Viborg Thoughts About Work: Alanna

This week has been extra exciting. I am finally seeing results in my project and learning how they contribute to liver function and metabolism. There is a lot going on inside my head at this point in the game. I’m not in over my head at work but there are times where I feel I am just not qualified enough to do what I do. The best way to learn though is truly by asking someone who knows what they are doing. I kind of felt really stupid at work today asking questions every second, but I realized that’s the only way to learn. My coworkers understand that I am young and I am trying to get a grasp on things so they don’t mind explaining things to me. There have only been a few problematic encounters over the week. The first problem I encountered was the language barrier. When typing up data on Excel I am expected to do it in the lab. The lab computers, however, are in Danish and every time I have to enter in data the files need to be transferred to my computer in my office which is set in English. My laptop is also experiencing some problems. I don’t know if it is my browser or settings but often times links don’t work or they automatically switch into Danish. It’s a bit frustrating and I’ve been trying to deal with it. The second problem I have encountered is the cost of living. Things at the store just seem so expensive and I can’t get over that fact. I’m tempted to buy things but when I calculate the prices I stop myself from buying them. I think that has half way ruined my experience here. I want to enjoy some of the finer items here but I’m trying to conserve money for traveling and exploring. The third problem I’ve encountered is thinking outside the box. I’ve always been taught very systematically with direct results. Things aren’t that simple here. You always have to have a plan for when your experiment fails or your parameters don’t match up. Even though I have been frustrated at many times I have to stop and think. The environment here has help alot with my problems. My coworkers have been so friendly and understanding and it has made things much easier for me to cope with failures and problems here. Regardless of these problems, I have so far had a very enjoyable stay in Denmark. Weather has gotten better, I have meet more people, and my experiment has finally started and is going well.