I'm coming home...

When I got the offer for the internship to work within Siemens Healthcare in the US last year, I was really happy and excited. Being glad that university was over, I was ready to get the taste of working life.
When I arrived here, I was so surprised to have so many interns around. Finding this intern community established, was the last thing I expected. Of course, it helps you a lot to get settled and find people to spend your leisure time with. But as every intern start at a different time, there is a steady change of people. This also means that you have to accept that you will spent time with them and share memories. But you also have to accept that you will lose contact after they (or you) go home at some point in time. By saying that I am even more happy that I found a real true friend in that time, Mona. We had such a great time together and it made the time even more valuable.
I have to admit that I never exptected to travel so much and see so much of the country in that year. But with that intern community, you get pulled into that lifestyle and it is just great to explore cities together and share the memories. Of course, working full time and travelling at the weekends all the time makes you feel tired and you also realize at the end of the year that this was a great time but that you are now ready to go home and take some time on your own.
I am really glad I had the opportunity to experience all this, as this was one of the most exciting years of my life.

And I try to come back!

The last days in the US...

My internship ended last week but with the visa we have, we are allowed to stay in the US 30 days after the end of your internship. A few months before I took the decision to apply for jobs within Siemens in the US because I really liked working here, speaking English at work and discover the country in my leisure time. As I was in the middle of my application process, I was happy about the possibility to stay longer. In that time, I went to see Tyra for a weekend before she left for vacation to Germany. The 2 weeks after I stayed with Mona. We went for final shopping for me, were hanging out the pool and had BBQ's.

One of my wishes was to go to the beach one more time before I would leave. So Svenja, Anni, Katharina and I chose the Saturday to go down to Avalon in New Jersey. We had beautiful beach weather, only the way down there was a bit annoying with all the traffic. Nevertheless we made it and we had a great day at the beach.

After that weekend, I had to say goodbye to Mona which was the hardest of all the farewells. On Monday afternoon, my former landlady Betty was so nice and offered me to give me a lift to the bus station in Philly. I took the bus down to Washington to spend my last days with Tyra. While she was working, I prepared my paperwork and enjoying the summer time at her pool because I didn't know what to expect from the summer in Germany. Also, I met with Ryan for dinner for the last time and we agreed that we just stay friends. On Thursday, 2 days before my departure, I also had an interview in Delaware for a position within Siemens Diagnostics. Good timing...
On Friday, I finally packed all my suitcases and sorted some stuff that would stay with Tyra and she would bring it with her in the container when she moved later that year from the US back to Germany.
Saturday morning was time to go home. After 4 weeks living out of the suitcase and not knowing where I belong made me looking forward to go home finally. Tyra brought me to the bus station. My flight was departing from JFK Airport in New York, so I had to take the bus from Washington. Even Tyra and I knew we would see each other in Germany, it was also hard to say good bye for that moment. But all the good things come to an end, right?

Here are some pics from the last days:

http://gerryg.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album54