The chance emerged quite randomly and unexpected series of events. During this past summer I spent 2 weeks at the United Nations Graduate Study Program. I was part of a working group in which I vastly complain about the lack of supervision and organization of my work... to a high ranking UN economist lady, who happened to be the advisor for our working group!
But to be fair, it was a lot of work involved and I had to pull strings together to present and issue this document. In any case, I don't know whether I stood out because I was an outspoken rude student, a student who is studying about standardization, or because I was Japanese but one day out of the blue she emailed me if I'm around Geneva for lunch... lunch?! I could've turned it down but I decided to go anyway as I also thought she would be able to give me some feedback on the document we submitted to her.
Turns out that she said she was looking for someone to work on a project involving tariff and trade laws and classifying them in to standardized data. And even better yet, they were looking for someone who knows Japanese to look into laws in Japanese. I can instantly see why bells rang in her head for me. The project itself did sound very interesting but at this point thinking she wanted just a few hours to help her out, like a research assistant I just said "why not?"
Then it turns out she actually wanted to hire me as a consultant and it was a whole formal process of interviews and resume comparing. They ended up offering me the position but I was a bit hesitant.. they wanted me to come in for about 25 hours a week. Even though my course load is not as high, I still do take 6 classes. This was a big commitment. I ruminated over this idea for weeks but finally decided to give it one big shot (eek!).
Honestly it's been quite an excruciating schedule managing everything. On the worst days this is what my schedule looks like:
6am - get up
7-8am - commute to school
8-10am - class
10-12pm -readings for a class
12-7pm - work
7-9pm - apero or some sort of symposium event
9-10pm - commute to home
10-12pm - dinner
12-2:30am - study for an exam
You'd think just working is hard enough but student and work balance is seriously excruciating. But nevertheless I'm surprised to say I enjoy what I do. For one thing, I learned a lot about Japanese society reading through these laws. The text is horridly complicated but it's been a good practice in Japanese skills. Secondly, it perfectly fits into what I've been learning in my studies. And I do really like the atmosphere that I work in. The one thing I've always been lucky about is that I have really great coworkers and supervisors (for the most part).
Guess in the end, all that started out with some edgy rebellious attitude help a bit? No, I am kidding. Frankly I've been extremely lucky and I'm blessed of the experience I've been getting out of. More updates to come!
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| View from our building |
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| It's still quite expensive to afford cafeteria lunches at the UN..So bentos it is! |
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Extra:
Sometimes I work from cafes in the UN compound, just for a change. It's interesting to hear all the different languages and events people are here for. The other day, I had an interesting guest knocking on the window...peacock(s)** ! It's nothing really unusual at the UN but a bit uprising they were staring at me!
According to a UN tourguide, the peacocks were a gift from an Indian maharajah. When Gustave de Revilliod de la Rive, bequeathed the palace to the UN/Geneva he requested that the peacocks remain on the grounds...so they do, till this day! I sometimes spot them and they're so used to being around humans that they are so chill and poised. They're the real residents who literally own the palace for sure.
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