Hey everyone,

As my Swedish girls already mentioned, time flies by and I am so sad that there are only a couple of days left here in New York. But I will come back!

I have been working at the kombucha start-up Bear’s Fruit. For everyone who does not know what kombucha is – it is a functional beverage, my colleagues used to call it Tea 2.0. The basic product of kombucha is tea which has already a bunch of powerful antioxidants. The tea then ferments with a SCOBY, which produces billions of probiotics, a boatload of vitamins and acids.

Working in a start-up is definitely a unique experience with a huge potential for personal development. It is dynamic, challenging and no two days are the same. So there is definitely no time to get bored. My team consists of Amy and Chris, the two founders (and no they are not a couple) and the chemical engineer Isabella supporting Chris with production-related tasks. Bear’s Fruit’s office and production space is located at Industry City, in Brooklyn – a really fancy old industrial site with hip food places and plenty of other fast-growing businesses. At Industry City, we work, produce and develop new product ideas – everything in one huge production space. So I am not only involved in business-related topics but also confronted with issues around the production and R&D process….really interesting! It is also so great and valuable to experience the challenges of building a brand from scratch, setting up a distribution strategy and scaling a business. But “hard work bears fruit”– So the strategy of Bear’s Fruit seems to work out! And with Amy, a former manager of ZICO coconut water (coca cola company), I have a really skilled and experienced supervisor and coach by my side to learn from.

I am happy that I got the offer to extend my internship with Bear’s Fruit for at least two more months. Nevertheless, I need to say “Goodbye” to all the international students from New Paltz and my lovely Swedish roomies. I love you, girls! As probably everyone can assume, after 4 months of sharing one single room and spending time together, it is not easy to say Goodbye…but let’s say it is rather a “See you later”. Now I am looking forward to spending Christmas with my family in Germany before I will come back to the United States.

Happy Holidays,
Anna

Hi everyone,

It’s so crazy that we only have one week left here. Time really flew by! It feels like we arrived yesterday.

I’ve been doing an internship at a public relations firm, Macias PR, during my time here in NY. It’s a small firm with four people (including two other interns) and of course Einstein, our little office dog. The office is at Fifth Avenue right next to the Empire State Building, which is kind of cool.

One of the biggest advantages with this firm is that it’s a small firm. You get a hands-on experience, responsibility and a huge opportunity to grow if you want to.

I had no experience from this field before I began this semester, but since day one I’ve gained so much knowledge about PR, American business culture and about myself.

Two months is a short time and I wanted to learn as mush as possible during that time. I’ve been challenged every day which was one of my biggest wishes when I applied for internships.

No days are the same at the office and I love that. Most of the days are you working with at least two different campaigns that can be anything from brainstorming new ideas to writing editorials, to editing videos in Premiere.

I’ve really enjoyed my time at this internship and if someone is reading this in the future and thinking about doing PR, I can really recommend to have it at Macias PR.

Best,

Diana

Holiday markets, lovely decorated store windows, fairy lights, and Christmas music – New York is already in Christmas mode. New York has definitely a lot to offer when it comes to the Christmas season – From ice skating in Central Park, Bryant Park or in front of the Rockefeller Center to the daily and unique light show at Saks on 5^th Avenue. From my point of view, the famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center is definitely a highlight, especially during the night.

There are only 16 days left until Christmas Eve and 2 weeks of the IIB program….and still sooo many things to discover!

Ever since we moved here we have tried to visit new places and see as much as possible every weekend. I really feel it´s important to seize every moment and day here because there is so many things to both see and do in this city. However, one of my favorite days here were one of our first weekends when we began with exploring Brooklyn and after that walked over the Brooklyn bridge. Then we continued walking through Manhattan, we walked through China Town, Little Italy, Soho and some other nice areas. This is actually really interesting because you can just walk around and then suddenly you will notice how everything looks so different and you realize that you just stepped into another area, it is like the vibe and everything changes and I really like that about the city, there is a place for everyone.

I spent last Sunday in Central Park to watch all the amazing colors on the trees. I really love spending tim there, its a nice break from the fast paced environment here in NYC. The fall here is so beautiful and the weather is nice most of the days!

Me, Felicia and Maddy from Switzerland (our friend we met in New Paltz) walked through the park for hours. It’s really amazing. It’s so crazy to see all the places that you’ve only seen in movies before.

I really enjoy my time here and it’s so much to explore every day. Every weekend are we walking the whole day just to see everything. It’s my number 1 advice for everyone who is traveling here: put on comfortable shoes and walk to your destination. You will for sure make many stops on the way and find new places.

Best,
Diana

Hi everyone,

I can’t believe that there are only a few days left here in New Paltz. This week, Felicia, Diana and me will move from the tiny, cozy and idyllically situated New Paltz to one of the biggest and most dynamic metropolitan cities in the world. Oh, what a contrast!

New Paltz is surrounded by wonderful nature and provides space for a wide range of fun-making outdoor activities such as hiking, kayaking, tubing, and riding. Nature lovers and adventurists get definitely their money’s worth! I booked two trips organized by the wellness and recovering center. This is probably the easiest and cheapest way to experience these activities: Book a trip for around 20 bucks, come to the meeting point, and just have fun!

So at first, I did a tubing trip. Honestly, I wasn’t really aware of what tubing is when I have signed up. But I can tell that it was definitely one of the most spectacular things I have ever done – nothing for weak nerves or people who are scared about falling into cold water. For everyone who does not know what tubing is, it is comparable to wild water rafting, however, everyone is sitting in their own tube. Maybe you can imagine that a tube is way shakier than an ordinary inflatable.

For the next time, I would recommend investing some money to rent a helmet which was not included in the price and not explicitly communicated by the instructors.

The second trip, a friend from Switzerland and me signed up for was a horseback riding excursion. The trip was advertised as a trip for beginners. Therefore, I was aware that it will be just a cozy trip. After a short riding session, we had some free time to explore the wonderful nature of the Mohonk preserve as well as the Mohonk Mountain House which is an old, famous and iconic hotel in this area. That was definitely a fantastic day and a great excursion to recommend.

Now, it is time to pack our suitcases. The next advantage is waiting for us!

All the best,

Anna

Hi there everyone,

My name is Felicia and I am currently studying the IIB program together with Diana who just did the last post and then our German friend Anna, so there are just the three of us this semester which Diana mentioned earlier. New Paltz is so far so good, or I would rather say that I love the place, this has definitely been two of the best months in my life. I have met so amazing people here, made many new friends around the world, and I have experienced a lot during my time here. Moving from Sweden to do this was a decision I will never regret, so I recommend everyone who is ever thinking about doing something similar, to definitely do it. New Paltz is such a beautiful small town and the IIB program is absolutely something special, because you´ll not just have the experience of studying at college, you will also have the opportunity to live and do an internship in New York.

Diana talked about our time here in general and I couldn’t have described it better. So I will instead write about our trip to Boston which was a few days ago because this trip is something they do every semester, and I really recommend everyone to go because you will both get to know more people and experience another city.

We stayed in Boston for three days. We went from New Paltz with bus and it took us around four hours, with a one-hour stop, to get to Boston. When we arrived we had the whole afternoon free such as the next upcoming days, or there was an optional freedom trail tour you could sign up for on the last day, but me and Anna chose to explore the city on our own during that time.

Boston is a beautiful city with old buildings and amazing architecture, it almost feels like you´re in NYC but without the stressful environment and without the same amount of skyscrapers.

As you can see, we visited Harvard which was such an amazing experience, I´ll let the pictures speak for themselves, Boston is a beautiful city and I am so happy that I went on that trip.

So now the next adventure will be on Friday next week, when we move to Manhattan to start our internship, I´m so looking forward to it.

Best,
Felicia

Hi everyone,

It’s only one week left for us here, and the time really flew by! This fall semester we are three students that are attending the IIB program at SUNY New Paltz. I am from Sweden, Felicia is also from Sweden and then we have Anna from Germany. 

The weeks here have been so much fun and a little bit stressful. I am not used to study more than one course at the time so this has been a real experience. I didn’t have any experience in business courses before I arrived here since I’m studying a bachelor degree in sociology and rhetoric at home. So I was a little nervous about that before, that it would be to intense. But all the professors are so kind here. They help you all the way and have a full understanding for your background. So if anyone who reads this have any doubts I can really recommend it, just apply! 

Besides our studies in different courses we are preparing for our upcoming internships in NYC. We had weekly meetings with a woman named Jackie and she helped us with our resumes and cover letters. That was really helpful and she is so kind. We also have weekly classes together with Jeff were we cover different topics about American business, and also individual meetings to discuss and apply for internships. I really appreciate all of this, cause it’s hard in the beginning and you don’t know where to start. 

Before I arrived here I was looking forward so much to meet new people from all over the world and build new friendships. And I have to say that even though we are three students at this program this semester we have really found new friends. It’s almost like the other international students is our NP family. I’m so grateful for that!

So next week we will be moving to Webster apartments in Midtown, Manhattan. I am so excited! And I will write a post about my life there, it will for sure be different from the life here in New Paltz.

Best,

Diana