Archive for 'Travel'
Nice, Bruges, and Amiens
August 4, 2009 by nate, under General, Photography, Travel.
Hello,
I’ve been putting off updating because I’ve been quite busy the past two weeks.
So what have I been up to? – Well, on July 23rd, I started my vacation by sitting in Gatwick airport for about four hours waiting for my delayed flight. I arrived in Nice, France around 9:30pm and was able to check into my hostel in time. Nice was absolutely amazing and I believe it is possibly my new favourite place in Europe. Nice is the heart of the French Rivera, right along the coast of the Mediterranean. The water was clean, clear, and quite warm. For the entire week, I was a complete beach bum. I would lie out in the sun for about four to five hours each day trying feverishly to remove my ghostly white appearance in comparison to everyone else. I did manage to tan and not burn, however still nowhere near the level of the indigenous people.
Besides the beach, I travelled to Monte Carlo, Monaco, which is a small principality in the south of France near Nice, much like Vatican City, but quite opposite in purpose. Monte Carlo is a tax haven for very wealthy individuals and a gambling centre.
I also visited Cannes, which is renowned for the Cannes Film Festival that debuts many independent films as well as films produced by prominent studios. I went to the beach at Cannes, which was sand, rather than the stones of Nice, but the water was not nearly as clean.
I was able to meet many people and make new friends while I was in France. I travelled by myself but met many Canadians, New Zealanders (Kiwis), Russians, Aussie’s, and a few English people. Once I was in Nice, I did not go anywhere alone, I was accompanied by other young travellers and holiday makers the entire trip. Some of the people I met in Nice also live near or in London, so I am planning on meeting up with them before I return to the US.
In Nice, I visited my first casino. I never gambled before nor did I have any desire, but around 11pm on a Monday night, I entered the Casino with two Kiwis and we decided to play blackjack. I bought €20 worth of chips and sat down at a table. The minimum bid was €10, so I could only sustain a loss twice in a row. First hand, I had 19, but the dealer won with 20. I was down to €10. I decided, if I lost it all, I wouldn’t be extremely disappointed since it was a new experience and quite exciting. Next hand, I won with 20, dealer 19. So I was back to 20€. I won the next hand, up to €30, but lost the next, so I was back to par with €20. At this point my Kiwi friend, Dan, was up to €40 and decided to walk away with doubling his money. I decided I would either lose it all, or stop at €40. Two hands later, I was up to €40 and out the door. For twenty minutes of entertainment and excitement, I doubled my money and €20 is worth nearly $30!
I returned to London the next day, Tuesday, and went from beautiful 28C or 82F weather full of sunshine in France to 20C or 68F full with grey skies and rain. Luckily, my time in England was short lived because on Saturday, I drove to Bruges, Belgium with my friend, Graham, from work.
We left my flat at 4:30am and drove to Folkestone, where we took the Eurotunnel to Calais, France, and then continued our drive to Bruges, Belgium, about 100km (60m) away. Bruges is a really interesting place. The entire city is surrounded by a moat or canal which was for protection back in the middle ages and all the roads were ancient cobblestones. Graham and I walked around for a bit, went on a boat tour, and bought some chocolates for our friends at work as well as some for our mums (It’s no longer a surprise mom, your gift is Belgium chocolate). Afterwards, we went to a pub to try the famous Belgium beer. I tried Trappist beer, which originally was brewed by Monks in a Trappist Monastery. For being monks, I was surprised that the beer was as strong as it was, with 9.5% alcohol content! I also watched an American street performer escape from a straightjacket while wrapped in chains and locked. I never saw anything like this before in person and it seemed very real because he even had a Bruges police officer secure him in the straightjacket and chains. It was one of the best street performances I have ever seen.
Graham and I only spent one night in Bruges and we were planning on going back to France to visit the Normandy WWII battlefields, but we realized Normandy was too far away for us to visit in order to return in time to Calais and catch the train back to England. So, we stopped at Amiens, France to visit and for lunch. Amiens is a small city north of Paris and is home to one of the largest Gothic Cathedrals. I took a few pictures of the sculptures and the architecture. It was quite fascinating and it must have taken hundreds of years to complete (even with slave labor). After lunch and touring the cathedral, we returned to the car and headed back to England.
Now my adventures are at a standstill until August 22nd, when I will fly back to Amsterdam, The Netherlands (for my third time) to meet up with my brother, Justin, and my sister-in-law, Danielle, as they visit. I will be in The Netherlands until the 25th, when I return to England for nearly 24 hours and then fly back to Philadelphia. Only 13 days left of work and 21 until I’m back in America. It’s been a great trip so far and I will miss it, but I have much to do and I am looking forward to my senior year of University which starts on August 31st!
*Photos coming soon.
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The Tenth Week
July 13, 2009 by nate, under General, Travel.
It’s hard to believe that I have been here for ten weeks. It actually seems like I’ve been here longer because my mind is merging this summer with last time when I studied in London. I am however, enjoying it. I have six weeks left before I return to the US and that means in the past year, I will have lived in the United Kingdom for eight months, or two-thirds of the year.
THE WORK:
Work is going well, one of my assignments this week was to make a list of all my previous assignments – which can be quite a pain to remember what you’ve done ten weeks ago.
Here’s what I’ve been doing recently:
1. Compiled a list of currency hedges of Harsco loaning entity HIL and HIF in Excel and converted to USD to determine the loss or gain of hedge and determined movement from previous period.
2. Analyzed and calculated ratios from the balance sheets, income statements, and statement of cash flows of a SGB entities and emailing contacts for explanations behind variances. All statements are then compiled to form month end statements for SGB as a whole.
3. Reviewed SOX auditing reports of SGB North Europe and SGB France entities and asked questions to the contact for clarification if not enough detail was present.
4. Completed Quarterly Inward Foreign Direct Investment Survey for the Office for National Statistics for the company HIL, Harsco Investment Ltd.
5. Attended VAT Seminar given by KPMG to educate SGB Finance and Treasury employees on key points and issues in regards to the Value Added Tax in business.
THE EXCITEMENT:
Since my previous post was somewhat lacking in regards to culture, I made sure that this post would have some cultural activities. Over the weekend, I walked to an old area of Leatherhead that I have never been to. I visited a very old stone church that I later found to be built originally around 700-800 A.D. I also walked around the graveyard that accompanied the church and was looking at the names of the deceased and the dates imprinted on them. I was shocked to see tomb stones dating back to the 16th and 17th century. I saw one stone that said they were born in 1752, meaning they were 24 years old at the time the United States declared their independence. I tried to think of what they thought of the US at this time and how the world was in Leatherhead in 1752.
After I left the graveyard, I went to the Leatherhead Museum. The museum is quite small, but located in an original old house from the early 1800s. In the museum, I saw artifacts and replicas from Saxon graves that were found in or around Leatherhead. I then learned about how Leatherhead was originally inhabited by the Saxons after Roman influence left Britain.
TRAVEL:
I finally managed to book my flight to Nice, France. I never had so many issues planning a trip. Since last time I lived in London, I had much better access to airports and anytime of the day, I could take a bus for about £2-6. However in Leatherhead, I can take a taxi for £40 ($65) one-way, or the train to Gatwick airport for about £10, only when the trains are running. The trains run between 6:30 am till around 11 pm.
So why is that an issue? Because the cheapest flights always leave around 6 am and return at 11 pm and there’s no way I could get to the airport without paying a overpriced taxi fare. Thus, my round trip flight cost rose from a mere £50 or $82 to £100 or $164. Granted, it is still inexpensive compared to most flights, but double the price. So I am flying out Thursday the 23rd and I return on Tuesday the 28th. I booked a hostel that is right in the heart of Nice and reportedly a ten minute walk from the sea.
Quick thought here: I made the mistake of saying ocean once over here and was quickly corrected. All bodies of water for the most part are seas, but Americans in general, or at least I am used to saying ‘ocean’.
CONCLUSION:
Everything is going well and thank you to those of you who have responded to me via e-mail. I sometimes don’t hear anything and I tend to think no one is reading, so feel free to post a comment or e-mail me.
Cheers.
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Oy, Mate!
July 2, 2009 by nate, under Photography, Travel.
Hello all,
Here is another update of my life in the UK.
THE WORK:
Work has been going well and quite busy. I have been using Microsoft Excel a lot and creating formulas that reduced previous tasks from an hour to ten minutes. I never had the need to do any of the things I’m am now, so I never tried learning complex Excel equations, but it’s quite fun.
Other than that, I have requested to work in our legal department for a few weeks. I figured if I’m going to seriously consider law school, it only makes sense to see what a corporate lawyer life and work is like. Since accounting isn’t the most exciting thing, I’m hoping the legal department will be.. Well, it sounds more exciting at least.
THE EXCITEMENT:
I haven’t done much this past week and I am quite happy with that. Last Saturday, I purchased the movie Transformers (the first one) and watched it twice, once with the commentary on, as I did laundry and relaxed. On Sunday, I finally walked around with my camera and took a few shots of the street I live on along, my living arrangement, the two year old housemate, and some nature shots of the Leatherhead Common behind the house. Perhaps this weekend, I’ll take some photos of the town centre, which is the lively area of town. It was a great weekend.
I am trying to figure out where I want to go for a short four day weekend trip. I was originally thinking Nice, France which is a beautiful city along the Mediterranean Sea but it is rather expensive there and I have already been to France. I am looking for a warm area with a beach, in a country that I have not been yet. Unfortunately, I’ve visited most of them within a two to three hour flight radius. So I think I may go to Nice for a weekend and then one weekend later on, take the train from London to Belgium, I never been to Belgium, for a day or two. That way I can fulfill both desires.
Other than that, I am going to London tomorrow for a birthday party of the sister of the boyfriend of a friend, Donna, whom I work with. Confusing? – Yeah, I know.
On Saturday, the Fourth, I’m not quite sure what I will be doing. I heard our Independence Day referred to as ‘Traitor’s Day’ to the English, which I think is quite hysterical.
CONCLUSION:
My French friend, Laura, is returning to her home in Toulouse, France on Saturday and I will then be the only intern at work. We’ve become good friends and it’s a shame to see her go, but luckily I have made many more friends at work and around town.
Click the photo below to open the gallery, check it.
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Week Three
June 2, 2009 by nate, under General, Travel.
Hello, it’s time for my weekly update aka Tuesday.
I have now been here for three weeks, but it seems much longer.
THE WORK:
I haven’t been too busy at work since last update because it is near the end of the month. Since I work for the Head Office of SGB, we become very busy the first week after month’s end. All SGB entities submit their month-end financial data and it is my departments job to make sure the statements are correct and if there are any substantial variances between the current and previous month, we must get an explanation. Today was working day two of the new month and things are really starting to pick up. I have been working on analyzing financial statements and compiling lists of currency hedges. I never knew anything about currency hedges but it is a really great idea for multi-national companies, and if you don’t know what a currency hedge is, don’t worry – it’s not that exciting.
THE EXCITEMENT:
So what fun did I have this past week? On Saturday, I traveled to Epsom, which is two train stops away from where I live and about a 10 minute train ride. In Epsom, I wanted to see Angels and Demons, but could not find the cinema in time, so I watched Night at the Museum 2. The movie was not especially good, but for a solid hour I forgot I was in the UK. It was a really strange feeling to hear all American accents (except the one character is English, I’m aware) for the duration of the movie. After leaving the cinema, I went to McDonald’s to continue the Americanism, but the feeling quickly dissipated upon seeing a different menu as well as the £ Pound Saver Menu.
On Sunday, I went to London with the other intern. She is from Toulouse, France and we had a great time. I was able to speak French the majority of the time and she would respond in English. We went shopping in Oxford Street, which is the main shopping area of London and since I severely under packed, I bought a few shirts and she bought some clothes as well as many random souvenirs.
Afterwards, we went to Hyde Park where we sat down from a long walk near Speakers Corner. I learned from my previous trip that the meaning behind the saying, “Oh he’s on his soap box again” referring to someone ranting came from speaker’s corner. At one point in time, it was against the law to speak against the Queen standing on British soil, so citizens would stand on soap boxes to state their claims. Now however, people stand on chairs and make arguments varying from “There is no God” to “Why Muslims are Evil.” It was really interesting to see the backlash the speakers would get from the crowd. For a bit, I thought there was going to be a fight, but I left before anything happened.
Attached is a photo of the man who was holding the Koran and at one point threatened to burn it as well as a photo of Laura and I in Hyde Park.
As for meeting people, I have made friends with a bunch of people from work. I now play football (English for soccer) for SGB every Thursday. We have jerseys that are in our colours and have SGB written on the front. I was told that a few years ago, SGB used to play semi-organized against other companies but when times became tough, it was cut right away. Now, it is just people from SGB and other companies who still want to play regularly. As for this week, this Friday I am going golfing with a coworker, Neil, who works around the corner from my office.
This weekend I will try to get out and take pictures of the town I live in. I will be traveling to The Netherlands on Monday with an auditing team to audit SGB Holland for two weeks. So I may not be able to send an update for a week or two.
Cheers,
Nathan
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Hello from the UK
May 26, 2009 by nate, under General, Travel.
Hello everyone,
I have been busy since I arrived and am now settled so I can start writing an e-mail just about every week, I hope.
THE WORK:
I arrived in the UK early Monday morning exactly two weeks ago, May 12th. I am currently interning in the Accounting department for a company called SGB which is owned by Harsco Corporation based in Camp Hill, PA.
My work is about one mile away from where I live, which I walk to and from everyday and every other day it rains.
So what do I do at work? Here’s a list of things I’ve done so far:
- Completion of UK National Statistic – Form reporting basic accounting to the UK government for the public to see. All companies of the UK are required to publish financial information.
- Completed US Long forms of 12 Harsco subsidiaries – Used to determine change in GDP
- Converted US GAAP financial statements such as income statements, balance sheets, cash flows, into UK GAAP in Microsoft Excel. After many adjustments, I created the year-end report of 2008 of the Harsco entity, Harsco Investments Ltd. (HIL).
- Sarbanes-Oxley Testing: Follow the set procedures of Harsco to determine if the employees are performing their duties and acquiring the correct approval. I will dig through binders of Q1 2009 in different sections from loans to journal entries and randomly select pages to verify they are correct and signed by appropriate persons.
- Working on finding invoices to send to our French subsidy to support their expenses because they are being audited.
- Analyzed and calculated ratios from the balance sheets, income statements, and statement of cash flows of a SGB entity in Dubai to assist an upper manager for a meeting.
So to sum up everything: a lot of numbers and little excitement. Here’s a photo of me at work – for your viewing pleasure.
THE EXCITEMENT:
I live in a small town, population just under 10,000, which is about a 45 minute train ride south of London. There is not much in my area and just about every store and restaurant closes around 6-7PM. Fortunately, the train station is just a 10 minute walk away.
Last week when I was walking to work, the most exciting day of my life in Leatherhead occurred, so my co-workers told me. I witnessed a very big fire of a Youth Club. Why is this so exciting? Well, I took a picture of this fire because it was quite large and as the BBC reports, there were over 40 firefighters and 8 fire trucks present. In the picture attached, you’ll see a not so happy English mother, but ignore her and see the fire.
TRAVEL AND ENTERTAINMENT:
On my first weekend, I traveled to London. The train costs £10.40 (~$15) for a round trip as well as complete and unlimited use of the metro. I went back to where I lived previously but it is not the same without my other friends there. I did manage to see a few people I met previously but London is not the same for me anymore.
This past weekend, I visited Brighton – which is a town along the Southern coast. I saw the pebble beaches and was able to walk along the board walk and visit the pier. I did take a few pictures and they will be coming shortly. Brighton is a great place but I discovered that traveling by myself is not nearly as fun or exciting, if at all. I found myself becoming bored and went home after a few hours.
On Sunday, I went to the League 2 Playoffs. Basically, League 2 is the third largest league (Premiership, Championship, League 2) and this game would determine which team was promoted to the Championship League. My landlord, Andy, is a longtime fan of Skunthorpe United as well as a season ticket holder so I went to the game with him and a bunch of his ‘mates’. The match took place at Wembley Stadium, the second largest stadium in Europe with the capacity of 90,000. The match I went to was 50,000 fans of Millwall, the opposing team, and 9,000 fans of Skunthorpe. The 9,000 fans are roughly 1/5 of the entire population of the town Skunthorpe. I have attached a photo of the stadium for you to see because it is just enormous and spectacular. The game was very exciting with Skunthorpe winning 3-2. The 50,000 Millwall fans were not the happiest and the police came out with riot gear as well was riot horses. Now, that was exciting to see but it was rather safe where I was at.
FUTURE PLANS:
Tomorrow I am attending a Cricket Match with a few co-workers after work. It should be interesting. My landlord was attempting to explain the game to me but it really does not make any sense at all. It’s sort of like baseball with two batters (facing each other), one pitcher, and no bases. Confused? – You should be.
I will also be traveling to Holland for two weeks with an auditing team to help out with the SGB Holland audit. It should be interesting to see how Holland does business and hopefully I can learn a lot!
CONCLUSION:
Overall, I am having a so-so time but I know things will become much better once I make a friend or two.
Cheers from the UK,
Nathan