Well since my last post, I have finished my quarter in Chicago, had a three week break back in Mpls and then last Thursday I flew to Fort Lauderdale. This quarter I am doing an internship in Miami Beach, FL. I moved into my apartment on “the beach” as the locals call it. So far it’s been pretty good. There are some interesting people here but that’s how it is no matter where you go. I’m getting used to 80 degree weather everyday. I’ve been pretty lucky this week with the weather since there hasn’t been any humidity. Monday was first day at my internship at Sapient Nitro. I get to intern with three other guys, so working with them has been interesting as well.

That is all so far…

Today was the first day of the internship. This morning I was super excited but also super nervous. We left our apt a couple minutes late and managed to wait a couple of minutes for the red line to come. After we got on, it went a couple stops and then stopped right before the next one. They said they had a minor problem happening and we would have to wait. Ten minutes later, someone got on the intercom again and said that they had a minor problem and would be moving shortly. Well they finally got to the next stop and announced that the train was defective and all of us had to get off. At this point it was about 9:20 and we had to be downtown in ten minutes. So we decided to instead of waiting for the next train to just get a cab to take us downtown. We finally arrived at DraftFCB at 9:50 and headed on up upstairs. After filling out some paperwork we got to see where we would be working. We all have our own desks complete with a iMac and phone. After that we got a short tour of Draft which is rather huge since they have floors 9-20 in the building. After the tour was over, we got to get settled at our desks. They then had a luncheon for all of us to meet our team leader which they call mirrors. After the luncheon was over my team which is two art directors and a copywriter got to meet the rest of the team that our team leader works with. So far it’s been a great day and I’m excited to start working on stuff.

Well I moved here on Saturday and it was quite an adventure. After getting everything moved into the apartment and unpacked, I decided to stay the night with my parents at their air-conditioned hotel before I have to deal with no air conditioning for the next two and a half months. Yesterday my two roommates Amanda and Leiana and I decided to walk around and go to the beach. Well the beach we thought we were going to wasn’t actually a beach. We walked down to Lake Michigan and thought there would be a beach for us to sit on but it was just a grassy area. After lounging down there we went back to our apt and changed and did our test run to the agency to see how long it was going to take us to get there. After that adventure, we thought why not walk down to Navy Pier to see the fireworks. Well when we were about two blocks away we decided to ask some people if the fireworks had already gone off. They hadn’t yet because they weren’t last night, they are tonight. So after that we checked out a bar on our way back and it was an ok bar. It wasn’t very busy or anything so we continued on towards downtown. We ended up going to Rock Bottom Brewery since I knew they had a rooftop patio. Well two pitchers later we got kicked out since they were closing for the night. That’s when we decided we should probably head back. Today is just going to be a relaxing day. Later tonight we are going to “grill out” aka use my george foreman to grill and then head down to Navy Pier for the fireworks.

Tomorrow’s the day we start the internship. We also have one of our night classes tomorrow. Not sure yet what we are going to be doing, but it will be exciting.

Wow its been a long time since I last blogged. Well since then I have gotten a dog named Chloe, who is adorable. I have finished quarters 1-3 at school and am in the process of my fourth quarter. Next quarter I will get to go out of state for school and work in an actual advertising agency. I will be working at Draft FCB in Chicago. So the challenge right now is to find a place to live that will do short term leases since I will only be there for about three months. That’s all for now!

It’s been awhile since I last blogged so I have some catching up to do. I’ve decided to instead of talking about places I want to visit or I have visited to just talk about the adventures I have everyday. I finished my first quarter at Miami Ad School today and lets just say that the past ten weeks have flown by so fast. We get to have the next three weeks off of school but those three weeks for me will be filled with working, working and more working at the good ol Minnesota Zoo.

So they have been doing road construction on 35W going into Minneapolis and they decided that today would be a good day to flip the lanes to get onto 35W from 62 on people. Lets just say I felt like I was driving in the snow because people were being idiots and driving slowly. I’m hoping the construction will be done before winter hits because if I have to drive through that with snow on the ground I better start leaving for school even earlier then I do now.

Today, we are visiting the leaning tower of Pisa. The Tower of Pisa was intended to be vertical but after the construction was completed, it started to lean because of a poor foundation. There are seven bells inside the tower and the largest bell weighs three and a half tons. The tower was built to be the bell tower next to the adjacent cathedral. The tower is open all year round but has varying hours depending on the season. It costs about $20 to buy the ticket there but you can purchase your ticket in advance for about $22. You can purchase your ticket here.

Courtesy of Jordan Miller

When you hear Milan, most people think of fashion shows. Well that is true when it comes to Milan since Dolce and Gabbana, Armani, Prada, Versace and many more began in Milan. But there is more to Milan than what you see. While in Milan, you can go shopping in the Golden Quad, take in a football (soccer game) put on by AC Milan or Inter, or event take in an opera at the La Scala Opera House. One place not to miss while in Milan is The Duomo. The Duomo is a cathedral that has an amazing panoramic view of Milan from the roof top. For more information on The Duomo and other places not to miss while in Milan check out There Are Places page on Milan.

Courtesy of Pavel Gromov

Italy is known for being a founding member of the European Union. Italy is the sixth most populous country in Europe and has been the center of the European cultures. A little fact about Italy is The Mafia originates from Italy and its influence is widespread in Italian society, directly affecting 22% of Italians and 14.6% of Italy’s GDP.

Here’s a little preview of what is to come this week while venturing through Italy.

Today is our last day in Belfast. I am going to highlight some places that if you have the time to check out. For theaters, there is the Old Museum Arts Centre and the Whiterock Theatre. There are multiple tours that you can take throughout the city like behind the scenes tours, historical pub tours, walking tours, and more. Plus every single month there is at least one festival that you can go to.

Courtesy of Joy Horkey

Northern Ireland is one country that I loved visiting and spending time in. Even though I spent two weeks there, I could probably stay in Ireland for at least a month because there is sooo much to see and do. It a gorgeous country that rarely makes it in top travel destinations. If I could I would leave school right now and just go travel through Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Courtesy of Joy Horkey

Giant’s Causeway is about an hour outside of Belfast. It is one amazing place to go while in Northern Ireland. Some people say that Giant’s Causeway was man-made when the truth is that it’s actually natural. It was discovered in 1693 by Sir Richard Bulkeley. There are a couple of different routes that you can take to walk along Giant’s Causeway. To get more information check out Giant’s Causeway Official Guide.

Courtesy of Joy Horkey