It’s the night before my first day at work and I am SO nervous. What makes me feel better is that someone else in my program is working at the same company as me, so at least there will be one person I know. He actually called me a few hours ago saying that he couldn’t find the entrance to the building, so…that will be something to look forward to tomorrow.
I arrived on Wednesday morning, completely exhausted because I hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before my flight and got zero sleep on the plane. I unpacked and took a small nap before meeting up with Hailey and walking around the city a little bit. We got dinner, and were able to see l’Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. The weather was rainy and pretty miserable, which might have something to do with the cold I’m currently working through. Despite the rain and exhaustion, it was a great first day.
The next day, I got to meet everyone in my program for general orientation. Afterwards, we got lunch and took a tour of Paris in a boat. The weather was beautiful – a welcome change from the miserable weather on Wednesday. After the boat tour, some people in the program including Hailey and I, went to the Musée d’Orsay. It was absolutely beautiful, I was so happy I got to go because it has been a dream of mine to go there for years. I got to see my favorite painting of all time, Le Lit by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (attached), in real life. I didn’t even know it was there, so it was a wonderful surprise. For dinner, we ate lunch on the Seine. I had a delicious ham and cheese sandwich, which I am slightly addicted to now, as you will see.
On Friday, we had orientation for our internships. Afterwards, the people in the program got lunch (another ham and cheese sandwich for me) and we ate in the Luxembourg gardens, which are really near the EUSA office. We met back up and took a metro to Montmartre, which is probably my favorite place in the world. My favorite artists, Toulouse-Lautrec and Renoir, both lived there at points during their lives, and that’s where the Moulin Rouge (the setting of my favorite movie of the same name) is as well. Hailey and our new friend Annika, who is also in the program, went to visit the Basilica du Sacré-Coeur, which is so beautiful it’s hard to believe it’s free. We then got ice cream and took our respective metro lines home. Annika and I later met up to go grocery shopping because we live in the same arrondissement. I was very surprised to see that Aldis exist in France too. Meanwhile, my host mom was surprised that Aldis exist in the US! Annika and I got dinner together (pasta with salmon – absolutely delicious) and then we returned to our homestays.
On Saturday, we visited Versailles. I was late to the rendez-vous because of some misunderstandings of directions between me and my host mom. Thankfully, the people in my program waited for me so all was well. In Versailles, I explored the chateau and some of the gardens, although it is all so big I probably only saw about half of it. Unfortunately, some of the gardens were closed off because of a concert happening that day. So I took the train back to Paris with my program manager. The train ride was pretty long, so we talked for about 50 minutes, almost entirely in French. I was pretty impressed with myself for being able to hold a conversation that long. In fact, severa people here have told me I speak well, though mostly shopkeepers. I wonder if they compliment my French less because they are actually impressed and more so because they are trying to sell me something, haha.
Today, I have a bit of a cold, so I have stayed in the homestay aside from a brief trip to the pharmacy. My host mom informed me of a medication I should buy, so hopefully that will help me. Currently catching up on the assignments I have to do (like this) and taking it easy.
I am beginning my internship tomorrow at CyQuant, a relatively new tech startup which provides cyber insurance tailor made for our clients. In this industry, it’s necessary to know what specifically makes a company vulnerable to cyberattacks. Last semester, I took Intro to Information Systems, which was probably the most helpful course for this internship. Our week on cybersecurity taught me that what makes companies the most vulnerable is employees who do not think they are doing anything wrong, but are accidentally putting the company at risk. One example might be disabling the firewall on their computer, without realizing how much damage that poses to their data. Knowing what makes companies vulnerable will make my job, finding companies to sell our insurance to, much easier. Given that I’ll be selling insurance, I will also need some marketing ability. This makes me a little nervous, I have no background in Marketing at all and haven’t even taken an intro class – that’s scheduled for next semester. But I am here to learn, so I hope that my coworkers and boss will be able to help me find a new rhythm even if it’s way out of my comfort zone.
Speaking of my coworkers, there are some interpersonal skills I will need specifically because I am interning in Paris. At both my orientations at Pitt and with the EUSA team, we have learned that French people do not mince their words. They’re not going to sandwich their negative feedback in between two compliments. They’re less likely to applaud what you did right and more likely to point out what you did wrong. Therefore, as an intern in Paris, I will have to be less sensitive. This will definitely be a challenge for me, I am very sensitive by nature, but I can’t really afford to do that here. It will be necessary to learn how to not take things personally, and take criticism in stride without trying to defend myself, which probably will not get me very far.
I’ve now yapped for way past the word count, and I have to go recharge my Carte Navigo to make sure I’m ready for my trip to the office tomorrow. See you all next week – à tout à l’heure!
