A Working Woman

Happy Monday! Today was quite eventful, as it was the first day of my two month long internship at Corrymeela Centre in the Botanic District of Belfast. I never pictured myself as the 9:00-5:00 desk job type, but I have to say it really wasn't that bad.

Since Laureen and I both work in the Botanic District, we decided to walk together on our first day (and hopefully every day, if our schedules are the same). We left the flat together at 8:15 this morning, business clothes clad and umbrella in hand. It's only natural on our first day of work it would rain. Despite the precipitation, the morning trek into the city was quite peaceful, and we both felt very professional as we marched down the city streets right alongside business men and women with briefcases and umbrellas. Aw.

I arrived at work at 8:50 not surprised to find that I was the first one there. When we had asked Nigel what time to arrive if we were supposed to "start work at 9:00", he looked at us like we were crazy. "In the states, it would be typical to maybe arrive ten or fifteen minutes early to work," said Laureen. "Usually starting at 9:00 means being at your desk working at 9:00. Nigel said the Irish are much more relaxed, and really that 9:00 a.m. means you should probably stroll in sometime before 9:30. I guess I'm too American, and I wanted to make a good impression on the first day, so I didn't listen to his advice. In turn, I sat at my desk twiddling my thumbs for about 20 minutes before anyone else showed up. Oh well. I got acquainted with my desk (yes, my very own desk!) and computer/printer. As my mom says "You know you've made it in the world when you have your own stapler."

Where I shall spend two months of my life:


The work day was fun. My coworkers were all extremely kind, and I have to laugh a little because it almost could be called Marcdaniel Salon: Ulster style. Out of about 15 coworkers, 14 are female and in their 20's and 30's. The only male is the director of Corrymeela, David, who works on the very top floor and keeps to himself most of the day. Down below in the estrogen filled floors 1 and 2, I listened all day to Ulster women chatting about "the price of my morning scone and tea went up," "I'm gaining weight, I may need to diet a wee bit," "having a 'nip' outside for some fresh air", their hometowns near London and Bangor, and the "good craic" from the weekend (all in Irish and British accents, of course). "Craic" is a term we all had to become familiar with really fast over here since it's used so frequently. I swear, everything is "good craic". It was confusing at first, but basically it just means it was "good fun" or a "good atmosphere". Hard to explain. You can pretty much just throw it in to describe any fun situation, however, and no one will question you. Good craic.

Besides the Ulster women gossip, the work day included me doing research on the internet for new ways to attract volunteers and donors to Corrymeela. I'm going to learn how to update the website later on this week, and my supervisor wants me to create a "FAQ" for volunteers, a more attractive layout that may grab younger people's attention, and a few other random bits and bobs. The day wasn't very structured, but she assured me once I got into the swing of things I will start to get very busy.

I grabbed a tea and scone for lunch around 1:30(what is happening to me?), and finished up the work day at 4:30. All in all, it was a successful day and I'm feeling very comfortable with the fact that I'll be spending a lot of time there. My job seems interesting and important, and my coworkers were very happy to have me around. The only downside of the day came when I had to walk home, and I discovered after being sunny all afternoon it had begun to rain again. Not a light, soft rain, but a violently windy umbrella-breaking rain. I fought my way home through wind and through my umbrella turning inside out a few times, but I made it and am now back in Flat #3 with sweatpants on and my north face fleece zipped up to my neck. Sigh, the life of a young professional.

Adios!
-Karen