My First Day of Work!

I had a great (and very short) first day of my internship!

My outfit looked great, I found the location easily, I was on time, and everyone was so nice!! This morning I discovered that I was not supposed to go into the location that I initially expected to, and got a little panicky when I made that discovery after double checking my email to see exactly where I was supposed to go. However, it worked out really well because I had already been to the mall in which the office is located, and that is actually closer to me than the location I was originally told (two tram stops or one metro stop)!

First of all, my internship is at an extremely nice and upscale fitness center. It is beautiful, classy, trendy, and most important, friendly! I was met by my internship supervisor (IS), the head of marketing for the area, who showed me to our little lounge office (also very posh), and introduced me to the two other women who manage the marketing/digital promotions and materials for the club. After a brief but comprehensive tour through the club, my IS got very excited about her idea to make an appointment for me with one of the sales representatives, without telling them that I will actually be interning there this semester. As an intern, I have free, all-inclusive access to all of the clubs in Prague, but my IS wanted me to get a feel for the company, the club, and its concepts, and how those would be presented to potential members. My IS told me to make sure to ask many questions and to be very interested in membership ; ).

The appointment was great! I was greeted by the sales rep who was a young Slovak girl who speaks wonderful English. After filling out a questionnaire, she spoke with me a bit about the club, and showed me throughout the premises again. She then handed me off to one of the trainers, who gave me more in-depth information about the exercise areas, their equipment, the class studio rooms, and the club's Power Plate exercise machines, which I actually have not seen anywhere in the States, yet. Not only does the club offer the typical cardio machines, weight machines, and free weights, but also a huge schedule of fitness classes, a TRX studio & equipment, and amazing locker rooms & jacuzzi/relaxation area. As if that weren't enough, the club also houses an on-premises cafe, nutritionist, spa, and orthopedist.

After touring the facilities, the sales rep and I sat down again to go over prices of membership. At this point, I was getting a little worried about having to tell her that I would actually be an intern, and wouldn't be needing a membership. After telling her, at first she was just confused, but after a minute and a little more explaining, she started laughing and saying that her boss, who knew that I was not actually a potential customer, was going to make so much fun of her. I apologized, but she thought the whole thing was funny, and actually told me that she had been planning to ask me to join her and her friends (many of whom speak English) sometime this week for a gathering for a friend she has in town, and that me working at the facility was even better! Not only did I make one very nice friend at work today, but she is already setting me up to meet more English-speaking people here in Prague. I couldn't be happier!

I then headed back up to the office to meet with my IS, and she explained the marketing campaigns that they do throughout the year, some of the promotions they are currently working on, some they hope to develop and implement, and what my my main projects will be. My projects will include a lot of environmental scanning, research, and competitive analysis to see what kinds of campaigns are being used in the fitness & wellness industries throughout the world right now, which campaigns are working best, and how we can use those ideas to create our own unique campaigns. I am so very, very excited!

After only about an hour and a half first day, my IS told me to take the rest of the day to get settled in here in Prague, and that she would see me in the morning! One of the best parts about this internship is that I will usually be spending the mornings in the office (going in around 9:00, not too shabby!), but I will also be able to work from home half the time! This is so helpful because of the flexibility it allows me to use my afternoons to discover this wonderful city or to take a day away from the office and work while I travel. My IS and her two colleagues, all of whom I will be working for, are all very kind, welcoming, and excited to have me! I think that I can be a great help to them, and I hope to present them with some great ideas for the upcoming campaigns!

To see what I wore to work today, check out my Internship Style page! The outfit picture for today is pretty pixelated because my camera settings got screwed up, but you can still kind of see my outfit! If you were around when I was getting ready to leave the States, you know that I was out shopping for internship clothes until the last minute! I have ended up with a really great work wardrobe, even though it is all in black and white - a requirement for my internship. Having a big-girl job where I have to dress the part is very exciting for me, and more importantly my sister, who gets to admire her personal-shopping skills through my pictures!




On a side note, I also had a very successful night last night! I made this:

Yes, the whole package is in Czech!

This was a big deal for me for several reasons: 1. I don't cook a lot of meat back home, and I had never prepared chicken legs before; 2. I can't read Czech, so buying something that requires reading the instructions to make is tricky; 3. the oven here has too many settings, the symbols for which are definitely not the same as in the States. 

They actually turned out great!! I have gained so much confidence buying groceries since my first trip to the supermarket here, and it has been so rewarding to go from making toast and eggs every time I was hungry to cooking a complete meal! I have realized that I am starting to make and eat a lot of foods here that I normally would not or have not at home. Because I can't always read labels, and even the English menus in restaurants can be confusing, I have definitely learned to just go with the flow concerning my food. Because of this new-found flexibility, I have already discovered or rediscovered many foods that are new to me and that I love (and one or two that I don't)! For example, at home I rarely ate olive oil and balsamic vinegar on my salad, but here I can't get enough, whether it be with some of the amazing local bread, or on my salad. Also, I ate beef-shin goulash the other night, and it was incredibly delicious, but I don't think there is any way I would have ever ordered that particular dish before this trip! 

Food is just one example of the many indicators that I am actually learning and growing because of this experience. There are so many more ways in which I have grown that I have noticed, and of course there are likely some that I have not noticed!

I cannot believe that I am already over a week into this adventure. I look forward to the rest of my time here, and I am already disappointed at how quickly it will go by!

I am working on a post about this past weekend, but it is a big job! I hope to post that within the next couple of days. Also, if you are interested in seeing Prague through my mediocre camera and photography skills, check out my Pictures page! Enjoy!



P.S. I was looking through some information on ad campaigns today and came across this little diddy. Morbid, but somehow endearing.