A Noogler in a Nutshell

I've wanted to start this blog from Day 0. (what? I'm a computer scientist - of course I zero index.) That is, my first full day in Mountain View - the day before I started here at Google. I spent the day exploring on foot - buying groceries, getting a shiny new library card, calling friends from home, and composing blog posts in my head. And then the next day, Google happened. (Look, if it can be a noun and a verb, it can also be an event) And Google continued to happen all week, and at night I would come home to our internet-less apartment and do something I haven't done properly in a very long time: read books. Specifically, I'm reading Eat, Pray, Love - it's amazing. So you can blame my lack of blog posts on Elizabeth Gilbert. But now that I am finally getting around to blogging, I would like to welcome you to what is most definitely my nth blog (for some given value of n greater than 10) that will probably eventually become discarded for other pursuits, like more books. But this blog is different, because it's not just about my life, but about my adventures here as a Google intern - or, as they affectionately call us (interns and new full-timers alike), a "Noogler".

So what is a Noogler? Etymologically, it's rather obvious - a Noogler is a new Googler. (A Googler, more confusingly, however - is not "one who googles". That would make us all Googlers. Instead a Googler is someone who works for Google). On a personal level, some things are also obvious - almost all of us (key word almost) have backgrounds in computer science, on some level we're all nerds, and there is a definite culture here - a "Googley" culture, that t-shirts, food, and knowledge should all be free within the company. Google is, in general, a very open and a very happy place.

But there is also diversity here - not only ethnic and cultural diversity here, but also diversity of educational background, of age, and of personality... and it is a very good thing. But for that reason, I cannot really tell you what it means to be a Googler, or even a Noogler - I can only tell you what it means to be this Noogler: me. And so that is what I intend to do with this blog - I will relay my experiences as a Noogler, and my opinions and thoughts which are my own and do to reflect those of my company (had to get that disclaimer in there somewhere, sorry), and hopefully keep you informed and entertained enough to read on as my adventures continue throughout the summer.