Back Issues of my Internship Journals

I'm doing so well with keeping up on journaling, it's astounding.

If only that statement were true.

I need to sit down and write. I know I do. I need to process everything. But there is so little time, and so many people to talk to and visit with.

Anyway -- hope this will suffice for now! I'm well, happy, and enjoying this new land! But I miss everybody.

My love,

Gracie

Week 4 Journal

Another week at work has gone by. I think that time is simultaneously going both faster and slower. I have, for one, hunkered down on an official project of my own for about the next month. In a twist of events, it is no longer School Bus Safety. The gentleman who is working on signage for the rear of school buses only just got the funding, and the next opportunity for RWNZ to act on the issue won’t really be until after I’ve left New Zealand. And so my supervisor has directed me towards reviewing the proposals that the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has set forth regarding Consumer Law Reform. I’ve read through the Ministry’s “Discussion Paper” several times, and particularly at the beginning of the week I felt that even though the language is quite accessible and though I understand the changes they are proposing, I couldn’t quite grasp how to regard this reform process with the needs of RWNZ in mind. However, after spending an excruciating amount of time reading and re-reading, things started to sink in and I seem to have adopted a proper way of thinking about these things. We’ll see what happens when I run this stuff past my supervisor next week. It might just be a load of rubbish!

As far as inter-office relationships go, I am starting to get below the surface with Bee. At least I think I am. I really like her – she’s spunky! I learned a lot about her family, her fiancés family, her dreams, and so on. Getting to know people, to really know them, is something I enjoy doing. And I think that Noeline has taken a liking to me, as well. She’s let me tag along with her to a few more events this week. Wednesday morning, we went to the Walking Access Commission’s launch of the “New Zealand Outdoor Access Code.” This project has been seven years in the making, and according to Noeline was “like World War III at times.” Politics…incredible. And I say that without even a tinge of awe – mostly it just seems ridiculous. During the whole thing (which took place in the Beehive, by the way – where the business of parliament is carried out), I felt like an interloper. However, I did get to mingle with parliamentarians – even a minister or two, and other “important” people.

Shortly afterwards, Noeline and I went to a Pay Equity Rally on the steps of Parliament. The time shifted, unfortunately, and we seem to have missed it. However, we did get there in time to hear a quick speech on the importance of women getting paid at a comparable rate to men. Quite good.

Week 5 Journal

Apologies for the abrupt ending on that last instalment.

I can hardly believe that my fifth week is drawing to a close. Is it really the half-way point already? I will be sitting down with Noeline later on today for an evaluation of sorts. I think it will go fine – she seems to like me and my work okay so far.

This last week has been interesting. At times, I have a bit of difficulty keeping up with the shifting policy focuses that Noeline gives to me. I submitted my thoughts to her concerning the Consumer Law Review issues on Monday, which she said would be useful and may even be putting me on assignment to work on crafting a submission to Parliament (basically, a written piece giving members of parliament feedback before they make an official legislative decision). Just before I finished that up (something I’ve been grappling with for a few weeks now), Noeline approached me with a new project, this time reading through a previous intern’s report on Early Childhood Education (ECE) in New Zealand and updating it to the modern political environment (which I think means in response to the recent budget announcement).

Most of my difficulty, I think, stems from the way that I have to do such extensive reading and research to understand the context of whatever policy I am to be looking at at any given time. I can’t help it – I want to understand exactly what it is that I am dealing with before I make any moves. In the meantime, I am working on figuring out which angle to take in updating this report done by Amanda, which has meant reading her report several times through and taking notes on it, and utilising the wonderful internet to try and piece together what has happened to disturb the waters of ECE.

I am beginning to feel as though I am a part of the office these days, though. Bee and I have good laughs on a daily basis, whether it be about the way in which ducks dislike and chase her whenever she’s around them or about how we need to take a “stomach-crunch” break at work. I even got a flash-back moment to working in the NLCF office the other day when I faced a battle of epic proportions with the copy machine. Paper jams can be nasty, but I emerged victorious and with all of the copies I needed in hand.

This internship is invaluable. It really is. Although for a student of political science, I find politics to be amusing. I think my main rationale for choosing my major was that I enjoyed writing about the ideas. Theory. I like the process of stringing together different pieces of information, different theories, different stories and experiences, and making them fit together. I like to write. There’s something about it for me. It allows me to communicate in a way that I am otherwise not able to. I usually have so many thoughts buzzing around, but when I try to articulate them, they become so jumbled. But when I write, my inhibitions are gone. I know exactly how to get across what I want to say. It’s wonderful.

Until next week.