" (he thinks at least) that I never spoke German in a German company, which made me feel so inferior. I also felt sometimes intimidated because having an undergraduate degree was not good enough in Germany. So I needed to do something to improve my "professional quality".... by doing a Master's degree in..... Germany? Then I learnt about this one-year, two-countries-Master's course in European Business at ESCP-EAP, which is a very famous French grand ecole in Paris. If I get in, I could study in Oxford and Berlin, isn't this just COOL??? This is just what I wanted! It was a shame to leave Berlin at once, but I just had to. With my boyfriend at the time, we had a lovely apartment together - but we had no choice but to get rid of it (after 3 months of living there!) So my journey began.... |