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Diary of a Summer Intern - Europe Edition!
August 23, 2010
We know you've all been following Atima and Jerrica as they update you on their summer adventures with Google (stay tuned for their final posts later this week) but we thought you'd like to hear more from our interns in other regions. So today we bring you the Diary of a Summer Intern - Europe Edition! Masha, an intern from our Wroclaw office kicks it off today with an update on her summer.
Hi everybody,
Wroclaw office here, and I am a summer intern in the Russian Global Ad Operations Team sharing with you the main highlights of my internship at Google’s Wroclaw Center of Innovation in Poland.
The past week stood out for several reasons. It was the half-way point of my internship, reminding me that I will very soon have to leave this place. But at the same time, there was a happy event that makes up for the upcoming farewell sadness. Last week the whole office gathered for an important mission: to have the second boat trip party. The first one seemed to be so successful and remembered by Googlers that I learned about it from people’s stories before I learned how to log into my corporate email.
But first things first: five weeks ago I arrived to Wroogle (Wroclaw + Google), and found myself at Google... not understanding a word. The company language is only officially English. In reality, Wrooglers speak a mix of acronyms and tech/sales/Google terms and to my great surprise, have no problem understanding each other across sites, departments and continents - that is “btw, fyi” pretty Googley of them :). Last week, I caught myself using Googley words subconsciously and figured it’s a good sign of company integration. Moreover, considering that Wroogle is a place where four different language teams work, the experience of learning the office jargon becomes a truly cultural one.
The sweetest acronym is probably TGIF (“Thank Google it’s Friday” party), and if everywhere else people say “it’s 5 pm somewhere,” at Google, we say “It’s TGIF somewhere.” Considering the geographical spread of operations and offices, you’re on the safe side starting your Friday with the sweet thought that “it’s TGIF somewhere.”
Last week, our TGIF was particularly special. The whole office gathered on a boat, and “greatly exceeded expectations” on its Fun OKR (objectives and key results). Wrooglers from all teams, sites, functional areas blended into one fun bunch and heavily enjoyed the karaoke and the fun competitions and games. The Hawaiian boat, populated by Wrooglers, was the place to be that evening on the Polish river Odra.
Googlers know how to have fun, and it’s definitely part of the culture. Another part of the culture that I really enjoy is the consistent recognition Googlers give one another for a job well done. Since it’s Google, of course, the process of being thankful has been automated, so you can send your colleagues a virtual “kudos,” give them a peer bonus, a team player award, or Mr/Mrs Bright Award. The latter being a special invention of our team, voted on monthly and designed to celebrate the team member who has been the most active, creative, helpful or simply fun this month. The winner gets a big light bulb. Long story short, the best things at Google are not things.
And that brings me to the highlight of my internship, my team. I’m lucky to be part of a fun bunch from different countries that keeps me busy all the time. We’re either decorating our rest area in the office, or meeting for industry updates breakfasts, or gathering for tea-drinking sessions, or enjoying the cakes our team lead bakes for us, or chatting about the results of the week during the “End of Week cuddle session.” All that comes along with outstanding performance results, active participation in the office life, awards and different pilot projects. These days, we are busy welcoming our new team members, hosting guests from the Dublin office and team-building. Just another busy week!
Post by Masha - Google Summer Intern in Wroclaw, Poland
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