I have arrived in ze Germany

This post is a bit delayed but that is not entirely my fault. I arrived in Germany on June 4^th (or as I have to get used to saying it while I am here, the 4^th of June) but the internet at my apartment was just turned on today (the 10^th of June). As long winded as I am, this post, which should have been spread out over two or three posts had I had the internets when I got here, will be pretty long.

Lets start where I left off with my last post, my initial orientation. Overall, not too much to say about the orientation. We were in Cambridge for three days where we heard quick presentations from members of the V&D executive and management team and learned about what products they make, the industry as a whole, the culture of Novartis as a whole and V&D, etc. The process was useful, but I will say that like anything that requires you to sit in a room for 8 hours straight, there were times when I got bored (and as we all know, when I get bored I fall asleep) but that was not too often.

After the third day of orientation I said my goodbyes and got on a plane heading from Boston to Zurich.

[caption id="attachment_1213" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Jo and I before takeoff (and before I felt ill)"][/caption]

Somewhere on this flight I started showing signs of the flu, which did not make for a pleasant flight. By the time we landed in Zurich I was doing my best not to vomit and I took those token airsick bags with me as I exited the plane. As we (I flew with Johanna, who is stationed in Marburg with me, and Becca who flew with us to Zurich and then continued on to Italy) walked around the airport looking for the apothecary I kept seeing large signs about swine flu…so I figured I better not appear to sick or they might put me in quarantine. The pharmacist would only give me airsickness medicine and with the language difference we had trouble convincing her to give me anything else. I’ve flown in large planes and small (4 person) planes, been on a number of roller coasters, and sailed on large and small boats (in bad weather too) and never once gotten motion sick, so I knew I was not airsick. The medicine may or may not have helped but either way, Johanna and I said goodbye to Becca and boarded our flight to Frankfurt.

[caption id="attachment_1220" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Jo got a picture of me trying not to vomit on our bags in the Frankfurt airport"][/caption]

We got into Frankfurt and after a little fun we were both dropped off at our apartments (there was confusion with our arranged driver so we had to take a 1 hour cab ride with someone who did not speak English well, but it worked out pretty well aside from being late). We went to Jo’s place first and I wrote down her phone number (we did not yet have mobiles) and then continued to my place. We got there and I discovered that I had neither a phone nor internet connection. At this point I was feeling very ill and as I was shown the apartment I finally had to just sit down. The landlords and a local Novartis HR person, who was nice enough to meet Jo and I at our apartments, asked me if I was jet lagged and I tried to be polite as I silently wished that everyone would leave so I could throw up. The landlords (who are both, Jo’s and mine, very friendly and speak some English) showed me a payphone 1 block away so I called my wife and told her I was at my apartment and then I went home and slept for the next three days. Sure, I woke up once in a while to run to the bathroom (which is downstairs from my apartment, though it is my own personal bathroom) but mostly I slept. Friday morning (the very first morning after we landed, and my first morning of sickness) was supposed to be my first day of work in Marburg, but feeling like I did and without a phone to contact anyone I sat outside on the curb until the driver Novartis sent to pick me up showed up, handed him a note to give to Johanna telling her that I was sick, and then went back to bed. Luckily for me I had Johanna here in Marburg with me. She brought the car with her after her first day of work (Novartis gave Jo and I a car, how awesome is that) and brought me some food and water.

On Saturday, even though I felt terrible, I got in the car with Jo and we went to a store to buy a cheap mobile phone. We’re still not sure how to add the minutes we bought because the operators are speaking in German…but eventually we’ll get someone to help us. For now, they work and it is free to receive calls so we’re not using that many minutes.

[caption id="attachment_1214" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="I can't check my voicemail cause its in German!"][/caption]

Monday was my first day of work and as I expected it was rather uneventful. As everyone has told us would be the case, the beginning of an internship is nothing but downtime. You’re in a new place, learning a new process, and meeting new people (multiplied here for the language factor) and you’re really just not up to speed enough to contribute. I did not get much time with my supervisor because the CEO was visiting that day (and of course my supervisor had time set aside for me on Friday, but I did not make it to work that day) so we will catch up later this week or next week. He had one of my office mates escort me around for the day (starting with the doctors office, see below).

Upon meeting my supervisor he of course asked how I was feeling and I talked about my illness. I told him that I got a flu vaccine about 1.5 weeks ago (I needed a flu vaccine before I could enter the labs here) but I still managed to catch the flu. He was concerned about me and wanted to make sure that I in fact did NOT have swine flu (especially before I entered the labs here). I’ll be working in a lab where they make flu vaccines and so they actually have swine flu, along with many other flu samples, in the labs here.

[caption id="attachment_1210" align="alignnone" width="382" caption="click on the following clip from Willow to see what happens to you when you get the Swine Flu...Novartis would not like me saying this because it will cost them a ton of money in selling flu vaccines...but we could probably take care of this Swine Flu thing if we just sent Val Kilmer (the greatest swordsman to ever live), Willow, some Brownies, and a hot chick to take care of Queen Bavmorda (if this does not make sense, watch Willow...its worth it)"][/caption]

Either way, he sent me to the doctor on site (this facility is enormous) where I got the general physical I need to work in the labs here as well as a test for swine flu. I do NOT have the swine flu. The most entertaining parts of the physical was trying to take an eye exam with someone who spoke very little English…and trying to explain to that same person that because I had been sick for three days and evacuated my body of all possible substances…that I could not produce a stool sample at the moment.

After the physical, my escort and I trekked across the facility (or campus as they call it in Novartis…or is it a campus because we are in Europe…not sure) and met my other office mates and got my computer and email setup. I spent the rest of the day reading different presentations and overviews. My actual direct supervisor, who knows the details of my project and should be able to provide me direction, is out of the office until Friday so I spent most of the first week reading SOPs, touring the lab, trying to learn the general process, or reading past LGO theses. Overall, not too bad of an experience and had I not gotten sick it would have been a great experience. Novartis is treating Johanna and me exceptionally well and I look forward to the rest of my internship.