Work and stuff ...

So now my third day working for MS Research as an intern is over. The week started with the introductory part on Monday. Alltogether we were 5 interns starting this week. Our HR woman picked us up and we got the usual introductory session about what we are going to do, how everything works and stuff like that. Numbers are impressing, too. MSR Cambridge has 130 staff members and they expect to have 100 interns during the year, too. However, the big season of interns is yet to come in summer, when they expect to have 50 interns in parallel. The current number must be around 15 (spread over the building, so I cannot count them exactly).

After Monday lunch we got the opportunity to talk to our mentors separately and Eno gave me a list of things to read in order to get me started on my project. So I spent the last two and a half days reading stuff, getting acquainted with my work environment and my new colleagues. I also rent a bike so I can get to work easier, because MSR lives quite some way outside the city center (but still near enough to my home).

Real fun started, when I tried to open a bank account with Barclay's. They require you to have 2 identifications here. Usually, an ID card and a passport will suit. However, my German ID card expired last year and so I only had my passport with me... After trying many other things (MS contract - not accepted, room rental contract - not accepted, driver's license - no address on it, printing something from my German bank account - no address on it), the (really helpful) bank guy figured out that I could print a copy of one of my last German telephone bills (of course a landline telephone is needed, mobile does not count...) and this would suit as an ID, because my German address was finally printed on it. So now I'm now eventually set up with nearly everything.

The only thing missing is an internet connection in my house. British Telecom was too slow to react to my landlady's requests - at least that's what she tells me and I have no reason for disbelief. However, English mobile companies are providing UMTS connections for reasonable prices and there are even some with monthly runtimes, so I'll try to get one tomorrow.