first day of work...

...and counting down every hour until the work day is over...every day until the week is over...and every week until the minimum 8-week requirement is over...

I can do this.

What I wore today..

but I would consider this pretty dressy for what the girls seem to wear here to go to work. (and I'm quite lazy so not even gonna bother to crop this picture or whatnot.)

They are always wearing dresses that are summery and cute and well, not what I would have imagined for a law firm. But I like that! And the environment at the firm is soooooo chillax and everyone is so nice to me, ready to help whenever I may need their assistance...so I should not complain...because it could be a lot worse.

What did I do today at "work?" Wasted it away, waiting till 6 pm for my escape. But really, for the first hour or so, I simply stared at my laptop screen. I did read some interesting articles on CNN. Eventually I got my own email account that ends with @ykvn-law.com and then a mass email was sent out introducing and welcoming me. The subject line: female intern. I laughed at it. I guess it was their way of distinguishing me from Elliot.

Then I got my first assignment!! I was to write a Due Diligence request list regarding a merger and acquisition transaction. Piece of cake! But not really. I had no idea what was going on and what to do and the samples they sent me were not as clear as I would have liked them to be. I read over some documents to get a better understanding of the transaction and the context of which my request had to be created. Tough stuff. It took me till lunch time to read the documents and understand that one company was trying to become majority shareholder of another company, essentially taking it over (I think).

After returning from lunch, I had to ask the colleague who gave me the assignment for a meeting/discussion. Let's just say the meeting reflects how casual the firm environment is - there was a dropping of the f-word and s-word in just about every sentence. I must admit, I was a bit weirded out...but I like it. Eventually I "drafted" the DD request, sent it in for review, made changes as suggested, and did so multiple times. I finally finished this specific assignment one hour before it was time to go. Phew! It was only about five pages long, but man, it took the whole 8 hours to "understand" and "complete" this assignment, which I'm pretty sure is considered easy.

Was it fun? Not really. Did I learn something? Definitely. Was it a worthwhile first day? No doubt. Am I excited for tomorrow? Hell no. But I'll go and take it one hour at a time, one day at a time.

On a different note, though not a happy one, I went out Saturday afternoon, while it was drizzling and thundering, with Elliot and some other colleagues to a public pool.

Me and Tuyen

 The people were such serious swimmers, doing stretches and laps and all that jazz. Of course I can't swim, so I didn't. Point of this story: I got four additional mosquito bites (that I'm aware of) and they're freakin' itchy and huge and annoying. After the others were done swimming, we took this long trip to someplace outside of District 1 and sat on little stools eating bun thit nuong - it was delicious. They do have something similar in the states but the experience here is completely different. It was pleasant and I would have taken pictures, but I think Elliot seems to not appreciate my eagerness to capture every new experience (even the new/different dishes I eat - or my first meal in Vietnam though just a simple croissant)...so I didn't and there are no pictures. But maybe if I go again another time and he's not around...I'll try to snap one or two pictures...for me..and for you.

Well, I've been tired all day today. I think it's about time for some sleep.