Internship Midterm Review

I have reached the middle of the internship. 5 weeks to go. 

I have noticed that the last blog post had much less reader then the posts before. As an advertisement, this new post contains a ton of new photos. Tons of new photos. However, Facebook users or Google+ users could already see the pictures of quite some time.

The major issue of the last weeks is the unfortunate situation in the house. Long story. Too long and not appropriate for a blog. At the moment it is ok. Lets hope it stays this way.

We have a lot of new people in the house. Actually, only a single house mate is the same as when I arrived. When I arrived, most people were German. Now all Germans are gone and have been "replaced" mostly by law associates. U.S. law students are not that different from lawyers in Germany (as I know them from politic times), but even more competitive. A bit like "Boston Legal" characters made reality. Two two-years are working for large law firms in the Bay Area, one first-year is with this company that also have a office in Munich, when you understand what I mean.

I still do much sports. At the moment, we as a group hike nearly every Saturday in national or state parks, monuments or shorelines.  We have been in Sequoia National Monument (Warning: Link contains Comic Sans). The hiking path was great. Big Basis state park with really nice waterfalls and at the Point Reyes National Seashore. The hiking distance increased from 8mi in the two weeks ago to 13mi yesterday. Always with a significant hills. Really exhausting, but the sights make up for it. Last weekend I was rafting with a college from work, who also studied at UPB and friends of him. Except that the other car of the group was part of an accident, in which thankfully nobody seems to be hurt seriously, it was a great weekend.

Here is a link to my picasse albums:

Here is a best photos of the hikes:

One of the best properties of the Bay Area is that you have all this great landscape around here. Forests/Redwoods all over the place. One hour and you are in a beach. A few hours to mountains for skiing, a few hours to more desert-like places, one hour to "The City".

The Palo Alto Baylands are still my favorite running place. I try to run there two times a week around 1h to 1.5h.

On a Sunday a few weeks ago, I finally have seen a U.S. sports event. College baseball. The final game of the season with Stanford Cardinals against Cal Bears. Photos available, together with a photo tour over the Stanford Campus.

The first half of the internship is over. This was fast. I feel like a part of the team. I am not a lesser part because of my intern status. This is good.


This week, I got knowledge that one of my co-workers is only working for the company part time and is a full-time tenured professor at a smaller east-coast university. I actually have read some papers from her.

It is a really interesting experience so far. The company seems to see itself -- much more then EMC in general -- as a Silicon Valley based company and I found that really nice. I finally got my company gear (Laptop bag, T-shirt, ...). My observation is the most acknowledged proof of success in the Bay Area is not a Rolex clock or a Armani suit, but the company T-shirt.

The internship is a large test to see if I would like to work in the Bay Area after finishing school. While my overall opinion fluctuates a bit, my mood is good. It is not unlikely that I will return. However, I will not do a final decision before returning to Germany. 

What are the plans for the next weekends? Next weekend, I will probably do a small trip to Yosemite National Park. It is a must-see and will be a great hike. In the week afterwards, I have a day off. It is the 4th of July. I will go to the Amphitheater in Mountain View, actually not more then 15 Minutes away by bike, to see the San Francisco Symphony orchestra playing to fireworks.