Let the training begin

Day 04, 9th Feb 2009:

The classes have started. At 8.30am after breakfast, we drove to the CGGVeritas centre which also housed the CGGVeritas University. It was only a short drive, approximately 5 minutes from the Hilton Garden Inn that we were staying in. Oh, did i mention that it's the best hotel i've ever stayed in so far? I don't know about the others, but it's the best for me so far.

Anyway, back to the story. We arrived at the office, got our temporary visitor's pass (temporary until our access cards are prepared) and proceeded to the classroom. There are 5 buildings with the university located in the northwest building. Quite a nice place to work in as well. The work culture over here in the US appears to be an early start to the day as people start arriving in the offices before 8am.

The first class opened with a welcome message by the manager responsible for the Georise programme, followed by the corporate introduction of the company by the President of CGGVeritas Western Hemisphere. After that, an introduction to Geophysics which was a good refresher for me who has quite a low knowledge of the subject matter for someone who graduated with that degree, he he.

Towards the end of the day, four of us managed to get our laptops first while the rest will get theirs the day after. After class, we went back to the hotel and proceeded to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Luckily we had the two Mexicans to communicate with the waitress (but it was their idea to eat there anyway). The food was quite nice but again big portion. For some reason, i couldn't really eat as much as i would have liked to, i really don't know why. We didn't go anywhere else after that as most of us were tired, so it was back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Day 05, 10th Feb 2009:

When i woke up this morning, i found to my horror that it was already 8am. Apparently, i forgot to set the alarm and by God's grace i still managed to wake up. As a result, i only managed to have some yogurt, a croissant and a glass of orange juice for breakfast, hardly what i would consider enough to sustain me till lunch. In any case, it was my own dumb oversight that i forgot to set the alarm.

The course today was about land acquisition and geometry. Man, i felt kinda useless when i couldn't really tackle some of the simple exercises which i should have been able to do. It just means that i'll really need to put in quite a bit of effort from now on. Comes from three years of half-hearted effort in the uni, sigh. Regretting over my laziness, as usual.

Moving on, about eight of us managed to get their access cards done. The rest of us will still need to check in at the lobby for the temporary pass until we get ours...bummer. Almost everybody has their laptops now, except for a few who's laptops have not been fully configured yet. Rather useful this certain program they installed in the laptops. It's a self-study program that compliments the courses at the university, really useful and necessary.

After class, we went to a shopping mall that was just huge. I'd say it was at least double the size of Midvalley or even maybe triple the size. Every building in Houston is just rather wide and generously spaced, which is probably due to the vast amount of land that they have in Texas. Some of the girls bought shoes...what is it about girls and shoes anyway? Guess it's something us guys will never understand, the same way most of them will never understand our fascination with video games and toys, ha ha.

Back at the hotel, i immediately set to washing my clothes in the laundry room. Good thing they have cheap coin operated washers and dryers here, only USD1 per use per machine. I initially wanted to go to the nearby McD's for a bite as the pizza slice i had in the mall was not enough even though that slice was almost as big as a personal pizza back home, but it was raining. Even as i complete this blog, my stomach is grumbling. Will definitely make sure i make up for it tomorrow morning.