“Your life is ALWAYS ahead of you. Today is a new day - seize it!” ― Steve Maraboli

Today as I was walking down the street, I was offered free cookies. Yes. A free box of cookies. Not just any old cookies, cookies that were made by Michel et Augustin, the two french kooky guys who make fresh and deliciously gourmet cookies. They gave me a whole box. 

Each cookie package (with four cookies) sells for about $2 at Starbucks. That's how I started my day (what an excellent start). 

I look professional and
stuff

I brought in some of my naan and roti wraps for the office (free for anyone who wanted them really) and worked on some of my work for a bit (sounds a bit redundant eh?). We had our normal weekly meeting and I went back to work and then, at lunch headed over to the building across the street, which was where I arranged to have a meeting with someone from UNDP to ask her general questions about the UN, about UNDP and her own personal experiences and thoughts. 

For anyone who does want to get a job into the organization they are volunteering or working at, I really suggest going out and asking as many questions as possible to as many people as possible. Especially if you are interested in someone else's field. 

For me, I know that I have this once-in-a-lifetime amazing opportunity, one that many people around the world would kill for, to go and not only network, but to learn, not just about the organization but the inner workings of the organization.

This happens more often than you'd think.

And people are very willing to teach, you just have to ask. 

We sat in the Millennium hotel, which was a very sleek and beautiful hotel lobby with - surprisingly - empty seats everywhere. So I sat down and I hung out there for a bit before she came by, sat down and answered all my questions. It was a good day in general in terms of learning more about the UN and what they do.

Afterwards, I headed back to the UN, and man, they always have something going on, because there was a group of children outside with beautiful voices singing. It was a beautiful little choir and the weather was perfect for it. 

SO GOOD, AGEHA SUSHI

Afterwards, I did some more work and then headed out. I stayed a bit late but there was nothing forme to do so I left the office and met up with a friend afterwards. I headed all the way to the West end of Manhattan to pick up a document from the post office (I don't know why they decided it would be a great idea to send it that far but that's what they did...) and got to see a new part of the city! 

As I was walking through Hell's Kitchen, I RAN INTO A FRIEND FROM UNIVERSITY. IN NEW YORK. YES A FRIEND FROM UNIVERSITY IN NEW YORK. I stopped talking as soon as I saw him and just stared (to make sure it was indeed him).

Times Square as I
walked back home!

I don't even know how or why it happened, but it did. I had no idea he was in town and he had no idea either and Manhattan is a big place... but it still happened. I couldn't believe it. We talked for a little bit since I hadn't actually seen him in years and then we both went our separate ways. But how insane is that? Our world is so small and interconnected, it blows me away.

Afterwards, my friend and I walked uptown to try to find a place to eat dinner and we grabbed some really good sushi! I hadn't had it in a long time and it was good enough to really hit the spot. We talked a bit about both our lives and some of how we got to be where we are now. Afterwards, we headed over to another bar and grabbed some drinks before ending the night and heading in two different directions.

"Experience is the teacher of all things." - Julius Caesar

Today was a beautiful day. Started it off by walking to work and literally just entered in some confidential information and worked a bit on my project. 

Earlier that day, someone had messaged the whole intern group and asked if anyone wanted to go out for lunch (since it was honestly GORGEOUS) out and I agreed. I walked over to the building where we were supposed to be meeting up and awkwardly stood there by myself before I walked up to a group of people who also had A badges and finally found my group. It was really cool, I met interns from all over the UN as well as 3 new Canadian friends, one from Japan, one from France, one from China and one from Belgium. We sat and talked while having lunch together and I accidentally let it slip that I go to walking tours all the time and because of that I know a lot of info about the city. I told everyone about what I knew and, amazingly enough, people kept listening and were really interested! 

Guess I'm not as boring as I thought.

We ended up staying a bit later than lunch entails (I talk too much when I get excited about history and fun facts) and I headed back over to work. 

 I finished up my project and then after work, headed into the Subway and metro'd all the way down to Cooper Union Frederick P. Rose Auditorium to attend an event hosted by the Canadian HIV/AIDS legal network called, "Consent: HIV Non-Disclosure and Sexual Assault law, Under the law, what does saying yes to sex really mean?" It was made up of a reception and then a screening of two documentaries:

http://www.consentfilm.org/watch-the-film-discussion-guide/ and http://positivewomenthemovie.org/video.html. As this was a Canadian legal network, I learn a lot about how being HIV positive may impact how the law sees them. For example, the Canadian laws in place state that if you are HIV positive and you do not tell your partner before having sex with them, it is aggravated assault. Makes sense at first glance right? It's not as black and white as that. I've heard about cases where even if they did have consensual sex and the person did disclose their HIV status, they have to have something to prove that they were having safe sex. So the case I heard was that sometimes, they'll freeze a condom to prove that they had protected sex. 

That's ridiculous. 

There was also one case in Canada of a woman who was HIV positive in a long term relationship where she said that she disclosed her status from the start. The relationship was abusive, and every time she tried to get out of it, he would threaten to bring her to court for aggravated assault, which is a charge that would carry a life sentence as well as being put down as a sex offender. She ended up staying in that relationship for almost 4 years before she got out and was charged with aggravated assault.

Like I said, things aren't always black and white. On top of that, it is a cycle. Even though these people are bring challenges against those with HIV, what do they think they'll be in the future? The victim will become the perpetrator one day. It's actually quite sad and frustrating to think about since it feels like our system is so broken. 

Anyway, back onto the event. When I got out of the subway, I was 100% not going the right way and even though I was definitely in the right area (btw the subway only took me like 9 minutes to get all the way downtown) I wandered and took the wrong turns and stops quite often. It took me about 10 minutes to finally find the right place to go...after being given the wrong directions by a security officer. Whoops.

When I finally got there, the venue itself was quite nice. It had very high ceilings, it was modern,

sleek and had this very cold but technological vibe to it. I liked it. We went downstairs where we were greeted by catered Indian food and drinks (How is my life like this, seriously) as a reception before we headed into the theatre. The theatre was also really nice, the walls were beautiful with this wavy patter and it was just in general a really cool place to go! The chairs were comfy and there was loads of space between my chair and the one in front for leg room. It had a slope down, which meant that even though people were taller than me sitting in front of me, I could still see everything that was happening. 

First we watched two screenings and then afterwards, there was a panel discussion with four advocates, one from New Zealand, one from France, one From Canada and one from the US. It was really interesting hearing about the comments that everyone had up there, coming from someone like me who is so ignorant to these issues and listening to the questions and answers from the audience/panel. 

At the end of the night, there was another reception with more drinks and leftover food and I ended up making friends with the students behind the counter who were attending college nearby and told me that their club usually sponsors and hosts events like this all year round! Hardworking youngin's. I actually ended up making such good friends with them that they asked me if I wanted to take the rest of the uneaten food home.

Uh.

Yes.

I caught an uber with my friend (who was the one who originally told em about this event) heading in somewhat the same direction as me and brought my literal tray of food home. 

All in all, great day for a learning experience.

"Self-reflection is a humbling process. It's essential to find out why you think, say and do certain things...then better yourself" - Sonya Teclai

And today marks living in New York in one month!

Thoughts:

- People here are super ambitious (Perfect for a Slytherin like me) 

- People are competitive (Not a fan of actually) 

- The pace here is rapid - do or die. (Love this, I enjoy a challenge and action)

- Don't follow traffic lights apparently (WHY. WHY WHY WHY.)

- The UN is everything and nothing that I thought it would be (Interesting read: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jun/04/working-for-the-united-nations-power-privilege-principles-philanthropy) 

- People here are kind (no matter what anyone says, I will stand hard by this statement)

- It's a glamorous, bright, beautiful city (Adore this, love going out and doing stuff)

- It's a city that will make you grow up quickly (Gain street smarts-quick). 

Most importantly:

- You can indeed live off $1 pizza, don't let anyone tell you otherwise

It's amazing. I've been here for a month already but it feels like quite longer. With all the things I've done, experienced, even giving people directions and tips on what they should do in New York, It's made me really feel, not quite a "New Yorker," but ... one of them. I don't know if that makes sense or not but I do feel like I've integrated well but still kept a lot of the optimism that I came here with. 

I know my limits - but I also know my strengths. One of them is the persistence and endurance I have in being enthusiastic and excited. I know I can do it and I will. I will maintain my enthusiasm throughout all of this, not just because it is a good thing, but because it is the right thing - at least for me. People nowadays, I personally find, are too easily jaded, brought down and give up way too quickly. Passion, my friends, that is what will change the world.

Never let your passion go out. 

I never want to let my passion go out. I always have my feet planted in two places, the future and the present to move me forward. The past is what it is and having my foot planted there will do nothing for me. All I can do is reflect. Looking forward, I can be optimistic because I know I am in control of shaping my own future (with some limitations) and it makes me optimistic. 

I'll let you guys here in on my little secret, on two very personal (Seriously, these are my deep feelings) words that drive me. 

Personally, I will always follow my own two philosophies every day to keep me motivated (and sane). These are two words that have stuck with me throughout part of high school and all the way through university. 

The first is the Greek word, Ἀρετή, or in English, Arete. Which means virtue and excellence. With virtue, even beyond having high moral standards, I believe it is the integrity behind it. Actions reflect intentions. My sense of integrity leads my intentions which form my actions. Excellence; excellence in everything I do. Why would I try half as hard when I know I could try and give it my 100%? Why wouldn't I ever want to give my 100%? I believe that people deserve my 100%. No matter how big a dick, jerk or whatever they are, I give them my excellence. Because when I give them my 50%, it doesn't reflect off them, it reflects off me. In a world where so many people work so hard, I cannot take my life and my opportunities for granted. I know I must keep working hard. 

The second is the Japanese word, かい‐ぜん, or in English, Kaizen. This means continual improvement. Betterment. Although Wikipedia may say whatever about it, I will take it as my own, as something that reflects off me as a person. I believe in Kaizen, in constantly doing better, always being better. I will always openly admit my mistakes and that I am wrong (if I am). Because it is only through understanding what I have done wrong, or what others perceive I have done wrong that I can move on and become better. For me, there is no perfection, only improvement. This means that I listen. I listen to what people say and what they think. Through learning, I can become better.

These two philosophies drive every action I take. They guide my work, my ethics and my life. I want to be better and to strive for excellence. And that, my friends, is how I keep my upbeat and enthusiastic demeanour, even through the toughest times (I'm also trying to work on my poker face). 

Worst thing to ever wake up to in the morning.
A bunch of floats and people yelling. 

Now that I've opened my soul a bit to everyone here, let me tell you what you actually wanted to hear and what you came here for; what I did today.

To be completely honest, it wasn't much! I wanted to take a very chill day today after the hectic, go out every night week that I just had. I had things to do, blog posts to write, people to catch up with, so I ended up staying home for most of the day.

Yet another street festival!

I wanted to sleep in this morning, but unfortunately... there was a parade practising on the streets. Actually. It was a Philipino Independence day parade... and I don't think I've ever hated drums or upbeat music more in my life. I ended up waking up at around 8 even though I was exhausted and just put my arm over my ear (it actually worked, surprisingly).

I ended up getting up pretty early still, I wanted to go to the Botanical gardens up in the Bronx,unfortunately, it was raining so hard... I had to bail.

TIMMY'S! 

I ended up going for a bit of a walk anyway  (Hey, it's New York and it's gorgeous) and went to buy some groceries at my favourite Trader Joe's! 

As I was walking downtown... I found A TIM HORTON'S!!!! Okay, well not a Tim Horton's specifically, but it was a place that sold a bunch of Tim's stuff. Just down my street.

It was meant to be. 

I also ran into more street festivals, and, don't get me wrong, I'm still pleasantly surprised and happy with them, but I feel like they happen too often, which makes them less special AND not to mention it's always the same vendors. But it was nice to see regardless.

Here I am. Writing to you. 

I headed over to Trader Joe's and, as usual, it was packed with people. As soon as I was finished with my groceries, holy crap, were there an insane amount of people standing under the onning.

It was pouring rain. Cats and dogs people, cats and dogs. 

I ended up walking back home anyway because I had an umbrella and only my feet got wet which was okay. As soon as I got home, I did my laundry, cooked up a storm (lol not really, I just eat dip and chips nowadays) and just relaxed. Talked to my roommate a bit before she left and here I am now. Sitting on my computer on a Sunday night, writing something (hopefully) enjoyable for my friends to read.

"Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen." - Conan O'Brien

Got to dress up casual

I literally woke up at 7am today. I am so tired.

I mugged around and just kind of walked around the apartment, tried to write some more blog posts (since I am like a week behind honestly).

At around 2:30, I headed over to work to help out with the report again (yes on a Saturday and no - I wasn't forced to, I wanted to).

But before work, I walked around for a bit and just walked into two street fairs - the Murray Hill Street fair and then again with a Japan street fair. It was quite

Japan fest :D

cool being able to just see these street fairs outside and just having them, BAM, literally right outside my door. I didn't get a chance to eat or try anything since I needed to head to work asap.

When I got to the I sat around and helped out with edits again.

SO emtpy during weekends

It was quite interesting since we were so close to finishing and we were all so tired.

The entire contingent right here

After working so hard, I decided it was time to play hard (well I mean kind of hard).

I headed over to my friend's new place in Williamsburg and it was beautiful. She had a really cool rooftop, where myself and the entire Canadian Mission Intern contingent was there (Yes, all three of them). It was pretty nice going up top and relaxing and having a few drinks, talking to friends and just enjoying in general.

:D 

We headed out afterwards to grab a bite to eat and we grabbed some food from a Polish restaurant where I got to practise my very limited Polish and the guy was just having a ball listening to me say thank you and good bye in Polish and talking about all my favourite Polish foods!

After the delicious dinner, where I ordered this gigantic burger that was just overflowing with food, we headed down towards another bar, sat down and played some interesting drinking games and talked about life in general.

Gigantic plate of food

All in all, it was a great night of hanging out with friends and exploring the city. Got home a bit late, but I feel like that's starting to become a trend....

"Success is not a destination, but the road that you're on. Being successful means that you're working hard and walking your walk every day. You can only live your dream by working hard towards it. That's living your dream." - Marlon Wayans

FRIDAY! Finally - Friday. I woke up really early today again, at around 7 am and then thought it would be a good idea to go right back to sleep - but you know when you close your eyes for what you hope is 10 minutes but then it turns out to be an hour and a half? Yeah, that happened to me. I woke up and I needed to be at work for 9am, which isn't a problem usually since I live so close.

...But this morning I had to go and pick up some stuff for the office. I was a bit late - but not by much! Though that was with no help from Staples. I headed in, found the exact thing I needed within 2 minutes of being ni the store and then waited in line for twenty minutes.

HOW DOES STAPLES HAVE A TWENTY MINUTE LINE ON A FRIDAY MORNING AT 8:50AM?! How. I don't know. I guess they're super popular or not very quick with their stuff.

When I finally did get into work, it was pretty busy, our boss, the USG (Under Secretary General) was coming in today. We had a working lunch, so all the plans I made with my friends to go to the Green Fair at the UNICEF building all went down the drain.

But that was okay because I learned far more from the working lunch than I would have ever learned to a fair. I believe very strongly in learning first hand in learning through experience.

My Co-worker kindly
gave me this!! :D

if I went 

I tried to power through my other work because I really wanted it to be finished as soon as possible, but I was pulled away to help out with something else - the Secretary General's Report.

Yup. I, a lowly intern got to help out with editing and giving my opinion about the Secretary General's report.

Yeah.

YEAH.

MY MIND IS STILL BLOWN AWAY, I DON'T CARE THAT MY NAME  (No one else in my office's name will be on it either, only the SG will get his name on it) ISN'T GOING TO BE ON IT.

I KNOW I HELPED.

I KNOW I DID WELL.

I TRIED.

Mussels and Meatballs!

And man did I learn a lot. Just hearing about all the edits the report had already been through, the formatting, the footnotes, references, etc. It's all insane how much work goes into it. I also got to learn a lot about the language, the "legalese" and the "UN-speak" that is used, and being able to go

through a document first hand and provide support for it was a pretty damn good feeling.

THE MOST DELICIOUS PIZZA

I ended up staying pretty late, late enough that I had to cancel all my plans for the evening and we were probably the last ones to leave the building. But it was totally worth it.

Afterwards a friend hit me up and asked me if I wanted to go to food, so I agreed and dinner ended up turning into a few drinks and going to bed at 3am.

Good day.

“A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.” - Gloria Steinem

Took a photo by the
Green Fair

Today was pretty normal in terms of work, I did everything I needed to do, still working on my same project and the inputs.

Had at meeting today with a bunch of other departments to talk about some updates.

At lunch, I went with a friend downstairs to check out this "green fair" that the UN was hosting.

I went outside with a coworker and we saw a bunch of different vendors there, all with sustainable or green products. It was pretty cool to see! There was everything from tablets that turn into facewash for you to wash your face with, to organic insect repellant, olive oil gelato as well as chamomile and saffron gelato (both honestly really odd, I don't think I would try it again).

We hung around the fair for a bit, listened to this band that played with recycled material (which was also super cool, gotta say) and grabbed some food to eat!

When I went back inside, I headed back to work and got down to business.

UN Women reception area

I was very excited for after work! Tonight I headed over to UN Women for the first time for the first ever meeting of the UN Feminist Network‪.

I got there a bit late since I got off work at my normal 5pm but the event itself started at 5 and I wasn't in the same building. So I ran down the street to another location that UN departments house themselves in.

When I got there, the room was packed with people from all over the UN departments as well as BOTH women and men! Actually, a few of the organizers were men, which was really great and progressive to see.

The panel 

We heard guest panelists speak about women, their experiences as feminists and activists and got to ask them questions as well. At the reception afterwards, I was very lucky because I was able to meet a few other interns both in UN women and who are from New York - so it was pretty cool. 

All in all a great time with conversation, wine, activism and new friends.

"For myself, for a long time... maybe I felt inauthentic or something, I felt like my voice wasn't worth hearing, and I think everyone's voice is worth hearing. So if you've got something to say, say it from the rooftops." - Tom Hiddleston

Literally those are all
dates

Today was a pretty awesome day at work I gotta say.

I had my own work to focus on and at lunch time, I met up with a friend and we were walking around the building, just hanging out and soliciting when we walked out to the front part of the UNHQ, down to the visitor's pavilion/center and I saw all these tents with Muslim countries like Kuwait and Morocco and they were all giving away foods from their countries!

The only catch? Everything, EVERYTHING was made of dates.

Literally. Dates.

But I was surprised, it was all quite delicious, there were date cakes, date squares, deep fried dates, dates with goat cheese, wrapped-up dates to go, really any date combination you could think of, they had. It was actually really cool, I got to try some Egyptian coffee as well as some other goods I may not have been able to try beforehand.

More dates here than I've had the whole
year! (Sorry, Chris)

I sat for a bit outside and it was nice seeing everyone so excited to try and experience this new culture. I know myself, I was very happy to try and experience a new culture! I was so happy to be there!

Philippino choir in the lobby!

When I went inside, it only got better, there was a Philippino choice singing in the front entrance area of the UN and they were amazing. I only got to stick around for one song since I needed to go back to work, but the harmony and the different tones and pitches they hit were jaw dropping.

I headed back to work until the end of the day.

What a beautiful view on the rooftop

At the end of the day, I walked down the Union Square to meet a friend and we walked down all the way to lower East Side, where I was yesterday and we grabbed a drink at this really nice place called Tiki bar. It was on the roof of a hotel and there had to be someone there to scan us up. When we got up there, the decor and the atmosphere did not fail to impress. They had some really cute cups and mugs and some great fairy lights out to set the mood in the evenings.

Beautiful view of midtown!

We sat and talked for a bit before we decided to go up town to hit up two more rooftop bars. First off though, I was a bit hungry so we grabbed some dumplings from this place called "Vanessa's" which was pretty cool since they had so many signs that rated them one of the best restaurants in the city. I thanked the guy in Cantonese and I swear I have never seen someone look so surprised at me speaking an Asian language. 

Who needs to pay
to go up these skyscrapers
when you can just go
up the bars instead?

Their dumplings were delicious. The skin was chewy and crispy and just completely and utterly delicious. We took the MTA up to uptown where we went to drop off some stuff, and I went to pick up my keys (Yes I did lock myself out don't judge me) and we dropped by this cute Italian restaurant to say hi to some of my friend's friends and, man, these places treat you like family.

Had to add a photo
of the dumplings.

We headed over and saw two rooftop bars, which had beautiful views and both of which had someone who had to escort you to the elevator. Going to have to go again sometime when I don't have work the next morning!