5-week is too short for everything, but it just proves it’s a great time.
Hello, everyone reading this blog! My name is Xizi and I’m from China. I’m majoring in computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I did the GIP internship for 5 weeks from 5/13 to 6/14/2019. There are officially 4 of us in this batch, and unofficially can be more since there are many hidden interns in the office all year around.
A quick overview of what we did during the internship: There are two assignments taking three weeks in total. All of us were working on the same training assignments and there are mentors guiding us through the work. After that, we were divided into different teams and work on a project based on each team needs.
It’s all about collaboration.
Assignments here are not homework in school and are not a competition in any sense. We all get way more help than from just our assigned mentor, but also people sitting next to you, across the monitor, from another row, basically everyone can code and generously offers help. A common scenario is one person getting stuck on a weird bug, and gradually more and more people just gather together try to figure that out (thanks, everyone!).
Also, if you begin freaking out because of the tons of terms you’ve never heard of, there is no need to worry. That’s why we are here and why we have 4 members, huh? If one of us makes some progress, we would share and explain it to each other. Even though sometimes none of us can find a solution, it is not a bad thing to have a group suffer together and try…harder!
Time to break your stereotype!
Talking about working in Japan, at least speaking for myself, I had an impression of a strict dress code and lots of rules I need to follow. Apparently, HENNGE is a special case. There is no dress code in the office (certainly no one wants to code in a suit). People don’t even have assigned seats and can work from wherever they want in the office. Also, doing an internship here is certainly not only coding all day long, but there is also so much fun besides that. There is a Coffee Club every afternoon where people can gather to enjoy coffee and have a nice conversation. Coffee beans used in office are sometimes brought by people working here when they travel around, and various snacks are usually shared along with that. Boardgame nights are held every week as well.
What about the food? There are beer bashes after MTS (Monthly Technical Session, a mini-conference for engineers to share the latest news and trends in IT industry) and Communication Lunch every two weeks. The presentation of food catering in the office is surprisingly great. It is not just a large-portion of food dumped into trays. The restaurant staff put in so much effort to prepare and present the food, and for sure it tastes amazing.
Besides that, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, each of us has GIP lunch with two other members of the company. We can discuss and choose what we want to eat, and Shibuya has tons of food options nearby. Food might be the best medium to bring people together. Sharing food is a good chance to talk to people you are not familiar with. GIP team has members from all over the world and work in different divisions, so it is always a good time not only to enjoy the food but to have a great conversation.
Then, what to do in your free time?
First of all, Tokyo has unlimited interesting spots worth to check out. For the first time visitor, there are tons of “must visit” places mentioned in the tour guide. However, if there is something weird and interesting you want to try, don’t miss out the chance to try something new in Tokyo!
Here is the blue curry I tried in Sanrio Theme Park. It is surprisingly not bad! They also have pink curry as well. The second picture is soy sauce ice cream which is also good.
However, from my perspective, Tokyo is not just busy and crowded. If every day getting across Shibuya crossroad to commute makes you feel tried about traffic, it is a good option just walk through the neighborhood during free time. It is special in Tokyo that even though the main road is always so packed, just one street away can pace down. Sometimes walking across neighborhoods can be full of surprises, because there are bakeries and craft shops hidden everywhere.
Also, if you like film photography, Japan is one of the best places to scan your films. The quality is always great, but a little bit more expensive at the same time. Tokyo has so many art exhibitions going on all the time. At the time I was in Tokyo, Mori Arts Museum has Moomin and Pixar exhibitions which were fun to look around. Also, Laugh off This Hopeless World (このどうしようもない世界を笑いとばせ) by Fukuzawa Ichiro (福沢一郎) in The National Museum of Modern Art (東京国立近代美術館) which is also great to check out. The exhibition is rotating all around the year. There are not only modern arts but also anime-themed and other special theme exhibition worth to go.
At the end...
The last day was there before I knew it. There are so many people I just met, but it was about the time to leave. Because we all share similar interests and are open to learning about things outside our mindset, there are unlimited topics we want to talk about and the time is far shorter than enough. Every day is packed with great times, and I want to say thanks to everyone I met. :-)
Xizi Yang comes from China. She studies Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Illinois, USA. Xizi interned at HENNGE Global Internship Program from 13th to June 14th, 2019.
