I think i'm a foreign intern

Greeting to past, present and future AutoCom Interns and friends
[and thank you, Bianca for pushing me to introduce myself]!

As most of you may know, I am the newest addition to the AutoCom team. I have completed my third week of work and am pleased to say that I am enjoying AutoCom’s staff, culture and the automotive industry!

As a Detroit resident, I am new to this part of town and am happy to drive 30 minutes everyday to eat at Panera for lunch, mostly because Lauren is obsessed. PR and food are not my only interests, I also enjoy playing poker, watching Piston’s games (Tigers in the summer) and attending art openings. Although I spend most of my time doing just that, lately I have made sure that I take some extra time to care for my health (sleep and eat well) because there seems to be cold/flu epidemic around the office! As I refuse to be the next one sick, I have become obsessed with vitamins, as most can attest.

Lauren, Susanne and I took this at the Auto Show :)

And I say "hello again..."

Hello everybody!

So I hope you are all back to normal life again, after I just jumped in the office and confused everybody right before Christmas. :-)

I enjoyed my stay over Christmas and New Years Eve that much, it was really hard for me to go back. And coming back I was in the usual stress for university. “Same procedure as every semester”. :o) I had my presentation in an English seminar about “Advertising across cultural borders” which was a lot of fun and worked out well. And now I’m preparing for my exams. Study, study, study.

It was really cool to see all the Christmas lights and to be able to have a real American Christmas at my boyfriends house, with a huge family. And thanks to Larry for inviting us to the Boxing Day. It was fun joining an AutoCom Event as a guest and not as the staff. :)

And I bet everybody can imagine how much I miss it being there. As Dee always says “You were born in the wrong country”. Maybe she is right. :o)

So this time I don’t want to confuse everybody again and so I tell you now that I will be back in almost two weeks. So I hope I will be able to see all of you again.

Take care and see you soon

Bianca

PS: I just recognized that the current interns haven’t introduced themselves on our bolg. I would like to see a nice picture and a short introduction of you! It is not just for foreign interns…it is for EVERYBODY! :)

Charity Night Preview

The North American International Auto Show has opened its doors to welcome the world to its 2007 exhibition.

The first week are preview days for media, suppliers and the famous night for charity. The Charity Preview is a Black Tie Event raising funds for eleven Detroit-area children's charities and of course to dress up and show off all those precious gowns and tuxes – special attention at this point goes to the blue vest and bowtie of one of AutoCom’s staff members…

AutoCom hosts a private reception and dinner each year that night for clients and their guests at the Coach Insignia, on the 72nd floor of the Renaissance Center.

Prior to the show at COBO, the evening started with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres – and a not so clear view over Detroit and Windsor which fortunately cleared up later :)
The reception and show was followed by a nice dinner with music, great wine and good company. It was a very enjoyable evening and will be continued next year when its time for the 2008 North American International Auto Show – and guys, don’t forget the color ;)

fashion icon of the evening

Susanne

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Silke, she grew up in a small village and wanted to see the whole world. She was born in September 1984... Ok that fairy tale would last too long. I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself. I am Silke Schwarte, 22 years old and right now I’m planning an internship in the USA. Since I was in Augusta and Boston four years ago, I am dying to come back to the USA. This time I want to make working experiences in an American company.


Since 2004 I’m a student at the University of Lüneburg to become a teacher at vocational schools. On this photo you see one of the best places in Lüneburg. It is the city hall square. There is the Weihnachtsmarkt, city fest and other official events.



I read a lot about Autocom on this blog and it is very interesting to read reports about former interns or what you are doing during your internship. This blog sparks my interest in an internship at Autocom. I like what former interns wrote about their internship, how they miss the people and the work.
On the photos you see one of my roommates, her name is Elke. She is always making fun of me! Why? But I guess I will miss her jokes... She is one of the girls who can talk the whole time while we are watching movies.
Some facts about myself:
I would die for chocolate
I sometimes do not know where my bicycle is
I like to laugh
I’m a twin (that isn’t always easy if you celebrate your birthday with your sister, especially when she says your birthday starts 23 minutes later because you are 23 minutes younger...)



.... And she lived happily ever after.

Silke

Latest News

HALLÖSCHE Z´SAMME (this is hessian, the german part where I´m from and means hi to everybody)

First of all a BIG sorry ´cause it took me so long to post sth. on the blog and say a german hello to you...
But the days after my arrival were very busy and I head a hard time with my big enemy called "Jet-Lag"...
Let´s see...what happend: After Susanne helped me to carry me and my luggage (thanks again, sweety) to the airport and I met an unheeding Air-France-employee who didn´t care about the weight of my suitcases (yippie!!) I had a hard time with changing planes in Paris: Our flight was behind schedule and the lovely security guys first refused to let me board because the second plane was already ready to take off... I can tell you: BIIIGG discussion! :)
After my arrival I first decided to take my cute little car and drive to a bakery to buy some real german wholewheat rolls...I couldn´t sleep anyway because of the time change.
Ähm, how do I drive a car with gear shift? And why is there no parking spot in front of the bakery? You can imagine how things kept going: just take a look on Bianca´s "I am back home and experience some weird german things"-report... I felt nearly the same and I also found myself in this kind of funny, strange and scary situations...


After celebrating my mum´s (22.12.) and my birthday (23.12.) with a lot of german Becks-beer (no light beer!!) and a Merry Christmas (the presents from the U.S. proved to be blowoffs) I had to prepare for my visit in Kuwait where my boyfriend Carlos is doing an internship.
That means: no disco-outfit, no make-up, no jewelry. Instead of that: head scarf, clothes without attraction any attention.... ;(

After a flight with lots of Arabians who said their prayers every 30 minutes and a 6-hours-stopover in Istanbul, Turkey, I finally arrived at the airport of Kuwait, a place that is totally unrelated to the industrialized countries I have seen so far…





Men and women are separated most of the time during their social life (I pretended to be officially married…a precondition to sit next to your partner) like while shopping, dining, watching movies etc. and for me as a foreigner every women looked similar because of their black veil which only shows their eyes and nothing else.
The Kuwaitis celebrate New Year in late January; therefore there was no big party or any firework on New Year´s Eve…
Alcohol is completely forbidden in the country, so we decided to substitute the booze-up with lots of tasty local food…




Now I am back in Munster where I am trying to motivate myself to study for my final exams (sweat!!). I definitely would prefer to go shopping at Birch Run :)

Next weekend Markus will visit me and my friend who invited us to a big party themed “I wanna be a superstar”… Guess what? I have a special feeling that there will be a chance to meet “The Hoff” in person…(I accept autograph orders till next Friday)… Pictures are a promise!

Ok guys, hope you are doing fine and had great holidays!
I´m looking forward to hear from you soon! Take it easy ;)

Linda