YATTA!

I'm going to Tokyo this summer! I have never been so excited!

I got the eight-week internship with RBS in Japan! This means that I will get to go and live in Tokyo for two months and work in a different section of their business every week. And will also get to eat nothing but Japanese food and buy jeans that are the right length for me AND collect a ridiculous amount of Hello Kitty paraphernalia! :D I will try and write a slightly more sensible post once I have found out more and managed to calm down a bit. Oh, and once I have told Selex that I know won't be able to work there... Crap.

Jobs

Had my interview with Selex on Friday afternoon. I'm finding it really hard to tell how it went - it seemed much more like a chat than an interview and I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing! Before my interview, I got to catch up with one of the guys who had given me a tour of the site in January which was nice. He wanted to ask me some questions about the Nuffield Bursary project that I did as they're thinking of providing one for next year. It's always good to hear how the scheme is growing as it did so much for me.

Then I had the interview. It was meant to be a competency-based interview where they could find out whether I can work in a team, whether I'm a good communicator, what my skills are, that kind of thing, but it kind of just turned into a normal conversation. I'm hoping that it's because I was the last person to be interviewed and that they'd just stopped sticking to the script by the time they got to me. Hmmm...

There are 11 people going for 4 places and I should find out by the end of this week so fingers crossed! It's a 12 week placement and the pay is fantastic so I really do hope that it all works out. I've still to hear about Tokyo too though. The suspense is killing me!

O genki desu ka?

I just made and then devoured a batch of tori kara age. I got the recipe from the Wagamama book (which I blatently stole from my mum...) and they were absolutely delicious. Went very well with rice and pak choi.

Tucking into some good Japanese food has got me super excited about the prospect of working in Tokyo over the summer. Still waiting to hear back from the Saltire Foundation - now I'm nervous!

On the plus side, I have an interview with SELEX now, so fingers crossed for that one.

I wonder what other Japanese food can I make with what's in the fridge?

Summer 09

I have now applied for:

An international student placement at Fermilab, Chicago
A summer student placement at CERN, Geneva
A summer placement in Systems Engineering at Selex Galileo, Edinburgh
An internship with RBS Securities, Tokyo (through the Saltire Foundation)

So far, have only heard back from Fermilab who said no, but recommended that I apply again next year. I'm starting to wonder what on Earth I'll end up doing. I do not want to have to work in a restaurant to make some money again...