Week 4:
Life as an “Adult”

June 24, 2016

In terms of work, this week was definitely a bit more challenging. I was placed in a full class of twenty-four 6-8 year olds, most of which happened to go to the same school throughout the year. This added an extra challenge, because, since most of them already knew each other, there was no shyness to overcome. There were days where I came home completely exhausted and frustrated, and I had to remind myself time and time again that, even with your dream job, weeks like this will happen.

In other news, I feel that I’m slowly adjusting to living in Orlando. I’m staying at an Airbnb in Kissimmee, about 8.5 miles from SeaWorld. Upon first arriving in Orlando, I was extremely nervous to do those trademarked “adult” things, like grocery shopping, paying rent, and somehow navigating a new city. Turns out, it’s actually not that hard! In fact, I love grocery shopping. Getting to buy exactly what I want, as long as I stay under budget, is really freeing. I’ve gotten into the habit of making one meal in a family size portion over the weekend and eating it throughout the week, and it works really well when I come home from work completely exhausted and don’t feel like cooking.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have incredibly nice coworkers who gladly carpool with me on their way to work, so I haven’t yet had to ride my bike all the way to SeaWorld. Which I’m incredibly thankful for, because the Florida heat is something I think I’ll never get used to!

However, next week I have an interesting bundle of mismatched shifts (no spoilers!) and it looks like I’ll end up riding my bike several times. I’m a little nervous because it’s such a long ride in the heat, but if nothing else it’ll be an experience.

As of right now, the most frustrating thing about this internship has been the fact that I don’t have a car. Orlando is such an amazing place with hundreds of things to do, and I’m having a hard time navigating it all without a car. I think I’ve been using this as an excuse, because public transportation freaks me out a little. I’ve always lived in small towns where public transportation was essentially nonexistent, so I’ve never had to use it. But last night I made myself suck it up and jump on a bus at 8pm to make my way home. And, to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it! Something I’ve learned about myself in the past is that I’m a very efficient “go-go-go” type of person. I have a really hard time relaxing and doing nothing, or even doing something too slowly because I feel like it wastes time. That’s always been my opinion on public transportation. Why take a bus that takes an hour and a half when you could take a car and be there in twenty minutes?

Being forced to just sit on a bus by myself and actually slow down a bit was probably good for me, and I want to try and do it more often. It allowed me to relax, think about my day, and actually process events instead of just blindly pushing through them.

I’ll dolphinately see you next week! 😉