Day 243: 11/29/2018
I started my three-month internship at the Global Engagement today!
I was really excited and had no idea what to expect. This morning I woke up, feeling a bit tired and thus did not want to get up right away. Last night again I could not sleep through the night and woke up several time all sweaty. I really hope that this rocket high level of stress and anxiety will be gone very soon.
Let us talk about the internship a bit! I got ready by 8.30 with my stomach filled with food and coffee made with love from P’Gluay and left home around 8.30 to walk to work. It was a very windy morning but not as cold as a few days ago. I tried my best to walk fast so that I would make it in time for the first day at work. Finally, I did but with my hair messy and my body rather sweaty. The three layers I wore were too many and the humidity also ruined my first day at work. Not long after that, I got over it. I quickly fixed my hair, rolled my long sleeves up and went to the reception to ask for the directions. I was escorted to the office in Heslington Hall because it is a maze-like building and tricky to navigate. I arrived at the office and met Hillary who I found out later is the big boss of the office talking to Alicia.
Once they finished their conversation, Alicia showed my around and introduced me to Nick and Helena who are working on short course section of the Global Engagement and we had a little chat about Thailand. They were genuinely friendly was the feeling I had when talking with them. Not long after that Estelle arrived at the office. She was the one who works as an admin of the office (in my opinion at this point).
A few minutes later, we started to talk about work and she gave me the first task. It was a researching task for the research collaboration funding opportunities for Katherine. I was so mesmerized to see so many finding opportunities available. That was something new I learned today.
I was rather reluctant with my work and how I worked at the beginning. However, as the hours went by, the super friendly chatty environment in the office helped ease me gradually. At one point, I told Katherine about my slow pace of work, she replied very nicely that it was fine because I will later pick up the speed as I get used to working on it. It was a relieve.
Alicia and Estelle made my first day smooth and a bit more casual. They briefly chatted with me at times to make me feel like I also belonged there. All in all, I felt very welcoming on the first day.
In the afternoon, P’Gluay and I went to CityLets to sign the contract and moved into our new apartment. It felt incredible!
I did not do much after that but managed to did two loads of laundry at our new place.
Tomorrow is the second day at the Global Engagement. Again, I am excited about it. :)
11/30/2018 12.08 am.
