10 things I learned as an intern at Lifestyle Asia Thailand

Today’s my last day interning for Lifestyle Asia Thailand, so for any potential interns, here are 10 important things to know about interning here. May any new Lifestyle Asia interns reading this pay good heed to my word (or not).

Lifestyle Asia is my first ever internship doing journalistic work, so it’s been a journey. I’ve never really written as many articles on differing topics as I have for LSA. From extremely cool interviews with authors to in-depth research on Birkenstocks to news on Pop Culture Person Number 4001, I’ve written on a bunch of things. Well, all except the astronomy articles. I don’t even know what my life path number is! Imagine that.

[Featured image credit: David Valentine/Unsplash; Hero image credit: Redd F/Unsplash]

Here are the top ten things I’ve learned at my internship at Lifestyle Asia Thailand

1. Nothing beats the feeling of changing an article’s status on the editorial calendar

You ever have the satisfactory feeling of closing ten tabs at once? That’s the same feeling I get whenever I update the status of an article on the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet has become my life. Even when I was not working, I checked the spreadsheet. It was the spreadsheet morning, afternoon, and night. Between you and me, I even once checked the spreadsheet in the middle of a party. I admit, very embarrassingly, the spreadsheet is my one true love.

2. Good coffee can be procured in different places

There’s about a million places around the office with good coffee. Now, after a good coffee tour, I’ve realised that the coffee everywhere tastes the same. Sorry, not sorry. Whether it’s that delicious concoction from a well-known coffee chain, or it’s coffee you’re buying off of street stalls, they’re the same.

3. Pop culture news is never worth breaking your neck, leg, or arm over

One morning I woke up to some forgettable pop culture news, news so insignificant I can’t really remember anymore. What I do remember is launching out of bed and hurtling down the hallway to get to my computer. I remember mornings where the buzz of my phone to the New York Times woke me up and I would read the article with blurry eyes and the feeling of why-am-I-awake-for-this-again? Either way, I learned to be careful not to sprain an ankle or fall over getting to my computer for the sake of being the first person to break the news.

4. Bring a jacket to the office

It’s cold. Thank you to all the people who expressed concern over my overheating (especially the security guard in the elevator who struck up an entire conversation over my layers of jackets as we passed 10 floors).

5. Your faith in humanity will be restored

I have no idea why, but as I tottered around restaurants, street stalls, grocery stores, the lobby of the office buildings, and many coffee shops, everyone has been surprisingly nice to me. Shoutouts especially to the nice old aunties who think I’m Korean, the grocery store boy who found me plastic bags during the time of no plastic bags allowed, the coffee shop guy who is extremely happy in the mornings, and the guy with the red flag directing traffic and making sure no cars hit me.

6. Find the snack drawer early and go ham

Unfortunately, I was introduced to the Lifestyle Asia Snack Drawer too little too late. In fact, I was introduced on my last day. Thanks guys…If I could time travel, I’d shovel down those one-month-old macarons in no time.

7. Get a good office chair

There’s a hierarchy of office chairs. It goes swivel + faux leather > swivel + tough cloth > non-swivel + tough cloth. I had temporary butt-space on a swivel, faux leather chair owned by my coworker while he was sick. That was the best. It was worn in all of the best sitting spaces. However, at the end of my internship, I was sitting on a non-swivel chair dragged in from a meeting room. Nothing worse than trying to spin around and getting stuck doing a weird turning motion. First world problems.

8. Do everything in your power to get that SEO just right

You readers have no idea how long I have spent trying to get you to read the various articles I’ve written. I’ve changed the phrasing of a word hundreds of times, changed the pictures in the article, scratched my head to see what else I can do to get good Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), and maybe, just maybe, I’ve slammed a table and thrown a mental fit once or twice when I see that my efforts didn’t work out.

(Speaking of SEO, let me throw in my keyword: Lifestyle Asia intern)

9. Appreciate all the crazy wordplay and article ideas that won’t ever get published

I’ve laughed plenty at my coworkers’ fun article ideas, or snarky comments that would have been added to their articles. But, sadly, sometimes they never make it in. So R.I.P to the hilarious ideas that stay in idea purgatory, echoing with the ghosts of my coworkers’ laughs.

10. Enjoy it!

It’s fun to do something you love. And to do it every day. Also, our department was the absolute best. There was no yelling, snobbery, or toxicity here. It’s always felt like a group of friends. So, no complaints here. Find good coworkers and the best boss ever (shout out to my editor! I know you’re editing this article and might take this bit out, but don’t!)

Enjoy it. Enjoy the office atmosphere, the gossip, the coffees, the sound of clacking keys, and coworker chatter.