One Week Down, ? To Go

So I survived my first week of work. It wasn't easy. It's been a long week. Let's see, my car finally arrived on Wednesday evening, after me constantly calling and harrassing the shipping company. And when it arrived...well, let's just say my car didn't look quite as new and clean and dent/scrape/scratch-free as I remembered the last time I saw it several months ago. My dear friend Miata was gracious enough to keep it for me while I was living it up in Milan (thank you dear!). But somewhere in translation, it acquired a rust spot, several paint scrapes, and quite a few dents. When I mentioned this to the shipper, he tried to brush it off as if all these things were there when they picked the car up (I'm in the process of verifying this) but needless to say I was not a very happy person Wednesday evening. There are several knicks and dents on my back bumper that I am almost convinced the company is responsible for but unfortunately I have no way to prove it.
Moving on to more positive aspects of the week....let's see, I'm not sure there were very many, but I'll try to think hard. Well, I did go to a "networking" event hosted by the African American Business Council right after work on Wednesday. In true Minneapolis style, it was held at a venue that I've been to before (which is pretty sad since I can count the number of times I've been out here on one - maybe two - hands). It was good to see that there are other black folks in the company but quite honestly, I knew no one at all so it wasn't quite as fun as one might think. Fortunately, I ran into a girl who was on my MPD team last summer. I remembered that she was pretty young, and lived in St. Paul so we chatted for a while and some folks were good about just coming over and introducing themselves. I met a girl from Indianapolis, a guy from Connecticut (he asked me if I had ever been to "carnival" in NYC - he was referring to the Labor Day Parade in Brooklyn...I hardly consider that a real carnival). There were a number of cliques which made it pretty intimidating to just walk around networking. Right before I left, I met another girl who works in merchandising as a specialist, which is an entry level position although they do a lot of work. I was so happy to meet someone else in merchandising so we just started chitchatting (I'm sure I probably talked her ear off but if I did, she was very nice about it). We vibed pretty well. She pretty much confirmed that the Twin Cities is lame (oh, did I say that? I meant "not as exciting as I had hoped"). She confirmed that the area is very small and that I will get tired of seeing the same people VERY quickly (she is not the first person to tell me that). So, now that I have that out of the way, I guess I'm ready to just make the most of it. I've decided to make a list of things I want to do here, and every time I get bored (hopefully it doesn't become a daily event), I will do something off my list. She gave me her card and I told her I would definitely contact her (which I will). I haven't gotten around to it this week but I will by next week for sure.
Last night was eventful. I was supposed to meet up last night with one of my friends from Andover who is now in law school out here (one of my two true friends in the area). We were going to go somewhere for drinks and to catch up since we hadn't seen each other since I got here and she was leaving Friday to go back home to NYC for a few weeks. The plan was to meet up at 6. Cool. Then at 5pm, she calls me to say that she accidentally left her car keys in her coworkers' car who lives in Wisconsin. So basically, she had no way of getting home and needed my help. I ended up driving to her apartment in Minneapolis to get her keys, then driving to St. Paul to get her from work, which sounds very simple in theory. However, for someone like me who is new to the area, knows nothing outside of downtown, and no longer has a GPS, it was quite a challenge. I tried to look at it as an opportunity to learn my way around the area. Ok, so I made MANY wrong turns, and got lost more times than I care to admit. And it doesn't help that there are still a lot of roadblocks due to the bridge collapse last summer so Mapquest wasn't always helpful. BUT, I did learn how to get to the University of Minnesota, and discovered a pretty cool area over there (we went to eat afterward at Applebee's near their campus - directly across the street from Jamba Juice!). I also learned how to get to 3M headquarters. Not that I will ever need to go there again (I hope not), but hey, it's something new. And I drove highway 94 for the second time, which makes two major highways I can navigate now (35W was the first - that's the way to the airport so I learned that one quick).
Back at the ranch (work), it was pretty uneventful. That's the downside to having been an intern - I've been through all the pre-training already so I'm literally sitting through the same classes, and taking the exact same online trainings for the second time. Some of it is a refresher but most of it was pretty straightforward to begin with, so its requiring a lot of patience on my part. I do have to immerse myself in everything "tween" though so I can understand that market. You would think that with a 10 yr old sister, I'd have it down but who knew there was more to being a tween than Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers? I've glanced through a few of the tween magazines and my goodness...let's just say I have a lot to learn. I did go to a handful of meetings with my mentor but nothing really exciting. I've been reaching out to people I worked with last summer to reconnect and catch up, and I'm looking forward to all of those. I'm having lunch with my old MPD manager next week, and a get together with my merchandising manager the following week. I'm also connecting with my old merchandise finance contact. I heard from one of my old mentors today (the one who is on maternity leave) and I can't wait to see her. She's an amazing merchant and I learned a lot from her last summer. She still works in infant/toddler girls apparel but I don't think she will be back for another couple months.
Well, such is my life in Minneapolis. I have no concrete plans this weekend except to continue unpacking my apartment (it's embarrassing how many boxes I still have in my kitchen and hallway). Since one of my two friends here is now in NYC, and the other has been MIA since I got here, I guess I will have to find things to do to keep busy on my own. I'm thinking about a SATC (Sex & The City) movie marathon. I know, what a surprise. Tonight, some of the interns are getting together for drinks at the W, which recently opened here so I will probably go since I'm not doing much else. We have a pretty fun group of interns so far but somehow knowing we will be spending the next 3+ months together makes me feel not so bad about missing a get together. More to come...