The phrase “All work and no play” really bothers me. How can you work effectively if you don’t also allow yourself time to play? It may not be best to party until 4am the night before your big presentation, but you can still find ways to entertain and rejuvenate yourself so you come back to work even fresher the next day.
Most girls this summer will be interning in new places- places they may not necessarily know that well. Collegiettes, it’s so important to get to know the area you’ll be calling home this summer! First off, you may never live there again. You have to soak up this time when you have a set chunk of time in a different place- you’re only young once, right? The countdown to life in the “real world” of demanding bosses and strict deadlines is fast approaching. This summer is your perfect chance to earn a good paycheck while exploring a new environment and learning about yourself.
Check out the Culture. There are three great ways of learning about your surrounding culture: the art, the people, and the “crazy”.
1. Art: One afternoon or weekend, take time out of your busy schedule to check out the local art or history museum. One of my favorite days this trip was visiting the Cape Town Holocaust Centre. I had been to the one in Los Angeles, but it was very interesting to see how a different country was also affected by the Holocaust. I had the chance to see interviews of the hundreds of Holocaust survivors from Latvia who emigrated to South Africa. After this, I also was able to visit the District Six Museum. District Six was a cultural district near the Cape Town waterfront which was demolished during apartheid. Families and businesses were warned 36 hours before their homes would be razed to the ground. Luckily, the traditions and culture of the neighborhood was preserved at this museum. And lucky for me, I visited a mere couple of days after First Lady Michelle Obama visited and signed my name on the memory cloth right above hers.
2. People: Another way for you to really get to know the city is to meet the locals! Those are the people who are actually living in the city and make up the cultural traditions. If you don’t just want to interact in bars and such, you can always be adventurous and go to couchsurfing.com . Essentially, people in different areas all over the globe offer up a bed or “couch” in their residence for you to bum for a couple of nights and get to meet real locals. I’ve had a couple of friends do this and they have all had great experiences, but do remember to be smart!
Luckily, I had a contact who knew local people from the nearby rural township near Durban. I was able to do a 6 day homestay with this young couple, Dudu and Dumi. They made sure I had the real local experience by inviting me to their family’s Labolla or Dowry ceremony. In this ceremony in the Zulu culture, the families of the bride and groom meet for the first time and exchange gifts as well as their different cultures. When I arrived in the village, I was welcomed with open arms. All the villagers wanted to show me their houses or have me try their food. The teenage girls taught me all the traditional Zulu dance moves and joked I should perform with them later at the labolla ceremony- I jokingly agreed. Later that night, I was shocked when I was pulled front row with the girls and asked to perform the dance I had learned earlier that day. I could’ve been embarrassed and hid back in my seat, but I thought: When will I have the chance to dance in a Zulu wedding? The locals very much appreciated my attempt at dancing and I even received a spear as a proposal.
3. Do something crazy. Since you’re already far from home, you might as well do something maybe your friends wouldn’t expect J For me, I wanted to take advantage of South Africa’s famous wildlife. First, I knew the country was known for its large population of great white sharks. When else would I get the chance to be submerged in a cage and see eye to eye with one of the world’s scariest animals? At home, I’m usually gripping the pillow when Discovery Channel’s Shark Week comes on, but now that I’m in a different country I felt I needed to take advantage of the shark diving capital of the world. And although I was slightly numb from the cold water, it’s another thing I can cross off my bucket list!
After this, I visited the SPIER Cheetah Sanctuary where cheetahs are protected from hunting farmers and poachers. At this Sanctuary, I also learned of a new sustainability initiative where the program raises Annatolian shepherd dogs to give to farmers to use to scare away cheetahs and protect their livestock. This prevents the farmers from killing the cheetahs since the dogs can protect their livestock without attacking the cheetah. While it was fun to learn about the cheetahs, it was even more fun to be able to pet the actual cheetahs! For a small fee, I was able to pet Joe the Cheetah and get a photograph. He naturally lied down for us and purred the whole time we petted his incredibly soft fur. It was a-meow-zing. And finally, I decided to see on of South Africa’s tamer animals and visit the famous Penguin’s Beach. This is one of the only places in the world where penguins live in a warm climate such as on this beach. I was used to seeing penguins at Sea World, but not in their natural habitat….on a beach.
Your summer internship will be over before you know it and unless you step out of your comfort zone, you’ll only have a good recommendation letter and no memories. Why not be an explorer for a while? Collegiettes, while your internship may help you on your career path in the future, it’s the culture and people you meet that you’ll remember for a lifetime.