| 05.20.2004 | gothenburg thus far
Sweden is cool. I've been here for three full days now and am having fun. We're working very hard (12 - 14 hour days) but with 16 hours of sunlight it makes it a little easier to wander around before and after work to see a few sights.
I just posted pictures from Days 1, 2 and 3. It's fun to wander around and snap pictures like a fool. There seem to be suprisingly few other tourists, so I know I stand out. (I was informed by a Swede that I look "very American" so I guess there's no chance of blending in, even without the camera.)
I was having a little laugh with the people we're working with about how much history is in their city compared to Irvine, which was established in 1976. Their office was built in the late 1800's while ours was built in the late 1980's. Ours is "old and crappy" while theirs is "old and cool."
Pictures from Day 1 offer some bland shots from the airport in Chicago, a panoramic view out of my hotel room and a few pictures of my first meal in Sweden. (It was delicious.)
On Day 2, the first full day in Gothenburg, I stretched my legs early in the morning and took a long walk around the city. I also posted a giant panorama of the sunset I mentioned in my previous post. I'm really proud of how it turned out. Quite a lucky shot!
In addition to a great tour of the city, Day 3 (Wed) gave me my first glimpse of just how crazy "football" fans are. Valencia, Spain was playing Marseille, France for the UEFA Cup title.
The folks from Valencia (who I nicknamed "The Orange People" for obvious reasons) were pretty noisy... and just happened to be holding their rally just outside the office in which I was trying to work.
Day 4 was spent locked inside a conference room writing copious amounts of design documentation. I'm really proud of the work we've done thus far. It's going to be the best implementation of this kind of feature ever in a console title. I can't wait to see it functional within the game and in the hands of hundreds of thousands of gamers.