International MBA Program
Natalie Meier's Internship Web Journal
Natalie Meier IMBA Class of 2007
UPS in Brussels, Belgium
natalie_meier@moore.sc.edu
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IMBA girls (Shirly, Julia, me, & Susanne) in Mallorca |
4th Journal Entry
It's been a while but I'll try and fill you in on all the happenings since I last wrote.
Work has been great; I don't think I could have asked for a better internship. The two major projects I've been working on have really opened my eyes to the role of corporate HR in an international setting. Not only have they gotten me more interested in the international aspects of HR but really HR as a whole.
I'm sure you recall from previous entries that my main two projects were updating the Domestic Relocation Policy and the Company Car Policy for the European Region. Both policies are currently in final draft form and in the coming months the Europe Region Compensation & Benefits Manager will be presenting our analysis and recommendations to the corporate office for approval with an effective date of January 1, 2007. I have asked my supervisor to keep me posted on the status of these projects after I return to South Carolina. Updating these two policies was a major project on the agenda for the Europe Region Headquarters, and I will leave here with a real sense of accomplishment at having been a part of this update.
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Julia & I showing our support for the German World Cup team in Stuttgart |
As for life in general - well that has been great as well! Since I last wrote, I've had multiple visitors, traveled to Portugal, Germany, & Spain, and experienced The World Cup European style!
I love having visitors because it gives you a chance to be a tourist where you are living. Among the visitors were my parents. That was nice because I got to go out to some of the nicer restaurants in Brussels. We took my mom out to a restaurant called Belga Queen for her birthday. The food and atmosphere were great - if any of you are ever passing through, you should definitely go (although you need a reservation and a hefty wallet)!!!
I traveled to Lisbon in May for another wedding and to visit my older brother who was the best man. After experiencing two European weddings, one in France and one in Portugal, I’ve decided that Europeans definitely know how to do weddings! Each wedding had a five-course meal. Dancing lasted until 4am - that's definitely my kind of party!
I traveled to Mallorca this past weekend and met up with three other students from the IMBA program. This was my first island experience, and it was beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen water that blue. We had a great time catching up, laughing, and drinking sangria. But funnily enough, I think we are all looking forward to getting back to South Carolina and hanging out again.
As for the World Cup, I don't think I can describe some of the things I saw - it's definitely a "you have to see it to believe it" experience. Unfortunately, the US team got knocked out pretty early. But, lucky me, since I hold two passports (I'm also a German citizen), I had another team to cheer for. I'll be honest and say that I wasn't thrilled when the Italians won - especially since I almost got in a little tiff with an Italian girl at the US vs. Italy game a couple weeks earlier!
Well I have exactly 2 weeks from today left, and I'm trying to savor every moment.
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Erik & me at the "Rhein Fire" American football game near Duesseldorf. |
3rd Journal Entry
I'm still trucking along at my UPS internship. I'm working on a couple of new projects involving the company car policy (something we know nothing about in the US because unless you are the CEO, they don't exist anymore!) and the international travel/emergency assistance program. They are both quite interesting, but rather in depth, and will most likely take me most of the summer to complete. Since I'm interning in Human Resources, I had to sign a company confidentiality agreement upon arrival, so I’m not really able to say much more than that.
With all the analysis I'm doing on these projects, I knew I'd have to use Excel, but not as much as I have done so far. The course content in Decision Analysis would come in really handy right about now. I guess I should just be happy that I'm in an English-speaking office with English-based programs, because I can’t imagine trying to type formulas into Excel in a foreign language!
I also spent the past 2 weekends traveling to visit classmates in Germany. First I headed to Düsseldorf to visit a fellow Germany tracker, Erik, and watch a "Rhein Fire" American football game. (We got free tickets because a friend’s American boyfriend plays on the team). We walked around the city most of the day on Saturday, and then Erik prepared a typical dinner of bratwurst, pommes, and Altbier (typical beer brewed in that region), after which we headed to the game. Unfortunately, "our team" lost, but we still had a blast. We met some great people at the game, and on the S-bahn ride home, they were very impressed with our German skills -- I think the Altbier might have helped us out a little! Oh yeah, one other thing about the game - t he pre-game and half-time show consisted of lumberjacks chopping down a tree post, as well as climbing one. I had never seen this before, although Erik knew exactly what this was. Just thought I'd mention it because not in a million years would that be the show at an NFL game in the US.
We frequently hear that Americans are loud. Most of the IMBA German track would probably say that I'm one of the louder ones and that I don’t know how to whisper. That was definitely confirmed this weekend. Erik & I went to an Irish bar where they had the cutest little Guinness glasses (only females think glasses are cute!), and I made a comment that I wanted one. Well ,apparently I wasn't using my quiet voice. The bartender heard me and gave me a glass. Guess it’s not that bad being a loud American because I got a free souvenir!!!
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Julia & Jeff at the English Garden in Munich, having a bretzel and beer (that's a whole liter EACH!) |
The following weekend was a long weekend, so I went to München to visit John, Jeff, & Chad , some fellow German trackers. Julia, a French tracker who happens to be interning in Germany, joined us as well. Both Julia and I had been to München before, so we just went to visit and relax, although I don’t know if I'd call our nights out "relaxing"! After 3 days/nights of catching up and drinking fabulous German beer, I headed back to Brussels. Why is it that we are always so exhausted from a vacation that we need another vacation?!?!
After reading through the past couple paragraphs and my previous entries again, I realize that I mention drinking beer quite frequently. I'd like to explain that although I do LOVE beer and happen to be in two of the best countries for beer, that is not the reason it is mentioned so often. The reason it is mentioned so often is because, when 2 glasses of the same size, one holding water/coke/insert beverage name here and the other holding beer, cost the same amount, I am going to order the beer EVERY time!!!
On another side-note, one thing I've noticed, (well, I think all of the German trackers have) is that Germans are very eager to talk about the political situation in the US. I happen to be of the opinion that you should not ask people you don’t know about their political preference. I also tend not to talk politics with friends because I've found that sometimes friendships and politics don't mix. My reason for bringing this up is because we encountered many people eager to discuss President Bush and his policies during the month of March while we were in Köln. Not until this weekend did I get into a discussion with a 70+ year old man on the U-bahn about it! This man was very surprised when I moved seats in order to let him sit down because he said that younger people these days generally aren’t so nice. After some comments about whether I was American or German (I mentioned earlier that I'm a dual citizen), he just dove right in and asked us if we voted for Bush. I don't think that Miss Manners would have approved of this conversation!
That’s all for now but I will write again soon…
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Me at work with my manager and co-workers. |
2nd Journal Entry - April 20, 2006
Hi! The past 2 weeks have been so busy I'm not sure exactly where to start.
My project load at work has steadily been increasing. I'm starting to complete some of the smaller ones, which always gives me a nice little feeling of satisfaction. I'm still working on the main project of re-designing the European domestic relocation policies, although I'm done with the first round of analysis. Currently, I'm working in conjunction with the HR Supervisor on proposed changes to the policies, so ultimately we can present them to the C&B and Region HR Managers. It's going to be a long process, but hopefully, I will get to see the end results by the time I say farewell to Brussels in August.
I am also working on two smaller projects with the C&B Manager and an outside consulting firm. Both projects involve setting up new employment contracts. In one case, it's for an employee changing status. The other case deals with an employee transfer. Each project has a different set of issues relating to compensation, health insurance benefits, etc...
In putting together the analysis of these issues for the consulting firm, I'm finding all the time we spent analyzing case studies in Marketing and Organizational Behavior extremely helpful. I've been able to use the same approach on the job as we did in class for both my analysis and communication of the information.
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Went to the Eiffel Tower with some fellow classmates. |
I've also been exploring the Brussels nightlife over the last couple weeks. A good friend of mine from the US has a friend that works in Brussels for the Austrian Embassy and passed along his information to me. I got in touch with him and he invited me out for "Euromission Night". He explained to me that this is a competition between the employees of each of the different embassies. The night I was going happened to be the semi-finals of a DJ competition between Austria, Italy, Spain, and Sweden. There was a boxing ring set up in the middle of the club and when the DJ from the country you were supporting was spinning you would dance in the ring. At the end of the night the countries with the loudest applause from the club goers went on to the next round. It was a great night, I got to go out, dance, have a Belgian beer, and practice my German at the same time!
This past weekend a fellow German tracker, Robin, and I went to a wedding for a couple that we met while studying abroad in Tübingen last summer. The wedding was on the coast of France in Brittany, not a very easy place to get to by train, so we decided to rent a car and drive there. This was my first driving experience in Europe, and I’d have to say that aside from the slight detours (some might call this being lost :-), it went very well. The location of the wedding was beautiful, and the reception was a blast. Since there were so many different nationalities everything they did at the reception was translated into 4 different languages, French, Portuguese, English, and Spanish. I also got to try and use the little French that I'v e learned so far in the classes I’m taking after work. The only thing I can really understand is "what’s your name"... (I’ve only had 2 classes)!!
On the way back to Brussels, I stopped in Paris for the day/night and hung out with some French trackers--Julia, Susanne, & Banks. We took a nice long walk around Paris. I got to see the Eiffel Tower up close. (It's amazing how big it is when you are standing directly beneath it). The next day Susanne made some FABULOUS French toast. Then I was in the car again and on my way back to Brussels to start a new week.
I’ll write again soon.
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I'm standing in front of one of the EU buildings. (I look so small!) |
1st Journal Entry - April 5, 2006
I've always wanted to start a journal and now, with all my travels and work, I actually have a chance. I guess I should start with a little background on myself, and what I’ve been doing prior to arriving in Brussels to start my internship last week.
As an undergraduate, I went to the "other" USC (The University of Southern California) and got a BS in Business Administration. While there, I worked for the University's Human Resources department and decided to stick with HR once I'd graduated. I worked in numerous HR roles at both a non-profit hospital as well as a law firm before I decided it was time for me to get my Master’s degree.
When looking at graduate programs, I knew that I wanted an MBA from a school that also offered an MHR program -- that way I would be able to overlap my coursework. I also knew that I wanted a program with an international emphasis because I am a dual citizen of the EU and the US, and have long-term career interests in international work. When I found the IMBA program at USC (that would be the University of South Carolina), I knew it was exactly right for me. I started at USC in May 2005 as a "German Track" student and just recently completed my first year of core business classes. During the month of March 2006, I completed the IMBA German language and culture training in Köln (Germany) and arrived in Brussels (Belgium) about 2 weeks ago for the start of my internship.
So, that brief summary brings me to my travels. My travels so far this year in Europe have been fabulous. In late February, I flew to Germany from New Orleans with layovers in Chicago and London. Although it seems like a bit of a pain since I had 2 layovers, I booked it this way on purpose. By going through Chicago, I was able to meet up with a fellow German tracker and therefore did not have to fly overseas alone. Also, when I return to the US in August (Los Angeles), I have been able to book a return flight on this airline with just a 1-hour layover in London. Getting to Brussels was also very quick and easy. Köln is only a 2-hour train ride from Brussels, so with the help of another German tracker, who had 2 weeks off before the start of his internship, I lugged all my bags to the train station and was on my way. A good friend in the French track decided to come up to visit for a few days before her internship started as well. It was great to have a couple friends with me my first few days especially since I don’t speak Flemish or French!
Since Brussels is the headquarters for the European Union, there are tons of expats and housing for them around the city. I was able to find a furnished business flat only 2km from work that provided everything from pots and pans to towels and bed linens. As an added perk, they actually clean my apartment and change my towels and sheets every 2 weeks too! The location is perfect for me as well because I can do a nice 25 min. walk to work; however, if it’s raining there is also a bus that runs from around the corner of my apartment to directly in front of UPS that takes about 5 min. If I want to go into the city in the evenings or on weekends, it's only about a 15-20 min. ride depending on whether I take the bus or tram.
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Here's a photo of all the delicious waffles you see on the streets here. |
I started work last Wednesday, so it's been exactly a week. The first day wasn't too stressful - I had emailed the HR supervisor for the regional office prior to my start date to set up a time and date to meet her, so that everything went smoothly. She gave me a tour of the office and introduced me to all of the people that I would be working with in HR just to get familiar with my surroundings. One of the managers gave me a small project to work on, consolidating org charts, which took up most of my day. Also, they are in the process of redoing most of their org charts, so I recommended they look into using Microsoft Visio, because it's a great program. (Already on my first day I was putting to use some of what I learned in the IMBA core!) The rest of the week just kind of flew by with trying to read and learn as much about UPS and its history as possible.
This week started off well, I finally met the Region HR Manager and the person that hired me. I also sat down with the Compensation & Benefits (C&B) Manager and got my first 3 projects. Two of the projects are working with the relocation benefits package and the third is creating a presentation for visiting MBA students. Although I used to work in C&B, I don't have much knowledge of how international relocation benefits work, so I think this should be an exciting learning experience.
My birthday was Tuesday, so I went out to drinks and dinner with another IMBA student (and her boyfriend) who happens to be studying nearby at one of the IMBA overseas exchange schools. Her boyfriend happens to work at UPS! We went out in the Schuman area which is where the EU is, so there were lots of foreign nationals talking all around us. It was a great night and we had fabulous Italian food so I now have a great restaurant to take visitors to.
More later.