Arrived in Germany

[dagibbs]

Flights went ok, no problems. Of course, this means I'm wiped -- Ottawa time it is 7:44am, and I wouldn't even be up yet, but it is mid-day here, and I've had, maybe, 2 hours of sleep on the plane. Wiped.

I've got a navigation system in the car, and it seems to work, at least it got me to the place I'm supposed to be alright. And it is a lot easier than trying to navigate in German, with European signs, from Google maps.

Comments

[ragnhildr.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you made it ok. I'm also a bit jealous: you get sent to Germany and I get sent to Merrickville. *dramatic sigh*

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Merrickville? That's so nice. No nasty overnight flights. Hm... I guess the dealing with German language stuff wouldn't bother you, though.

[ragnhildr.livejournal.com]

I do have an appreciation for the lack of nasty overnight flights. That's pretty much where the good stuff ends, though. I'd be happy to deal with the German language stuff. What I got instead was two days of dealing with personality inventory stuff. *shudder*

From their own website:

Redefining the Concept of Self
The Birkman Method® generates a human capital spreadsheet to reveal key strengths and motivations. Respondents answer 125 True/False questions about self and 125 True/False questions about most people. Through a process of regression and factor analysis, the Birkman identifies a person’s everyday interpersonal style, underlying motivations, expectations and the signs of stress behavior.

Measuring Interests
Interests are powerful magnets and serve as primary drivers to behavioral and occupational preferences. They are measured by asking the respondent to select occupations from a list based on the premise that all the jobs pay equally and talent/skills are not an issue. There are 48 multiple choice questions in this section.

An Integrated Instrument
The single questionnaire (298 items total) combines behaviors and interests. Birkman measures a breadth and depth of information that typically requires several instruments. Combined with a vast, centralized database, we’ve examined careers in all corners of the world and have determined characteristics of success for a large number of occupations.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

So, it isn't Merrickville per se that is the problem (IIRC it is a pleasant little town), but what you were forced to do when you got there, which sounds utterly unpleasant. And, probably, mostly useless. I wonder if it actually gets productivity gains or workplace enhancement or anything?

On the cons of Germany -- they're behind the times on non-smoking. And, it is a long time (I'm home a week Friday) to not see my sweetie. You weren't stuck in Merrickville nearly as long.

And, I get to do a bonus time-change. Germany goes onto DST this coming weekend.

[ragnhildr.livejournal.com]

What I did see of Merrickville looked entirely pleasant.

Germany is bigtime behind on the smoking thing. I remember the clouds of smoke in the last German airport I was in.

I hope your schedule matches up with your sweetie when you get back.