Hello everyone, I am one of the 4 interns for Wood Group PSN in Houston, Texas. The fifth intern in Houston is with Cameron International.

Sorry for the delay in posting my first blog. I am only writing about the first 2 weeks, it's too long as it is!

The apartment is...AMAZING!!!!!!! I am staying with two other guys. We have our own rooms with Kingsize beds! Chris (Cameron International) got to Houston before me and Jack so he bagged the bedroom with the en-suite. Then shortly after, we finally got to meet Maribel who has been great over the last 2-3 months. She really does go out of her way to help us and certainly has done a great job  (cheesy but true).

There is a pool and gym for the residents to use.  So far the gym has been used quite a lot as the portions we receive in restaurants are not exactly weight watchers recommended!

The first weekend was about settling in and getting to the time difference and heat and humidity. However, we couldn’t miss an opportunity to go to the Gallaria, the shopping mall in midtown. I was pretty amazed by this place; it is at least 10 times the size of mall in Scotland.

First Day:

The next morning we made the 15 minute trip to the office. There was a breakfast buffet and it gave us the opportunity to meet some of the staff we would be working with. Everyone was super friendly and made it real easy for us to settle in on the first day.

After breakfast, we were then told the departments we would be working in, I was in Business Development for the first two weeks.

Road Trip:

First thing Tuesday morning I had a meeting to discuss what I would be doing in Business Development. There is a shore base that Wood Group recently acquired through a merger and it needed a new marketing brochure to attract more customers. Shortly after, it was suggested that me and Paul (who develops the media and graphic side of BD) take a 6 hour round trip down to the base to get every detail needed for the brochure.

I was excited as I got a bit lost when they described what the dock does in terms of services and the facilities it has to offer.

A highlight of the trip was spending an hour discussing politics with a passionate Republican. I wasn’t trying to make him angry but describing life in the UK made him come to the conclusion that we were a Communist state (touchy subject). Oh and Obama hates America, Obama is ruining healthcare for Doctors so what’s the point in being a Doctor if you can’t make money. They were my personal favourites as it was such a different attitude to back home. Although I found some of the things he was saying were unusual to me, of course everyone is entitled to their opinion and I am in America so I'll stop there. 

At the dock, I was able to slowly piece things together and learned quite a bit. Plus some petrol and food on the company expenses saved me and the guys some pennies!

Fort Worth/Dallas:

At the weekend we headed up to Fort Worth to meet some fellow Saltire interns.

On Saturday afternoon we went to visit a Stockyard just outside Dallas. It was overshadowed by an incident in which a large Ford pick up truck decided to ram into our little Kia. After nearly an hour and a half with the Police, we headed back to the hotel.

Later that night, we ended up in a bar called Chills. As we made our way outside, I decided to do an Elvis impression with a Tiki Pole stationed outside the bar. I was then confronted by 3 gentlemen who explained (very nicely by the way) that I had snapped it in half. I was then escorted from the premises by my friends to the relief of the bar staff. Lizzie gave the doorman $20 as an apology. When I found out the next morning, I grudgingly handed Lizzie $20 (I kid). I'll make sure Lizzie isn't around next time though.

On Sunday, we headed into Dallas to see where JFK “expired” as his memorial put it; this was without doubt a personal highlight, a great way to end the week.

Shortly after, we headed back down the road to Houston and I reflected on my amazing first week in Texas.

Second Week:

In work, the second week was a bit up and down. I was still working on the brochure but doing some very basic formatting jobs in between, the brochure took longer than expected. However, on the Friday the brochures were presented to the guys in Business Development. None of my ideas were discredited so I left the meeting pretty chuffed with myself.

Looking back, my two weeks in Business Development had some great experiences and I did learn quite a bit about Wood Group’s marketing strategy as this was a new acquisition and the only shore base they owned in America.

Outside of work, we all went to see Harry Potter at the iMax. Bit expensive as I am not the biggest Harry Potter fan but it was an experience. The ending was a bit naff if you ask me. Imagine what he could have done with those powers!

The following night we went to a Football match. Houston Dynamos were playing Bolton Wanderers of the English Premier League in a friendly. It was an interesting experience, although Dundee United were playing the following night in the Europa League and I was slightly jealous of my friends who went to that match.

If you did get this far, thanks for taking your day to read this! Apologies for the length of the blog and the delay in posting it.

Kraig