Conundrums

Just had my interview for my internship with Dow Jones. It went really well. I will be working with Dow Jones Risk and Compliance to help them research State Owned Companies in order to provide information to their clients to help the clients spot fraud and risk in businesses they may be working with.

While this all sounds really interesting (assuming you can digest all of those nouns and pronouns to figure out just what it could all possibly mean), and I can't believe they are going to let me - the clueless psychology major - meddle in all of it, what I really find amazing is the scenery I pass on the way: a piece of the original wall from the original settlement by the Romans from 55 BC, a part of the foundation of a building from the same settlement, the Tower of London itself!

How amazing to be going about daily life in a city so rich with history. It is mind boggling, yet also numbing at the same time. Everyday activities are so inundated with history and the past, but you just have to go on with your day. You can't stop and ogle the stones that are centuries old or the perfectly carved monuments dripping with gold leaf because you're late for class, because you've seen it 100 times before, because it will be there tomorrow. What a conundrum! This city is full of this fascinating mixture between new and really really really old, and I find it so interesting the way it is just part of every day life. Furthermore, this attitude of normalcy amidst the extrodineary is reflected in the lives and attitudes of the people who live here. You can even see it in their attitude toward the Queen. While I am overwhelmed and amazed by the symbolism and historical significance that she represents, the English are quite blaze about the whole Queen thing. They go about their day as if they did not have an ancient relic living and breathing in one of her equally ancient castles place strategically around the country!

But then again, she was there yesterday, she'll be there tomorrow - G_d willing - so I suppose you can't get all fussed about the whole thing...

but how can you not!