Looking back on my internship experience this summer, I'd say that the most pertinent ‘thing-I-learned' that comes to mind is that I learned what it feels like to be employed on a full-time schedule. As silly as this might sound, logging a full work-week made me feel like an adult; I'd come home from the office fix myself a meal, plan the rest of my evening... For the first time, I experienced water-cooler talk (which was technically in the kitchen, not around the dinky water cooler at the entrance), parked in front of a computer for the work day, prioritized and completed a daily task list.

Spending my summer this way, I had a strong sense that this was the sort of thing I should get used to, in order to prepare for life post-graduation (adopting an optimistic mindset, considering the potential state of the job market at that time). While this sort of lifestyle change might seem daunting or stressful at first blush, the overall sensation I would choose to characterize the summary of my internship would be calming. There was a definite serenity to falling in the rhythm of my working days, and while I'm happy to be home now, I do miss the reassuring structure. I'm surprised to come away with this feeling, but also glad; I'm halfway through college, but I'm not entirely unprepared for life beyond.

July 26, 2009

As I may have previously mentioned, my main duties at work consist of uploading and resizing photos, and attaching these updated images to the location data entries to which they correspond. All this, in addition to giving off the impression that I don't spend undue amounts of time in the kitchen.  However, in clement weather I am sometimes sent out to various locations to gather images myself. This has been the case more frequently of late. I pick up the office Nikon, grab a map (and refreshments) and tackle the bus or tube. In this way, I've gotten to know places that I may not have otherwise taken the time to visit (Stoke Newington, Hampstead Heath), as well as get to know places where I will soon return on solo missions, probably to spend arguably unnecessary amounts of money (Oxford street, melding into Soho). At any rate, these photo missions add a healthy amount of variety to my work life, as well as affording me a certain degree of independent responsibility, in that I map my own routes and dictate my pace. The only downside is that I tend to tire out very easily, which is no doubt due to the fact(s) that I overpack my bag, prefer getting about on foot, and don't drink as much water as I should.

Speaking of downsides (to begin a rather less upbeat thread), perhaps the only negative aspect of my experience here is planning my personal exploits around a full-time working schedule. While my superiors in the office are great about granting me days off to explore the city, prior to coming here I hadn't quite realized the limited range of activities available after 6 pm on a weeknight. While it's true that bars and restaurants are open, I'd rather cook for myself during the week (following the lead of my flatmates, as well as giving myself a rare chance to self-congratulate on saving money), and I can't expect to drink & be a sunny person the following morning at my desk.  Shops, art museums, and galleries, with some exceptions, tend to close around the time I head out from the office, and clubbing is definitely out of the question if I want to wake up bright and early (I just turned 20- not as young as I used to be).

However, despite this little foray into complaint (chalk it up to a lazy Sunday afternoon), I have seen quite a lot, and had a good deal of fun doing it. I've been to the West End a strangely large number of times; in fact, I stopped at South Kensington twice yesterday, once to enjoy the sunshine and walk through Hyde Park, and again in the evening for a Thai dinner. I've also done my fair bit of rootling around in Shoreditch, close to work. I've ticked off the majority of items on my to-do list: picnicked in a park, visited the V&A, Serpentine, British Museum, Big Ben, Hayward Gallery, etc. I've gone for high tea, caught a few music gigs, filled out postcards, had fish & chips. Though I've had a lot of quiet moments, I've had a good many very busy days, and on the balance it's come out quite satisfactorily. With about 2 weeks left to go, I'm feeling confident it'll stay that way.

July 12, 2009

So a suggested topic of conversation/thought for this particular posting was cultural adjustments. Maybe I'm being a bit naïve, bit I haven't really felt many were necessary. A big advantage in this, obviously, is the fact that everyone here speaks English, and despite what they may tell you, besides a certain difference in the turning of phrase and a dozen-odd slang terms American English is negligibly different from English English (I hear British guns loading behind my back, but it's pretty much true). I feel as though your average person on the street also has a friendlier attitude than their New York counterparts- maybe this has to do with everyone drinking all the time, openly, freely and with great delight (in case you hadn't noticed, I celebrate this fact). Let's say you bump into someone in the street (some of us are clumsier than others) - as opposed to the stream of vitriol this would inspire in NY, you'll get a much friendlier excusal.

The food, contrary to what you've heard, is great (gourmands frame a sniper target around my face). And, it's cheap! I heartily recommend Budgen's groceries for tasty cheap eats.

Work is running along without a hitch- my job is well nigh impossible to mess up, really. Plus everyone in the office is lovely to be around.

Going out and exploring the city is rewarding but tiring! And also a hit to the wallet: the GBP is pounding the dollar into the ground with merciless little fists. I've oddly spent a lot of time in the West End, looking to wander east soon...

Considering the sweaty, belaboured* trek I brought upon myself in shuttling between Heathrow and my residence for the next month and a half (Do I really need 25 kilos of clothing? Why is there a difference, crucial in person but easily missed upon a map, between Farringdon Road and Farringdon lane, by which home can be confused for a cramped stairwell next to a Papa John's?), getting to my internship at Film London from my Acorn student flat was an absolute breeze. In fact, my co-CEO-er Nayia and I are lucky enough to be able to walk to and from work, a 30-40 minute stroll that passes through patches of the dynamic Shoreditch neighbourhood and serves as an excellent daily assurance of exercise, particularly when one is not as inclined to use their running shoes as one would have hoped. The route was planned with the help of the handy-dandy map included in the complimentary Lonely Planet London guide distributed at the CEO London Orientation. I have found this map so useful that it has sadly torn along several folds, some of which describe areas of interest. Another resource I have recently discovered (today, in fact) is the website for TimeOut London, which offers daily as well as more long-term event listings of all stripes. In typing this, to my right side lies a sheet full of scribbled dates and locations for art exhibitions I have just found out about - I'm particularly looking forward to seeing a collection of Diane Arbus' works; on campus, I work at Avery Library, where I have located her monographs, flipping through them in stolen moments during my shifts.

Speaking of my work at Avery, it has much in common with my tasks at Film London. Both experiences entail my completion of a number of straightforward tasks over the course of several hours. In London and in New York, I fall into easy rhythms with my work, set against my iPod's shuffle setting. I'm afforded relaxation as well as an easy sense of accomplishment.

Housed in a former tea warehouse (the Tea Building), the office is spacious, with large windows throughout and a kitchen full of communal comforts (the ever-refilled biscuit tin and endless cups of tea). The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly- ideal for a summer work experience, especially given the temptations of a recent, uncharacteristic spell of sunshine.

Here, I am attached to the Locations Library Project Team (capitalization makes it official). As a general incentive, the company promotes London as a film capital, which entails, among other things, supporting indigenous filmmakers, assisting with productions, and providing a database of images of locations where films may be shot (where I come in). Currently, many of said images are stored in hefty binders; the overarching, long-term aim of the Locations Library division is to digitize this information. A great deal of it has already been archived in the office computer system, Datastore. On a daily basis, I upload images and attach them to references for specific locations (which vary from streets to parks, nightclubs to churches...) This means that I have been taught Photoshop, a program with which I must admit I had no prior acquaintance but which has been easy to master and, I feel, a good one to know for various future uses.  Also, harkening back to the sunshine I mentioned, on nice days I'm sent out with a camera to collect images. There's a particular sort of satisfaction to be had in being involved in every step of archiving an image: taking the photo, uploading it, editing it, and attaching it to the database. On that note, I'll continue to make myself useful, and further extracurricular exploration of the city: until next time!

* NB: The computer I'm typing this on induces British spelling. Welcome to England!