Alright, and we're back! Sorry for the long hiatus. Judging by how this week went, I think that I'm going to do all my posts Friday about my week at work, and then probably one post on Sunday about my weekend. I'll see how it goes. Thanks for everyone who has given me feedback on my writing! I'm glad so many people enjoy it.
Starting a new job anywhere is hard. Starting a new job in a foreign country, as it turns out, isn't THAT much harder.I was supposed to start at 930 but I left my place early so that I had time to get lost. But thankfully I found the right bus stop, found my office building, and found that it was closed until exactly 930. So I killed some time at the mall next door (where nothing was open yet), and when it finally got to be 930 I headed back to find my workplace.
The place I'm working, the Northside Community Centre, is in a building called the Civic Center. It's a really nice (and big) office building filled with community organizations. I found the NCLC office and was quickly greeted by a really friendly lady named Ros whom I had been e-mailing before I got here. Ros is energetic, personable, and fun, but she doesn't let that get in the way of taking care of business. She began to tell me about Northside Community Law Centre, what it did, and who worked there.
NCLC is a community law centre, which means that it is focused on helping the people of its community know their rights and know how to exercise those rights. It doesn't do much work representing clients in court; instead, it performs legal research, provides legal education, and helps empower its community. It serves a large "catchment area" and provides legal support to anyone who lives in it. They also have a legal advice clinic on Thursdays, and a separate mediation center that provides free legal mediation services. There are 3 solicitors (a type of lawyer) who work there, as well as a support staff and interns.
Throughout the day I got to meet all the nice people (almost all women) who work there. They were all extremely nice and welcoming to me and the other American intern who was working there this week. Her name is Megan, but she's not the Megan from UW who is coming next week. I got my first couple assignments from Ros and Rose, one of the solicitors, and got to work. I was doing research on community law centers in Ireland and other countries, and before I knew it, the work day was over! One day down. I bussed back to the dorm, exhausted. Kendra and I got some oven pizzas, ate a quick dinner, and pretty much passed out. My first day had been a success.
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