Dearly Beloved,
(extra points for the first person to name the author that made that phrase famous in a comment on this post)
I got something of a rude awakening today but some excellent news from home has kept me sailing on positive winds.
I had my breakfast interrupted today by one of our borrower's husbands. I could feel this man's frustration just by the tone of his voice during which he established who he was, and that he had been connected with me correctly. Then he turned that frustration on me and blasted me for all the sins of our lenders and what had gone wrong. "Never again!" Anyway, he calmed down and I explained to him that I'm basically here working to some extent on every problem he just mentioned. This was to no avail as he declined participation in my study, was kind enough to bid me a nice day, and said a curt goodbye.
Next, I began my work day. On Fridays I have a class at the university, and try to squeeze in a 9am interview before I head out the door. Despite having agreed to an appointment some days prior, this gentleman was not so sure I was who I said I was, and of course, "there's no time." (I'm considering doing a poll of the study participants to gauge the popularity of 24 within the sample: TV show effects Entrepreneurial Success, what a great paper idea...) Anyway, we worked out a solution together and had to postpone the interview. He was very willing to cooperate, just very protective of himself. This is a good thing.
Given this rocky start to the day, I might dip from a 9 down to an 8 on my positivity scale, but I'm riding about 20 right now because my sister in law went into labor last night, and my niece, Lilly Mae Meehan has finally been born. My big brother John is now a daddy, my sister Allison a mommy, and they're both probably trying to figure out if they're more scared or tired. I am extremely excited for my brother and it's wild to think that only a year ago I was the best man at his wedding. Every one of my siblings now has kids, Dan 2 boys and Amy 2 girls, so the Meehans aren't going anywhere.
Just wanted to shout my joy, pictures coming asap (they better)
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
BOG!: Croatia Part 1
Hope you guys enjoy!
For a bigger view, Link to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiw0HB6JZ8o
For a bigger view, Link to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiw0HB6JZ8o
Monday, May 18, 2009
Gunboat Diplomacy
Once again I've built up a backlog of things I wanted to write about. I have just got to be better about putting up a note right after something happens, or else I get lost. In that spirit I'll write about something that happened to me today.
Language courses are always a great place to meet other students and young people living abroad. Most of them are Erasmus students- European college students on a one or two semester jaunt of a new language, partying and generally low pressure academics.
We were working through an exercise when an answer on the overhead came up, "We didn't feel "good" in America."(wohl - healthy, good, welcome, happy) Everyone's head turned in my direction. How's he going to react? This expectation of response shows that it registered with my classmates that it was odd and unnecessary to use a negative example of a specific country- my country.
I communicated my truly feigned surprise and pique through a tongue-in-cheek toss up of my hands that met with a few giggles.
Teach with a grin: Do you feel discriminated against in German grammar?
(Return fire has been invited)
Mike (sarcasm, overly polite): No of course not. The Europeans and Americans see eye to eye on every issue and I would never say they have something against us.
(More laughs from the peanut gallery)
Teach laughs, then turns serious and concedes: I really don't know why they included a sentence like that. It's really unnecessary.
Me, after a moment of reflection: Maybe they're a little bit envious, or jealous!
(The class erupts in laughter and boos jokingly and everybody, including our instructor, has a good laugh.)
I really like how the class was sensitive to the fact that I had indeed been isolated and insulted, but had rightly chosen to defuse the situation with humor. They picked up right away that I wasn't serious, and only using a perceived attitude for the sake of a joke. It shows they're a savvy bunch and it's nice to know I got the benefit of the doubt.
It's times like these that I ask myself if I've gone to far, but I do think there is something of a lesson here: It is better to openly acknowledge our differences, stereotypes and preconceptions and accept them to the point where we can all joke with each other, than tip-toe around on egg shells for fear of offending somebody. People respect you more, and you can connect with them better, which I do believe is the point in the end.
Language courses are always a great place to meet other students and young people living abroad. Most of them are Erasmus students- European college students on a one or two semester jaunt of a new language, partying and generally low pressure academics.
We were working through an exercise when an answer on the overhead came up, "We didn't feel "good" in America."(wohl - healthy, good, welcome, happy) Everyone's head turned in my direction. How's he going to react? This expectation of response shows that it registered with my classmates that it was odd and unnecessary to use a negative example of a specific country- my country.
I communicated my truly feigned surprise and pique through a tongue-in-cheek toss up of my hands that met with a few giggles.
Teach with a grin: Do you feel discriminated against in German grammar?
(Return fire has been invited)
Mike (sarcasm, overly polite): No of course not. The Europeans and Americans see eye to eye on every issue and I would never say they have something against us.
(More laughs from the peanut gallery)
Teach laughs, then turns serious and concedes: I really don't know why they included a sentence like that. It's really unnecessary.
Me, after a moment of reflection: Maybe they're a little bit envious, or jealous!
(The class erupts in laughter and boos jokingly and everybody, including our instructor, has a good laugh.)
I really like how the class was sensitive to the fact that I had indeed been isolated and insulted, but had rightly chosen to defuse the situation with humor. They picked up right away that I wasn't serious, and only using a perceived attitude for the sake of a joke. It shows they're a savvy bunch and it's nice to know I got the benefit of the doubt.
It's times like these that I ask myself if I've gone to far, but I do think there is something of a lesson here: It is better to openly acknowledge our differences, stereotypes and preconceptions and accept them to the point where we can all joke with each other, than tip-toe around on egg shells for fear of offending somebody. People respect you more, and you can connect with them better, which I do believe is the point in the end.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Work Journal: Offenbach
While I'm waiting for some more pics from Croatia to come in from my sources i.e. Dan, the other guy who was there, I thought it'd be good catch you guys up on some work I've been doing here in Germany.
The project I'm working on is an analysis of small and micro businesses loans in Germany. I conduct interviews with entrepreneurs who have received credit from a network of lenders that I work with.
On the side, I've been working on analyzing our credit software, data bank, and processes. It's basically impossible to do scientific work on data that isn't reliable. I thought this was going to be a minor task but over time has come to be a real problem fraught with internal politics, and a lot of wasted time.
Today however I can celebrate the some real progress on this front. In Offenbach today I met with the folks responsible for benchmarking our lending progress and for programming our software. We pooled our resources and hashed out some solutions to the problem.
One interesting thing is that this all took place in German. This doesn't bother me but I sometimes wonder if I'm seen as the 'foreigner' even if what I say is met with approval. Everyone in business is generally very receptive to me, but I'm sure I'm tougher to follow than a local.
I also got to interview some local small business owners who after some convincing- it always takes convincing- met with me to do an interview.
The first two were women from Romania who run a cleaning service. One woman had doubled her income since becoming self employed. Another woman grew up in Germany but has parents from Morocco. She started out by wholesaling goods from Morocco like furniture, housewares, decorations etc. and will expand that business online this year. She received a credit from our network to renovate a shop in Frankfurt (right across the river) to start selling retail. This is another example of how credit is helping people advance their businesses and their lives.
Tomorrow is the German version of Labor Day and in Berlin there are supposed to be demonstrations, the burning of cars that look nice/new, and general mayhem. I'm happy and disappointed to be missing it but I'll get to spend the holiday with fellow Fairfield grad and Fulbrighter Katie Bakarich. Then Saturday I'll be meeting the German wing of my brother-in-law Thomas' family. Can't wait!
The project I'm working on is an analysis of small and micro businesses loans in Germany. I conduct interviews with entrepreneurs who have received credit from a network of lenders that I work with.
On the side, I've been working on analyzing our credit software, data bank, and processes. It's basically impossible to do scientific work on data that isn't reliable. I thought this was going to be a minor task but over time has come to be a real problem fraught with internal politics, and a lot of wasted time.
Today however I can celebrate the some real progress on this front. In Offenbach today I met with the folks responsible for benchmarking our lending progress and for programming our software. We pooled our resources and hashed out some solutions to the problem.
One interesting thing is that this all took place in German. This doesn't bother me but I sometimes wonder if I'm seen as the 'foreigner' even if what I say is met with approval. Everyone in business is generally very receptive to me, but I'm sure I'm tougher to follow than a local.
I also got to interview some local small business owners who after some convincing- it always takes convincing- met with me to do an interview.
The first two were women from Romania who run a cleaning service. One woman had doubled her income since becoming self employed. Another woman grew up in Germany but has parents from Morocco. She started out by wholesaling goods from Morocco like furniture, housewares, decorations etc. and will expand that business online this year. She received a credit from our network to renovate a shop in Frankfurt (right across the river) to start selling retail. This is another example of how credit is helping people advance their businesses and their lives.
Tomorrow is the German version of Labor Day and in Berlin there are supposed to be demonstrations, the burning of cars that look nice/new, and general mayhem. I'm happy and disappointed to be missing it but I'll get to spend the holiday with fellow Fairfield grad and Fulbrighter Katie Bakarich. Then Saturday I'll be meeting the German wing of my brother-in-law Thomas' family. Can't wait!
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