"Time Flies When You're Having Fun"

This morning I awoke and was shocked to find myself done with 2 of my 3 months in Seattle this summer. I have never been a huge fan of corny sayings, such as “Time flies when you’re having fun!” And yet, in this particular case, I can find no better way to say it: I have been having so much fun that no matter how hard I try, time seems to be accelerating!

You may ask incredulously, “How can a girl working 40-50 hours a week at the largest software company in the world be having fun?” I understand why people would be skeptical, so I will attempt to explain why working at Microsoft has been so fun this summer through a few recent anecdotes. What, exactly, does fun in the office look like?

FUN IN THE OFFICE:
Suppose you were walking down the hallway by my office last Friday afternoon. What would you have seen? Surprisingly, you would have found a row of ficus plants spanning the entire width of the hall. My co-worker Jason and I perused my building’s hallways to “borrow” various plants from our office neighbors. The end effect was that we were able to create a barrier which sufficiently acted as a volleyball net. Once we had constructed the wall of plants, we proceeded to play a game of volleyball in the hallway. Other employees who passed by, while confused at first, soon quickly joined the fun. We finished the afternoon game by enjoying some of the infinite free sodas provided for employees.

I have mentioned the office dog, Brutus, in a few posts this summer. The new joke on the block is that I am Brutus’s “office girlfriend.” Every morning when I come into my office, Brutus sees me pass his office and leaps up to follow me into my own office. He waits patiently for me while I check my email, and then we head to the building’s kitchen together where I get a piping hot cup of Starbucks coffee and a bowl of cereal for breakfast. I return to my office to begin the day, Brutus at my side. After finishing my cereal, he is the lucky dog who gets to lick the bowl every morning.Since I complete this morning routine 5 days a week, it comes to little surprise that we all joke I am Brutus’s office girlfriend! Haha.

The Microsoft campus covers a large area, with over 100 buildings. But don’t be fooled – not all of these buildings contain only offices and engineers! In fact, in the center of the campus there is a collection of buildings known as the “Microsoft Mall.” You need your badge for entrance, but it is literally a “mall” with over 30 places to eat, a post office, a massage parlor, bike shops, cell phone stores, fountains, and more! Adjacent to the mall is a full-sized soccer field. Microsoft XBOX sponsors Washington’s soccer team, the Seattle Sounders. Last week, the Sounders had their practice on the Microsoft campus, and the employees were invited to watch. My friend Jason and I decided to watch the practice and then pick up lunch at a restaurant called the “Spitfire Grill” at the Microsoft Mall. It is very common for employees to walk over to the Microsoft Mall during the summer months and enjoy an afternoon off!

FUN OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE:
While I certainly have fun in the office, most of the fun happens outside of it! For example, last weekend I hopped in a car with a bunch of friends and drove a couple hours to Mount Rainier National Park. We went hiking in a 7 mile loop and had lunch on the trail with spectacular views! You can see a couple of pictures from the adventure below.





I have recently joined a volleyball team that plays beach volleyball a few times a week. Last Tuesday, my team had our quarter-final match on Golden Gardens Beach in downtown Seattle. It was difficult to focus on the game, considering that the ocean was 10 feet to my left! As the sun set over the Pacific and the boats in the marina gently rocked with the surf, my team won our match and will be advancing to the semi-finals. Wish us luck!

Microsoft, like Qualcomm, is famous for spoiling its interns! Last Friday our recruiters put on an event for all interns from the West/Mid-West universities. The event had a free catered burrito buffet, free t-shirts, free video games, as well as a number of other free gifts. They gave us all $50 gift cards just for attending! We also played a massive intern game of “Capture the Flag,” which was a lot of fun.

Perhaps the most impressive event, however, happened last Thursday. Each summer, Microsoft invites all 800 interns to a massive summer celebration. (When Bill Gates was still the CEO, it used to take place at his mansion on the ocean.) This summer, Microsoft rented out the entire Pacific Science Center in Seattle and showed the new Harry Potter 6 movie on IMAX screens (this version won’t even be released until next week). To get us all there, a fleet of 25 buses lined up on the Microsoft campus at 5PM. We had a police escort of 30 motorcycle cops who proceeded to shut down (not one, but) TWO of the major interstates in Seattle to transport all of the buses downtown. You can imagine the look of shock on the commuters’ faces as they were stopped to allow a fleet of 25 bases pass by them across the Lake Washington bridge!! After arriving at the Pacific Science Center, we had a massive BBQ with gourmet hamburgers, hotdogs, and desserts galore. There was also an open bar! We ate the free dinner on an outdoor patio by the ocean and then moved into the theater to watch the movie. To top the evening off, Microsoft provided every intern with an XBOX 360 game console (worth hundreds of dollars) as a thank you for working here this summer! It was an absolutely awesome night! You can see a picture of me with some friends below holding our new game systems:



Today I went to downtown Bellevue to see their Art Festival with my friends Tyler and Lauren. The downtown area is covered with art booths for local artists and food vendors. While snacking on roasted corn on the cob, Philly cheese steak sandwiches, and shaved ice, we enjoyed looking at the various paintings and handmade jewelry. It was another beautiful afternoon spent in the Seattle sunshine!

While there have been infinite fun activities this summer, I cannot possibly tell you about them all. I hope you have enjoyed hearing about a few of the highlights in this blog post! When I consider that I have only 4 weeks left to spend in Seattle, I crave to do even more and experience everything I can. Tomorrow I am going on a cruise of Seattle’s lakes with some girlfriends, and tomorrow evening my parents arrive for a few days. Updates on both of those adventure will surly appear on my blog soon. Time may “fly when I’m having fun,” but it seems to “soar when I’m having fun in Seattle!”