Teambuilding Weekend I

Today we got to take the day off work for an all-day Teambuilding Session. It was really interesting and touched upon some of the things that I have covered in some of my MBA classes. It was in a really cool building called the Old Sessions House, which is apparently where people used to be hanged and quartered and all that good stuff. I will try to get some pictures tomorrow. Meanwhile, you can view pictures on their website: http://www.sessionshouse.com/picture.html.

I think a lot of the interns are starting to take these classes more seriously because I think they were all there, but several of them still showed up pretty late. We had some professors from Henley Management College (#2 full-time MBA in the UK) speak to us about team building. We got to do several exercises to learn more about ourselves, such as Myers-Briggs (I am an INFP, which apparently only 1% of the population is, according to one source). I also learned that being introverted doesn't mean that you are shy or not outgoing. It just means that you get energy from yourself instead of feeding off of other people's energy. That is why after a long day I prefer to go home and recharge instead of going out to drink. I am glad that I am getting a better understanding of myself because I just thought that I was getting old!

I also learned that in a team setting, I am a Team Worker, which means that sometimes I am more concerned about the harmony in the team that on the task itself. I was like that at my last job, not that I didn't care about my job, but I also really cared about my co-workers and how they were doing and I knew a lot about their lives. These kinds of things really are important to me because you have to like the people you work with (well, I guess you don't have to, but I really prefer it because it makes work more enjoyable). I also had strong scores in "Plant", which makes me a source of original ideas in a team, and "Monitor/Evaluator", which means I analyze. The professor said that I had some good scores. :)

So, today was payday for all of us interns. I am happy to have some money, but sad that it is not nearly as much as the interns who got here on time got. Their paychecks were about 861 pounds, whereas mine is more along the line of 340. I don't know how the equivelent of 340 dollars is going to last me for a whole month!

Well, since we got paid, I went out with some new friends to celebrate one of their birthdays. We just ended up going to a Pizza Express, which is actually a pretty nice restaurant, especially for a chain! The food turned out to be really good as well. On the way home we saw some kind of bike parade. No idea what it was about, but they had music and a police escort. Well, I have got to get to bed. Have another long day of class tomorrow and then I'm going on a boat cruise on the River Thames for another girl's birthday at night.