I am currently listening to the track “Good Times” from the Album “Friends for Life” by Beres Hammond; an artist from the Caribbean. I myself call the twin island state of Trinidad and Tobago home and acclimatising to new cultures, whether it be the collective culture of a new country, the classroom culture or even the work environment, can and has been challenging. Fortunately, my settling in with the Research and Standards team at the National Geographic Channels headquarters on M Street has been easier than most.

         It is an environment quite like home, with its cosmopolitan make-up and pleasantly non-work-related yet educational discussions at times. I believe that if I did decide to tally every time someone passed by speaking with a new and exotic accent that the results will most likely spell: one every five minutes. And honestly, I must say that what we have are some truly good times.

          But don’t get me wrong the Research and Standards office gets the work done and done well. And usually a while before deadline. I remember distinctly what the president told me the first day that I arrived. He said: “This is not one of those internships where you will be doing things like making coffee and photocopying documents…no. Not at all.” And they were true to their word. Five minutes after my other supervisor handed me a thick packet that was their “Standards and Practices Handbook” and asked that I familiarised myself with it! And this was after being there for only an hour!

           And on that first day I was given my first exercise and it was pleasant to look over at the gracefully bent toil of the more senior employees and realise that I was doing just what they were doing! It was a bit scary getting thrown into the deep end, but I think that a vote of confidence like that always inspires the hard worker or innovator in anyone. Thus, I got to “watch TV all afternoon” as they jokingly put it! But it isn’t as easy as it looks. Editing and doing the research for a program that is about 30 minutes long will almost definitely take up to 5 to 6 hours every time!

         I expected to leave there at the usual end-of-the-work-day time of 5 pm on that first day but I left somewhere around 6:30 pm. But that was alright. It was a day well spent and I had enough wonderfully enticing trivia to rival my father’s encyclopedic knowledge of everything when he called me over the weekend!

        I am sure to continue having good times and even if I don’t leave there at the end of the semester with friends for life; I will leave with great contacts and a list of worthwhile experiences.

Enjoy! See you next week!

CIAO!!