Not a Vacation but Drenched

Exploring a city the second time around has more moments of deja vu than you'd expect. A few friends and I explored much of the city yesterday. It was like reliving a long lost dream. (I came here with Adam and Andrew Peeples May 1, 2004, the weekend the Czech Republic officially joined the EU). Prague is still beautiful, yet it is still VERY touristy and a little bit less exciting this time around because of a few things.

1. I'm WORKING here. Usually when I'm in a foreign city, I'm on vacation. Call me lazy, but after a 60 hour work week, I'm lacking some of the typical drive to be adventurous. Although, I think this is just the case for Prague because we've developed a daily routine. Work, eat, sleep, repeat. I find that I DO feel that energy and excitement when I contemplate visiting Barcelona, Vienna, Bruges, London, Budapest, or Germany. Also, I'm so glad that I've been to Prague and Europe prior to this trip. I'm already becoming a bit numb to some of the charm this city has to offer, and I'd hate for this to have been my first experience in Europe. This is Lisa's (a team member) first time in Europe so she wants to do all those backpacker-type things, yet she is working here and therefore already is developing a different perspective of the city. Also, she's with many of us who have already "been there, done that."

2. I'm here for (at least) 2 months. There's little sense of urgency right now. "Ehh, we'll go check that out next weekend; we're here for a couple months!"

3. It is SO touristy. I struggle to pick out the locals. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places.

4. Cobblestones are cool, but they are cooler underneath the tires of my bicycle in Maastricht.

5. I'm here with coworkers. My team has quickly become my friends, but you also have to realize we work all day and eat dinner together everyday. I expected this, but there's not much opportunity to socialize outside of our team, let alone have private eWu time.

6. Meeting people outside of work is hard. We're not staying in a hostel where everyone is looking to meet fellow travelers.

That said, I'm still happy to be here. Check out the view from the PwC office! :)

We got caught in a summer downpour when walking back to the city from Prague Castle.

I'm not used to the rain anymore cause we had a dry winter in SF this year.

On a side note, there's a small casino connected to the hotel, and I've been playing blackjack the past three nights. Down a few hundred CZK, but it's fun and you get a free beer each time you go.

Groggy Mornings and Different Work Styles

I keep waking up with eyes bloodshot, face poofy, and groggy as all hell. NO, I haven't been hungover every morning. I've been getting 8 hours of sleep too. I guess it's the 9 hour time difference and the fact that I've kept the blinds closed so it's pitch black when my alarm goes off. I've never been a morning person, but this is kinda ridiculous. Maybe I just need to sleep in this weekend.

I find it interesting to compare the different work styles between the New York staff, our London team member, and my West Coast work style. The East Coast team has a very distinct style, even in their coding, that is consistent across all staff, and the West Coast has more variety amongst our staff in the way we code and get things done. Maybe I feel this way because the New Yorkers have all been working together for a few weeks/months already and I'm the new guy. At the same time, there's more to it than that. It's difficult to explain, and I'm not happy with my sad attempt to do so.

We actually work 12 hour days so I don't get to see much during the week except for when we go to dinner, which have all been pretty good. Our hotel, The Marriott, is walking distance to the main square and Charles bridge, so I think once the weekend rolls around I'll be wandering and exploring quite a bit. But from what I have seen, when you allow yourself to rise above and ignore all the tourists and graffiti at street level, Prague just has so much Eastern European charm.

The weather has been great, partly cloudy in the 70's. People said it was hotter last week. I agree with the rest of the team when they say they don't want to be here when it starts getting cold. Being the only Californian, I'm the biggest weather wimp now.

FYI, I talked to my seniors and sounds like realistically, I'll be here till October (at least). I mention this only because EVERYONE has asked me this question.

Apologies for not posting any pictures yet.

Getting Reacquainted with Praha

I arrived in Prague yesterday afternoon after 18 hours of traveling. The flights were easy, the layover was annoying, but I'm used to airports by now. I was totally jetlagged when I got to the hotel and crashed for a couple hours with the Tour de France on in the background. My buddy David from the London office arrived later last night and we walked around and had dinner. I hadn't seen him in about 2 years! You'll be happy to know I had a couple Pilsners, some sausage, half a ribeye, and heavy yet delicious mashed potatoes. The food here is HEAVY and buttery. A far cry from San Francisco for sure! The food is still cheap but not as cheap as it was in 2004.

The only other thing worth reporting is that the PwC office here is suhweeeeet. They have a cafe with a bunch of tables set up on the roof and you can see the whole city and Prague castle in the distance . I already took some pictures before everyone else got in this morning. :) I wish you all could soak up the view and this city with me. I had to close my eyes a few times and reopen them just to remind myself where I am. I could get used to this.

Taiwan - Hello and Goodbye

I arrived a week ago, jet lagged, excited, but also confused and unsure of what to expect. I had high expectations, maybe too high, but after an adjustment period, it's been great. I want to stay longer!

I'll admit, it's been difficult not being able to speak the language very well, but it's motivated me to learn it even more.

I have taken over 500 pictures, so all of you who said, "take lots of pictures," have no fear. I will post the good ones once I sift through them at home. Maybe I'll release them in short waves as I have time. I don't miss working at all, but it will definitely be nice to see my friends at home again.

I get on the plane in 7 hours. It will be a 40 hour Tuesday for me. This jet lag is going to kill me. Totally worth it.

Sunday Afternoon in Room 17062

I'm right here, working in the lab.

Working weekends is not fun cause tomorrow is Monday and everyone will ask,

"So Eric, how was your weekend?" and I have to respond, "I worked all weekend. How was your weekend?" and they will probably feel a little awkward because they had an awesome weekend but they don't want to tell me about it cause it'd be like rubbing their happy weekend in my face.

Am I bitter? Nah. It's only the Colts season opener today. !!!

Work-Alcoholic?

Hey you,

Yeah, you. The friend I haven't spoken to in ages. I want to let you know that it's my fault. With these rather ridiculous hours I've been working, I haven't been the best at keeping in touch. I apologize. I pray that I won't be working like this much longer.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE my team, but these extended evening sessions in the lab are getting old.

Here is an interesting observation I made to Emily, one of my coworkers, yesterday. It went something like this:

"It's funny how much time we spend working with the names of people we don't even know. And through our work we are inherently forced to hate them."

Either inclined or forced, you can only imagine how many times one of us has yelled, "I hate [complete stranger's name]!!!"

"If I ever saw [insert annoying stranger's name here] on the street, I'd smack a bitch." - Emily

A quick explanation: I go through a lot of other people's data at work. Depending on who the person is, my team is required to jump through certain "hoops." We're at the point where we hate jumping through hoops. We prefer walking. Walking in any direction we please. Preferably with a bottle of booze in our hand. If we get tired, we'd enjoy sleeping. But no. "Hoops" and "loop-dee-loops" we do, late into the wee morning hours.

But, I digress. I love my job and I still manage to go out and party...hard.

Good night, friend. I'll catch up with you soon.

Some Bubble Gum and How 'bout a Whopper?

Great times with Drew, his fiancee Sara, and my good friend Kristin who came to visit me in San Francisco over the Fourth of July weekend. Highlights include dinner at Plumpjack, drinks and dancing at Gravity, Punchline Comedy club, lunch at Sausalito, and Karaoke--"Lost in Translation Style"--in Japantown.

We even randomly ran into Uncle Frank and Aunt Grace at a restaurant called Horizaons in Sausalito. What a small world!

Singing our hearts out

Chillin on the roof

Shakira Shakira! Oooooh, my hips don't lie and I'm startin' to feel this way...
Back to the grind in SF, but lovin' it.

Sex Panther

Steve and I just got our couch this Friday! We've been waiting for over a month for it to be delivered! As far as I'm concerned our apartment is now complete. I haven't decided on a name yet, but I've been considering "San Diago" or "Sex Panther" a la Anchorman. :)

Ok, so we still need to decorate the walls and we need a coffee table, an end table and kitchen table, but we have a couch! I echo my sister's sentiments when I say, "Can I get a hellz yeah? We got a couch!" (See her sofa entry from last year).

The delivery guys couldn't get it up the stairs so they had to delay a week and we paid EXTRA for them to take it apart and assemble it in our living room. Ehh. Oh well. When we move, I think we'll be able to get it out the back.

Check it out!

Check out the sweet throws, throw pillows
and my Spanish Steps panoramic

The Fun Never Ends

Last week end I took Friday off so I could go back to Indy and attend my friend's wedding. Ashley Zimerman is an old friend from IU and she asked me to play the violin at her wedding. It truly was an honor and pleasure to play for her ceremony. Afterwards, I realized just how foolish and selfish it would have been for me NOT to perform. Congrats to Ashley and Nick.

Call it good timing, but I Drew and Sara were in town from Phoenix for a night so we all go to hang out. I also went to Broad Ripple with Coop, Erin, Charles, and Kristin. Saturday after the wedding we partied in Bloomington at Blaire's, Nick's, Upstairs, and Sports. Long story short, I ate, drank, and was very merry all weekend. :)



I have an end date for LA. June 30 I'm coming home to San Francisco! Drew, Sara, and Kristin are coming to visit me in SF that weekend too. I'm so pumped for that it's not even funny.

Germany in just a few days! Wahoo the World Cup!

Unlimited Fun Tickets in Nashville

I made an unscheduled (by that I mean I didn't mention it on my blog) stop in Nashville the next weekend. It was so refreshing and almost emotional being around the people with whom I grew up. Like I told Tim Walker, "We have so much history together." We are so comfortable around each other and to keep with the sappiness, we are so happy around each other. I miss all of you. On a less serious note... We are the professional partiers. No one gets in "fights" better than Drew. No one drinks Guinness better than Charles. OK, maybe Byron does, but somone had to represent in his absence. Robert parties like he has no more fun tickets. No one passes out and rallies better than the AsianTourist.

Other great news: I got world cup tickets! France vs. Korea!!! Woohoo!

Back to Indy in one week! Now to fun pictures...
Congratulations to the graduates, Charles and Robert!















The Walker Family. No further comment.




















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