Summer playlist
I had to assemble this list of the songs that I’ve been exposed to during this summer. Some of them I love, some I hate. But for the record I’ll put em all up here!
Thats it. Phjew.
Leave a comment: One comment so farSan Francisco with Jens
After our return from Las Vegas (thanks again, KITT) it was time for my final presentation at Cisco systems. It turned out pretty awesome! I think I might be returning to San Jose after I finish graduate school wink wink 
So to celebrate Jens and I drove to San Francisco that afternoon and the next day! He was blown away by the city, as was I when I saw it for the first time.
We did the typical stuff: ride the cable car, check out Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf and Coit Tower and of course the Golden Gate Bridge.
Leave a comment: No comments so farVegas with Jens
Hey everyone,
wow! It’s been a while since the last post here – I was way too busy to post… sorry about that! Let me try to summarize the last few weeks.
So on August 1st, my friend Jens came over from Germany to visit me here in SJ. In order to be a proper host for him, I took off the last week of my internship at cisco to show him around a bit. On his second day here we went surfing in Santa Cruz and after that had a bonfire at the Secret Beach.
On the next day we took off to Vegas in our beloved car. Let me tell you… 800km through the desert without a working AC is not the most fun.. But it was a great experience and we had a blast!
When we finally arrived in Vegas it was 42°C and we were boiling in the car. So the first thing we wanted to do after checking in was jump in the pool. Well, turns out I had forgotten my swimtrunks in San Jose, but that didnt stop me. I just went inside the next store and bought a random pair of new ones driven by the idea of jumping into the pool to cool me down. The only slight problem was – we had arrived around 8pm and the pool was closed after 7pm. SHAME ON YOU PLANET HOLLYWOOD! So I took a shower instead – cursing.
The next morning we got up and finally jumped into the hotel pool. It was like floating in heaven. Seriously, it was! Since Vegas is kind of dead throughout the day, we decided to do the tourist-ish thing – sightsee.
Half an hour later sweat was dripping from my nose, so we decided to go back to the hotel pool… and to stay there for a while.
Later that night we took a walk on the famous strip of Las Vegas and gambled some coins away. Also I think we got slightly drunk. I’m not too sure about that though.. 
The next day we decided to stay indoors (well, after taking a dip in the pool of course).
In the evening we saw the Blue Man Group – and I was amazed. I can only recommend this show! Afterwards we gambled some more money away – and maybe got slightly drunk again, not sure!
After these 2 days in the desert it was time to go back home again because I had the big final presentation of my internship project the next day. So we buckled up and called KITT to take us home.
In an instant we were home. Ahem. The instant being 10 hours.
What a blast!
Leave a comment: One comment so farInfinite Loop (and one kick-ass ride)
Kamar and I went to see Infinite Loop today! It’s not as fancy as you might expect, but it was still worth the (20 min…) drive!
A few more pics below. Oh and if you want to check out our awesomely wicked car – see below as well!
Oh by the way.. I am aware of the missing Vegas footage 
Its currently being processed over at Vimeo. Stay tuned!
Skydiving with Google employees
Wow, that was fun! Unfortunately there were no cameras allowed inside the Bowl, and the glass was reflecting like mad. Now I’m stoked for some proper Skydiving! Yeehaw.
EDIT: Someone bought the DVD of our flight and put it online, woohoo! (I’m in the tube at around 5m – and at some later point..
Leave a comment: One comment so farCisco EOS
The times when Cisco was just a “plain old” router manufacturer are over. New software solutions are on the rise, and this is one of them. I think it’s looking awesome!
Side note: But, uhm. Travis – relax dude. Stop bashing on your man Mark – and maybe use a few less “dude”’s and “mad sweet”’s in your sentences 
Via: Cisco EOS Microsite
Leave a comment: No comments so farSan Fran & Alcatraz & Santa Cruz
We went to San Francisco again on Saturday. This time with destination Alcatraz. I still have to edit some of the photos I took on the island itself, but here are a few impressions so far. This big photo is taken from the Twin Peaks in SF. It’s really awesome there – you have a beautiful view over the whole city!
On Sunday we had another day at the beach in Santa Cruz. I took my longboard, everyone else went surfing. Santa Cruz is just amazing! As soon as I have my camcorder I will take some videos, I promise! Btw: Click on any of the thumbnails below to see the full picture.
Interactive Map of San Jose
View Cisco SJC Interns 09 Points of Interest in a larger map
Me and a few of the other interns will try to fill this custom map with points of interest through out the summer. Let’s see if we actually stick to it.
Leave a comment: No comments so farTiger Woods got nuttin’ on me!
We went to the driving range yesterday – it was my first time – , and I have to admit it was MAD fun! I loved it, even though I couldn’t really aim the ball!
At least I managed to hit the ball almost every time Supposedly you can rent Segways and drive them across the parcours if you go for a real golfing session there. I’ll make sure to try that at some point!
Oh, and I received my first paycheck yesterday, ca-chingggggg
Sunday Bulk Photo Post
Aaaaaalright. So you guys have been asking for more photos. I shall obey!
This is how the apartment village I live in looks like. The place is called NorthPark Apartments!
Once you enter one of the seven different communities located within the village, you’ll see the main courtyard. In this case it is the yard next to the gym and the basket ball court. I’ll post pictures of the courtyard of our community later!
This is the “backyard” of our apartment. The open window on the very left is where me and my roomie Kamar sleep.
My personal space! You can see the futon I’m sleeping on, my reliable Macbook Pro, and my new longboards
This is the view from my window. There are BBQ stations all over the place for everyone to use. We haven’t BBQ’ed yet, but it’s on the agenda!
Okay so thats it for the photos for now. There are some other news though:
I totaly forgot to post about my friend Philine coming by for a short vacation! Yup, she was here from last Thursday until today. At this point I want to thank Kamar for vacating our bedroom and sleeping in the living room for the 11 days!
I really enjoyed the time Philine was here, and I was a bit sad to see her leave today!
To celebrate the last day she was here, we went Minigolfing. Since I was a small kid, I loved the Adventure-Golf courses in the US. They just dont build them like this in Germany. Below you will find a photo taken yesterday evening. Final score was 60:54 by the way. She won… sigh
Thanks to Philine for stopping by! I really enjoyed the time
Recap of first week in San Jose
Wow, it’s been a while since the last post. Well, a lot happened lately!
On Saturday, May 16th I left my hotel in SF and went to SFO to meet with one of my new roommates – Nihal. We spent the next hour or so getting to know each other a bit while we rode the CalTrain to our destination San Jose. Once we arrived, we got off the train an onto the LightRail to drive to our new apartment. After quite a journey we finally arrived at the leasing office of the Laurels of NorthPark in the northern part of SJ. When we entered the office, another new roomie was already waiting for us – Kamar!
Since we leased an unfurnished apartment, we obviously had to buy some sort of beds, so we took a cab to WalMart to buy temporary air-mattresses. We also took a sneak peak at the “Great Mall” holding stores like a Converse, Abercrombie and Hollister Outlet to just name a few. There I also got myself an AT&T Prepaid package with a data plan for the iPhone. Now I’m not lost in this city anymore, yeehaw.
On Sunday Peter, the last missing roomie arrived. He’ll be interning at Google in Mountain View this summer!
The internship at Cisco started on Monday so we had to find out where Cisco was located in San Jose. Turns out its everywhere. They even have a street named after them.
For a bigger view of the Map, click here
The orientation took almost all day teaching all 65 interns important things about security and the general guidelines at Cisco. Oh, and we got Thinkpads! After the orientation it was time to meet up with the future managers. So I went to building 32, where my Business Unit is located. My manager Manoj was already expecting me and the whole team gave me a warm welcome, thanks for that!
Tuesday was a regular work day, and on Wednesday the guys from AT&T finally activated our DSL in the apartment.
There are no fancy photos of the apartment yet because I forgot to charge my camera. It’s in the plug now and should be ready tomorrow though! So expect photos of NorthPark and maybe even of the Cisco campus!
I’ll try to keep this blog more up to date than in the last few days. But then again, there’s way too much to be done after work to sit in front of the computer again like for example.. hanging out at the pool/spa/gym or going for a round of Ultimate Frisbee with the other interns! I’ll try my best to blog more regularly though!
Third Day in San Francisco
Last day in SF for the time being. So what did I do? Catch a face-sunburn, that’s for sure! Apart from that:
-Rode the Cable Car a gazillion times
-Visited Coit Tower
-Ate at “Wipeout” (The meal was good, but really the best thing were the signs all over the place. Check them out here!)
-Visited the Cable Car Museum (awesome!)
-Went longboarding at the coast for 3 hours (wanted to cross the bridge but that didnt happen due to extreme windâ¦)
-Took a few more pics! As usual, check em out here.
Second Day in San Francisco
Second day’s almost over, time for a recap.
-I’ve bought a longboard (yay!)
-I’ve taken a few photos. Check them out here.
-I love free wifi.
So long!
First day in San Francisco
So as you might have noticed, my visa checked out and I left for the USA on Tuesday, May 12th. Bremen to San Francisco via Munich. I arrived at SF Intl at 19:20 local time after what felt like a gazillion years.
I then took a cab to the Hostel I had reserved a bed in. After I arrived I found out that I had to share my room with 5 french teenage party kids so you can imagine how my night was..
Today I changed my room to a single suite and moved in. The photo above shows it – small but neat. I love the windows!
It’s located right on the crossing of Taylor and Post (see Map)
GröÃere Kartenansicht
So after moving in I wandered around the city for a bit. Tomorrow I’ll take my camera with me! More posts soon!
My visa was approved, but I still have to hope
I just left the US Embassy where my J-1 non-immigrant visa was approved (yay!).
Problem is, I’ll get it via mail “within 7 days from today”. So if I’m lucky (85% probability) it will arrive in time before my plane leaves next Tuesday from Bremen. Worst case (15% probability) it would arrive next Tuesday. Then I’d have to reschedule my flight for $$$.
Basically this is good news as it means I will definately be able to start my Internship on May 18th. Now it’s just a matter of how much time I will have in SF before it starts!
Just about three weeks left
No cool images in this post, sorry to disappoint
Instead I will try to give a quick sit-rep of the planning process.
1) I’ve found roomies, and they found an apartment where we will be staying. NorthPark actually worked out!
2) I’ve received almost all needed paperwork to apply for a visa at the consulate – I’ve scheduled an interview there for May 5th. Time will be short, but it might just work out.
3) I’ll be attending an orientation-seminar by the agency which supports my internship (TravelWorks, Münster) at May 7th.
4) I’ve checked flights around May 12th. Seems they are a bit cheaper than I had hoped. Yay!
That’s all for now. Please do post comments (german ones are allowed aswell!)
Housing found (hopefully)
I’ve found a place to stay – and some soon-to-be roomies hopefully, thanks to facebook!
The whole deal is called “The Cypress” and is part of the North Park Apartments.
They also have a video tour through the community. Check it out here!
Oh boy, this is going to rock
Paperwork, oh paperwork
Long time no post! Let’s do a quick sit-rep: I’ve received my passport. Cisco has confirmed my placement in CCBU (Web2.0/iPhone Dev, hell yes!). Cisco has also passed the request for a DS-7002 form on to their attourneys – should arrive throughout the week. Once that’s here, I’ll be able to ask for a visa from the US Gov. In short, lots to do, but still AWESOME
Accepted
I’ve ordered my passport today and just as I returned home, I found this in my email inbox:
“Hendrik Richert,Â
Congratulations on accepting a summer internship at Cisco Systems, Inc. in San Jose, CA (SJC). As a Software Intern within the Central Development Organizationâs (CDO) Cisco Choice Program, you will be provided the unique opportunity to choose the Business Units (BUs) in which you are interested in working. So that you know exactly where you will be working when you show up on Day One, we begin the matching process prior to arrival so that we donât waste any time when you get here.”
Looking good!
Leave a comment: 2 Comments so farYou have got to be kidding me
I am just off the phone with some guys over at cisco germany. I had asked them why the process of getting me a DS-7002 form was taking them so long. Well it turns out the crisis of finances had a bigger impact on everything than i had believed. Cisco Systems is not sure anymore if they can afford to keep interns this year! Oh come on guys, where can you get any cheaper work? Anyways, so my written confirmation in on hold until next week when they decide whether to do an internship program or not. This sounds like massive fun.
Leave a comment: No comments so fargetting ready
Okay so this is it then i guess. no turning back anymore. i am about to go to the united states during the summer – just waiting for my visa. iâll be gone from april to august, if the visa checks out. thereâs a bit of tension in the air, i must confess.