A few weeks ago, I talked one of my housemates into buying tickets for a concert on a Monday night. Normally I would consider this a bad idea — we both had work and class the next day — but in this case, the concert was too good to pass up. It was at a venue just four blocks from our apartment, tickets were only $15, and best of all, it was for one of my favorite new bands: Bad Suns, an alt-rock group from L.A. In my opinion, they have a sort of sun-kissed, West Coast sound that makes you think of palm trees and beaches. I had already seen them once on a beautiful summer day back in Seattle, and I nostalgically remembered the warm sunshine as I had lounged outside and listened to the music.

This time in Philly was of course very different — snow was falling on our walk to the venue, and when we got inside, the space was dark and the music was loud. It was 8 pm on a Monday night, I had already had a long day of class and homework, and I knew I needed to get up at 7 am the next morning for a full day of work. I was tired, and I knew my housemate was, too. I also knew that there were two opening bands before Bad Suns, so it was going to be a long concert. So, although I had been looking forward to this concert for a few weeks, I was having trouble mustering much excitement.

Bad Suns onstage

It didn’t take long for that to change. I always forget how much I love live music; as an introverted homebody, going to a concert usually sounds like a lot of work to me. But as my friend and I listened to one band after another, I forgot that I was tired and behind on my homework. I was mesmerized by the music, and we were close enough to the stage to be able to see all the bandmembers clearly. When Bad Suns finally came on, their enthusiasm was infectious. Before I knew it it was 11 pm and we had been standing for 3 hours straight. But as my friend and I left, I felt totally energized. I was so happy we had gone, despite our other responsibilities. I barely even felt the cold as we walked through the falling snow back to our apartment.

The view down Ben Franklin Parkway

Though I haven’t taken nearly enough advantage of all the nightlife available in Philly, I’ve quickly been reminded of how much I love being in the city. My roommate and I went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art last Wednesday for their “pay what you want” night. It had been another long day of work, but I quickly forgot that I was tired when we stood at the top of the museum steps and admired the view of Center City. We wandered through a few galleries, chatted with a friendly security guard named Gerard, and left around 7:30 pm, making a quick stop at Whole Foods on our way home. When we got back, I checked my pedometer app and was shocked to see that, between going to work and the museum, I had walked over 7 miles that day. I had been so distracted that I hadn’t even noticed.

City lights through the falling snow

These experiences have made me realize how much more I want to see and do while I’m here. Between all the museums, music and arts venues, restaurants, and other nightlife Philly has to offer, I have to remind myself that there is no reason to stay in and watch Netflix every weekend (tempting as that may be). Maybe I’m just a city girl at heart, but I never get tired of the noises and lights, especially at night. Even now as I write this I am looking out from our loft at the brightly-lit skyline. Though Walla Walla has its own perks, this is something I can only get in the city, and I have to enjoy it while I have the chance.

It has officially been over a month since I arrived in Philly, but somehow I haven’t yet talked about a huge part of the TPC program: the internship. I’ve spent the last few weeks in the internship placement process, which started with writing resumes and cover letters and researching different organizations. TPC has a database and file cabinets full of internship opportunities, so it’s really just a matter of reading through the files and thinking about what you’re interested in working on.

After a week, I was able to present my advisor, Mark, with a list of six organizations I was particularly interested in pursuing. We then set up several interviews in the following couple of weeks. Now, this was definitely not my first rodeo in terms of job interviews, but it was still excellent practice and it helped me see some new areas of the city. After a total of four interviews and several offers, I was able to make a decision earlier this week: to split my time between two organizations.

The first is a mid-size museum, the Rosenbach Museum and Library, which is located in a historic home near the high-end area of Rittenhouse Square. The collections include examples of fine and decorative art, furniture, and important literary collections from writers like Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde, and Bram Stoker. I will be spending three days a week at the museum; I will work under the Assitant Curator for half that time, and in External Relations for the other half.

For one day a week I am also interning with a start-up organization called Food Nerd Jr. It’s a small business that’s just getting started, so I’ll be working directly with the founders and helping them from a writing/communications capacity. The organization develops and hosts food workshops for kids with the mission of teaching them critical thinking skills and encouraging their creativity.

I’m very excited to get to work with both organizations, which complement my majors — History and Film & Media Studies — very nicely. This will be my first full week of interning, and though I know it will probably be a challenge at first, I can’t wait to get started!

I’ve been in Philly for over 3 weeks, but I hadn’t felt like a true tourist until this weekend. My parents visited from Seattle, and since they had never been to Philadelphia before, I wanted them to see and do as much as possible. It felt strange to play tourist — it’s not that I feel like a local after only 3 weeks, but I do feel like I am getting to know the city enough that I am more than just a brief visitor. But the more of the city I explored with my parents, the more I realized there’s so much I haven’t seen.

City Hall at night

Modern building in the Loft District

Old rowhouses near Rittenhouse Square

First, we spent several hours at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (AKA the museum with the big steps from Rocky). It was the first Sunday of the month, so that meant it was “pay what you want” — an amazing deal for a world-class art museum. After a couple of hours, we had only seen the first floor of the museum, including the American section, the Modern & Contemporary section, and part of the European section (we didn’t even attempt the second floor). Though I find that I can only look at so much art at a time, I tried to take note of which pieces I was naturally drawn to. Some of my favorites were “Liverpool from Wapping” by John Atkinson Grimshaw, “Estate” by Robert Rauschenberg, and “Bicycle Wheel” by Marcel Duchamp.

The art museum

Pieces by Ellsworth Kelly at the art museum

Costume collection at the Perelman Building of the art museum

 My parents also loved exploring Reading Terminal, the nearby indoor market which has a near-endless supply of delicious food, including hand-rolled donuts, amazing grilled cheeses, fresh squeezed juices, and products from nearby Amish farms. We spent another day in South Philly exploring the Italian Market, a several-block stretch of shops and outdoor produce stands. The highlight was DiBruno Brothers, a famous cheese shop with hundreds of cheeses from around the world as well as other rare and delicious imported foods. We spent at least half an hour in the store as one of the employees offered us sample after sample of amazing (and expensive!) cheeses.

We also made a quick stop at Claudio’s, another famous cheese shop, which also makes their own fresh mozzarella. We stopped in for some imported pesto and to admire the over 100 types of pasta on their shelves:

The shelves at Claudio’s

On the final day, we made a trip over to Old City — an area with cobblestone streets and old brick buildings near Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. We walked by the Delaware River and made a stop into the Benjamin Franklin Museum, a small but highly modern and interactive museum dedicated to Franklin’s life and aspects of his personality.

My parents enjoyed their trip, and I felt like they got to see a good variety of the city. But playing tourist with them also made me thankful that I am here for four months, not four days. I just don’t believe that it’s possible to really get to know a city in such a short time. You can get a taste, but for me that’s not enough. And I’m sure that I won’t know the city as well as a local in the short semester that I will be here, but I will get to experience what it’s like to live in Philly — walking the streets day after day, exploring as many neighborhoods as possible, seeing the city change from one season to another. For me, that’s what travel’s really about.