I’ve done a trawl of google images and Flickr here are some of my favourite images of New York I’ve come across:
Click on the image to be taken to the artists website. Where possible all artists have been contacted and permission gained.
Jay Scott's New York Skyline at Night
Perhaps the most perfect photo ever?
Going to the US embassy and getting my US Visa was not a pleasurable experience! Although I’m glad the mountbatten team told us how to do most of it. It wasn’t terrible just a lot of bureaucracy and knowing in the back of your mind if you do one thing wrong you may have to start a whole new application was bad. The relief when I got my visa was immense however. My passportis due to arrive back with me tomorrow.
Costs associated with visa:
As well as all the money there were innumberable forms with what seemed like anagrams of one name i.e. D-6001 and D-1006. Very confusing.
On the day of the appointment I left my mobile phone keys at the Mountbatten office as you’re not allowed these in the embassy. There is a pharmacist nearby where you can leave stuff however if you’re not going near the mountbatten office or have friends / family in the area.
Once you get through security the process in the building is as follows. Or was for me.
Other things to note:
There is food and drink for sale in the embassy at not too unreasonable a price. Take a book or magazine to read however as it was very dull nervously waiting. The courier only takes cards, all debit and credit cards apart from American Express!!
Useful to have all your paperwork in neat and tidy order.
Someone asked me the other day, why I’m going to New York and what I expect to get out of it. On the face of it was a pretty easy question to answer. I could of just said because it is New York and I can..
I think I said something like, I’ve always wanted to visit New York (TRUE) it excites me (TRUE) and hopefully it will let me get a great job I enjoy when I get back (TRUE). Thinking about it now I would say exactly the same again.
If we were to call them objectives or targets then the first 2 are completed within a week of arriving and the last I won’t find out either way for at least 12 months. So what am I going to do in the in-between time, what do I want to achieve?
Simply I just want to make the most of it. Take any opportunity I can, never say no to anything (within reason!) if someone can tell me how to do away with sleep legally it would be good! Might also need some extra cash!!
I’ve lived abroad before and it was nice to throw off the shackles of who you are and how you are supposed to act for a while. Although by the end of it I was acting just the same as I do in England, (not that, that is too much of a bad thing!)
I want to succeed at my job be an actual asset to them rather than an intern. Meet new people and make life long friends. Not aiming for much then am I!
Not looking forward to the academic side of it as there is just something unnatural about studying at the same time as working your arse off! ha ha.
Any other future mountbatten interns reading this put down what you’re looking forward to in the comments section.
So I’m me. Male mid 20’s (feel like i should say GSOH or something next!) recently finished university in a subject which was fairly interesting. I worked throughout my time at uni doing some bizarre and interesting work. I enjoy travel, football good food, beer and wine. I currently live in England.
I am about to undertake a years internship in New York through the Mountbatten Intern Programme.
Mountbatten describe their purpose:
To foster international and cross cultural understanding through experiential education, practical training and residence abroad,and to provide opportunities for personal growth and professional development.
For someone like me that means they give you the chance to work abroad for a year in New York, for a prestigious company and gain 1/3 of a masters. The $64,000 question however is what happens when you get back to England. An intern has to pay to take part in the programme roughly £6000. Included in this is; course fees and accommodation. Interns are also paid around $500 / 2 weeks. So whilst £6K sounds like you are being conned it isn’t that bad! Although having to find it before I leave in 10 days is going to be quite tough. Currently have £40 in my bank! Selling everything I own!
It has been a long process applying for the internship (about 18 months) and a couple of times I felt like jacking it in. Like I mentioned before I sort of wanted to be able to see into the future and see what will happen if I do or don’t do this. Vikki Hedges in the London office has been excellent and her enthusiasm for the course was a real deciding factor in my participation.
What convinced me to take up the programme was what everyone said who I asked, “how much will I regret it if I don’t do it?” and I suppose that sums it up I might be stuck in a job making tea all day and hate where I live but at the end of the day I’ll be in New York meeting lots of new people and who knows where that could lead. Perhaps to the gutter or even less likely to a content future? I’ve got what sounds like an interesting placement with a huge company.
The accomodation in New York is in New Jersey and about 30 minutes from central manhattan. It is shared accommodation as in sharing a room. I’ve not done this since I stopped wetting the bed ( no not last week!) I’m going to it with a positive attitude but knowing how messy my bedroom gets there could be trouble ahead!
So that is it I’m moving to New York on Sunday September the fifth. Who knows what will happen and to be frank at the moment I can’t think of many better places not to have a clue about the future in.
I as in the blog.
Why does the blog exist? Firstly because writing is something I’ve always wanted to have a crack at and secondly following on from that I now have a subject area which should be interesting and perhaps even helpful. A large part of the blog will detail my experience of the Mountbatten Internship which there isn’t an awful lot of information about from an interns perspective on the internet. The remainder will be a diary of what life in New York is like, what I get up to and how I’m feeling. Plus any other random musings.
Oh and this will hopefully be easier than emailing everyone from my huge family once a week!
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