Week 4 / July 9, 2009

In the manner of Rilke…from current interns to those interns yet to come…

Although we are only about 4 weeks into our internship (which accounts for nearly half of our time here! “Holy cats!” says Mari upon this realization), we feel as though we have acquired a certain degree of practical knowledge with regards to this position. Let us elaborate:

• You’ve been accepted, congratulations! You braved the brutal Chicago winter to travel for the interview process. Good news: it’s better in the summer. Now it’s time to figure out your living situation. For this purpose, it is ideal to communicate with the other interns as soon as you have their contacts. Comb craigslist, university housing, and even trying googling “Chicago summer apartments.” There’s a good chance that one of the other interns (or friend or family member) is from Chicago and can be a great resource for suggesting good neighborhoods and explaining transportation. We were first time Chicago residents and had no idea what to expect, until we contacted others.
• Pack comfortable shoes. Seriously. Leave your heels (or pointy loafers, gents!) at home or reserve them for the weekend. You’ll be sitting on the floor a lot too, just FYI.
• Locate the nearby watering holes immediately, if that’s your bag. There’s not a lot of action in the loop after dark, but traveling further afield is easy and well rewarded. The Berghoff is a little antiquated but conveniently located. Look for the Thursday $3 margarita place. Bin 36 is classier, and the wine and cheese flights are not to be missed. Ok, we don’t want to sound like we’re getting paid for this free advertising – you guys will find your own places – so moving on…
• The first week might be rocky as you get to know each other and try to contact everyone you remotely know in the Chicago area to hang out, but no worries. You’ll be spending a lot of time together at work, and this naturally transitions to your extracurricular activities. Have potlucks (thanks Liz!), go to outdoor movies and concerts (don’t miss lunch time at the Pritzker Pavilion), go to other museums together, and don’t miss the sweet architecture boat tour.

Sometimes it feels like we’re the new Brangelina – we’re going by MoMa or MaMo (to mix it up now and then) – and you WILL become very close to the people you work with. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be together 24/7. But we think you’ll find an awesome group of people to work and hang out with in Chicago.

More advice to come later.