day one

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Day one at the office.
Today was a brisk 9 Celsius.
I got little sleep last night. worrying about the first day at the office, trying to find housing, and drinking around a liter of green tea all make for a restless night.
Needless to say when my alarm went of around 7 (I know...late...but i am still recovering from the time differences) i was not ready to get out of bed let alone walk to work, meet people, and learn a ton of new information while being my most professional.
Breakfast was around a table full of germans, or dutch-unsure all i know is that they were not speaking any language i remotely knew. Luckily I had an excuse to eat quickly, justified only to myself as they could not talk to me or I to them anyways.
And now off to work. Dressed sharply in a navy suit and lavender shoes I was off to the Commercial Service (CS)!
I arrived a little bit early, which turned out to be more than ok as it allowed me to relax against the building, gazing at the masses as I waited for it to become at least 9 (I was supposed to arrive at 9:15). I had walked the route the day before timing myself and making sure there was no room for mistakes.
I have to pass through two security clearances. the second one they remove all my electronics and other gadgets from your person (I happened to have my pocket knife on me...a crew leader is useless without her knife, right? well tell that to US security). Unfortunately I do not get my personal ID badge until Wednesday, until then I get to do this each morning and again when I re-enter after lunch.
My boss, Bill Crawford was waiting for me when I arrived to brief me on the U.S. Commercial service and answer any questions I had. He gave me some material to look over, and some web sites to browse to familiarize myself with the CS.
On my way to the computer I would be borrowing until I was put on the office server and received my more permanent desk , I met all that was there in the office. there are 14 other office staff under the three head officers (Bill, Joe, and Dan). Excluding the three, the other 14 are all french nationals who specialize in one or several sectors of the CS.
And good news!!! I might be putting my environmental degree to work!
http://www.pollutec.com/
I might be placed on the pollutec project!
Pollutec is the largest environmental trade show in the world which takes place in Lyon every 2 years. The person in charge of the Environmental and sustainable building sector of the CS just took a job in Mexico, and the other person in charge recently broke her leg, so she will be out of the office for two months.
So, unfortunately or fortunately I could possibly be taking a rather large roll in this. Which, I am very excited about. Just doing research on the show and the CS's commitment to "greener technology" is great!
the whole purpose of the US Commercial Service is to "create jobs in the US" so I can feel better about that. AND as for the services/products that I am pushing- THEY ARE SUSTAINABLE AND HELP MITIGATE POLLUTION,GLOBAL WARMING, AND AID IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. yes not quite the act locally mantra, but it is thinking globally.
So I have not sold my soul.
I also had the chance to practice my french. The three other interns in the office are both French nationals who are very friendly. After just one day out in the office, and at the grocery store I feel a bit more comfortable speaking and messing up my french-for it will only get better, no?
Day one complete. ready for day two.

ps
i (with shame) went to Starbucks during my lunch break (there are TWO located close to my office) and noticed a few things:
1. they do not have internet
2. a tall regular coffee of the day costs 2.4 euros (3 dollars) it was delicious.
3. None of the baristas had to wear hats (with or without flare)

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