Interns

6 American interns in Vienna: 3 guys, 3 girls.
Erica, Laura, me (and Eva, who isn't an "American intern" but close enough)
+ Aaron, Chase, and Peter.
This is how I spent my summer.

When I came to Vienna in May,

I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

I had a meeting with my boss the first week I was here.

He encouraged me to meet other interns from other departments.

I didn't really know how or where to meet them, so I didn't.

Turns out...I was the only intern for the month of May!

The other 5 came in June...and for that I am so, so happy.

I didn't know what I was missing.

May was fine. I wasn't unhappy.

But June was so much better.

July was the best.

August was great too,

but sad because people started leaving.

Over the course of summer, I grew to like these interns a lot.

A lot, a lot.

Looking back, I wish I could re-live the last few weeks of July

and first week of August.

Now they are all gone.

:(

The best part is that we all lived on the same street. We had intern dinners once a week, where we would meet at one of our homes and each person would bring something to cook...then we'd all eat together and talk for a few hours. This started out being a weekly event and then became bi-weekly toward the end of the summer. There's something about the feeling of, "we are all each other has"...this is similar to how I felt with the Americans in Salzburg. I was one of the only ones who had never done this internship before (although everyone else had been posted at different locations - not Vienna), and everyone agreed that our common bond was not normal. In fact, they all described their previous relationships with interns doing this same internship as "cut throat" and competetive. I'm so glad we all got along and blended so well. Aaron is back at Princeton, Peter at Standford, Laura at A&M.....luckily for me, though, Erica is at grad school in Italy, so we won't be too far apart. :) We've already planned a trip together for my birthday! :)