“Def identifying with: 1) word counting 2) hating everything i write 3) working at random speeds 4) being inconveniently tired 5) exploring the fridge to procrastinate 6) “in just two days”" – Syd.

I see you. I see you at your desk with a stack of names – candidates with seemingly-flawless resumes and stellar academic credentials. By this point you may have become bored with the monotonous process of Googling names. Or you may be Facebooking your potential interns and gleefully chuckling to yourself as you come upon some blurry shot of said intern doing a keg stand while making a lewd gesture to scantily-clad female cohorts who are in compromising positions.

As a freelance web designer and a (very eager) future intern, I have an especially great interest in my online reputation, which is why I had my hesitations about this blog entry. You see Dear Potential Employers, I have picked up a hobby while I’m here in England. While not exactly self-destructive or harmful to society, this hobby has the potential to burn holes through my wallet, make my evenings go by in a hazy blur, and raise questions about my status as an alcoholic. The hobby? I am currently a card-carrying member of the Oxford Wine Tasting Society.

At the beginning of term, a friend of mine suggested joining the Wine Society here. At first I thought this was a bit unnecessary, because 1) tequila is cheaper* 2) my palate isn’t that perceptive or sensitive and I will probably mistaken a Chateau Mouton Rothschild – Pauillac 2000 vintage for a £5 watered-down bottle from the Tesco supermarket  3) I’ll be taking HADM4430 – Intro to Wines at Cornell next year anyway. My skepticism eventually gave in to curiosity and I went to my first tasting: Introduction to Alsace.

* This is a joke.

A tasting session at Oxford is neither the stuffy hoity-toity scene you imagine nor… okay who am I kidding, wine tasting can be pretty darn pretentious. The meetings usually take place at Merton College and go on for about 2.5 hours. Each session revolves around a geographic region – we’ve done the aforementioned Alsace, Lebanese, Chilean, Rioja, Burgundy etc.so far – and is led either by an expert from the winery/region or the Bacchus Society’s president, the lovely Alex Linsley. The talks are very educational actually – we learned about growing conditions, wine-making traditions, the peculiarities of each vintage, and more.

Upon learning about my new-found obsession, my Oxford tutor for International Economics actually suggested that I do a paper on the wine trade and international wine regulation! THIS IS WHY I LOVE OXFORD. For research, my tutor gave me a DVD of the award-winning film about wine, Mondovino, and told me to go to the grocery store and buy a bottle from every major wine-producing region. Needless to say, my 3000 word essay was a tipsy masterpiece.

Over the course of Hilary term, my roommate and I have accumulated a large number of wine bottles. I was horrified to have this shelf collection pointed out to me one day when I was Skyping with my parents. However, my dad was VERY excited that I joined Bacchus and promptly told me he actually just bought a wine fridge. Here’s a screenshot haha:

During Easter break, we took this wine obsession one step further and went to Bordeaux to have St. Emilion wine (now that’s a whole story on its own). C’est la vie.

So Dear Potential Employer, when you come across my resume and see that I have listed “wine” as an item under “Activities, Skills, and Interests”, do not be alarmed. After all, wine – while I’m legal in the UK – fits under all three categories of “Activities, Skills, and Interests.”

Warm regards,

Phoebe

P.S. – Here are some wonderful blogs I found and now follow =)

• Dr. Vino – The author, Tyler Colman, is pretty prominent in the wine world. He wrote one of the books I read for my Intl Econ tutorials! His writing is accessible and to-the-point.
• WSJ On Wine – “Incisive criticism and accessible advice on the world of wine”
• Jamie Goode’s Wine Blog – Expect lots of pictures and tasting notes!
• The Terroirist – The name of this blog refers to terroir, a French word that holds particular significance for winegrowers. The terroir is basically the belief that the micro-climate, soil, wine-making techniques etc. all contribute to the composition of the wine.  The entire French system of appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) for wine classification is based on terroir.
• Sociology of Wine – fascinating background into this dynamic industry

To my dismay, the clerk explained to me that this supermarket had yet to install card-swipe machines. Cash only. I relented and fumbled through the unfamiliar wad of bills stuffed in my wallet,  handed her the right change, and went home.

A couple hours of frantic housework later, everything was in place in my tiny literally-one-room apartment. My mosquito net was propped up with plastic strings tied to nails driven into the random corners of the room (left behind by the previous apartment occupant). The tradeoff for not waking up with half a dozen mosquito bites was having to avoid all the strings that haphazardly cross my room – a fair bargain, I think.

Next, I got to work on the curtains. Remember those checkered plastic Chinese restaurant table cloths? Great curtains. And their functions don’t stop there – they also make great bathroom doors! So the set-up of the apartment is that I have one bedroom, and my landlord has her bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen on the OTHER side of the hallway. Basically, if I need to use the bathroom, I would have to open my door, lock it, open her door, lock it, go to the bathroom, open her door, lock it, and unlock my door. The icing on the cake is that the sliding door of the bathroom does not close, at all. Table cloth to the rescue!

Another peculiar thing I noticed is that many Chinese people don’t believe in mattresses. For the first couple of nights before I asked my landlord for a cotton pad, I was sleeping on a hard bed frame and developing back issues at the tender age of nineteen.

Other than that, I learned that duct tape truly solves all your problems and that there’s no need to buy brooms when one’s neighbor leaves a broom in the hallway (hey, it’s a Communist country, people are obligated to share their resources… or something like that).

Frugal intern score: A+
Housewife score: D-

This makes me wonder how my fellow interns are doing in various corners of the world. Are you living in some fancy studio on the Upper West Side or downtown Vancouver? An NYU/UBC dorm shared with three other people? A leaky apartment in the Bronx? Or more likely, commuting from Jersey or Queen’s? I doubt you guys make dinner every night. How does it feel going from dining hall food in Ithaca to business lunches with bankers in the financial district? I would say that, save the exception of those currently slaving away in a cubicle or a testosterone-filled trade floor for corporate monoliths, most interns are paid somewhere near minimum wage, or nothing at all (I guess I lucked out with an awesome job overseas which I love, yes, I’m talking to you boss-who-reads-this-blog).

So fellow interns, how are you doing? What (wonderful/horrific) summer stories are you willing to share?

I was running a bit late so my supervisor took the initiative and ordered “The Cornellian” for me – a large selection with scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, fruits, and other things which I gulped down over conversation. The best impression I have of the place is the outstanding service – all the servers addressed me by name. My juice and coffee was constantly refilled (that of course never happens in dining halls, not even during house dinners, which is a shame. Something to look into implementing?).

Lobby of the Statler Hotel, which is literally a few meters away from Ives Hall, the ILR building. (Images from Google)

Looking at the 161 Things Every Cornellian Should Do just now, I realized I accomplished half of #67 – Eat at Taverna Banfi (formely Banfi’s) and charge it to CornellCard. Next time I guess I’ll splurge on my own budget.

Y’all should try a real breakfast sometimes =D