1st day of my internship

(Due to confidentiality reasons I cannot reveal the name of the company I am working at)

At 3.55am in the morning, I woke up to my alarm, determined to stay awake to be able to catch my taxi in time! I got ready, made sure I was well dressed, had a really, really thunderbolt quick breakfast and ran out of my house just in time to catch the taxi.

It was a silent journey to the airport. But nevertheless I reflected on what I was about to go through today. It was exciting yet I was so sleepy and barely energetic. I finally arrived at the airport, paid the cab driver by credit card (knowing that I can claim back later), and proceeded to the airport domestic departures area to depart to Sydney!

Sadly, I realised that I was too early. I went through the security gate, walked about abit and finally proceeded to my gate. No one was there. So I just sat and played with my phone awhile. Soon people began to arrive and Erika, the person I was supposed to meet there finally arrived as well. All the interns gathered around her and we chatted, introduced each other. One thing I found out was that all of them had boarding passes except me! No worries as I managed to soon after get my own boarding pass. It has been quite awhile since I boarded a plane I forgot to check in =P

We boarded the flight and it was my first time on a Qantas flight. We got free breakfast and I enjoyed the good catch up on sleep I had on the plane. My firm was paying for all of these and I was being very appreciative! All the interns and our guide met outside the airport after and we then took a bus to one of Sydney's most prestigious buildings where our firm's office was at. It was the networking with all these individuals that made me abit overwhelmed. To me, anyone who got this internship was really lucky or really smart or both.

We then had hours of briefing by so many key people in the business, including the CEO of the business, Chief People Officer of the business, and many other recent graduates in the firm offering us advice on how to have a "successful" internship. We were also taught principles of how to become a professional and act like one when we are employed as part of the business. They keep stressing that reputation is the most important of them all. Not surprising considering their brand is worth about USD$12billion.

We also had a networking lunch with all the different HR representatives of the firm. We got to know each other as we started to bond and make friends. This is the first time in my life I am working as part of an internship in Melbourne and my first experience working with a lot of Aussies. You can't help feeling abit intimidated, but after awhile, you start to feel it is alright.

We then proceeded to the bus which took us to a lawn bowling area where we were supposed to play lawn bowling. However, the weather had the better of us and it was raining very heavily! Luckily they had a contingency plan and we all played trivia games, which was uber fun! After about 2 hours of games, we went back to the office by the bus again and had our farewell drinks. This is the first time I have been in Sydney for almost 10 years and I have to thank my firm for giving me that opportunity.

We went back to the airport, boarded the 7.30pm flight back to Melbourne, reached the airport, took a cab home again, and here I am typing this at 11pm in the night! I have been awake today for almost 20 hours, which is unbelievable. All in all, I think my firm has spent close to $1300 per intern just for today! That is an unbelievably generous amount. I look forward tomorrow for my first real day of "work". Good night peeps.