Carryin' the Banner!

Today I had an interview at a local Jewish newspaper - at the place I'd been trying to get to a few days ago when I got miserably lost. So last night my dad and I drove there together and figured out a good way to go so today I was able to go myself. That was accomplishment enough. It was a pretty big drive for me - me, who is not a big driver to begin with. I had to drive on some pretty major, busy streets. But I found the place without incident and I made my way home afterwards with only a slight detour. So that was good!

The interview itself was, well, to be blunt, it was fun. I don't think I've ever had a fun interview before. Usually they're just the interviewer going on about what the responsibilities of the intern will be, what the company/publishing house/newspaper stands for, asks if I have questions, wonders about my year in Israel, and then shakes my hand and I leave. That was the first thing I noted with relief about this interview - I didn't have to shake the hand of a male person. I know, I know, you're supposed to shake someone's hand out of common courtesy, but I can't say I haven't felt weird doing it. So finally, finally, here was one person whose hand I didn't have to shake.

I think the most surprising thing about the interview was the fact that, after all the usual questions were finished being asked, my interviewer offered to give me a tour of the place. Slightly startled, I agreed and, not only did I get a grand tour, but I got to see the huge printing press they have there. I've never seen a printing press before. It was so cool. We first looked down on it from these big windows upstairs. It was in a humongous room and I really felt like I was looking down on some sort of Willy Wonka contraption. Then my interviewer actually took me down to the printing press and showed me the paper, the ink, all the different machinery and what it does - needless to say, I was enthralled, awed, and amazed. We then got to see some people working at another machine which blew air into publications to put the inserts in, you know, where there are those ads that always fall out of various publications when you open them. That was cool, too. Especially since it was being done just then. It was like watching the Oompa Loompas! I can just hear it now:

Willy Wonka: And this beautiful machine blows air into the candy in order to insert commercial ads so you can get that very peculiar sensation of watching a commercial without having it interupt your television program! We call it the "annoying advertisement gobstopper."

Aaaanyway, I really hope the fact that I got a personal tour of the place is a good sign. It was definitely a really neat experience. What also startled me was the fact that my interviewer said that if I get the position, he'd feel comfortable letting me go to events to represent the paper and basically be a reporter. And this was after I told him I've never done any reporting before. But just imagine! Wow. Just--wow. I really, really hope it works out.