I meant to update this blog a lot more frequently so that my sisters could show it to our mom and dad as proof that my body is not in a ditch. I’ll get the hang of regularly writing eventually.
So anyway. This is a real thing:
I’m allowed inside the building!
Dow Jones News Fund training in Austin lasted 10 days, felt like months and was over in a second. Suddenly, I’m in Los Angeles, living in a noisy apartment building surrounded by noisier apartment buildings and not enough parking spaces. There’s something that makes me feel like I’m not wired for this city. It presses down too much, like nothing has quite enough room.
That said, this is where I’m interning:
And I didn’t even get lost finding the building on my own.
Despite how claustrophobic Los Angeles makes me feel, being in a newsroom again feels absolutely right. I love the way all newsrooms sort of hum with energy all of the time. Everyone is reaching toward the same end. Even when tensions are high, there’s a paper to put out tomorrow and everyone knows it and somehow, the newspaper happens. So I figure this counts for a lot. If I love the reason for why I’m here, I can get over everything else.
Besides, Los Angeles has a grilled cheese food truck. Stop everything. Look at this menu. I might die, but it’s going to be wonderful.
Other lovely perks to where I live include being within walking distance of the bank, the grocery store, a farmers market and a million Thai restaurants because it’s Thai Town. Also, the owner of the studio I’m subleasing has pretty solid taste in books, and I can’t wait to get reading what she has left on the shelves. I know I’ll make friends (and I hope to have out-of-town friends visiting all summer!) and eventually I’ll settle into a routine.
While I’m already really sure I wouldn’t want to live in Los Angeles on a long-term basis, I’m excited to be here for now. It’s overwhelming, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’ve never really had to go beyond my comfort zone. I’m going to college in my hometown, I live a short drive away from my family, I’ve been fortunate enough to have only supporting professors and friends. I have never really had a reason to be scared of anything.
Here, I can’t expect to be rescued. I still have an excellent support system at home, one that I can reach whenever I need to. And I can already tell the Times has a lot of really, really good people working for it. But for the most part, I have to learn how to rescue myself.
See you in 10 weeks, Tucson.
