New York City, The Internship, Etc.

Two Sunday’s ago, I moved into my apartment in the Village. It’s a great neighborhood, but my “starving artist” roommate is a little on the demanding side. For instance, he guilted me into seeing his off-off-Broadway play. I bought two tickets to the show, thinking I could convince a friend to go with me. Turns out nobody wanted to make the trek out to the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn to see it. Go figure. Anyway, while the production was good, the story was a little thin. Overall, I was happy to show my roommate some love, but the entire experience took four hours. Other ways I could have spent that time: a picnic in Central Park with fellow SOMers interning in the city over the summer or a marketing networking BBQ. Oh, well.

The day after I moved to NY, I started my internship, which began with a full day of orientation. This, of course, included an ice-breaker. I imagine that locking oneself in a dark room with venomous snakes would be less frightening - that stabbing the back of your hand with a fork would be less painful! - than having to participate in some hokey HR person’s best attempt at forcing complete strangers to communicate with each other. Over-dramatic, you say? Not even close. I just wish HR would leave people to their own devices when it comes to introductions. By the time orientation officially began that morning, I had already met four other interns in attendance! `

The internship itself is going well. My manager’s wife had their first baby THE DAY BEFORE my internship began (i.e., the day I moved to NY), so he was a little preoccupied with the whole “new dad” thing. I feel for the guy. The last time I saw him (this past Wednesday), he looked so tired. He had only had three hours of sleep the night before. I can’t even imagine what he’s going through right now. And still, I haven’t felt neglected. What a guy! My fellow interns are also a very cool group of people. Well, for the most part. There’s one guy who kind of rubs me the wrong way. So we’ll see how that goes.

In other news, this was Fleet Week in New York. So lots of white. Blinding white. Very annoying. Oh, and, two nights ago at a bar, I lost my belt. Try explaining to the bouncer at the same bar on the following night that you lost your belt there and then asking him to let you in (without having to pay the cover) to see if anyone turned it in. Kind of embarrassing. I guess the next time I go to a bar I should do a better job of keeping track of my clothes, as I almost lost my shirt that night, too. LOL. New York nightlife is out of control.

I also did my laundry for the first time yesterday and the prices upset me. $4.50 to wash one load and $2.00 to dry. That’s just wrong. This city is ridiculously expensive. No one who makes what I make could afford to live here comfortably. There is no way. I would like to own a home and have nice things, and I just don’t see that happening in New York. I guess I don’t need to be thinking that far ahead right now. I’m enjoying myself, and I’m hoping to do a great job on my internship project so that I get an offer of employment, regardless of whether I believe I will accept it. But it’s hard to ignore the cost of living. Harder still to prevent it from influencing the choices you make today.

Sorry for the long post.