Instituto Cervantes Week 1 (Days 1 and 2)

- March 17, 19, 2010 (Wednesday and Friday)

- I went to the Instituto on March 17 - the first day of my OJT. I was welcomed warmly by the staff, including my boss in the Cultural Affairs Department. I was not told beforehand that I needed a laptop, even if I asked them in previous emails if I needed to bring anything. "This is a problem.." My boss said.

- My Spanish boss simply asked me to open some boxes of books donated to the Instituto from Spain, sort the books, and count how many of each kind were there. He asked me to type the items on his computer, since I didn't have my own.

- For two hours, I was able to do the things he asked me to do, and had lunch with my co-workers in the cultural department. They're a bit older than me, but I so far, they're nice to be with. (THEY'RE TALKATIVE....hahahaha)

- After lunch, my boss asked me to write something about the Instituto's annual Spanish film festival, and post it on Wikipedia. We were able to borrow a laptop from the technical room, but the laptop gave me a major headache. It wasn't functioning very well, and wouldn't connect to the internet even when the internet cord was plugged in. *Hurray unproductivity*

- Four o'clock came swiftly, and I was more than glad to go home and study for my philo orals (that I think I didn't do too well in.)

- The day after (Thursday,) my parents and I bought a laptop. Here's the thing. I was already canvassing for laptops prior to my internship, since my dad would be needing the desktop in the province. I never knew that I needed to have a new laptop at once. Good thing I was able to get a nice one.

- Come Friday, as I entered my boss' office, I told him at once that I had my laptop. I could sense an invisible sign of relief from him, and asked me to write a Chinese article about the Instituto's upcoming major event, the Dia del Libro (International Book and Copyright Day.) The article would be sent to the Chinese newspaper houses, and hopefully, they'll publish my article. The Instituto wanted to reach the Chinese people, since the Instituto is not well known to the Chinese community (for obvious reasons.)

- I TOILED on my article for 5 hours, luckily having my English-Chinese dictionary beside me for more technical terms that I couldn't translate on my own. I managed to finish my article, though I immediately asked my mom to edit it for me (as well as my neighbor's mom who happened to be a Chinese teacher.) God. I think I gave them major headaches as well.

- Currently, I'm waiting for my boss' go signal before I have it sent to the Chinese newspaper houses. I do hope to have a better second week, until my OJT ends. :D:D:D:D


** Dear Charmaine's (my neighbor) Mom. THANK YOU!!!! :D:D:D:D