{look upon my works, ye mighty}

I'm in a white sari with a blue border and a turquoise blue blouse.

One of the things that I love most about the UN is that I can wake up in the morning, decide I feel like wearing a sari, and just go into work in a sari. That simple. Nobody's going to ask me if it's some sort of holiday or give me an odd look.

Can you imagine being in a normal corporate setting and walking into school in a sari or some other form of ethnic dress that isn't suit+tie official?

I can't. Not without it being Sri Lankan Independence setting or New Year's, one of those holidays that might justify the non-professional clothing.

Saris are a pain to wear, really. They're difficult to sit in, they get caught in the wheels of your chair, you have to pick it up to go down the stairs, they require a lot of safety pins and white ones especially need to be kept absolutely stain-free.

I love them anyway.

There's something so elegant and timeless about the way they drape. A sari is really just a blouse, a skirt and about six feet of cloth, but wearing a sari always makes me smile a little whenever I see myself in a mirror.

See, I'm not a good Sri Lankan girl (my hair is growing out of a red mohawk, it's red and black, I'm wearing a Nike watch on one wrist) but in a sari, I feel like maybe I'm the new type of Sri Lankan-American-European girl. Like growing up in Europe and attending college in America don't mean I'm less Sri Lankan, just that I'm more me and less culturally bound, but I can still choose to show off parts of my culture when I want to.

In conclusion? I like this sari. If I were capable of wearing saris on my own, I'd bring one back with me to uni and put it on every now and then.

Friday was my first day working at the UN. I now have a grounds pass with a photograph of myself and a black bar reading 'Intern', access to all sorts of nifty facilities including a coffee machine that dispenses cups of hot chocolate for only thirty cents, and my very own desk in a room that I share with Bitsy (nickname), the other intern.

Since most of the department was away on a retreat, there wasn't actually any work for me to do. My computer hadn't been set up yet, and I finished all the reading material and guidelines within two hours, so I was told to explore the UN. I chose not to do that, though, since my parents both work there and I already know it off by heart.

Instead, I asked if there was anything at all I could do, and was given two sheets of numbers to cross-check, along with an apology from the lady M. (I'm using psuedo-names for the sake of some anonymity) who gave them to me for giving me her work. I got that done by lunchtime, had an hour-long lunchbreak with Bitsy, three male consultants one of which had grey eyes that looked like they should have a hint of green, and then another fifteen minute coffee break. The afternoon was spent drawing, writing a letter to Matt, and doing some typing work for my mother, for which she paid me five Euros.

In case you think I'm getting off easy, get that idea out of your head right now :P I had to sign a confidentiality agreement in the morning, promising to not give out any information I gain while working at the UN (I'm going to be editing and correcting documents on Nuclear Power, in addition to the technical work), and my department apparently meets every Monday morning at 8:30 to review what they've accomplished over the last week.

In other words, I have to stand up every Monday morning and say what I did last week. And the upcoming Monday, I have to be in by 8:15 to meet with my immediate supervisor, Mr. V. Most of the people are already there and working by 7AM, but they leave by 4:30PM. I'm not sure that I can manage getting in so early (UN regulations say that fixed-hour staff have to be in by 8:30 to 9:30), but I can try. I don't have to swipe in/out, so they can't track how many hours I spend working per day, but I'm expected to do forty hours a week, and eight hours a day.

Yesterday was just to get me settled in. My real work is going to start on Monday, and it'll start when I stand up and introduce myself, red-black faux-hawk and all.

Wish me luck, everyone. The 25th floor (and yes, my office is very high up) won't know what hit it.