At the office

i'm finally getting down to work! my 'knowledge transfer' sessions are over, and now i'm a contributing member of the team.

my team has two americans (including myself), a kiwi, two danes, an indian, a few pakistani guys, and a bunch of finns. everyone is nice and most people are a lot of fun. i think they will be moving me soon to sit near others in my specific project, but right now i sit by a small window (which i don't want to give up even though it's a bit colder than other areas of the office). also, i kind of like the company in my current location. in my little area, there are eight of us:
1. me (by the window! with the little bit of sunlight sometimes!)
2. the two danes, vagn and peter: both are a bit older and are quite experienced with teradata and have taken me under their wings. they have high expectations of their colleagues and since i have yet to disappoint them (to my knowledge) they still like me. they have extensive english vocabularies. they also have that wry complain-about-work humor, but it's clear that they both enjoy their work and are good at it.
3. the two pakistani guys, usman and imran: both are also quite friendly, and since they are in the same living situation as i am, we hang out socially. usman is very enthusiastic about the few months he spent in the united states last year, and that was in detroit. in the winter. they are observing ramadan right now, so they don't join us for lunch.
4. the three finns, jaakko, risto and kimmo: all are friendly and helpful. kimmo has assumed the role of my english-finnish dictionary and cultural guide, and he has a good sense of humor. risto is boisterous, but we haven't seen him this week because his wife had a baby last friday. i haven't spent much time with jaakko yet.

sorry, no photos yet. other things:

1. finns eat lunch at 11:00am
2. the only women-only bathroom on my floor smells awful.
3. in the last 24 hours, three people have approached me to ask for directions. i was able to help two of them!