U N   I n t e r n s h i p   N e w s l e t t e r

Un Stagiaire
Issue 1 Friday June 25th 2010

Central Park Picnic and Sports Fun

Amy Day

LAST Saturday, the Social

and Sports Committees
joined together to plan a day
out in Central Park for all the
eager-eyed interns. Saturday
came with the sun a-shining
and it was time to kick back,
enjoy the park and play a little
footy while we were at it.

About sixty interns showed

up. A great turnout. And
although many struggled to
spot the two blue balloons,
rather than the anticipated
and previously claimed ‘big
bunch’ in the end everyone
found each other. With so
many new faces it was diffi-
cult to chat with everyone.

Indeed this is one of the

greatest things about working
at the UN. The opportunity to
meet people from every part
of the world is fantastic.
Although the standard five
questions:
‘Where are you from?’‘What
department are you in?’ ‘What
do you study? Have you been
to NY before?’ And last but not
least… ’wait – did I meet you
at Calico Jacks last Friday?’)
started to blend into one
another, it was great to meet
each and every intern.
Being in a city with endless
some of the brave football players at saturdays picnic and sports day organised by the sports and the social committees
possibilities of activities to do,
sometimes just relaxing in the
Park is the best way to spend a
Saturday afternoon. The heat
was on which made playing
sports a little more difficult
for those that don’t exactly
like to break ‘too’ much of a
sweat. However, there were
the die hard guys (and one girl
– hurray!) who managed to
organize a game of football
only to be told by a Park
Ranger that they were not
allowed to play unless they
registered before hand. Boo!
There was also some Frisbee
action, and I’m pretty sure I
saw some interns throwing
the American football around
as well. All in all a pretty fan-
tastic day to start of the sum-
mer in this crazy city that we
will all share together for the
next two months.
Keep your eyes posted for
another Social or Sports
Committee event coming
soon. Until then, keep cheer-
ing on your favourite team at
the World Cup! Like my friend
told me, watching England in
the World Cup is like ‘going to
see your favourite band with a
massive migraine!’ COME ON
ENGLAND!!

Welfare Committee Resurrected

Host Family Project Announced
Basil Ugorji
AN objective investigation into
the UNHQ Internship Community
reveals two undisputable and
interconnected facts. On the one
hand, the unpaid nature of the
Internship Programme poses diffi-
culties to some interns in realizing
the set objectives. On the other,
the general well-being of interns,
in terms of housing, transporta-
photo by amy day
tion, etc. is neglected.
revellers from the picnice on saturaday
enjoying the sun As a response to these problems,
past interns created a Interns Welfare Committee’, hav-
‘Sponsorship Committee’. It is the
desire of a newly established com-
mittee in this summer 2010
Internship Programme to utilize
the existing framework and con-
tinue from where our predeces-
sors stopped in order to accom-
plish their goals. What we need is
the attitude of action and determi-
nation. As part of our action plan
we have decided to change the
committee’s name to ‘UNHQ
ing before us three major areas of
interest: fundraising, housing and
transportation.
The primary objective is to be
the promotion of the basic well-
being of interns during the
Internship in New York. To achieve
this, the committee wishes to
stand as a...
Continued on Page 2

Also in this Issue: World Cup Fever, Upcoming Events, Free things to do in NYC,
Prioritizing as an intern, Intern Profiles, Intern Neighborhoods

Social Committee Resurrected
Continued from Page 1
...framework for coordination and
networking in providing assistance
to interns in relation to housing and
transportation.
The conviction is that the welfare
of Interns will be improved. To this
effect, the committee hereby invites
fellow interns to join us in our efforts
towards a better and fruitful intern-
ship experience in New York.
Through your initiatives and contri-
butions, more opportunities will be
given to some qualified youth in
need, who have already been ac-
cepted for the UNHQ Internship
Programme. It is envisaged that
these interns, like yourselves, will
become part of the new generation
of world leaders, diplomats and
higher personalities.
Un Stagiaire
Difficulties Focusing & Prioritizing:
The view of one intern
Peck Gee Chua
It’s a great, accomplished feeling to
be one of the 323 candidates selected
out of a pool of 6,800 applicants for
this internship session. I feel it must
be a combination of the right fit of ed-
ucational background, skills and ex-
periences plus luck put together. Of
course, with much invested like utiliz-
ing personal funds and living it cheap
(but in style) to finance this expensive
summer experience in NYC, much is
expected. To maximize the limited
time here in the City, I find many in-
terns (myself included), involved in a
multitude of activities to gain maxi-
mum exposure.
Lately however, I find this lifestyle
unsustainable. There are always
meetings and events to attend at the
Temporary North Lawn Building, free
‘Celebrate Brooklyn’ music festivals to
go to, Free-of-Charge ‘Shakespeare in
the Park’ tickets to queue for and
many intern meetings and meet-ups
to go to.
It’s true that this experience and ex-
posure is valuable at its best. How-
2
ever, with plenty events, meetings,
hangouts competing for attention
and time, it is easy to spread oneself
too thin and too easy to let the initial
goals (and things to be accomplished)
of this internship fall completely off
the radar.
While making the most of the lim-
ited time and doing different things is
certainly important; perhaps making
a real commitment to focus on a few
things to do, rather than be all to
everyone will make this internship ex-
perience a more useful and impactful
one!

Because of the limited time of our

internship program, it is the com-
mittee’s decision to begin immedi-
Intern View:
ately with a ‘Host Family Project’.
The Host Family Project will look for
families who are ready and willing to
World Cup
host interns in need of accommoda-
tion during the internship. The tan-
gible goal is the generation of a
database of volunteering families
Fever
and profiles of all interns that re-
quire hosting. It is hoped that this Raman Nijjar
database will facilitate appropriate
networking and coordination.

I ask you to imagine the immensity

Like many of you out there I am
of joy that newly accepted interns
super excited to be working at the
will express when they discover that
UN. It’s an opportunity which only a
a group of interns will not only assist
few can say they’ve had.
them in getting accommodation in
New York, but will also be ready to
It has been an exciting two weeks
give them a warm welcome!
thus far. Coming from Toronto,
Canada I was a bit nervous coming to

Missions the ‘city that never sleeps’. However,

it did not take long to adjust. So far,
I’ve had many opportunities to expe-

Committee
rience the great things that New York
has to offer; seeing the beautiful sky-
line from the Empire State Building,
taking a stroll down 5th Avenue, or

Update enjoying the beauty of Central Park

Tara June Winch
The Missions Committee may
seem barren – though lurking in the
DESA office one can here the ruffling
of papers, the key tapping and
swishing sounds of emails being
sent and the clip of pumps coming
down hallways to deliver the news of
yet another Mission Country one
phone call, email or telegram away
from confirming our pending visits.
Yes, we will be visiting all the great
countries whose flags line the Av-
enue of the Americas in this great
city, but it just takes a little patience
to get things moving. So, I am going
to reassure all of you, and be pleased
to say our first mission – is a tour of
the UN, predictable? Alas – but so
essential.
UN Tour: Monday 28 (3pm) –
Please RSVP on Facebook.
with fellow UN interns. However, for
this internships session, one aspect
is bound to dominate. That is, the
World Cup. Photo by Hege Frsvoll
The summer intern session is filled world cup fever all around the un hq. Its all too much for some.
with interns from all over the world
and like many of you guys I am very Not only do we get to work, meet and ing many of the games due to work,
excited for this year’s World Cup. I enjoy the company of fellow interns but I’ve grown accustomed to hear-
think it’s kind of ironic that the whole from all over the world. However, we ing people in my office yell when a
world comes together every four get to do this at a time when the goal is scored or missed. It isn’t the
years for this event, and this is the biggest sporting event in the world is same as being able to watch it live on
year all of us from all over the world occurring. Majority of the world will television, but FIFA match tracker
are chosen to be part of the UN in- be glued to their television screens does wonders. The best thing about
ternship. for the next month watching a sport having the World Cup right now is
that not only displays amazing skills whenever you meet someone new
One of my friends from back home and sportsmanship, but the idea of you have something to talk about. So
said to me the other day “What a bringing the world together with one far from the majority of people I’ve
great time to get an internship,” and common love, football. meet many of them are as excited for
when I think about it, this is a great the World Cup as I am.
time be given such an opportunity. At first I was a bit sad about miss-
Newsletter Team W
ant to Write for n tagiaire U S ?
Kevin Cunningham (Ed.)
Hege Frsvoll W ’
e d love to hear from yoU .
Neeti Bandodker
Zeynep Karaca internneWSlettercommittee gmail @ .com
Michael Uduhiri
(Sp. Mention James Aldworth)
 Un Stagiaire 3
Events!!!
Intern Profiles: Webster Hall
Namrata Sandhu and Nora This Friday Night, June
Sylvander 25th (from 6pm)

Countries: India & Finland The Social committee has

Universities: University College
London and University of
Helsinki
Department: UN Forum on
Forest
W or k T a s k s :
We are both researching
policy issues relating to sus-
tainable forest management
and forest financing. Our
tasks mainly consist of doing
research and writing reports.
Oh, and we also write sum-
maries. And summaries of
summaries.
A f t e r t he I n t e r n s hi p :
Namrata: I’m going to head
back to London and finish
my dissertation. Then I guess
it is time to start looking for a
job.
Nora: It’s the same for me.
I’m going to spend a few
months cleaning up my the-
sis, and then I will try to find
work within some forest
related area. Hopefully some-
thing related to forests issues
in developing countries.
Fa vou r it e t hi n g t o d o
i n N ew Yo rk :
Namrata: I like walking
around and exploring the dif-
ferent parts of the city.
There’s so much to see and
do here.
Nora: I also love to wander
and explore. And I love danc-
ing, so I am enjoying the wide
variety of classes offered
here.
with Hege Frsvoll
the selected Webster Hall as
the main attraction for this
Friday. Webster is an old
mansion converted into a
Nightclub. But it’s not just
like any other club. Several
dance floors with different
types of music from Indie
rock to electro and even live
concerts. The guest list
name is “UN PARTY”. For
more details see
facebook.com
Webster Hall is located on
125 East 11th Street
The Language Café
DC1 Third Floor Cafeteria
(1 to 2 p.m.)
Monday, June 28th:
Chinese
Tuesday, June 29th:
French
Wednesday, June 30th:

New York City for Free Get the Key to the City!
Zeynep Karaca Hege Frsvoll
Hurry up and get the key to
Hello everyone! It has been almost 3 weeks since we all the Big Apple in order to
started our internships, and also living in the Big Apple. No unlock secret rooms, hidden
one will object that there had been lots of events going on doors and exclusive offers in
within the city; exhibitions, parties, concerts and open- all the city’s five boroughs.
ings.. Of course, unpaid work is not really helping us to The keys, which are handed
attend everything we want but believe it or not, there are out free of charge at Times
many things to do for FREE in this city and still live as a Square until Sunday 27 June,
true New Yorker. are a part of an interactive
public art project designed to
Here is my favourite all-for-free list! make people explore and
reflect on the spaces in the
TOP 5 FREE THINGS TO DO, EAT and EE: city.
Receiving a key to city is
1.EAT: Union Square Green Market on Monday- usually an honor given to
Wednesday-Friday and Saturdays. Farmers are coming important public figures and
together to sell their fresh and organic products, and there people of status, symbolizing
are many samples to taste from 8 am to 6 pm. Also don’t that the bearer of the key has
forget to stop by at Trader Joe’s supermarket, where you been given free access to the
can taste samples and find cheap quality wine. city. This project does howev-
2.ATTEND: There is always something going on in er give everyone an opportu-
Central Park Summer Stage, so keep an eye on the event nity to exchange a key with
calendar of the web-site. All the organizations are for free. someone else for simple, yet
3.EXPLORE: Sony Wonder Technology Lab is always free important, reasons such as
and a heaven for tech addicts like me. being a great mom or a help-
4.READ: Barnes&Noble stores have comfortable seats and ful stranger. And this key
quite environment for people to read books. You don’t have actually works.
to pay for books around $50 per month, just enjoy the The keys open specific sites
music and unlimited library around you in one of those spread across Manhattan, the
stores. The one at the Union Square is especially my Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and
favourite. Staten Island, such as a
5.SEE: Bronx Zoo is free on Wednesdays, if you are inter- chain-locked gate at the
ested in wild life (another type of wild life can also be seen Cathedral of St. John the
every Saturday around mid night on Times Square) Divine and a room
not open to the public at the
Louis Armstrong House
Museum. On some sites the
key also unlocks a free entry
to an attraction or a compli-
mentary treat.
The keys will work through
6 September, 2010, and it is
also possible to make copies
of an existing key at author-
ized Medeco dealers. All the
sites are described in a book-
let handed out with the key. It
is also possible to download
an app with directions, maps
and photos at
creativetime.org/keytocity/a
pp. Check out
creativetime.org/keytocity
for more info. !
Arabic and Haitian Creole
Thursday, July 1st:
Spanish and Italian
Friday, July 2nd: German
Want to learn, practise or
improve your oral language
skills? Want to share your
language with others? And
help others learn it? If yes,
then JOIN US for our LAN-
GUAGE CAFE! Eat, speak
and be merry! Each day, the
Cafe will be dedicated to a
specific language(s), so you
can be sure to find that per-
fect language partner(s)!
Bastille Day Celebrations
Sunday, July 11th (12 to
6pm)
22 East 60th Street
Celebrate Bastille Day on
60th Street. For more than
ten years, Bastille Day on
60th Street has been the
largest public celebration of
the historic friendship
between France and the
United States commemo-
rating France’s own
Independence Day on July
14, 1789. Shop the French-
themed market stalls, try
your luck at the raffle, and
stop by the French Institute
Alliance Française (FIAF) at
22 East 60th Street for wine
and cheese tastings.
For more information:
bastilledaynyc.com

My Neighborhood:
Astoria, Queens
A laidback and diverse
neighborhood in Queens,
known mainly for its beer
gardens and Greek cuisine,
located just across the river
from Midtown Manhattan.
Come here to eat and drink –
everything is cheaper (and
better) this side of the river.
Eating: Astoria is the undis-
puted food capitol of Queens,
with many reasonably priced
bakeries, restaurants and
cafes. Everything from Latin
American to Asian food can
be found here, but Greek and
Italian food is especially
prominent due to the large
number of Greeks and
Italians in the area. Check out
this site for suggestions on
places to eat.
Drinking: If you are thirsty,
head to the Bohemian Hall
and Beer Garden. This is the
oldest and only original beer
garden left in New York City,
and as the Beer Garden is cel-
ebrating its 100th birthday
this year, it is the perfect
excuse to pay the birthday
boy a visit. Or head to new-
comer, Studio Square, if you
favor shiny and new over
character. It is apparently a
great place to watch the
World Cup.
Shopping: Astoria’s main
streets are 30th Avenue,
Steinway, Ditmars, and
Broadway, with Steinway
being the major shopping
strip. You can find some of
the regular chain stores here,
such as Gap and Victoria
Secret, but also a wide array
of stores selling cheap knick-
knacks and discounted
goods. The neighborhood is
pedestrian friendly, and
blissfully crowd
Museums and arks: Astoria
free.
Park is the most scenic of the
parks, being located on the
East River with stunning
views of Upper Manhattan
and the Queensboro and
Hellgate Bridges. Museum of
the Moving Image is also
(supposedly) worth a visit for
its interactive exhibitions,
such as dubbing your own
voice into movie scenes.
How to get there: Astoria is
only a short subway ride from
Midtown. Take the N or W
line to Broadway or 30th Ave.
Alternatively take the R or V
line to Steinway St or
Northern Blvd. However,
Astoria is a large neighbor-
hood with many possible
subway stops, so it is proba-
bly smart to consult Google
before you leave.
Think your neighborhood is
cooler than mine? Or do you
want to warn other interns
about its dangers or dullness?
Write about your neighbor-
hood and email it to: intern-
newslettercommittee@gmail.
com
Hege Frsvoll
ibh eumsandit, sum venim iusc-