Week 2 in the Palace of Wisdom ended with a meeting of the strategy group and the UX (that’s user experience) team to discuss how our current project was progressing. This was the first opportunity for myself and Claire to present some of our work to the team, see how the different units in the company work together and observe how internal presentations and progress updates are carried out. I spent Friday afternoon preparing my deck (U.S word for presentation, I think anyway) and reviewing it with Fred. After a bit of useful feedback and tinkering I was ready to go and we headed to the meeting room at 4pm only to be greeted by the entire management team who were standing at the back of the meeting brandishing sticks in my general direction. Ok, maybe not, the atmosphere was in fact very laid back so there was no pressure, just mutual interest from all in the room. Fred opened the meeting by reviewing the agenda then introducing his lovely interns using a slide which contained a map of Scotland with a few major locations highlighted. These major locations included Pitlochry and Oban….

Glasgow was soon added to the projector screen via whiteboard marker.

The presentation went well, my accent was understood (either that or they’re all very convincing head nodders). Once the strategy group had finished the UX team presented their work. My vocabulary, for once, failed me as the only words I could find to describe their work were ‘really cool.’ Whilst on the subject of really cool, it was good to meet with the entire team who are working on our current project in order to see exactly where each one of us fitted in and how the work we were all doing was related. Also I am hoping to gain a bit more exposure to the work the UX guys do as it is very interesting (to me anyway) and it represents part of the ‘end product’ to all the research and planning.

I must admit, I found it to be very pleasing to see that my presentation skills seemed to be satisfactory and that I had in fact learned something from countless project and dissertation presentations undertaken at Uni. I can only see these skills improving further as the internship progresses with Ross in particular being keen to pitch in with useful suggestions on how even small changes can make a big difference to the quality of a presentation. Also when Claire and I were talking, there wasn’t a hint of ‘these guys are just interns’ we are treated as full members of the team which I understand is not a guarantee to an intern so I am thankful for this.

Now to come back to the accent, I think everyone in the office is starting to get familiar with the Scottish-English we speak now and I am also getting used to the variety of accents which can be heard in what is truly a multi-cultural organization. I’m also pleased to report that I understood the vast majority of jargon and acronyms which were used during the meeting. Exposure to these things really is the best way to learn, I’m sure it would’ve taken weeks or months of lectures in an academic institution to get me to the same level of knowledge which I have after just 2 weeks practical experience.

Just before leaving we ventured out onto the roof of Lab49 Tower to get some photos of the truly unbelievable view of the Hudson and financial district. I will try to upload some of the photos at some point.

After work we met the rest of ‘The Team’ and headed to Ella’s Diner for some food. Ella’s Diner is where many wannabe Broadway stars work to finance their education and singing lessons etc and the typical meal is punctuated by regular ‘performances’ by the waiters and bar staff. I know nothing about musicals but I’m sure one of the other members of The Team will be able to name the songs that were performed to us. One song I was familiar with was Happy Birthday. July 23 must’ve been a popular day for births in the borough of Manhattan as almost every other song ended with 3 cheers for the birthday boy/girl/old man. Oh and the restaurant featured one of those machines where you try to grab a soft toy with a claw thing but the soft toy always falls right before it is deposited in the prize box. This day, however, the soft toy claw machine Gods were smiling upon me as I cleaned house, winning 3 ultra cheap, ultra low quality stuffed animals despite only having 2 attempts with the claw. Forget CERN’s LHC machine, that is physics defying stuff! 

Next up was a trip to the top of the Rockefeller Centre for some wonderful photography and an even more wonderful thunderstorm which Matt may or may not have managed to capture on video. On the way back down I saw the laws of the universe torn up for a 2^nd time as I encountered a Dunkin Donuts branch without a single donut for sale. ‘America Runs on Dunkin’ is their slogan. America better drop the pace to a light jog, brother.

That night Graeme shared with us some of the U.S colloquialisms (great word) he had been introduced to by the American interns at Morgan Stanley, my favourite of these being ‘Time Travelling’. Apparently over here, one who has enjoyed a trifle to many beverages of the alcoholic nature is said to be Time Travelling. Cool. I may have to try and introduce my colleagues to some of my hybrid Glasgow-Cockney rhyming slang…

‘Red Reels of Cotton’ or ‘Red Reels’ for short = Rotten, for example.

Saturday was an absolute scorcher with temperature highs pushing 100degrees which is around 38 degrees on the Celsius scale, or 14 degrees if you use the Newtonian Temperature Scale (my personal favourite base unit for warmth).

Joined once again by our IBM compadres, Aiden(I have no idea how to spell your name man) and Graham we set off in the blistering heat to take a trip on the Staten Island ferry, a very fast moving boat indeed. This provided a great opportunity to get some photos of the Statue of Liberty. Shame my camera was out of battery. Luckily the statue is visible from Lab49 Tower on a clear day so I will have my chance. After our marine expedition we headed up towards Wall Street via the Charging Bull (Google it) for some more touristy fun. One disgusting pretzel later it was time to head down to Ground Zero, a very surreal sight indeed for someone who was up the twin towers 9 years ago.

Miles and miles of walking in the heat had reduced us to a bunch of desperately hungry travelers so we headed to the famous Carnegie Deli for some scran (now there’s a good Scottish word). The sandwiches in this place were HUGE, so big in fact that Graeme was compelled to ask the people at the table next to us for a photo of theirs. I was lambasted for my side order of mashed potato but thoroughly enjoyed it anyway and my burger wasn’t half bad either. The food took quite a while to arrive though, the service was, unfortunately, Red Reels…

Dinner was followed by a light jog from the Deli to a local hotel and then an Irish bar for some refreshment. Don’t worry though, nobody was Time Travelling. A pleasant stroll through Central Park followed (yeah I do live really close to Central Park) where we acted as 2^nd referees/linesmen/umpires for a baseball game between a group of (mainly) pensioners. Tensions ran high as we ruled one of the silver haired runners ‘safe’ but it was the correct decision and justice prevailed.

The sight of sporting action seemed to inspire us as we decided it would be a great idea to have a late night 3v3 basketball game at our local courts. Matt and I put right last week’s highly controversial, dubious and much debated defeat at the hands of Claire by posting stats of 2-0 in our 2 games in the almost unbearable humidity. My phone’s been ringing off the hook with calls from NBA agents ever since.

1400 words in and it’s only Saturday, keep reading oh faithful public!

On Sunday we were treated to a feast of pre-season Premiership football as we watched Tottenham vs Sporting Lisbon and Man City vs The Thierry Henry Experience w/ The NY Red Bulls in the New York Challenge Cup, or something like that. The 1^st game was a typical pre season friendly, played at a slow pace, and finished in a 2-2 draw but the place really came to life when the home team arrived to play Man City. Armed with hot dogs and nachos, The Team left our seats in the quiet, neutral section of the ground and joined the much rowdier ESC section. ESC = Empire Supporters Club. Don’t worry though, these guys weren’t like football casuals from back home, instead of weapons and flares they carry megaphones and beef jerky.  Whilst some of the chants these guys came up with were rather lame, and if shouted in Scotland would result in you being booed right out of the country for lack of effort, their spirit was admirable as they took on the mighty Man City and they were rewarded by an early goal. The game quietened (hmm?) down for the remainder of the first half and at half time I was surprised to see a fellow Celtic fan being ushered onto the park for the halftime penalty kick challenge. If he scored he would win a phone amongst other things. Unfortunately his penalty was…you guessed it, Red Reels, and nearly hit the corner flag. Nothing much happened in the 2^nd half until City equalized from close range. I had a friendly wager on the game with Matt and I was backing the Thierry Henry Experience so I was devastated. Fortunately, my blushes were spared when the Red Bulls scored an absolute screamer from just outside the car park as OVERTIME approached. They had the game in the onion bag. On an interesting side note, every time a player was booked the guy on the PA system would inform us that the referee had ‘AWARDED A CAUTION CARD TO TOTTENHAM’. Oh and the stadium must be the only place in the world where Red Bull is cheaper than water. I kid you not.

Sunday’s adventures were, then, a truly fascinating insight into some of the cultural differences between Scotland and the U.S. The differences definitely aren’t limited to the workplace.

Everyone’s eyes must be bleeding now, I know mine are, so I’ll attempt to wrap things up. But before I do….we stepped onto the subway home and witnessed a couple of 14 year old girls screaming and pointing a camera at a skinny, designer label clad boy with a ridiculous haircut. No one else on the train knew who this guy was but these 2 girls were going nuts!

Week 3 began with another chat with Ross about our progress and the option to experience some other areas of the business, an option that Claire and I are both keen to capitalize on. We also updated Ross on the developments from Friday afternoon’s meeting. Some finishing touches were added to my research from last week and next up is an update from Fred on the direction in which we are headed with the strategy project.