socialSARAH

Hi all,
As many of you know, I am currently working as an intern at DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH, which is the German equivalent of the American Federal Aviation Administration FAA. There, I translate texts into German and English (mostly English), proofread translations and other English documents, and work on terminology lists for English, Polish, and German. I’m having a blast and learning a lot about the German workplace, aviation, and working in a translation office. 
Texts I have translated include letters from the CEO to the employees, annual reports, press releases (http://www.dfs.de/dfs/internet_2008/module/presse/englisch/press_service/press_information/2011/dfs_presents_flight_routes_for_bbi_4_july/index.html and http://www.dfs.de/dfs/internet_2008/module/presse/deutsch/presse/presseinformation/2011/unterzeichnung_der_kooperationsvereinbarung_28_6/index.html), articles, and presentations on the company. Some are more exciting than others. Some are passive-aggressive. Some are dry. Either way, it’s all rather exciting to me.
My co-workers are really great. I work in the communication department, which includes the press, the political relations, some other communication-related smaller departments, and us — the Sprachendienst, or language services. My boss is a translation/language German genius named A., and just below her is an American colleague, C.. I also have an Irish co-worker named T., and three German co-workers named C., U., and J.. There’s office gossip, office drama, and a lot of exciting news that you hear through the grapevine. The air traffic controllers in Germany are currently “fighting” with the heads of the company and are threatening to strike, which is allowing me to learn some fabulous things about the German law system. And about the complicated hierarchies of German (and American?) companies.
I currently live in Langen (Hessen), which is about 20 minutes from Frankfurt (3.90 euro with the S-Bahn). It’s a small city that’s mostly a commuter city. People who work in Frankfurt generally live here. It’s not particularly beautiful or interesting, but there’s a lake and some great wooded areas. It’s a 10km bike ride to the Frankfurt airport and there are “mountains” nearby. But most important, it’s close to work — just a 25 minute walk, or in bad weather, a 1 minute S-Bahn ride and a 5 minute walk.
At DFS, they also teach kids aged 18-25 how to be air traffic controllers (ATC). There are several different types of controllers (Tower, Center, UAC, etc) but they all are super stressful jobs to have. The students spend part of their studies learning theory, then they move on to simulation, and then on the job training. Simulation is awesome. I visited the Tower Simulator one day and was really impressed. The 3D images of an airport are projected onto the screens of a round room (looks like you’re sitting in the actual Tower) and each student has a “Coach” who was/is a trained air traffic controller. In another room, there are people acting as pilots. Since it’s only a simulation, it’s OK if the students mess up — they just pause the simulation and tell them what went wrong. It’s fascinating and I wish I could do it (but not really).