People in Germany (Die Leuten)

In general, and in specific, the folks here in Bavaria are very nice. I will focus this blog specifically on the people with whom I am working, but will post another in a few days on the more general topic.

The Grid Engine team in Regensburg are all male (men, Die Menschen). This seems very odd to me, as most US offices are close to a 50-50 ratio between men and women. On the other hand, it is a small office (only 12 people). Fortunately, Jana (a woman, Eine Frau) came from Prague for a few days so that I would not be entirely alone. In any case, the team are all very nice. They are, of course, quite technical (as you would expect from people who write enabling technologies for high-performance computing applications). They make certain that I take a break at noon to eat lunch (das Mittagsessen) and ask if I would like companionship or suggestions for dinner (das Abendessen). In short, they are making sure that I feel a part of the team.

I won't detail each member of the team in Regensburg, but will provide just a few notes about them.

• Fritz, who is the leader of this team, has a great vision for future HPC products. On the personal side, Fritz follows Formula 1 racing, which gives he and I something in common.

• There are three people named "Andreas" on the team (and an "Andre," too). One of them goes by Andy, and the others often use last names to make clear which one is meant during a meeting or when it is not obvious. It's a very logical approach, but one that takes a little bit of adjustment for an American.

• Marco is soon going to be taking some "parental leave" for the birth of a new baby. In Germany, this leave lasts about six weeks and applies to both the man and the woman. In the US, typically only the woman gets any time off for a new birth, and I'm not sure it is always as long.

• Some of the folks on the team, including Richard and Jana, are heading over to the US next week to attend JavaOne and the Open Source Grid and Cluster Conference.

• Let's see, whom have I forgotten? Ernst, Christian, Roland, and Joachim are also great guys. I have not yet met Harald in person. He was not in the office earlier in the week, and yesterday was just too crazy. I am certain, however, that he will be just as pleasant as the others.

That's probably enough information about the team for now. Tschuss!

Posted at 08:42AM May 01, 2008 by jcinfoblog in General  |  Comments[0]