As I reflect on the office culture here, I can hear The Office tune play back in my head. Not that the people in this office are anything like the characters from The Office… except for one of our consultants who is the spitting image of Michael Scott. He’s probably the furthest person from Michael Scott in terms of personality, but the physical resemblance is remarkable. I just snapped a picture of him this morning, so I’ll add his picture later!  We also have John Travolta, Reese Witherspoon, Captain Kangaroo, Carrie Underwood, among others represented in the LA office. In fact, it’s become sort of a challenge to figure out a celebrity look-alike for everyone in the office. Even Andrew, Mike and Evan have pictures of celebrity look-alikes on their name plates outside their cubes. I’ve been fortunate enough to dodge that bullet… I like to think it’s because I am one of a kind, but I think it’s truly because there aren’t too many Asian celebrities in the media. Although, Andrew wasn’t safe either.  His picture disappeared, but I’ve attached a picture of the celebrity look-alike anyway.

In all seriousness, I was pleasantly surprised by how friendly and relaxed the corporate culture is in the LA office. There’s a sense of teamwork here that contributes to a collaborative culture that supports one another with mutual respect. Even as an intern, I’ve never been looked down on as naïve. Of course I have much to learn, but I’ve been treated with the same level of respect as everyone else. This learning experience has been challenging at times, but the experience has been enjoyable because of the amiable culture here. In between all the projects, meetings and conference calls, the LA office balances work with fun. We do real work here though, I promise.

- Sarah, Los Angeles

Here are some pictures from the office… I don’t know who all of the celebrities are, but enjoy!

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Fourth of July! My holiday weekend was really low key. I’m used to celebrating the Fourth back home in Las Vegas where we can (legally) light our own fireworks so just sitting back watching the fireworks wasn’t that exciting here in LA. Friday happened to be one of my close friend’s birthday. We celebrated at a fancy restaurant and ate fancy food in our fancy clothes. If you can keep a secret between you and me, I would have preferred a burger and some watermelon. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the three-day weekend hanging out with my friends at the park for a relaxing Saturday. On Sunday, I watched The Visitor with some buddies. I originally planned to see Hancock, but decided to watch The Visitor after hearing several negative reviews of the Will Smith flick. While The Visitor was not a particularly exciting movie, the film shared a thought-provoking message about immigration and friendship. I’d recommend it to anyone who appreciates a stimulating movie without all the special effects and tricks found in action movies.

At any rate, it’s Monday again and we’re heading into week 5! Can ya’ll believe it’s already been 4 weeks since our first day as GBS interns? Come Wednesday and we are officially half way through our 9 week internship!

P.S., I have added some pictures from Itasca!

- Sarah, the “Fresh Princess of LA”