Two Days Out!

It's Friday, June 11, and only one day remains until I leave for Madrid to work as a financial analyst with Morningstar.  I was one of the first to have signed up with Intrax back in October, so it's been quite a long wait for this moment.  Throughout the past couple of months, going to Spain has been a bragging right, a distant bit of information that I could casually drop to get reactions when asked about my summer plans.  Now, that it's become a reality, I feel one thing: excitement!  I can't wait to arrive in Spain and to begin at Morningstar!  Although the wait I've endured during this past week has seemed intolerably long, it's given me the opportunity to really consider what I'm looking forward to during my time in Spain:

1. Improve my Spanish.  In the past year, I've become a much better conversationalist in Spanish, but I wouldn't yet consider myself fluent.  My hope is that constant immersion will be what I need to come back to the United States fluent. 
2. Learn as much as possible at Morningstar.  This will be my first financial internship and I hope to make the most of it.  Working at Morningstar will be a huge opportunity to gain real experience under the guidance of an extremely well-respected company. 
3. Experience other cultures.  I've always been a fan of flamenco guitar, so being in Spain will be the perfect opportunity to see a live show.  Travel-wise, I hope to see multiple countries while I'm over there, particularly Mount St. Michel in France.

4. Have a churro con chocolate.  Churros are delicious and originated in Spain.  What could be better?

Luckily, Intrax offers a Pre-Departure Orientation online which covers all the essentials of going abroad, as well as some of the more esoteric things you might not ordinarily consider.  Having never traveled for an extended period, I never thought of small things such as making multiple copies of passports and other documentation.  Although Intrax will thoroughly cover what needs to be done if you sign up, here are some of the other things the orientation hit upon:

1. Buy an electronics adapter.  Europe runs electronics between 220-240V and the US operates at 120V.  To clarify, you need to convert the voltage from 220V to 120V, not vice versa.  It took me a couple of minutes to convince the employee at the electronics store that I did, in fact, need this style adapter, not the opposite. 
2. Call your bank and credit card companies to let them know you'll be using your cards in Western Europe for the summer.  Most banks will immediately freeze your account if withdrawals occur in unexpected areas, a terrible thing to occur while traveling in a foreign country. 
3. Get a Skype account to be able to chat with friends and family from home.  I purchased a Logitech Webcam, which has worked well so far and has a lot of very cool effects which you can use to add a little flavor to your videos. 
4. This wasn't specifically mentioned in the orientation, but I still began doing it anyway: review some key concepts for the industry you'll be working in.  Penn State kept all the information from my Spring classes online, so I've been making sure to periodically review everything.  Better to show up as prepared as possible then to add length to the learning curve.  Maybe that's just the paranoid nerd in me, though.