OMG, what do they want from me? This is the question I ask everyday when I walk into the art gallery. In my last internship at the Stores Consulting Group, I would walk into work and have a complete lists of the tasks I was expected to complete that day. But here, I walk in to work, I give everyone kisses, I sit down, and that is it. Very. Different. I have to give myself my own to do lists and my own deadlines, which is something that I am not used to.
So in short, I experience uncertainty when it comes to what is expected of me. I want to be as helpful as possible, but I am given little direction. A part of me loves the freedom, and I have been able to weave my industrial engineering background into the art world, but at the same time I am constantly worried that I am not meeting the expectations of my internship adviser.
Recently in the internship, I have created a comprehensive database with all of the artists in the gallery, and their location in stock in an effort to ameliorate the retrieval process. Today, I turned that database into an application so that the user interface is a little bit more attractive. Shout out to appsheet!!
Sounds cool; however, now what. I decided to create a database because I felt that that was an area in which I could contribute, but now I am not sure what to do next.
I navigate this ambiguity by trying to predict the needs of my coworkers and my boss. However, I am unfortunately not a psychic so I think tomorrow I will make a point to be candid with my boss and ask her what she wants of me going forward.
A quick update on my time here…MY PARENTS ARE HERE! Very exciting, very crazy. My father is a diva if I ever knew one. He knows no french but he insists on trying and its the most embarrassing this I have ever seen. He also walks around with his 400 pound camera which just scream tourist. If that isn’t enough, he wore a notably american visor yesterday. My mother came a day late and she is a gem. We all went shopping together and it really feels nice to be understood and to have a conversation where I am not actively trying to conjugate verbs. I love Paris so so much and I am so glad they are seeing for themselves why I love it so much.
My host family is also going super well. I feel much more comfortable at home, and the conversations are improving significantly. My host mom is like a makeshift grandma and practically forces me to eat ice cream and cake every night. No complaints there. At first I was a little bummed I was so far from center Paris, but now I have fallen in love with my little corner of Paris and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Friend wise, I have met so many new people. People really like to “hate” on online dating / online friend making, but I have met the coolest friends here from all over the world because of it. Life is so so good in Paris. It is truly “La Vie En Rose”.
Despite what I said above about the difficulties of the job, it is getting easier. I think people are getting into a rhythm of my presence just as I am with theirs. My co worker who I thought hated me I realized is just a super serious worker and if I catch him with free time he’s so great! I also talked to one of the artists today which is a big step for me. See you next week!