Back to the Grind

I am currently at my new internship, or 'work placement' as it is called here, getting acclimated. The whole internship thing is a bit bizarre to me. I mean you apply, dealing with all kinds of annoying,self-inflicted among peers competition, and then you score the job - but what is the job anyway? When you first find out what company you're going to be working for, you compare it with all of your friends, and see how you stack up (no one really admits to it, or if they do its followed by a quick 'but that's so great for him/her') but there's definitely a silent internship glory race. Ask any serious, goal oriented college student - they'll tell you all about it. Anyway my point is that there is always a big drum roll up to your first day, which in reality rarely yields anything more than basic introductions around the office. All of this excitement to inevitably answer the phones '(Company Name), this is (Your Name), how can I help you?'

But I'm getting ahead of myself. CBS Paramount is great. The people are all so nice, and very chatty. Its a 180 from my first day at ELLE. My boss, Stephan is incredibly funny and down to earth, and everyone in the office is inquisitive and interesting. I keep on being introduced as 'Rachel from America' which is really strange. Although I'm not doing too much, what is great is that I have free reign over the internet, as I have already been informed that there is not much of an internet policy here. Also, everyone listens to the radio in their office, and Daisy, a nice woman in the office, helped me find a good radio station to listen too. The other good thing about this office is that I have access to all of the cold Diet Cokes in the fridge, thank goodness. The building itself is very cool as well. It was build in the 1760s, and its an old Victorian house. Steve was telling me that they can only paint over the ceilings and walls the same color as they were before since all of the moldings and everything are original.

Its in a very chic area called Mayfair. The office is literally in the middle of the entire London Tube map. A coworker just came in and told me that he and another employee were sitting next to Kate Moss at lunch. He also said that she looked nasty. Nice. That's the kind of area we're in. Lots of good looking but not touching stores to stroll through during my lunch break too - Burberry, Diane Von Furstenburg, Hermes, Jimmy Choo, etc. As well as a Rolls Royce and Bentley dealership if I'm feeling so inclined. This central location is going to be particularly helpful this evening, as I am seeing Cabaret right off of Regent Street around the corner.

Tim, they guy that just told me about Kate Moss, just told me that it is possible to walk from Bayswater. I should probably figure out how to do that, as it could become a quick reality. The tube workers are going on a 72 hour strike beginning today. I don't know what they are striking about but if they are pulling the plug on a lot of major tube and bus lines it better be something good. Maybe it will be like the subway strikes in New York, where you kind of hear rumblings about them happening but you can still get from point A to point B without too much trouble. I hope so, because I've already had a run in with the twisting streets of London and feel that I need to have a bit more time to get used to them before I have to figure them out for myself without the tube option.

I didn't bring my book today, but it will be nice if there is time for me to read during the day. I'm still pummeling through 'I, California' because I really have not had too much down time since I've been here. Every year when school starts I tell myself that I'm going to really keep reading like I do in the summer time, but I never can. Hopefully my work load will be easy enough that I can at least attempt to keep up. Probably not.

I just got to answer the phone, it was very exciting! Sometimes its kind of hard to understand what the person on the other line is saying with the accent. They speak really quickly. I know that must sound crazy coming from an American teenager, but its totally true. I'm sure that I just have to get used to it. After all, I am Rachel from America. These things take time. All in all, I will score this day (and hopefully the internship) as a success. As long as I check my e-mail and Perez, I'm a happy girl.