Day 1 On The Job

Today was my first day at Inside Government - a division of GovNet Communications.

I woke up at 7:00 am today and took a shower. I left my flat at 8:00 am, excited but nervous. I finally arrived to Embankment (but almost took the wrong tube line - Piccadilly instead of District). My internship started with my sitting in the waiting room. My manager, Matt, apparently had a doctor's appointment and was running a tad late. Instead, one of the other four people (including Matt) in inside government, showed me around the office, and introduced me to all of the people at GovNet Communications. Besides the seven top magazines that GovNet produces, it also hosts larger events, while inside government hosts events from 50-150 people. Events include conferences mainly that deal with prevalent issues (Obesity, London 2012, Special Educational Needs etc)

I started my day by proof reading the inside government website (http://www.insidegovernment.co.uk/) for any spelling errors, grammatical errors, and for sentences that were illogical or confusing. After that, I updated the website to take account of these errors. Then, I had lunch at an Italian restaurant - they charged me a cover charge too! I returned and finished updating the website etc. Although it was tedious and boring, this enabled me to learn about inside government and to get to know some of the events that I will be helping organize. I then was assigned a task to research current news and articles that pertain to each event in July 2009 and to write a blurb that will be used for marketing purposes. My job was to take this current news and to tie it in with the conference. These blurbs will be used in emails as headers to potential delegates (or guests). Because I looked at the computer screen so long (and since it was such a distance away), I got a little nauseous, but I ended up being fine. I hope to get my desk in order tomorrow so I can move the screen how I like it (since today I didn't have a computer - so I used someone else's desk/computer who was out today). Everyone that I work with in my department is very nice and very social too. However, the keyboard is a bit different - some keys are different like the @ sign is where the : and ; key is and the " key is there the @ sign is. And then the pound and euro sign is where the $ sign is and the $ is where the # sign is. But overall, it is manageable.

After my internship, I ran over to West Kensington to try to get my camera fixed. After waiting a while, I was told that it would be 135 pounds! I decided to buy a new camera instead. I then went over to High Street Kensington to go to Jessops, a camera store. On the way, I passed a Sony store and went inside. I looked at a few cameras and saw some similar to the one I had, but they did not have an optical viewer (one that you can see with your eye instead of the screen). I went to Jessops, but they were closed. I then went with some EUSA friends to a Thai restaurant and ordered chicken with a peanut butter dip and sticky rice. I really did not enjoy it that much - well not as much as the other Thai restaurant I went to.

I then went back to South Kensington where we looked at some flights and hotels for France for next week. We will probably book hopefully tomorrow!

I then returned to my flat and paid for my internet until July 11th. I then decided to do some research on a potential camera. My goal was to find the same exact camera (since I really do like it). I ended up ordering the same camera (since it is not available in any stores) from a website called "buyacamera.co.uk" They claim that they deliver within 24 hours. Hopefully they are correct because I would like it for Thursday's Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. I read some reviews, and most of them were 10 out of 10.

I then emailed EUSA to let them know that the camera is coming and to ask when I would be able to pick it up. I also wrote down my hours for internship and my tasks that I completed today.

Tomorrow is my birthday - so I know that some EUSA students want to go out to celebrate. If I have time, I will book my trip to Stonehenge this weekend. I know that a student from St. Francis H.S. is going to be there (on a different tour though) so we will probably run into each other since we are going to the same places.

Cheers!

Oh p.s. I learned (not from experience but from word of mouth) that the peace sign (with your palm facing you) is the same thing as raising your middle finger to someone. However, the peace sign with the palm facing out, is the same thing as peace in the US.