Internship March 12-13th

This week I actually got to do something a little different one of the days. Instead of finding the normal NHS numbers I had the responsibility to put together the spread sheet for other volunteers. I had look up the file numbers, and search for the postal code and birthday of the patient so the other volunteers had all the information they would need when they worked later in the week. Usually my supervisor does it and gives the spread sheet to me to finish, but this week he gave me the responsibility to put it together. I was great having more responsibility on something even though it was simple and not a huge deal.

The office. Naturally people aren't at their desks!

Everyone around me is still chatty as ever. I have come to realize that people around the office are a lot more open about their lives at home than people in the US are. They talk a lot about their relationships and their families. I like that everyone seems more open. I like being able to know more about a typical British family and relationships. I also really like how everyone values the relationships they have with others around them.

Internship March 5-6th

This week I kept to same routine as the other weeks, but I got to do something a little different. It was still in the aspect of finding NHS and GP numbers but I had a few other tasks as well. Occasionally when finding NHS numbers some patients will have multiple NHS numbers. Instead of finding the NHS numbers I had a list of duplicate numbers. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal but if all the patient information doesn't match between the duplicates, the NHS rejects the number and won't give the money to the hospital to pay for whatever care or procedure the patient needed. So one of the days I was working I had to go through all of the duplicates and fix all the information for the patients, so making sure name, birthday, GP's, etc. all matched. It doesn't seem like that great of a time and seems like an extremely boring day but it was nice having a change in tasks for a day. The other day I was at work I did the same thing as usual. However, as I was leaving I was told how much they appreciate me working and helping them out. The haven't been ahead in a long time and on time with getting the numbers done for the year and they were extremely happy that I was helping with everything. Although it isn't the most exciting things to do all day, it is nice to know that I am helping them a lot and it is great that they appreciate small things.

The people around me always make for an interesting and fun work day. The amount of tea the people drink in the office is insane. It seems like every half hour someone else is making tea for everyone. It's funny listening to everyone talk in the office as well. At some point someone will ask a work related question, half the time I'm not sure the question actually gets answered but within at least 5 minutes everyone will be crowded around that one persons desk and everyone will just be hanging out and talking about whatever interesting or bothersome thing is going on in their lives at the moment, or saying something about their kids or someone else at home. Listening to everyone chat at one another never gets boring and it is always entertaining listening to reactions of others. 

Internship Feb 27-28th

Well as usual, for the most part I am still doing the same type of work in my internship. However, this week I met a volunteer that is doing the same thing I am doing. I believe there are 2 other volunteers that are doing what I am doing but I never see anyone. They usually come in really early in the morning before I get there and only work 1 or 2 hours, or they work on the days that I am not there. Seeing as everyone in the office is older than me It was great being able to talk to someone who is closer to my age and seems to be in the same place as I am. Her name was Michelle, and she had just got back from China a few days prior. Her dad is a pilot (lucky her!) so she pretty much just decided she wanted to go to China and hopped on a plane and went for a few days. I was interesting to hear what she thought about it. China is a place that I have always thought about going, if even for just a few days. She didn't go into much detail about everything but I loved hearing about the little things she did tell me.

As for the others in the office everyone is still great. If they see me walking around the office they always say hello and good morning when I get there. There are a few as well that are always interested in what I did that weekend, what I plan for the next weekend etc. I love how throughout the office everyone is so interested in other people. Everyone is always interested in what others have been doing, or how an evening out with friends were. Its nice being in a working environment where everyone really values and finds importance in having a good relationship with not just the people who sit around them but with everything throughout the office as well.