When it hits you and you start writing, your words can flow out like rapid machine-gun fire, rat-tat-tat-tat! However, lately my muse seems to have gone dumb and won't get up to nudge me in the right direction. You see, unlike Muffinman I haven't been able to take great adventures to far reaching places, meeting people at orientation banquets and so forth. I'm confined in the office, seated at my desk in front of my company-sponsored computer, click-clackity typing away and sneaking moments to check out Facebook. And if I had gotten any kind of substantial work at all, I could be blogging about it.
I've been here at my internship for about a week and a half now, and so far 90% of it has been at my desk browsing the internet the whole time. My subscriptions on Google Reader keep me busy until about lunchtime; the rest of the day I am stuck finding various new ways to pass the time while looking like I'm doing legitimate work. There are two ways I accomplish this: I only browse sites that mainly have text (unfortunately that means no YouTube or Flash games), and I always have an Excel document open that is crammed with random numbers for me to Alt-Tab to. And of course, I always have my forehead scrunched up and slightly purse my lips, as if I were either mildly confused or thinking hard about the difficulties of the new "project" I have undertaken.
It's not that I want to avoid doing work. In fact, I would love it if I could stay in the office overtime, but the staff here rarely give me anything to do, and if they do it's usually a menial task that takes about 30 minutes. I ask if I can help with anything, yet they don't give it to me! Sure, I'm an intern and I'm probably useful for nothing at this stage of life, but really guys, can't you give me at least something I can put on my resume? Maybe I can spin this by telling people I got really good at sitting in an office chair. I certainly can't put down "Actively sat at my desk executing make-believe work," or "Seized opportunities by taking advantage of the free coffee near the water cooler".
However, despite the lack of projects I am given I try my hardest to be a good intern by showing up to work. I am usually one of the first people in the office, which is pretty easy considering the fact that people start to trickle in at around 9:30 and the last workers finally arrive around ten. I also try to leave last as well, despite the fact there is nothing for me to do here (very difficult!). At around six, as if on cue, loud banging noises come from cabinets opening and shutting as employees get ready to leave the office. By 6:15, only a few people who have been assigned an exceptionally large amount of work are left. I ask them if they need help; again they say, "Thanks, but there's nothing you can do. You can leave now." And of course, I leave.
So far, I have been a little disappointed with what I have been doing (or not been doing), but perhaps I was expecting too much. I had visions of the managers grinding me down, but it's been quite the reverse instead. I was initially uneasy about not doing anything, but after talking with various people who went through the same experience as I am going through now, I have accepted my fate and resigned myself to refreshing my email, Google Reader, and Facebook periodically in the hopes of finding new content for me to read.
Hopefully, they'll let me do something cool. Like work. Before I leave Korea, please.
-Emoinacloset
