Emiel during his internship in New York!

Hi there!

My name is Emiel Wolter, I’m 18 years old and I’m from Weert (the Netherlands). I study Economics at Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Eindhoven. I am currently doing my internship with an advertising agency in the centre of the Flatiron District in New York City. My host company works mostly on branding, content, advertising, experiential marketing, web & mobile and research.

There was a lot to arrange. It all started with finding the internship. I was lucky that I already had been to NYC last April, so I could visit a few companies in person. When I found my internship, the visa procedure started, I suggest you apply for your visa on time! To get a definite ‘go’ you have to go to the American Embassy in Amsterdam. They have a full schedule, so I only got my passport back a few days before I left, so that was quite exciting.

Finding a room is also a thing, I couldn’t stay with all the girls in The Webster Apartments unfortunately. Instead, I looked online for an apartment. You need to be lucky to find a decent apartment in a good area that’s payable as well. Right now, I’m living in a super cosy apartment in East Harlem, Manhattan. Another two young European guys are living here too and since last week also another young American. It’s a good combination and very good for my English as I really need to speak English every day.

A week before I started my internship, I arrived in NYC. It was nice to take care of the last things and visit my host company to discuss a couple of things about my internship. Also, this week was perfect to recover from my horrible jetlag, I woke at 4:30 even though I had been awake for more than 24 hours during the travel day.

The first day I went out to do some grocery shopping. There’s an Aldi and Target only one block from my apartment, which is ideal! The stores were kind of a culture shock as well because it’s WAY different than I’m used to in the Netherlands. The price tags show the prices excluding taxes and the portions are immense. Apart from that, most things here are more expensive than in the Netherlands. They do have all the products you normally come across on YouTube and other websites, that’s funny to see.

The first week I only explored the city and went out for dinners. I’ve been to SoHo, a really nice area with hip stores and restaurants. On Friday evenings, the Museum of Modern Arts is free to enter so this was nice but very busy too. Also just strolling around the streets here is amazing, there’s so much to do and to see!

On Monday 4 September my internship would start, but this is Labor Day so I had another extra day off. During Labor Day there’s a lot of sale in the shops so if you like shopping, this is the best day to do it.

My first internship week was starting easily, my boss was stuck in Florida because of hurricane Irma. When I arrived at my apartment the first day, the electricity didn’t work anymore… It took three days to fix it. That meant three days of cold showers, no WiFi, no phone charging and no cooking. I can say that I really got the full NYC experience. During the weekend it was all calm again and the weather was still amazing! Together with my roommate I visited Coney Island, Brooklyn Bridge Park, DUMBO and Central Park. In Coney Island you really need to realise that you’re still in NYC and not somewhere on holidays in Costa Brava. From Brooklyn Bridge Park you have an amazing view on the skyline, when I was there I was so proud I actually made it and that I’m really doing my internship in this world city. On Sunday I went to Central Park with my roommates to enjoy the last days of summer. Also the view from the pier on the Hudson River is cool!

One of the most impressive moments until now was visiting the 9/11 memorial on the day itself. There were flowers laying across the monument and two big lights were shining right up into the air, you could even see those from my apartment on 116th Street.

There are many things to do for free here too. Such as Photo Ville, which I visited the end of September. Straight under the Brooklyn Bridge, big containers were placed where photographers showed their pictures. Besides, there is also free entrance on different days in many museums or have a ‘pay what you want’ policy. That’s the case with the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, so you can pay what you think it’s worth. Also the Staten Island Ferry is free, and from there you can see the statue of liberty and the beautiful skyline of NYC.

I’ve also got a good impression about the people here, they’re all busy, drink a LOT of coffee but are not – as many people claim – unfriendly. Not at all: a lot of people just start to talk and no one will look weird about what you do or how you’re dressed.

I’m here for a month already and am enjoying every moment. Before I know it I will be back again in Weert (The Netherlands)… Here a list of things I missed this month, or just absolutely not:

Things I miss about the Netherlands:

• Cheese
• Strong coffee. Even though you’ll find coffee here, you can see the bottom of the glass through the coffee…
• Decent bread
• Stroopwafels (I luckily found these at Whole Foods!)
• My mother cooking, washing and ironing for me

Besides this, I’m not short of anything! Things I don’t miss about the Netherlands:

• The Dutch Rails!!! (although the underground is not always working properly)
• Small minded people, in NYC literally no one cares what you look like or how you behave, great.

Tips from me:

• Start to arrange everything on time, it’s more work than you think!
• There are many apartments on Craigslist or Spareroom
• Start to save money far in advance, you don’t want to live on water and bread
• Use Mint Sim as provider, this is 50% cheaper than the big ones as T-Mobile
• Open a bank account with Bank of America. This is free for students under 24 and ready to use with Apple Pay.

Until next time! Would you like to follow me in the meantime, have a look at my blog www.emielwolter.com or follow me on Instagram @emielwolter. Are you thinking to do your internship here and do you have any questions, send me a message via Instagram or my blog!