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
