First Day at the UN

Wow is all I have to say. It was a pretty jam-packed first day, yet there was nothing specific planned for me when I got there. I successfully got checked in, got my pass (I'm officially labeled an "intern" - on which I will elaborate a bit later) and found my office. I met the other interns - some very cool people. One other girl - Victoria - started with me today. She's a law student from Sydney and we're going to take German lessons together somewhere. Then there is Michael (London) and Claudia (Germany). We're all law students on our floor. I got my Lotus Notes set up (I have an email with the UN in it!!) and by that time it was time to go to lunch. All the interns eat together so it was fun to get to meet a bunch of the other interns. After lunch I was back in my room reading up on Transport law (apparently you find out what you want to do and then go around and ask for work) when one of the interns sent a gentleman in to see me. After verifying who I was and that I was going to be there longer than 1 month, he told me that he needed a clerk, that I would be researching and editing documents for him and that he would verify tomorrow that it was OK with the people at UNCITRAL. He indicated that he "works with" the Law of the Sea. OK, cool - I'm up for learning anything that I can while I'm here. So he got me started on a document that he was working on (which, between the 2 of us, we managed to "misplace" in his system and had to redo the whole thing - whoops.) He then gave me his card and gave me some stuff to read. It would seem that I am going to be working for Helmut Tuerk - a judge for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. He is a very accomplished, very intelligent man and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work for him. I was just in the right place at the right time - but it is perfect. An amazing learning experience. There is a huge field of debate right now over whether the US - one of the last hold outs - should adopt the Law of the Sea body of law, so to learn more about it and be able to think on that for myself is an amazing opportunity. Whoops, I worked for a judge this year.

On being an intern...it's an interesting experience. I'm much older than most of the interns. They are one smarty-pants group. Just 1 other American (that I've met) - but a lot of other countries represented in their numbers. An amazing command of language (making my own lack of fluency in another language seem just SAD). They are all about 23 - 25 years old. I had the following conversation with Claudia:
Me: Wow...I feel old in this group.
She: Oh, there is one other girl who's older.
Me: Really? How is that?
She: Oh, she's at least 27.
Me: **Speechless**
If 27 is "older" - what am I? Ready for retirement? It was funny. I feel too old to be wearing the label "intern." I've held a "real" job - none of the others have - they've all "just" been students. (I say "just" because being a student is not all fun & games.) So I am a bit on the different side. It's just a strange feeling, like I rewound but stayed the same age.

My luggage is still in a state of flux. NOW they are claiming that I am (a) only here for 4 months & that is too short a time to be a "move to Austria" (durh - not moving here, just passing through) and (b) I have too much stuff for it to be labeled "travel goods" (must be valued at less than 185 euro). So...what now? XS Baggage has done nothing to help me. They are like "bummer" and ignore the problem. I was under the impression that the would send things via an airline and I would pick it up as unaccompanied baggage. It would seem a big part of the problem is that it came UPS. It did not come in as BAGGAGE, it came in as a SHIPMENT. These are 2 different things. Do yourself a favor, dear reader, and avoid this company. It is NOT worth your hassle. I know that they are recommended by ISIC - but I am of the opinion that they don't really research these companies and have never actually had to deal with them. It has been nothing short of disaster from the beginning. I would advise NOT using this company EVER. Unless you really are willing to deal with the hassle yourself while in transit.