My First Day (after a starting delay due to snow)

Since yesterday almost whole DC was closed, at least most of the federal agencies and other institutions under OPM (Office of Personal Management) schedule, including mine, due to six inches of, and inexperience with, snow, I was unfortunately not able to start my internship.

However, today I finally was able to go to the office which is located in the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center, with another two hour starting delay. 

I was warmly welcomed by the Program Coordinator, and both him and the Executive Director took me out for lunch to a very nice and elegant Italian restaurant. While having a delicious catfish with artichokes and mixed greens in balsamic vinaigrette, we all tried to make ourselves familiar with one another. 

I was asked again to explain myself what I hope to gain from the internship and which areas of trade are most interesting to me. I answered that energy, natural resources, and agriculture are highly interesting to me. However, in general I want to learn more about development and how developing countries can be supported the best in order to improve their economic and social circumstances. 

The rest of the day, I was trained how to register members, how to act when receiving phone calls, how to make deposits, and how to manage e-mails. All of these things are very administrative but I know that without these tasks a non-profit is not able to run. 

Tomorrow I will get a tour of the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center, I will learn more about the Young Trade Professionals, and I will attend one of the KU/WSU program's seminars with the head of the Washington DC office of the Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), one of the largest pharmaceutical companies worldwide.