Astor catering, event and more

“Why Astor?” –was my question to owner and sales manager Panagiotis Tsangalis of Astor catering, event and more. His answer was simple: he wanted the name to start with the letter “A” which to him represents high-class, being on top of the rest. He also wanted the word to represent what his business would be providing customers; service… After searching for words starting with the letter “A” that translated into service he found Astor, the Latin translation for the word. The name not only gives his business a meaning, but also sends a message to the employees as well as the customers.

I was involved in making the English version of the company's webpages 2 weeks ago (along with working at a few events the company has been contracted to organize). My job has been to work on the English version of the webpages; everything from the Legal Notice to the Location Portfolio and different specials we offer with our events has been part of my translating duties. Here is a link to the Astor catering, event and more website: http://www.astor-catering.de/astor.

On a side note; today I made a trip to Etville, a beautiful village close to Frankfurt by the Rhein river.

An old fort by the Rhein river, possible event location ?

-Joonas

Frankfurt Favorites (so far)

Here are some of my Frankfurt favorites after having spent 3 weeks here:

1. Alte Oper

Sitting in front of the beautiful Alte Oper, the old opera house watching Frankfurters walk by was quite relaxing. As it was evening time and the Fressgass Festival was being held right up the street from the opera house, the people passing by were mostly men and women rushing to get a glass of wine in their formal dresses, straight pants and white-collared shirts.

 2. The Zeil

The Zeil is a busy shopping street in the heart of Frankfurt. If I start work during the afternoon, I like to hop off the S-Bahn at the Hauptwache station and walk through the Zeil, occasionally popping into shops just in case I find anything interesting.  

3. Kanonensteppel & Apfelwein

A beautiful restaurant in the Sachsenhausen area that most tourists will not stumble upon. They offer  Apfelwein, a local speciality which comes in a big jug (with water on the side, as Germans have a tendency to mix the wine with it). As it is located in a garden with a big maple in the middle and surrounded by old(er) houses the ambience is cozy, yet one gets a feeling that he/she is in an original German restaurant.

4. The Language

Before I used to think the German language was ugly and I mostly associated it with muscular men like Arnold Schwarzenegger wielding a gun and shouting at bad guys with a mouth full of spit. After having heard the language for 3 weeks, I can say my opinion is slowly starting to change. Slowly… But surely. I’m beginning to actually make out words and understand a little, though I still have to learn to speak it.

5. Weissbier

Wheat beer, delicious! 

6. The Football

Enough said. (Yes the season is at an end. I already know it will be one my favorite things about this city, so it is worth mentioning!) 

-Joonas

Kick-off

Germany; Football, Beer, Wurst, Practical Training... Wait, what?

This has been a week of kick-offs. First of all, my practical training in Frankfurt a.M. started. The experience so far has been positive, though working hours are quite flexible and tend to stretch. As a new employee in Astor catering, event and more, an event management company (also running a restaurant), I had the chance to work in a kick-off event for a new venue. Panic. Sweat. Stress. Words that I thought of before my first day. 

As it turns out I was wrong; despite the long working hours things have gone quite smoothly. I've learned a lot. Customer service (mostly carried out in English as my German isn’t good enough yet) has been a good experience socially and food running, though chaotic at times, was quite appealing. Of course these are still simple tasks and I hope to step up my game during the next 5 months.

Germany and the city of Frankfurt in general feel quite lively, but also organized and rigid in a very German way. Frankfurters mostly use collared shirts and straight pants, especially employees working in banks (of which there are lots), and I even heard that at some workplaces collared shirts and straight pants are a must if you don’t want to get sent home. After having lived in Jyväskylä for the past few years, “the big city –life” is quite a drastic change. People are always in a hurry to get somewhere.    

On anoher note, the Champions League Final also kicked off at 20:45 on Saturday. As a football fan I was itching to watch the game... Turns out I was at work at the restaurant and wasn't able to watch much of the game so I can't really comment on it. As this year the final was all-German, I was expecting the restaurant to be packed to the brink, but as it happens it was quite a relaxing evening. 

 

In the future I hope to be writing about my practical training -experiences, as well as football and life in Germany in general ! I thank all who read this and hope you carry on reading! Welcome to my life in the European capital of banks!

-Joonas