Well some people (OK, most people) have been complaining that I've given a detailed match report of a football match I went to, but haven't really mentioned trivial matters such as the work I'm here for, my apartment, what it's like in Cyprus etc.
I'm here to train for a project for the Department of Immigration. BluePhoenix (my company) pretty much moves people round the world to wherever the work is. They've offered DIMIA the option of having the project developed in Canberra or Cyprus, with Cyprus being the cheaper option. DIMIA still hasn't chosen the option they want, so it's possible I might be back working in Canberra after the training.
I'm training in BluePhoenix's own application builder which helps to create very large applications which are as "future proof" as possible. Some more eployees from India are flying in for it, and the trainer is flying in from Germany... the movements people make in the company are just amazing - an Indian left for Copenhagen earlier this week, a whole group of Indians are off to Spain next week, my roommate Mark is off to India this afternoon to give a training course, the CEO of the company flew in from Israel for to visit the office earlier today.
So after Mark leaves I'll have the apartment to myself for 2 weeks or so until the trainer arrives, apparently he'll be moving in. I'm definitely switching rooms to the one with the ensuite!
The office is nice and new, although that's because it's currently undergoing renovation. We all switch floors on Monday so they can work on this floor.
I walk to and from work... the company would pay for a taxi but I quite like the walk (it's only 10-15 minutes). Plus I'm hoping to trade these savings for a taxi ride to another town on the island - Mark has done this before so I should be able to as well.
The project I'll be working on has already unoficially started, so I'm going to be helping with that over the next two weeks. Not sure how much I'll be able to help before I've had the training... but I should at least be able to spot bugs, if not fix them.
Well that's the boring stuff out of the way... now I can get back to concentrating on ancient ruins (which I hope to see some of tomorrow) and football.
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Friday, July 30, 2004
APOEL vs Sparta
I had to catch a taxi to the match, but it probably would have been faster and definitely cheaper to walk the last half as traffic really crawled close to the stadium. Plus they only had one ticket booth open... so even though I left my apartment at 7:10 and the stadium is only 5km, I only just made kickoff at 8.
The stadium was quite impressive... capacity is about 23,000, and all the seats are really close to the field. I was really pleased with my £10 seat, I was up quite high with a good view of the whole ground but I still felt really close to the field.
The match itself was great, although was disappointing for APOEL Nicosia in that they were up 2-0 with about 10 minutes left before collapsing to a 2-2 draw. The crowd was unbelievable though. I'd say there were about 15,000 people there, with 3 sides of the ground full, and (bizarrely) one end completely empty (although they had a giant APOEL shirt covering the entire stand). One end consisted of APOEL fans, all wearing orange, who pretty much jumped up and down and sang the entire match. There was a whole row of drummers who also kept going the whole match.
Unfortunately the two late goals that APOEL conceded means that they are unlikely to win the tie... a real pity as if they make it through to the third round they could be drawn against teams such as Liverpool, Manchester United or Real Madrid! Would have been brilliant to see one of those teams. Still, you never know...
I was a bit worried after the match about getting home, thought I might have to call the taxi company and somehow manage to explain exactly where I was (and wait while it fought through the traffic exiting the stadium). But there was a taxi sitting waiting just outside the entrance so it all worked out quite well.
The stadium was quite impressive... capacity is about 23,000, and all the seats are really close to the field. I was really pleased with my £10 seat, I was up quite high with a good view of the whole ground but I still felt really close to the field.
The match itself was great, although was disappointing for APOEL Nicosia in that they were up 2-0 with about 10 minutes left before collapsing to a 2-2 draw. The crowd was unbelievable though. I'd say there were about 15,000 people there, with 3 sides of the ground full, and (bizarrely) one end completely empty (although they had a giant APOEL shirt covering the entire stand). One end consisted of APOEL fans, all wearing orange, who pretty much jumped up and down and sang the entire match. There was a whole row of drummers who also kept going the whole match.
Unfortunately the two late goals that APOEL conceded means that they are unlikely to win the tie... a real pity as if they make it through to the third round they could be drawn against teams such as Liverpool, Manchester United or Real Madrid! Would have been brilliant to see one of those teams. Still, you never know...
I was a bit worried after the match about getting home, thought I might have to call the taxi company and somehow manage to explain exactly where I was (and wait while it fought through the traffic exiting the stadium). But there was a taxi sitting waiting just outside the entrance so it all worked out quite well.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Arrival in Cyprus
Well after an absolutely terrible flight:
i've arrived in Cyprus. Actually, the flight could have been worse... I had a spare seat next to me between Sydney and Singapore and I actually managed to get some sleep. Was still extremely tired last night, I went to sleep soon after 6 and didn't get up til 6:30 this morning.
My apartment is nice, I'm sharing with another BluePhoenix employee (an American called Mark... reminds me a lot of Jack Nicholson), which disappointed me at first, but now I'm actually quite pleased as he's really helped me settle in, shown me where everything is etc.
Tonight I'm off to the big APOEL Nicosia vs Sparta Prague match, a European Champions League qualifying match. Unfortunately public transport is really limited here (it's very disappointing, it's going to be an effort to get to all the sights around the island) so I think I'll have to catch a taxi. I'll have a match report tomorrow morning!
- Directly behind a screaming baby
- 2 or 3 other screaming babies in my section of the plane
- A non-working entertainment system
i've arrived in Cyprus. Actually, the flight could have been worse... I had a spare seat next to me between Sydney and Singapore and I actually managed to get some sleep. Was still extremely tired last night, I went to sleep soon after 6 and didn't get up til 6:30 this morning.
My apartment is nice, I'm sharing with another BluePhoenix employee (an American called Mark... reminds me a lot of Jack Nicholson), which disappointed me at first, but now I'm actually quite pleased as he's really helped me settle in, shown me where everything is etc.
Tonight I'm off to the big APOEL Nicosia vs Sparta Prague match, a European Champions League qualifying match. Unfortunately public transport is really limited here (it's very disappointing, it's going to be an effort to get to all the sights around the island) so I think I'll have to catch a taxi. I'll have a match report tomorrow morning!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)