Little Girl in the Big City...

Ello! "How are you going?" (That's the typical greeting you'll receive at a restaurant, shop,etc.)

To start, this week has been a bit more tame than weeks previous, partly because I needed to get school stuff worked out, and partly because of my internship interview. But don't worry, there's still the weekend... I'll tell you all about it!

My interview was arranged for Tuesday morning... Kelli and I took the trains to the location the night before so I could feel at ease about getting lost. On Tuesday morning, I still left super early for it...I didn't sleep well because I kept dreaming about showing up late or getting completely turned around and lost in the city! Well arrived at my location about an hour to an hr and fifteen early.. thats ok, better early than late! I peered through the glass sky rise a bit and then decided to head to a local cafe next door to have a tea and collect my thoughts a bit. I reviewed my resume and eventually made my way up to the 18th floor to check in with reception. After a little bit, my interviewer, Andy came to retrieve me and brought me to his office on the 28th floor. What I was interviewing for was the Marketing internship position in the men's lifestyle and sports department at ACP magazines. This department is responsible for boosting circulation, managing promotions, budgets, etc. for 16 titles. Andy told me that their top selling title is called The Zoo, so they spend most of their effort on this one to maintain its popularity. He spoke of things called covermounts, which are extra little gifts that they put on magazines sometimes. Things like Koozies (stubby holders), flip-flops (thongs) or in a issue coming out very soon, 3d glasses so the girls' huge breasts pop off the page, or so a kebab sticks out so much you feel like it it's going to pop right into your mouth. ( you guys out there know you would love this stuff). Sometimes they give away free cash... in 20 or 50 dollar increments. They must plan it thoroughly, however, because they can't afford to just throw away money by people stealing the magazines or something like that. He talked of what I would be doing... things such as revamping their renewal letters to make them seem more personable, which would ultimately boost subscription rates. Also, I basically would be taking over someone's real position in their marketing team that has only 3 plus him left, so I would be rather busy. Everyone is taking off more than they can probably chew, but at the same time, they're all there for a common purpose so they always pitch in with each other to help out. He warned me that they are a department based on analytics, not on creativity, simply because they are audited and they don't want to lose money that is given to them for promotions and such. Therefore, I will be doing a ton of excel spreadsheets to keep track of everything. I'm ok with that, but I'm not a pro at excel. (should've paid more attention in strat comm research) He warned that as the intern I would be expected to do some administrative tasks (not getting coffee) but packaging and mailing products to be sent to subscribers. For example, there's this movie mag called Empire that is giving away free Star Wars action figures that can't be purchased in stores to subscribers. I need to mail them out. We sat and flipped through an entire Zoo magazine, so he could show me what readers of this mag are into: basically... girls, booze, sports, some cars, blood, gore, and oh, did I mention girls? He said that some people have to edit pictures and that things could get a bit 'fleshy' on computer screens and what not. I don't mind it... it's part of the business. He says he tries to keep things tasteful in the zoo, ralph, and FHM magazines. He asked me questions such as what I thought of the position when I heard of it: My answer: my internship lady told me that it is such a reputable company that tons of Aussies would kill for this position, so I knew it had to be good. and also, that it seemed fast pace, which is something I was looking for. If I have to be at work, I like to be kept busy so that the day goes by faster. Another question he asked: "So, what do you want to do? Like with your life?" DREADED QUESTION.... I told him honestly.. I have no idea. I said I've dabbled in corporate.. liked it fine. Toyed with broadcast media... hated it. Would like to check out an ad agency, considering it is my current chosen field. He said he wasn't too keen on the ad agency world (naturally) just because he's had to work with some advertisers that seemed really cocky. Plus, the field isn't exactly booming. Who knows... maybe I'll like the magazine industry. It's struggling too, but I wouldn't cross it off the list just yet. He said that once a week we would try to get together to discuss my progress and any questions I had saved up. He asked if I had any fears about the job.. my answer: sometimes interns can just get lost in a company because everyone else is too jaded and stuck in their jobs to explain things or give them worthwhile tasks. I sometimes get afraid to bother people with questions, so I just take everything I can on for myself. But with this internship, I would try not to be so introverted, and he claimed that would be a good idea so we don't waste time cleaning up the even bigger mess afterwards. He introduced me to the three girls that would be my team, and sent me on my way! 

Fast forward to present time: I got the internship! My first day was yesterday, and I loved it. I work half days on monday (9-1) and full 9-5s on tues and wed. I felt super cool taking the trains to downtown Sydney.. but the commute does take awhile. I have to get up at 6:15 to shower and be there on time or a tad bit early..kind of a drag. But I have my own desk/cubicle that faces the girls in my team and I can see the other sky rise buildings just out the window catty corner from me. When I got there yesterday, there was a packet that told me the basics of ACP and privileges I have.. such as the kitchen, free coffee and tea, the health and wellness center, and a 1 hr. lunch break (woo hoo). And another packet that said, "Welcome Emily, we appreciate you coming to help us out." or something like that. I felt great about it. It briefed me on the audiences of some of the magazines, and they told me to just take a look at a bunch of different magazines they put on my desk to get a feel for it. Ex: zoo, Ralph, Rolling Stone, FHM, Australasian Dirtbikes, outdoor Australia, etc. I did that for about two hours and then went to a brainstorming meeting to discuss the plan for Zoo magazine in years 09-10. I actually contributed a couple of ideas for promotions that they said they liked, and they even wrote them down! I was pumped!!! I stayed until 2 so I could be a part of that meeting and then the day was over. Today I had more work, but the great thing is that the people in my team actually come over to my desk, sit down with me, and explain to me what I'm doing and most importantly... WHY and WHAT it means. This is sooo helpful to me, I don't think these people know how much I appreciate them! I went to a meeting with one of the girls to watch her discuss price quotes on stuff, and it was crazy how fast paced it all was. these two girls talked a mile a minute. loved it. One of the girls in my team is American, supposedly from San Francisco, so I can't wait to talk to her about how she got here and STAYED here. (don't want to speak to soon though)

So going back to the weekend... this weekend was the Sydney Gay/Lesbian Mardi Gras. It is a BIG deal here. I think this was the 26th running year of the parade. A group of us from the apartments headed to this place in Kings Cross for 6 dollar pitchers (such a deal for this place!!) and we headed to the parade. I had a prime location, but we got there like 2 hours in advance. The parade didn't start til 7:30. While Kelli ran to the restroom, a camera man came up to me and filmed me and put me on the big screen! It was fun, but I was trying to get the ppl around me to be in it too, but they all shyed away. He stuck around for what seemed like forever, but when he realized I wasn't going to do anything scandalous, he moved on. I was ok with that! A few small acts came by the parade route and we saw what they call "dikes on bikes" but then there was another break in the parade. I had to urinate so bad, I couldn't hold it anymore. Kelli was hungry so we decided to head out of there. We knew we'd never get our spot back, but it wasn't worth it to stick around anymore. We saw some crrrrrrazy sites! It was fun! A few of us headed back to this area called Kings Cross after the parade and it was so much fun! there were TONS of people everywhere just partying and having a great time. They all seemed pretty young too. Kelli and I stopped at this random pizza place called Rocko's and I ordered a Mexicana pizza... green peppers, onions, cheese, minus the pepperoni, plus pineapple.... SOOOO good! Honestly, probably the best meal I've eaten since I've been here. Needless to say I inhaled it. We couldn't hail a cab later on that night (or morning actually) because it was around 3 and thats when the cabbies switch shifts. So we walked for what seems like miles, actually pretty sure it was, to the Town Hall. We caught a night rider bus with a bunch of super young drunk kids and FINALLY we made it home around 4:30. I was so glad! 

Oh I forgot to mention earlier that week we went to a Toga party. Kel and I had some pretty sweet togas. They were actually these dress things that you can wear a 100 different ways. The lady at the kiosk in Town hall was so convincing, she sold us. The party was pretty lame, one of our friends got kicked out for no reason at all. He's like 7 ft. tall so he gets spotted so easily! I didn't want to be at a place that treats people poorly for no reason at all, so we left within a short time. But I plan on wearing my 'toga' again.

We tried to hit the beach on Sunday as our last hurrah before we became working girls, but of course... it was raining. So we decided to do some grocery shopping  and much needed cleaning instead. 

Last night I took a class at the rec center called Fat Burner... sounds intense. It kind of was I guess... well it just killed my legs. The instructor was all about the lunges and yelled at me for not going lower.. sorry I'm like 6 ft tall dude!

Updates on Australian life and culture:

I'm trying to pick up the accent.. it's not working well. I can hear how they say things in my head, but I can't spit them out the same. I don't really try in public. People that meet me ask if I'm canadian because they know if we are American we won't get offended. It doesn't work the other way around.. why so stubborn, Canada?

Tim-Tams are SO good. I heard about them a lot before I got here... they are this delicious cookie that can be filled with whatever. My favorite is the chocolate covered cookie with caramel inside. I try not to buy them much though because I can eat the entire package in one day, sadly.

The mcdonalds (they call it MACCA's) pretty much tastes the same... a small is the size of a happy meal though.

They love their coke products here... just coke, diet coke, sprite, coke zero and fanta orange are pretty much all you can get. I would LOVE a dr. pepper once in awhile, but it's not going to happen!! 

They LOVE to honk here... it's way worse than NYC in my opinion. Even in the suburbs... it's lovely when it wakes me up in the morn. 

There's a cyclone heading towards Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef. Stage 5...looks pretty nasty. Actually may have already hit, but I havent been able to stay current on the news.

So you think you can dance is pretty big here... I'm desperately trying to get tickets to a taping. 

The biggest loser is also a big show here.. I don't know why.

People NEVER move when you're walking. It's like chicken... I'm usually the one moving over, sheesh. And they walk really freaking slowly if you're behind them.

Apparently people don't eat here... unless it's at a bakery. Or if at the beach its ice cream. It's really annoying when you're looking for a hearty meal. 

The burger king equivalent is Hungry Jack's.

Oh big one... they don't make frozen drinks here. When you're on the beach and you're craving a strawberry daiquiri or pina colada, or even a frozen Marg... get over it. You won't find it. 

there have been several shark sightings on the beach lately. Last week a 15 yr old surfing boy got his leg mauled. but... he was also in the ocean at dawn. NEVER A GOOD IDEA. I've only been in the water 2xs. the waves were rough and took me and my top down... I'm not equipped for it.

I'm still dying to go surfing. ugh.

This weekend is the Blue Mountains if all goes as planned. We are going to repel off cliffs into canyons or something. Sounds cool to me!!

Alrightyyyyyy that's it for now mates! Comment as you will!