Autor: Timm Clauberg

On Friday Joel came to visit us in Belfast, because there was a convention to take place from the 7th to the 8th June of 2014. He arrived around 17pm here, and after a quiet Friday evening where we cooked some pasta and looked some films we (Nick, Eric, Martin, Joel and me) got up at about 10 pm in the morning to get ready for the event. After having a nice breakfast we took a cab to the Kings Hall which led us trough some nice neighbourhoods around Belfast which I‘ haven’t seen before. Around the Lisburn Road there is a big mansion district where a lot of really impressive houses are located. While we we’re driving to the venue the weather already started to getting worse. There was a huge load of rain coming to the earth and it didn’t seem to clear up so soon. As we arrived we we’re shocked about how many people lined up to get into the Comic Con. It was a queue which was about 300 meters long and we first had to walk to the end of it. As expected the weather seemed to side against us, so instead of getting better the rain steadily hold on while we were waiting to get in. We were curious about how long it would take to reach the entry and already got used to the idea that it could easily take 2 hours to get in, but as the people were moving in batches it happened to be slightly earlier. After about a hour we finally where in the batch that was getting access to the area.
The entry fee was 8 pounds which is okay in my opinion for a big event. After we’ve passed the gates a huge wave of humid heat was streaming towards us, which was at first really heavy but after spending a few minutes in the building you got used to it. It also had the advantage that the clothing was drying  fast which was completely sodden after the rainfall. The convention itself wasn’t what like I’ve expected it to be. On each stand there was a lot of merchandise for sell, mostly more expensive then you can buy it elsewhere but anyway a lot of stuff huddled up. Me as I’ve never been a fan of animes and mangas and most comics at all (probably because I’ve never been interested enough yet to get deeper into it) was a bit disappointed, but anyway I’ve bought a few souveniers which aren’t related to comics in particular. Eric explained me afterwards that there’s a difference between a convention and a fair where more stuff is free available and new products are announced, while conventions usually are for selling stuff and meeting up like-minded persons. I now can say that I wouldn’t visit it anymore, but for more interested persons, it’s a nice thing for sure and it was an experience on its own that had to be made.

My work week was as usual a mixture of moving equipment around and reassembling PCs. On Monday we had to move Thin-Clients from one branch to another but because the cables were needed elsewhere we couldn’t get them to work at all. Eric, Max and me are moving more and more between the 3 buildings, so we often need to walk around the city ourselves, which is great because Belfast is at least in the inner city an interesting place to be during the work hours. For example we’ve seen a few Google Street View cars on the roads or in front of the court there were interviews taken with the local news reporters which were broadcasted to BBC. There are quite a lot of ways to go to the Riverhouse building and we usually take the one which is going along a small pedestrian area where a lot of Cafés and restaurants are located, including the big Victoria Square Shopping Centre which is a nice place for having lunch. On Wednesday Mr. Bavar, Mrs. Neumann and Mrs. Teichmann came along our firm to talk to us about the work experience and the internship in general. They were accompanied by Ruth from Intern Europe and Mrs. Brady from Concentrix whom had a nice talk with them. After exchanging a few words and taking some pictures they had to go again because of the tight shedule they had for the day. On that day the CCNA NetRiders also took place, where some of us had participated. On Thursday and Friday we had to assemble fans for the buildings and fix up office chairs. We we’re around in different contractor areas which gave us again an impression who the things are working there in the company. All in all it was quite a nice week and I’m looking forward for the remaining time in Belfast.

On Sunday Leo, a friend of him and me decided to rent a car and start a trip towards the north of Northern Ireland. There is a long road called A2 a.k.a. Antrim Coast Road which is a pretty fitting term for the views you get. We started our tour at around 12 am in the noon. After taking a nice breakfast at Clements which is a café chain only located in Belfast, we went to Sixt to get the car. It was a well equipped and fuel-efficient KIA. When we started driving down the M2 even as passenger it was a different feeling, because you automatically keep looking for the traffic and stay alerted too. When we arrived in Larne we finally got on the A2. Along the road are many way points where you can stop with your car and take pictures of the great countryside and the ocean. These stops are usually parking lots or third lanes and are well placed. The roads we were driving down are not for nothing so called scenic drives, you can capture great pictures of the awesome surrounding. Luckily the weather was great, it was cloudy but dry and there were many clear spells which underlayed a great lightning to the scenery. We made a few stops in the bigger cities and we were able to see anything from mountains right next to us to forests which we’re similiar to jungles to ports just for yachts. Unfortunately the Bushmills distillery in the far north of Northern Ireland was already closed when we arrived there. They produce a famous whiskey brand which is a symbol of the country (5 – 10 and 20 Pound notes are featuring a drawing of it). It would have been a great souvenir, but probably I will take a ride to there with the bus again and participate on the tour around the factory. The famous landmarks Giants Causeway and the Carrick-a-Rede are also located near Bushmills and as actual destinations of the trip we visited it right after leaving the town. It were unbelievable nice places to be and I think pictures can’t express the beauty of the nature and environment there but at least they can encourage you to visit it also if the chance exists. When we were able to tick those points for ourselves we again hit the road for driving to the last stop of the journey. It was a small town called Castlerock which offers a nice (baltic sea like) beach and a nice promenade. After a long day in the car and so much new impressions we became hungry and had a great dinner in the local „Temple Bar“ which offered a nice Northern Irish steak for a fair price. Saturated and happy to have had such a great experience we started driving back to Belfast (thru an inner-country route this time). – (pictures to follow)

On Friday the spanish guys in the flat above us celebrated some kind of birthday party and they dressed really funny. Already in the afternoon it began to become louder in the house and until the evening there we’re many people around and they later started moving to Leveries. Toni, Eric, Max, Martin, Nick and me promised to join later and after spending some time with showing Toni the city and getting ready for the pub we decided to go out. Many people we’re on the streets and we had a talk with a few of them but unfortunately the pub was already closed for other guests than those who were already in and as most of the other pubs already we’re closing because of the curfew we went back to our flat and still had a good night. The saturday was quiet and mostly eventless.

This week was related to work as usual, Max, Eric and me had to check many monitors for their functionality and after that we again had to help Peter. He’s lately busy with moving around stuff because the people aren’t agreeing with each other where the stuff should be put, so in one case we already moved the same equipment three times, and now it’s in its original place but better sorted. While switching between the different buildings we were moving many lockers, cupboards, PCs and other things which are needed in the other branches. Sadly the IT-department consists of so many people that we (most of the time) only get tasks like dismantling systems and rebuild them but all in all the work with Peter is funny and I like to help him.

Yesterday I went to the Bloomfield Commercial Centre for shopping purposes, it is something like a big complex of firms which are offering all kinds of products. But the way to there was some kind of an odyssey. In my opinion the bus system in Belfast is really confusing. Usually there are (at least on the more frequented stops) two or more stops in the same row which are about 10 – 30m away from each other and where different busses are departing. And in addition to that (if you have managed to take the correct bus) there are no announces at which stop you currently arrive so without local knowledge and a mobile battery which is dying out you are pretty much lost. After exiting at the wrong stop and a few talks with locals who have pointed me in the right direction I’ve managed to arrive in the center. The terrain is really big and at all I think it’s bigger then everything related I’ve seen in Germany yet. I went to the Tesco, Maplin, a pretty big one-pound Store and a few shops in the main centre it self. After spending a few hours and a lot more money I started my way back home with a full bagpack and few shopping bags. All in all it’s pretty interesting to see how big Belfast really is. There is a lot of suburban area and outskirts around the main city itself, some nicer ones and some not so nice but there is definitly a lot to see.

In the last week Eric, Max and me finally we’re able to get introduced into the IT-Support of Concentrix. Because they have so many contractors which are located in the Branch sites the people we are working with are spreaded over a few buildings, and between the other employees. Our first tasks where like adding users into groups in the A.D. and cutting off PCs from retired (or fired) workers. Next week we will be introduced further.

This week Eric, Max and me finally managed to get more IT-related worktasks. We were introduced into the 1st and 2nd level support helpdesk in the firm. The Tech Department consists of many people which are given tasks between programming and supporting of the employees. There’s plenty of work to do since the different branches in NI keep over 1000 employed and there are more PC’s then persons in the buildings. There are Linux, Windows and Mac Operating systems which will make the work for us even more interesting. The last few days we had to move PCs from one place to another and keep the workplaces in an operating state. We also had to tidy up a storage-room which had caused some trouble because some people were not okay with it, but Peter managed it to reconcile the problems. All in all we’re looking forward to a few exciting weeks but until now I really enjoyed my stay in Belfast.

On Friday Peter took me over to the Concentrix branch in inner Belfast. We’ve had loads of work
to do there and he arranged a meeting with Marc from the Technology department of the firm,
so that they could get us to know better. We’ve talked about my background and what’s
the stuff I usually work on in Germany. Marc was very kind and told me that he will talk
to David who’s the leader of the helpdesk and development part of the Tech. Dep. so that we
can get some more IT related tasks. When I finished talking to the people Peter took me around the building and we decorated some walls with the firm principles, world maps and clocks.

After a short lunch break which I took in a nice Greece restaurant which offered meals for cheap prices, we had to relocate some lockers into other floors so that people can store their valuables safely. The firm has got a hot desk principle which means that one usually never stays at one desk
for longer then one day, you can log in and start working wherever you are. In the afternoon
we had to clean up a room on the first floor and when we’ve finished Peter took me back to the Lesley Exchange building to meet up with Eric and Max. All in all my first week on Concentrix was okay. We hope to get some different tasks soon, but David will call us back during the next week so lets see what we can expect for the next time.

Peter who’s still responsible for us and our work in the
company is very busy so he couldn’t observe us the whole time.
So Eric, Max and me were given several tasks to accomplish on our own.
He has (like all local people I’ve met there and here) a strong Belfast dialect
which is at times pretty unique. That and the fact that the people speak very fast
sometimes make it hard to follow conversations, but I slowly adapt to the
normal day english. In the Lesley Exchange building on the 2nd floor was an improvised
storage section which was pretty messy. It seems like all departments of the company
tucks their stuff away there and forget about it, so it was our job to tidy it up
and rearrange all the things neatly and organized. It was very time consuming but
we were able to manage that on Wednesday. After we had finished we were told
to drill brackets off the left side of the desk and drill it again to the right side of it.
Because there were many of them (and still are) this was (besides some smaller ones) our main task for Thursday, too.