Nothing bad to say.....

In a few hours I have my midterm review with EUSA (forget the fact that its not really the middle of the term...) for my internship placement. They want to know "how things are progressing" and help me "troubleshoot any issues" I'm having on the job. This makes me laugh, because my job is so beyond perfect for me that I don't think the reality will set in until I get home and think back on what I did. I almost don't want to write this post because it feels like I'm just bragging about my great experience.....which I guess I am, partly.....but hopefully it will convince at least one other person to take that terrifying chance, see what you've been given, and run with it all the way. I have nothing bad to say.

For starters, my coworkers are the best group of people I could have asked to spend the summer learning from. Especially Zara, whom I spend the most time with--I'm so glad she's willing to take the time to teach me things; I was really starting from the ground up with this!! I recently realized I'm going to miss spending the days listening to their hilarious conversations while I sit at my computer.

I also think its great that my workplace is so informal...very different from the companies many of my friends are working for. I kind of expected to spend the summer doing "intern work" in the corner by myself......completely wrong!! The closest I've come to that so far is Zara laughing it up while delegating me to write a press release she didn't really want to do herself....you're right, not very close at all :) Plus, everything is new and exciting to me so there's no way I won't think its fun!

I've also picked up on a couple journalistic differences between here (at least my office) and the States, in addition to the whole British v. American spelling thing:

• They always use the present tense for news. Instead of differentiating between certain circumstances of quotes, they use "says" instead of "said."
• Punctuation can go outside of quotes!! This is not just where I work, I've read it in all kinds of publications! As in, "blah blah blah", he said. Unless the comma is part of the quote, it goes outside. The same when referring to a word, like "word", because obviously the comma isn't part of that "thing" that you're quoting. weird!!

I guess generally, it feels great to be doing real work--as scared as I was to come here and as much as I figured I'd be doing nothing important and counting "learning from my surroundings" as the most valuable experience. Where I am, that' s just icing on the cake to the real hands-on stuff. Check the website for more stories, if you're interested--I've got several up on the front page right now:

www.climatechangecorp.com

In conclusion, I guess, I'm extremely blessed to be where I am. I can't wait to see where this experience will lead me once I get home!

Week Back in LDN

On one hand the weeks seem so long here, probably because we pack them full of all kinds of random fun activities. Sometimes I literally have to sit and think about what exactly I did two days ago--it seems like forever since I've been back from Dublin (only a little over a week), but that week was full of crazy-amazing stuff.

On the other hand, though, the time is really starting to fly by.....as cliche as it is, I guess that old saying is true! I can't believe I can now count in days how much time is left--less than 20. mindboggling!!

Anyways, on a more positive note.....the (relatively) short time I have left is going to be just as full--if not more so--with things to do. I'm getting to the point where there are certain things I need to do before leaving, so its more like checking things off a list than aimlessly wondering what to do next....I kind of enjoy it. :) It gives my fun an objective!

Since Dublin, though, (sorry, its just the easiest way to measure time!!) there's been a lot going on. Last Wednesday EUSA was selling some discounted tickets to Mary Poppins (the musical), and I had been toying with the idea of trying to go so I just hit it up after work. Tickets were cheap enough but the seats were not--I guess not terrible but not what I've been used to buying last-minute, dirt-cheap, third-row orchestra. Great musical though, with some pretty impressive special effects. Kind of sucks to try and do Mary Poppins....nobody is Julie Andrews and Dick van Dyke. :)

Thursday a small group went to try Yo! Sushi, the "conveyor-belt" sushi restaurant with color/price coded plates. Turned out to be really great....I would say expensive, but that's everything here, so meh. :) I definitely could have grabbed several more of those plates just zooming on past--I guess that's the point--but you just have to watch out for the colors!! I ended up with a stack of like 5 dishes, but it was awesome watching the (I assume) well-off businessmen next to us put away tower after tower of the "platinum" plates.....man, I wish. :)

Friday after class I went to the first day of a three-day conference on investigative journalism that I was lucky enough to be able to attend through work--really really compelling stuff!! Makes my work look wishy-washy though, having someone literally stand up there and tell you what to do with your hidden camera when your cover's blown, what's the best way to hide the wires, etc. For real!! Crazy stuff, what have I gotten myself into?!? A couple of really memorable topics, my favorite from an Iraqi reporter making documentaries--for some reason his stories really brought home to me the situation over there, like nothing's ever done before. It was eerie, especially being an American listening to him recount his personal experiences. Quite a bit of, say, hostility toward us in that room, but not overtly from the author....he was just telling a story and letting the facts speak for themselves--very admirable, but at the same time very strange, for me I guess.

Later in the evening some friends and I went to a wine-tasting at a really nice place near the Thames--I was very impressed!! We got quite a bit for our money, and I kind of feel like a pro now....ok, not a pro but I at least know more about wine than I did. not saying much..... :)

Saturday and Sunday were spent at the conference too--sitting all day just made me that much more antsy to go out and have fun in the evenings, so each day wrapped up with some time spent at a nice pub or club. Sunday I went to go see Hairspray (the movie) at a great theatre near Piccadilly Circus--awesome movie, go see it!! Maybe I'm lame, but stuff like that just makes me want to dance around.....which I definitely did on my way out of the theatre. :)

So that's recent fun....tomorrow a post about work, I promise!! It really is happening in the midst of all this..... :)

Dublin Adventures!

So Dublin! This post is a little late in coming, but it's been quite a busy week.

Last Friday a group of a dozen EUSA kids ran from class to the airport via fast train to catch our .01 pence Ryanair flight to Dublin. Our airline turned out to be better than I expected for the price paid--security and check in was a mess, but we were also a bit hurried so that contributed to the fluster.

Upon arrival it was....(drumroll)....raining. No surprise there, but the rest of the weekend turned out to be a massive treat. Having such a large group wasn't as unwieldy as I expected, as everyone kind of split up to do their own thing with friends. The hostel was still a "hostel," but nicer than any I'd been to before. Jacob's Inn, right in the city centre: huge property, courteous check-in staff....the normal crowd of sketchy hostel-stayers, but it was cheap and we didn't require all that much in terms of creature comforts. :) I also found that a bottle of Johnson's baby shampoo is all one requires in the way of toiletries for an entire weekend. Plus toothpaste.

So Friday was marked by the opening round of visits to "traditional" Irish pubs (which cater to tourists--most of them) for food and drink...including some good Dublin Guinness--an acquired taste for me, but nice stuff once you realize you can't have it this good anywhere else. I ordered a beef stew that came served in a hollowed-out loaf of sourdough bread--gigantic. A group of Irishmen sitting next to us even asked me how I was going to eat it and I responded, expectedly, that I didn't really know. :) Dig in, I guess!

Saturday for me was spent on an amazing tour of the Irish countryside--up into an area called Wicklow, where there are some quaint villages, great scenery, rivers and lakes of Guinness (not really but you wouldn't know the difference just by looking!), ruins of old monasteries, and sheep. Lots of sheep. The sheer size and openness of the country (it just doesn't quit!) made me want to, like, frolic around in the moorlands or something. It was really great. Plus our tour group was small with a knowledgeable and entertaining guide, who loved his job and took special care to take us to some off-the-beaten-track sites.

In the evening we went to an Irish dinner/song/dance show, traditional all the way. I had lamb stew and some Irish coffee before the live music started, broken up by stints of Riverdance-esque performances from a small troupe. It was great, and then we went to explore the city nightlife a little more before heading back to the hostel.

Sunday started with an Irish breakfast before a tour of the city in the hop-on, hop-off the big bus fashion. Surprisingly informative and good transportation between tourist spots--I'm glad I spent a few euro on it. And then....the last tour stop was at the Guinness Factory. In addition to being, well, the Guinness Factory, it was really educational if you're interested in how beer is made...I didn't think I would be, but it's actually quite interesting. After an informative self-guided tour, your admission includes a free pint at the top in what they call the Gravity Bar, where you're in a glass-walled room with a 360-degree view of the city! Also glad I decided to invest in this tour--very, very worth it. :)

Then it was a whirlwind of bussing to the airport, waiting for delays, flying into whichever small London airport offers cheapest flight (Stansted--flew out of Luton), and getting home VERY late after not wanting to wait for the bus, walking for a bit and giving in to a cab.

Exhausting, fun-filled weekend that was worth every penny! (pence? euro?) :)

Press Conferences & Plane Trips

So yesterday's conference went as expected: about a dozen reporters in a formal/informal setting (you know, where it's a round table "chat" but you still have to make awkward conversation with company big-wigs), handed a report and a few press releases, expected to juggle reading those with the aforementioned awkward conversation with drinking tea and eating pastries. Maybe some have mastered it, but certainly not me, not quite yet. Overall, it was interesting information presented in a (for me) new format. I made a couple contacts for another story I'm working on, and spoke with several people at the company who seemed interested in our special report coming out in October--I feel pretty good about it. Also got a free corporate pen, highlight of the day :)

I spent the afternoon working at home--no sense wasting 1.5 hours on a commute when I can work just as effectively from my laptop in my bed :). Sent off some newsbriefs for edits, and then was asked to freelance-edit a coworker's friend's friend's masters thesis for Cambridge....?!? Sure, I say. So from 3:30 to 9 p.m. I read 110 pages on the Russian Internet used as a medium for non-standard communication about US-Russian relations during the Iraq war---I make edits, and get paid. This whole freelance thing is really starting to look good!

So in about three hours and post-midterm I get on a plane for Dublin with 11 other EUSA kids...exciting! Weekend will be spent there, and it'll be nice to get away from the city for awhile, I hope! yay!

I love my job. For serious.

I just want to assert that I have the coolest job/coworkers ever, and I could really get used to a working lifestyle....like work, home, dinner, maybe go out, weekends free, etc. It's great.

Really, I understand how blessed I am to be in this position right now, and I'm definitely not taking any of it for granted--I'm also taking advantage of TONS of opportunities I never dreamed I'd get to experience in my job over here. I really appreciate that I'm being given so much freedom and responsibility (an interesting mix!) at work, and this is totally and completely the work experience I imagined....I just never thought I'd actually get it!!

Yesterday I:

1. wrote the weekly news round-up for the Climate Change newsletter = $100. nice.
2. wrote a new conclusion for my second story = $100. nice.
3. edited a huge piece that was sent in by another reporter...this was done on my commute in the Tube, making me feel special because a) I had something relevant to do on the Tube and b) it was something important.
4. decided what I was going to do today, which is: attend a press conference with big-shots from a large bank on a report they're releasing. This is more like a "round-table discussion" with special reporters.
   

In any case, I'm pretty intimidated, which is why I'm up early researching what intelligent questions to ask. Apparently direct quotes from these people are hard to come by, so this really is a unique opportunity. When I get back to the office this afternoon I'll write a story about it, and there you go. We'll see!!

OMG my first story :)

Here's my first story, a sample of the uber-cool stuff I get to write about:

http://www.climatechangecorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=4863

At press time, I had been working for exactly three days. I feel like I'm learning so much!!

Weekends are amazing!

9 July 2007
---I just realized the dates are messing up in my posts...up here will be the real one----

So I can safely say this past weekend was one of the best yet since I've been here.

Saturday: completely AMAZING....one of the best days yet. For starters, the weather was really, really great--a very welcome change--so I'm very glad we got to spend they day outside. On a bit of a whim a small-ish group decided to take the train to Canterbury, which turned out to be a great idea. The town itself was very quaint; the cathedral there is very impressive, and we took a tour so learning all the history was quite interesting. It's the oldest functioning church in the country. No big names buried there like Westminster, but still a good time and some great history. Down in the crypt they had uncovered some of the original wall paintings (13th century) depicting scenes from the Bible--very, very impressive. Apparently the monks sealed some treasure in a little alcove to protect it, and when the wall was knocked down in modern times they found all this priceless artwork--I love it.

After the cathedral we took advantage of the GREAT weather and bought a picnic to eat in a nearby park...the city was having a festival in honor of the Tour de France or something, and it was really nice to just enjoy the outdoors for a while. Baguettes, gourmet cheeses, and festival food can make a very substantial meal :)

Canterbury also had the ruins of a random Norman castle built in 1080...just sitting in the middle of town! There was no admission and no staff really--just walk in and explore at your own pace. Most interesting: the structure itself was made of flint...like, arrowheads!! It was crazy, then I noticed lots of things in the coastal area were made of flint, too--weird. Pretty neat to get that up-close-and-personal with things that old!!

Finished with Canterbury, on an even bigger whim, we then decided to take the train one more stop over to Dover on the coastline--white cliffs and all. It turned out to be a GREAT whim; it definitely made the day trip. After walking around the town, stumbling on a random county fair (?) parade (haha queen's court of Sandwich!), finding the pebbly coast and playing in the water for a bit, we climbed up to the top of the cliffs, up a rocky trail in the shadow of a castle. It was a very long hike, but very worth it in terms of view. :) Everybody got some great pictures before heading back down the cliffs to spend a little time at a local pub before heading back on the train. All in all, an exhausting, fun-filled day--a great trip with a great group!

Sunday we were blessed yet again with amazing weather, so naturally it must be spent at the park. :) We walked down after lunch and hung out for awhile until we got antsy and decided to take a spin on the Serpentine--Hyde Park's pond--in a paddleboat. That turned out to be a great way to see the sights, also a great leg workout. :) Lots of wildlife, I still can't believe there are such beautiful, huge open spaces in such a compact city. We left the park when the clouds began to role back in (you knew it was going to happen...) and had some great Chinese food to close out a weekend that will be tough to top.

Friday was nice too--some shopping in Oxford Circus, which I justify by the facts that everything's on crazy sale right now (seriously, prices are the same if not cheaper than $USD!) and I needed a few more versatile casual pieces to wear to work...also work pays me. Oh yeah, did I mention work pays me?!? More about work later.... :) Friday night a small-ish group visited a couple of pubs (one of which was the Goat, the oldest in Kensington!) and generally had a grand old time. Nice.

So....topping this past weekend will be tought, but oh, will we try. The Dublin trip is upon us this coming weekend, and aside from figuring out how to get from class to the airport in under an hour, we're all set to go. Flights are ridiculously cheap if you travel on the right days, and traveling in groups sometimes offers discount rates. Groups that are too big groups can sometimes be cumbersome...I've found that 4-6 is just perfect. We're taking 12 this weekend....haha, yeah, we'll see how it works out. :) Student discounts with my ISIC card are also proving to be valuable---everywhere from movie theaters to tourist attractions and even clothing stores often takes a percentage off or offers a discounted rate. Nice!!

Also nice that the weekend passed uneventfully in the, um, terrorism department--what with the anniversary of 7/7 and all. Kind of (really) glad we spend that day out of town, but I guess we had nothing to worry about after all. The previous failed car bombs affected me only a little--this whole city is where I live, work and play, so I guess there's no way they couldn't have--but not too terribly much. It was all just a little unsettling not knowing what was going to happen where or when, but I guess there never is any telling, events like that just bring it to the forefront of your mind. But my friends and I were all fine, just being more cautious.



Read on if you're interested in last weekend, which I neglected to post about until now......
I just realized that even though this whole experience is going by really fast, the events of last weekend seem like forever ago....guess we pack a lot into each week! :)



So--last weekend was marked by the visit of a good friend, Laura, from home! Actually she was on her way home from her own study abroad program in Cambridge and stopped by for the weekend. It was great and strange at the same time to hang out--weird to see someone I knew from home in this totally unfamiliar environment, especially knowing she was going back to the familiar home the next day to be with all the people I can't see while I'm here. I don't know, just a strange sensation.

Anyways, we spent Saturday together with some of her friends, braving the weather to check out some tennis Wimbledon---or some almost tennis, rather. I had heard that the wait to get in would be long--like 2.5 hours long--so I knew something was fishy when we walked right into the grounds. It seemed too good to be true when we heard that play hadn't started for the day yet, but was just about to....rain had delayed all the games 4 hours, and at 3 p.m. they were just going to resume. All exciting, because Venus Williams was scheduled to play on Court 2 at 11....but of course, hadn't played yet and was just about to start. Court 2 is the best court you can get on without buying anything other than grounds passes.....tickets for Court 1 and Centre Court (if you can get them) cost upwards of 50 quid a piece (over $100)....IF you can get them. There's no way once the final rounds start.

Point is: we were in line to see VENUS WILLIAMS play tennis LIVE at WIMBLEDON. That's right. So play starts as we wait in line to stand in her court, and we move slowly forward. A men's doubles match is happening next to the line, and it was fairly entertaining just being there. About an hour or so later, we are next in line to go up into the court....it starts drizzling and we look over to the men's doubles match in time to catch those speedy kids pulling that infamous cover over the court. No problem, we think--we'll get into Venus' court as everyone's leaving, brave the rain for a while, and have prime seating position when she comes back on. A valid plan, except for one thing.....the rain never stops. It is after 7 p.m. before they come on the loudspeakers to tell the crowds that there will be no play for the rest of the day--the weather won't clear up--and that they're sorry we've been waiting for so long. :( :( :( Yes, it was the most disappointing thing...but I got a T-shirt and some great pictures of the scoreboard. Plus, it's all about the story--that time I almost saw Venus Williams play at Wimbledon.

Sunday was yet another day of great weather--we went to Spitalfields Market, which is near where I work close to Brick Lane. A nice outing, I got a gift or to for some people at home, and it was nice to explore the area. We ended the day with a house picinc/chill time at Kensington Gardens, .8 mile up the road from where we live, and the place where all the fun happens. This time we packed a frisbee and bubble wand in addition to some wine and cheese.....and ended up playing duck-duck-goose with a five-year-old! So a little girl, Bambi, was attracted to our bubble wand and then became attached to us....mostly because we paid her lots of attention and befriended her mother. :) An ornery child, she made up the rules to the games as we went along--as five-year-olds will, I guess--and picked certain people to play with. It was so random, but sooo much fun....another great end to another nice weekend.

It's Like Real Life or Something...

After three days of work, I can safely say I'm totally psyched with my internship placement. There's so much to say about it, but generally: its amazing. I work specifically for www.ClimateChangeCorp.com, a "climate change news for business" website affiliated with my overall employer, Ethical Corporation. Ethical Corporation publishes the monthly magazine of the same name focused on business ethics and corporate responsibility...I like them for lots of reasons, but my first impression that they were cool cam when viewing their tagline: Ethical Corporation--Not an Oxymoron. It made me laugh and I knew I was on the right track.

So that's Ethical. ClimateChange focuses on, well, climate change--which I currently know almost nothing about, but I'm starting to get very excited about learning. I say almost because I do know about at least one thing...I turned my first story in today on a Texas-based energy company claiming to have made great strides in emissions reduction technology. I work for ClimateChange's editor Zara; she's basically my boss and mentor this summer, which is fine by me because she's awesome. We've gone out for lunch a couple times and she's great about showing me the area, introducing me to people and generally getting me to fit in around the office. Yes, I am a reporter...no, it's not exactly what I planned to be doing this summer, but now that I'm here I am very happy with my job, for several reasons:

• First, Personal Revelation No. 8: I have a literally paralyzing fear of picking up the phone to call people I don't know, no matter who it is. Before I touch the handset, I need to have run through everything I plan to say in my mind, especially my opening spiel ("Hi, I'm Jeanette calling from _____. I was wondering if _____," etc.) For some reason this really, really scares me. So the fact I have to do it for work is, I feel, a very healthy, growing outside my comfort zone experience, which is basically what I wanted out of this summer anyway. It's an initiation-by-fire type of thing, and I like it.
• My coworkers are amazing. I don't think there's hardly anyone in the office over 40, and they're all young, energetic, absolutely hilarious people, which is completely fine by me. Preparing for this we were told our coworkers would probably "take the mickey out" (make fun) of us, and I really see that they do that with one another. Not so much me yet, but I respect that they're being cautious not to offend the American intern...I need to spend some time getting used to my new surroundings anyways.
• On that note, the office culture is really fun. Everyone works very efficiently without ever appearing stressed--everything gets done, and honestly I'm not quite sure who does it! I feel like I'm the only one really worried about getting my stuff done on a deadline, but I think being around such easy-going people is helping me grow out of that state of constant apprehension. The company is actually taking everyone on a "summer jolly" next Tuesday, basically a giant company picnic with dodgeball, a boat on the Thames to Greenwich Park, catered meals and free drinks (this is Britain, after all...). We're taking the entire day off...and I think I may be the only person who's worried about how I'm going to get my work done when I had budgeted that day into my schedule when considering deadlines. :) Lots of people from work are also going to see one of our coworkers in a play on Monday evening and its Zara's birthday this weekend so we may go out for that.
  
• I am respected and treated as another co-worker, not just the intern. I have real story assignments--not busy work--that would have to be written by freelance journalists were I not taking them on. This makes me feel really valuable, in addition to gaining me great experience while I'm here. At no other job will I have to schedule my day around when I can call the Belgian PR folks and the Texas energy plant because of a time difference. I think that's cool, and it makes me feel special, I'm not going to lie :)
  

Anyways, I finished my Texas energy story today, and Zara actually liked it!! I was really apprehensive and I spent a lot of time perfecting it, but I guess it paid off because she seemed impressed. She edited it and sent it off immediately to be posted on the website (should be up tomorrow!), and it will also go out in the weekly newsletter. My next stories will be published in a Climate Change Special Report for Ethical that's printing in October--I'll have at least three bylines in there and am really excited for it.

Along with those, Zara thinks it may be interesting for me to do a "Texas feature" of some sort--Texas has this reputation as a big oil-guzzling state, but really its one of the "cleanest" in the nation and other green power sources are gaining footing, i.e. the giant wind farms out west. I also may sprinkle my stint here with some book reviews, which would be great 1) because they involve no reporting and 2) because they'll help me learn about the field. yay!

So as of now I have coworkers, an office, a work schedule, deadlines, a commute to work and back, a set time to leave the flat every morning, fun events on the weekends, laundry to do, and a grocery list to top it all off. It's like real life or something. :)