Puzzles, Mountains, Microsoft, O My (Part 3 of 3)

Puzzling the Day Away

The next weekend (Saturday, July 7), I participated in Microsoft Intern Puzzle Hunt with 10 other intern friends. We were given an entire conference room as our personal headquarters and solved all sorts of mind puzzles with different video game flavors (i.e. one puzzle was the sheet music of mario which you had to convert into binary and then map to alphanumeric letters). Although we finished below averaged, I had a great time stretching and challenging my mind (and basically nerding out). This fueled my decision to participate in Microsoft's Intern Games, which is a 36-hour more grueling version of Puzzle Hunt that also has an Amazing Race element to it (i.e. we got to drive 200 miles throughout Washington). But more on that later. Puzzle Hunt was filled with free pizza and good fun. One of the "live" puzzles including reenacting and playing Angry Birds live, where two of my roommates and I filled 10 water balloons and stacked 10 cardboard boxes about 100 feet away from where we had to knock them down. Then, we took turns using a giant rubber slingshot to fling our balloons - I knocked down our structure on our last shot.

Climbing Mountains, O My

After church that Sunday, I also got the opportunity to explore more of Washington's natural structures, namely Mt. Si and the Snoqualmie Falls. It was a hot summer day in the 80s and we were ill-prepared in terms of clothing (I was wearing black sweatpants…), but regardless, I still felt quite accomplished when we summited little Si (a little of 2 miles). Driving along Route 202 from Seattle to Snoqualmie was also quite enjoyable - the scenery reminded me so much of the Disney movie Cars and the grand, natural beauty along Route 66.

Roomie and I at the top of little Si

Snoqualmie Falls

Earlier in June, the Microsoft intern program had planned a trip to Mt. Rainier - a national park and one of the most famous (and beautiful) Washington mountains. However, a few Microsoft full-time employees made a trip the week earlier to scope out the conditions and came back reporting that there was still too much snow for the trip, so they cancelled the trip. I was quite saddened by the announcement because a lot of returning interns agreed that the Mt. Rainier trip was their favorite intern activity. Thus, when the intern coordinators announced that they had planned a trip on an alternative date in July, I jumped at the opportunity. Good thing too, because they only had space to take 250 interns (out of 1000+), and many of my intern friends didn't get a spot on the trip.

Roomie and I submitted Panorama Point!

Loving the snow (and the sights)

Roomie sliding down the mountain (my picture didn't come out quite as nicely)

Great views while climbing down

So, the Sunday after Si (July 15th), my roommates and I woke up at 6am to board onto a bus at Microsoft. We drove for about 3 hours from Seattle to Mt. Rainier, and along the way, our bus broke down. Thankfully, there was just enough room on the other 4 buses to transfer 12 of the 50 people on my bus on to each of the other buses. With the bus brakedown, we arrived at Paradise Peak later than planned at about 12:30pm and had a little over 3 hours at Rainier. The vantage point we wanted to get to was a little over 2 miles away and a 1,700 ft elevation gain, but my roommate and I timidly joined the ambitious and intense group that was determined to reach Panarama Point. We quickly realized we were not part of that head of the pack group and comfortably made our own way up the mountain (and eventually reaching Panaroma Point probably about 15 minutes after the first group). The hike was 95% through snow and fairly challenging going up, but the views were gorgeous - both throughout our climb and throughout our drive. I actually liked Rainier better than the views at Olympic National Park because I got too see a great amount of diversity in landscape in a much smaller area. We saw everything from meadow flowers to glaciers to cascading water falls to cute, fat, chipmunk-like wildlife. But, the best part of the trip was probably sliding down the mountain on nothing more than a trash bag. It was everthing like the pure thrill of sledding with an added dose of adventure (due to the mountain part of the equation). We even "invented" garbage bag shorts, by which we created a hands-free sledding experience.

Sleepless in Seattle

All throughout the last two weeks, a few intern friends and I have been diligently preparing for the Intern Games I mentioned before (the 30-hour Amazing Race meets Puzzle Hunt event) by solving practice puzzles after work. Because I don't have internet at my apartment, we often took over a Microsoft conference room (as well as took advantage of the free drinks and copy room) sometimes until 1am in the morning solving puzzles, skyping friends, playing pool, watching Modern Family/failure of LA fireworks show, and otherwise hanging out. Our team was aptly (or not so aptly) named Sleepless in Seattle because the Intern Games event has us drive a minivan all over the state of Washington. There were definite highs and lows in the trip, but overall it was a fantastic experience.

The Intern Games team: Sleepless in Seattle

Prepping with a pig (part of registration was taking landmark photos)

Driving through Leevenworth

Practice puzzling right before the midnight premiere of Dark Knight Rises

I got to see such beautiful parts of Washington (the drives were great), flex my puzzle solving muscles, and have fun singing in the car and enjoying good company. The people who ran the Intern Games did a great job planning the entire event - from puzzles to destinations. One puzzle involved almost 5 different types of encodings (from braille, to 5-bit binary, to resistor encodings) and another puzzle took us to Leevenworth - a cute, Germontown-like area (it's actually a Bulvarian village). While at times it was slightly discouraging when we got stuck on a puzzle, we stayed a cohesive team and pushed through until the end, having a great time throughout. I definitely encourage everyone to try these types of puzzling activities - it's incredibly rewarding to crack one of these obscure puzzles (and I also think it does wonders for training your brain to problem solve effectively).

Dining in Leevenworth

After a successful ring toss puzzle

In a Leevenworth park

Puzzling away at Stevens Pass

There's no I in TEAM

Looking Ahead

This brings me to this week, which is Signature week for us interns. This basically means there's a bunch of events just for interns this week, in an effort to draw us back full-time or for another internship. So far this week, I've had the privilege to see the Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talk to the interns as well as the Windows President Steve Sinophsky talk. Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be the big Intern Signature Event, which is a private event for all the interns across the country. A few years ago it was a several months early screening of the last Harry Potter, and last year it was a private David Matthews band. The event is kept under tight wraps, but clues have been given out to suggest that it's some sort of concert. Another tradition for Microsoft interns is to receive an intern gift at the end of the signature event, which in the past has included an xbox and kinect. I'm super psyched for the event as well as the other goodies this week brings.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer speaking to the interns

Windows President Steve Sinofsky (front row seats to see my boss!)

While I've been having a blast here so far (and have been somewhat AWOL on the blog and elsewhere), being in Seattle has made me appreciate my friends back at college and at home much more, as well as my family. I've been very grateful to be welcomed by such an incredible church family, to have stumbled upon such fun and agreeable roommates, and to be surrounded by such smart, wise mentors, and living on my own has definitely been a great learning experience (dealing with rent for the first time and renting my first rental cars). Nevertheless, I still feel nostalgic for my mom's (or sister's) cooking sometimes, for the ever-pervasive presence of my blinkies (aka college dormmates), for the comfortable silence (or intense discussions) with lifelong friends. With my family travelling to Las Vegas and Canada (without me) and my sister turning 16, this has been the first summer that I haven't spent with my family, and the three-hour time difference sometimes makes it hard to schedule skype dates with home, so I often miss being a part of their lives. Yet, I always look forward to hearing from them, even if it's just my brother telling me about the latest video game character he adores. So, while I hate the thought of leaving Seattle and the life I've quickly built here, I can't wait to go back home and meet up with my friends and family again. Let's not wait until then though - please, reach out to me if we haven't caught up in a while (even with my lack of internet, I'd love to catch up). May God keep you and your families safe.

Best,

Ruth


P.S. (Thursday) More details to come, but yesterday Microsoft gave each of its 1700+ interns a Samsung Series 9 Ultrabook laptop! I've been playing with it ever since!

#FTW

Mid-point Mark (Part 2 of 3)

Mid-point Mark

The next Thursday (June 28), I had my "mid-point review" with my manager, which is essentially a formal check-in to talk about how I'm progressing through my internship and whether or not I'm on track for the "next" thing, which for me, would be another internship, this time as an intern in one of the three disciplines: PM, SDE, or SDET (see this post for more information about the Explorer internship I'm currently a part of). This marked the halfway point of my time here in Seattle. While it is sad to think of how little time I have left in Seattle, this reminded of how grateful I am for the opportunity to work for Microsoft and interact on a daily basis with such smart, talented individuals.

Reliving childhood classics with the Seattle Symphony

Outside Paramount theatre after Les Mis

That weekend, I indulged in my theater-side and first watched the Seattle Symphony perform all the greatest Disney songs in a "Disney in Concert" special performance (for $10 at the student discount price) and then watched the 5th Avenue theatre perform Les Miserable as part of the 25th anniversary tour of the Broadway show. I loved singing along to my favorite childhood songs (something that many of you know I still do quite frequently actually) as well as watching my favorite musical of all time. I think my co-workers were getting a bit tired of my Les Mis craze that week as I had been listening to the soundtrack non-stop that week in preparation for the show. Both were amazing. The Disney concert was a timeless hit, with attendees such as little girls and boys in costumes to well-dressed adult Seattlers. With my week-long preparation of listening to the original soundtrack, I also really enjoyed watching the fresh interpretation of the 25th Anniversary show. I particularly loved the story of redemption and kindness that Les Mis is famous for as well as the characters Javier and Jean Valjean.

Potluck with friends

In addition to work and church, I've also been going (or trying to at least) to Microsoft's free salsa lessons after work with a few friends. In addition to having an extensive shuttle service that essentially serves as a free taxi ride to anywhere there's a Microsoft building, Microsoft also provides an array of social activities from intramural sports to dance lessons.

Dinner with the Lians (we cooked!)

A True American Experience

Back in high school in NJ, my friends and I would often joke around about my "American identity" (given the fact that I didn't know who John Mayer was and mixed up the Eagles and the Queens before). So, Emma, Kia, and Jess, you'd be very proud of how I spent my fourth of July (I think it was my most authentically American experience yet). I went to a church member's house for a fellowship BBQ (with great food I must add) and spent the day playing volleyball, videogames, and boardgames (all while in a perpetual food coma and state of consumption). I even watched a few minutes of Jackass (which has its funny moments but just got a bit too crazy and disgusting for me). After dinner, I headed to a fireworks show in a nearby small city, Bellevue, with some intern friends and watched the display in a packed park. Catching a ride from another intern, we got stuck in the parking garage because we were parked on the second story of the garage and everyone from the first floor had to get out first. Nevertheless, I had a great time hanging out with people all while feeling proud of my country and the freedoms I'm afforded.

Fireworks @ Bellevue Park (much better than the San Diego fireworks...)

From Seas to Skies (Part 1 of 3)

So, I've been very remiss in keeping the blog up-to-date this past month. My apologies; reflections this past week made me realize that I really need to do a better job keeping in touch with people in my lives, so, if we haven't caught up in a while, please - let's do!

Anyways, a snapshot into the past few weeks:

A Week of Firsts

In my last post, I briefly mentioned my first boating experience as well as my first trip to a U.S. National Park. That Thursday (June 21st), all the Microsoft Explorer interns went out to Lake Union to partake in an "electric boat scavenger hunt". When I heard this, I imagined high-speed boats racing around the lake. Instead, our luxury boats maxed out at about 6 mph. Nevertheless, it was still a great experience.

Me and my chill driver

Technically, you have to be over 21 to drive the boat, but my boat's driver was really chill, so I got to take our baby for a 15-minute spin! After me, one of my roommates took her turn at the wheel. However, just as she was getting her bearing and steering "sea legs", a large yacht came out of nowhere right in front of us! Thankfully, our driver had quick reflexes and halted the boat, but we were less than four inches away from the yacht when both sea vessels came to a complete stop. Needless to say, the people on the yacht weren't the happiest campers.

My roommate soaking in the sun

Boat 8! (the winning boat)

Our scavenger hunt entailed answering trivia facts about Seattle as well as locating various landmarks around the lake. One of these landmarks was the boat house that was part of the set of the classic 90s rom-com "Sleepless in Seattle". We were giving clues like "What fowled the house that never sleeps?" and "What lives at the Living museum?" (to answer the former: Boat houses are often labelled for rent or for sale by a statue of a bird, so we had to take a picture of the bird that "fowled" the "Sleepless in Seattle" boat house; you can work on the other clue).

Me and the Olympic National Park crew

That weekend (June 22-24), I also camped and hiked in Olympic National Park with one of my roommates and two of her friends living in the Seattle area. I simply can not capture the breathtaking views and moments of the great outdoors. Despite the fact that I am a relative "noob" to the whole outdoors experience, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and my company and highly encourage others to adventure into the outdoors. I was particularly impressed with the National Park's Service ability to provide accessible trails for everyone from the week-long wilderness backpackers to the families with small children.

Close brush with deer

Despite an omninous forecast of rain throughout the weekend, we were able to see great views of the Pacific Ocean, the Hoh rain forest, and many cute (and some not-so-cute) creatures. While hiking through one of the rain forests, we encountered a herd of elk just a ways off the trail and stood face to face with some elk no more than 10 feet away. It was literally breathtaking seeing these large beasts calmly eat as we silently snapped photos and revelled in the opportunity.

Just hanging around

Pensive thoughts along Kalaloch beach

More excited thoughts along Kalaloch beach

Sand Spraying fun at the beach

One of my other favorite moments from the trip included our last stop at a beach that let you drive in the sand. We were driving in an four-wheel-drive Suburu and had a blast spinning circles in the sand and even daring to see how far into the tide we could go with the car. It was pretty funny all-around because we left a window open while trying to carve donuts into the sand and a wall of sand flooded our car during one particularly sweet turn. While we enjoyed frolicking in the sand, another car apparently tried to copy our skimboarding stunt and was subsequently pulled over by the beach police for driving in the water. Oops. Anyways, through the fun and laughter, I was reminded daily in the most amazing ways of the beauty of God's creation.