First week of Interning and This Week List update..

So I posted a to-do list last week and here's an update on my progress on that list:
1. Run at least twice -- I signed up at a gym nearby and have attended two classes so... DONE
2. Write in my journal at least twice
3. Do one act of random kindness
4. Clean my apartment -- DONE
5. Sell my schoolbooks

In total, I haven't been very successful in completing my list.. I still have Sat-Sun though so I will do at least numbers 2 and 3! I've actually posted my schoolbooks online already but so far, no takers! Moving on..

I completed my first week of my internship at Communispace and I have to say that it feels good to be in an office again. The work that Communispace does is really different from what I used to do and throughout the week, we've been having training sessions with their different departments, each explaining their role in the company. At first, I kept trying to find similarities or parallelisms with BBDO just to help me understand what each group does... I was trying to find a way to compartmentalize the work in my head but kept falling short because the work is really different.. so I stopped trying to force fit what I know into what I am learning and just start fresh.
Looking back on the past week and on what I've learned about the company, I get the feeling that I lucked out again in landing this internship-- this may be too soon to tell but I have a very positive feeling about them. Here are some reasons why:
1. What they do is really unique. If you think about it, it really does make sense to utilize online communities when you want to find out what consumers think or feel about a product or issue but somehow nobody's done it until recently.
2. In terms of culture, the office is very open and transparent. They have weekly staff meetings and they share highlights of everything from how the company's doing financially to client feedback on their work. There's a strong sense of ownership from the staff... the fact that all regular employees are given stock options helps too. They also encourage anyone to get involved if they want to learn about a specific department-- they call it "fly on the wall"-- you can sit in during a client call of another department just so you can get exposed to what they do... it also helps understand the whole process when you get exposed to different steps that are involved in the business.
3. Everyone's so rah-rah-rah and they have so much pride in the work they do.
4. They are in a good place financially.. they've been growing consistently each year and this year is no different despite the poor economy.
5. I've gotten two free lunches this week. haha. Every tuesday, the company offers free lunch for the entire staff so that was free lunch number one. Second one was today-- we had lunch with the CEO because she wanted to meet the new hires and the interns and to talk about the company in terms of its history, how it's grown and they want to be later on. I have to say their history sounds like a TV movie.. so much drama. They once had someone who forged their client contracts... as in, it was over 1 million dollars worth of contracts that never existed and they thought the company was going to sink.
6. I got a free cap, water bottle, and mug. haha. I am so cheap.
7. They are expanding their business and might be opening in Asia OR they might need help in expanding in Asia... I will talk to the HR person about that sometime soon to discuss possible options after the internship.

So here's hoping that it works out and I get actual paid work when the summer is over. One last thing.. despite all the good things, there is one thing that I would change if I could: their work hours are from 8.30am to 5.30pm... And they are about 40 mins away (that's two bus rides) from where I live. Do you know what that means? It means I have to wake up at 7am and leave the apartment by around 7.45pm to get there in time. It's not that they police you naman and they're not strict with time but of course since I am new, I want to try and come in on time diba... sigh. I guess the 25th item on my Feeling Facebook Too post is coming true!! I AM becoming a morning person!! haha.