Working Gal

I've waited long enough for this day to come. The time has finally come to dust off my inner professional and join the crowded work commute.  Up by 6:30, showered, hair dried, dolled up and squeezed onto a packed tube by 8...coffee #1 by 8:45 and to the Covent Garden office by 9:15.

I haven't been up that early in months but my exhaustion was no match for my excited nerves.  The tartan carpets and clan flags welcomed me to my new post.  Like most charities, it's casual....flip flops smack on the heels of my co-workers climbing the 4 story curved staircases leading the way to my shared office.  A blank desk backed into the corner is my new bubble.  I struggled to remember names, decipher thick Scottish accents, and read through mounds of old newletters, appeals, and data.

People were kind and welcoming without being nosey like my past American co-workers.  My experience in fundraising doesn't mean I don't have things to learn.... there are new acronyms, governing bodies, and lingo...because it would be way to easy to make terms universal.  I have to learn the UK system and fast but I thrive on a challenge so I'm thinking I got this! 

Lunch with my new communication team proved that I would fit in, maybe not instantly but soon enough.  They are direct to the point that I question their approval of me but it's refreshing...these are the people that would tell you if you had a bat in the cave (at least I hope).

I lost my stamina around 3 but managed to not pull a Costanza and sleep under my desk.  5:30 signaled the end of my first day...I pushed my way onto the tube snuggling right underneath an old man's pits but despite my discomfort, I was never so ready to head back to East London.

Here's to hoping Day 2 goes even better!