I have now concluded my first week at work. The week was very busy. Just because I am in the London office does not mean that I will be working any less hours. I am determined to become as efficient as possible because it would be a shame to look back at my experience here and realize that I spent 80 hours a week working, the weekend sleeping and no knowledge of what it's like to live in London.
So far everyone at the firm is really nice. In NY we have about 400 lawyers and in the UK office, there are about 100 lawyers so it's definitely a smaller office. One of my friends/colleagues in the NY office is actually a permanent lawyer in the London office but she is doing a two year stint in NY. Before my arrival, she emailed all of her friends in the UK office and told them that I was coming. Throughout the week, they each stopped by to introduce themselves to me. It definitely made me feel comfortable to know that there are folks that I can call with questions like-- where is the bathroom? where can I buy lunch? how do I order dinner? and how do I order a taxi to get home at night? and most importantly, where are the best clothing and shoe stores?
On my first day, one of the partners took me out to lunch. I was a little nervous because even though I have been at the firm for 6 years, it can be nerve racking to have one on one interactions with partners. As you know, first impression are lasting impressions. He took me to a Japanese restaurant not too far from the firm. He turned out to be such a wonderful guy and I had a great time talking to him over lunch. After lunch, he took me on a tour of the neighborhood so that I would know how to find the closest tube (that's what the train station is called in London), pharmacy and various places to have lunch etc. He IS a partner which means he has a tremendous amount of work to do so I appreciated the time that he spent with me over lunch as well as the tour of the neighborhood. I am always grateful when people go out their way to do things for me. We live in a survival of fittest world so I sincerely appreciate it when people do things for me.
If you know me personally you may find this hard to believe but at work, I am fairly quiet and I tend to keep to myself (I know, you cannot imagine this side of me). I am nice but my MO is to come in, do my work and go home. So the fact that I am in a new office environment where I do not know many people is fine yet I do appreciate that people are going out of their way to make me feel comfortable.
So far everyone at the firm is really nice. In NY we have about 400 lawyers and in the UK office, there are about 100 lawyers so it's definitely a smaller office. One of my friends/colleagues in the NY office is actually a permanent lawyer in the London office but she is doing a two year stint in NY. Before my arrival, she emailed all of her friends in the UK office and told them that I was coming. Throughout the week, they each stopped by to introduce themselves to me. It definitely made me feel comfortable to know that there are folks that I can call with questions like-- where is the bathroom? where can I buy lunch? how do I order dinner? and how do I order a taxi to get home at night? and most importantly, where are the best clothing and shoe stores?
On my first day, one of the partners took me out to lunch. I was a little nervous because even though I have been at the firm for 6 years, it can be nerve racking to have one on one interactions with partners. As you know, first impression are lasting impressions. He took me to a Japanese restaurant not too far from the firm. He turned out to be such a wonderful guy and I had a great time talking to him over lunch. After lunch, he took me on a tour of the neighborhood so that I would know how to find the closest tube (that's what the train station is called in London), pharmacy and various places to have lunch etc. He IS a partner which means he has a tremendous amount of work to do so I appreciated the time that he spent with me over lunch as well as the tour of the neighborhood. I am always grateful when people go out their way to do things for me. We live in a survival of fittest world so I sincerely appreciate it when people do things for me.
If you know me personally you may find this hard to believe but at work, I am fairly quiet and I tend to keep to myself (I know, you cannot imagine this side of me). I am nice but my MO is to come in, do my work and go home. So the fact that I am in a new office environment where I do not know many people is fine yet I do appreciate that people are going out of their way to make me feel comfortable.
I also met a guy (also a lawyer) at my firm who is a friend of a friend of one of my sorority sisters. They all went to Yale undergrad together and he is an Alpha. He stopped by to introduce himself to me and he is a really nice guy. As it is with black folk, there are only three (maybe two) degrees of separation. So, it turns that we know a few people in common and because we have the Greek thing in common we connected and I felt very comfortable chatting with him. I am thankful that I have yet another person to chat with about whatever I need to know about London.
Even though it was my *first* week at work, there was no slow transition. I am on about four deals (which is alot) and I was totally swamped. I left almost every night at 10pm or 11pm, and since I am having trouble sleeping at night, I did not get to sleep every night until about 3am. On Thursday, I pulled one of those crazy all nighter which I sometimes do in the NY office. I arrived to work on Thursday at 10am in the morning and left on Friday evening at 5pm in the evening. There was no sleep or rest involved. Needless to say, on Friday I was sleep walking. The body was not made to work 31 hours straight-- perhaps one day I will get a clue. My friend at work once described me as "someone who always has to push herself to the edge." This description frightened me and I will continue to work on work-life balance. Although I also note that I "push myself to the edge" in all aspects of my life. This is yet another trait that I will put on my list of things to ponder and rectify while I am out here.
While in London, I will be working on deals that are very different from the ones that I have been working on in the states. I expect that it is going to be a major intellectual challenge but I am looking forward to learning something different. I am trusting that God will give me the wherewith all to learn as quickly and painlessly as possible. I really like the team that I am working with. The partner and the senior lawyers are not only nice but they are brilliant. I pray that things continue to go as well over the next three months (without the all nighters of course). If I begin to feel frustrated, I will remember what the ol' church folk say, "God wouldn't bring you this far to leave you."
Thankfully, I had the opportunity to speak to at least four of my friends this weekend. Of course, I continue to speak to my mother daily except that instead of speaking four times a day, we speak once a day. It really warms my heart to hear their voices. It reminds me that even though there are times that I may feel lonely, I am not alone because I have my mom and my friends who support me from afar and a God who is watching over me.
Even though it was my *first* week at work, there was no slow transition. I am on about four deals (which is alot) and I was totally swamped. I left almost every night at 10pm or 11pm, and since I am having trouble sleeping at night, I did not get to sleep every night until about 3am. On Thursday, I pulled one of those crazy all nighter which I sometimes do in the NY office. I arrived to work on Thursday at 10am in the morning and left on Friday evening at 5pm in the evening. There was no sleep or rest involved. Needless to say, on Friday I was sleep walking. The body was not made to work 31 hours straight-- perhaps one day I will get a clue. My friend at work once described me as "someone who always has to push herself to the edge." This description frightened me and I will continue to work on work-life balance. Although I also note that I "push myself to the edge" in all aspects of my life. This is yet another trait that I will put on my list of things to ponder and rectify while I am out here.
While in London, I will be working on deals that are very different from the ones that I have been working on in the states. I expect that it is going to be a major intellectual challenge but I am looking forward to learning something different. I am trusting that God will give me the wherewith all to learn as quickly and painlessly as possible. I really like the team that I am working with. The partner and the senior lawyers are not only nice but they are brilliant. I pray that things continue to go as well over the next three months (without the all nighters of course). If I begin to feel frustrated, I will remember what the ol' church folk say, "God wouldn't bring you this far to leave you."
Thankfully, I had the opportunity to speak to at least four of my friends this weekend. Of course, I continue to speak to my mother daily except that instead of speaking four times a day, we speak once a day. It really warms my heart to hear their voices. It reminds me that even though there are times that I may feel lonely, I am not alone because I have my mom and my friends who support me from afar and a God who is watching over me.
1 comment:
We may be a pond away but we still got your back.
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