Hats off to the inaugural Google Science Fair winners
Cross-posted from the Official Google BlogYesterday, our top 15 Google Science Fair finalists descended on Google’s headquarters and wowed our luminary judges—as well as more than 1,000 local attendees plus Googlers who stopped by to check out the …
Cross-posted from the Official Google BlogThe young scientists of the world have proven themselves truly impressive people—inventing technologies to improve the accuracy of prosthetic devices, developing video-audio memory aids for dementia patients …
Hi again!Right after my last blog post, I switched teams from Image Search Ads User Interface to Social Ads User Interface. The team’s main goal is to use social data to improve the ads experience. For example, when you search for local hair salons, …
Seeking the Americas’ brightest young minds for a spot at Zeitgeist Americas 2011
Cross-posted from the Official Google BlogThis year, we’re mixing up our annual Zeitgeist conferences with the launch of Young Minds, a competition hosted by youth engagement agency Livity, supported by Google and hosted on YouTube. Starting this wee…
Hey everyone!I’m now almost a month into my BOLD internship and wow, time flies! Work and fun both play major roles here at the Googleplex so this internship has challenged my time management skills and my work-life balance this summer. The good news…
Hey everyone!As month two of my internship kicks off, I’ve settled into my daily routine—or as close to a daily routine as an associate product management (APM) intern can have. After arriving at the office, I enjoy my definitely needed cup(s) of c…
Celebrating Pride 2011
Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog.More than a thousand Googlers participated in Pride celebrations in a dozen cities to support equality and remember the sacrifices of those who have made life better for members of the LGBT* community today. W…
Hi Everyone,I can’t describe how excited I’ve been since the moment I found out that I would be joining Google this summer. I can barely believe that I’m already one full month into my internship. I just want time to freeze because it’s amazing…
Interested in how research contributes to the development our products? Want to be a part of the process? Then sign up to participate in user studies with Google at google.com/usability! We’re looking for people to participate in studies to help us i…
Diary of a Summer Intern – Madelaine
Hey guys! It’s been a fast-paced week, but I’m finally getting adjusted to how things work here in Mountain View. This summer, I will be working on revamping how ads are displayed on Google image search, which means collaborating with people from a…
Nancy on her first day as a BOLD internHi everyone,I am officially a “Noogler”—Google speak for a new Googler. After a three-day orientation and my first week in the office, I have already realized that working at this company is everything I cou…
Introduction: Now that you’ve met the interns who will be featured this summer, let’s jump right in to see what they’ve been up to. Erika will kick things off and give us a sneak peek into her first few weeks as an intern in the Google Tokyo office.
Hey everyone,
This week marks the end of my first month as an associate product management (APM) intern on the Geo team in the Google Tokyo office. So much has happened over the past few weeks and I can’t believe things have been moving along so fast. At the beginning of May, I packed up two suitcases and moved from Colorado to Japan for the next three and a half months. I was a little overwhelmed to be moving to a foreign city, but looking back on my first month with Google, there’s no doubt that it was a worthwhile move.
 |
| Erika hanging out at the kotatsu in the webmaster corner |
After my plane landed at Narita International Airport in Tokyo, I moved into my new apartment and the next day—despite my jetlag—I got right to work at my new internship. The Google Tokyo office is located in the 54-story Mori Tower building. Besides the incredible view, working in the city’s fifth tallest building has other perks as well—whenever I get lost walking to work (which I still do, even one month in), it’s incredibly convenient to be able to look up, spot Mori Tower hovering over the other buildings and easily find my way to the office.
Since I am the first ever APM intern in the Tokyo office, getting settled in entailed a lot of trial and error, as well as a lot of hand-waving and charades to overcome the language barrier. I also got used to being greeted with a quizzical, “We have interns?”, since the idea of an internship is still a relatively new concept in Japanese society. The most exciting part of my first few days was meeting and going out to dinner with the Geo team. Bonding with the team early on helped me get familiar with not just my fellow Geo colleagues, but also the wide range of Geo projects going on here in the office.
I am working with the Maps Personalization team to create an individualized Google Maps experience for every user. Recently, we launched My Places which allows users to easily re-find and organize locations that are important to them. It was a really awesome to be able to dive into a project from the get-go and see the product launch within one month of my internship! Another really cool thing about my project is that the Maps team is spread out across several offices worldwide. It’s incredible to see people from different time zones working and communicating so well on a daily basis.
Outside of work, there is still more fun to be had. There are a lot of after-work clubs in the Tokyo office, including the ramen club, juggling club and ping pong club. I recently joined the climbing club and we go rock climbing or bouldering once a week at various gyms scattered throughout the city. It’s a great way to meet fun people from around the office while exploring new areas of Tokyo.
私はGoogleが大好き！
-Erika
Fun Google Fact: Google offers many ways to bring employees closer together. On Tuesdays, we have a Mystery Lunch event where people from all over the office meet outside the cafeteria and draw a random card from a deck. We then find the other three people with the same card number and all enjoy lunch together. It’s a great opportunity to step out of your usual lunch circle, meet Googlers outside of your department and enjoy interesting conversation over lunch. Google’s Mystery Lunch tradition is a tasty way to make friends and was even aired on NHK TV, Japan’s national broadcasting company.
Posted by Jessica Safir, University Programs Coordinator