a canadian in africa

Emily, 25, hails from Canada and recently graduated from Journalism at Rhodes University. She plans on staying in sunny South Africa, perhaps even put down some roots – the bug has bitten!

Mon 16 March
It just seemed natural after my graduation to write to seventeen stating, “I’d like to be an intern”. Well, months later here I was opening the door to their lovely offices. I took my seat across from Ashleigh, seventeen’s designer, who funnily enough went to the same university as myself. I was quickly assigned a task from Khwezi, the editor, to update their celebrity list. So I spent the morning scouting out and writing down whom I deemed worthy enough to make the cut. Emily Blunt was the first name I wrote. Perhaps it is a namesake issue but she is starring in the forthcoming film The Young Victoria, so of course she should be included! I also got a chance to flip through the international seventeen editions – although it’s now out of circulation, the Korean edition is phenomenal! In the afternoon, I brainstormed ideas for the article I get to write for seventeen's July edition – the Dance issue! I think I’m going to write about vintage dresses and how ecologically sound and beautiful they can be. Hopefully I can inspire some of you to foster your creative sides and redesign old dresses!

Tue 17 March
Today Carmen, the features writer, asked me to test some cellphones – not a bad start to the day. I got to play with some pretty cool phones, but you’ll have to buy the May issue to find out which ones I liked best! Later, the team had a quick meeting to see how production for the next issue was coming along. I also got to sit in on a fashion brainstorm – I studied photography in high school and university so listening to Anja, the fashion editor, talk about her ideas for the shoot was like music to my ears.
Later on in the afternoon Ashleigh needed some help sourcing photographs for the upcoming issue. The mission was to find a celebrity talking on their cellphone. A simple task, I thought to myself, but after about an hour of filtering through endless photos and no success, I realised that finding the perfect picture actually takes a lot of patience!

Figuring out one of the many cool cellphones!

Wed 18 March
Today was very entertaining. I had to help Delene, the entertainment editor, research some hot boys… How tedious. ☺ If you want to check out loads of hotties, go to www.seventeen.co.za now! They’re currently running the Do you Know a Hottie? Competition and there’s eye candy galore. My second task of the day was to write music reviews, wicked! I have a slight obsession with music so being able to listen to new albums is always a bonus. I have to admit out of the four CDs I had to review I really only would have purchased one, but that is the whole point of reviewing music, to steer people clear of ear-wrenching musicians. I’ve never been a huge fan of Lily Allen but her latest album is a new guilty pleasure and I’m embarrassingly anticipating her video for the track “Not Fair”, which you can catch at www.lilyallenmusic.com

Delene and I looking for hot boys... sigh

Thu 19 March
Today was filled with music reviews and research! I'm still writing my piece on vintage dresses – you'd be surprised at the amount of waste that is produced from creating a new garment. Many celebrities are aware of this factor and will often wear vintage frocks rather than sport new gowns. Scarlett Johansson is perhaps the biggest advocate of vintage clothing. I also found this wicked website that lists all the eco-friendly stars and their green-gossip – check out www.ecorazzi.com

Hard at work on my dresses piece!

Fri 20 March
Okay, so I’ve decided that today's blog is going to be my picture diary of the seventeen team – that way you get to see all the lovely ladies you could work with if you interned here!

Carmen, the features writer, hard at work

An inspiring poster at Ashleigh's desk

Khwezi, the editor, updating the covers wall

seventeen's mood board
Stacey, the art director, sorting out a job bag

This week has been a blast and if you’re considering applying to be an intern, don’t be shy. Just rock up with a positive attitude and a smile, they’ll definitely take care of you here!

esti brandt

Esti completed her Journalism Post Grad last year at City Varsity. Her internship at seventeen started the day after she rode the Argus – brave girl!!

Monday 9 March
On my first day, I entered the beautiful offices with a sore and tired body. I’d cycled the Argus the day before and the grueling winds had almost gotten the best of me! But it was all soon forgotten as I was warmly welcomed and seated behind a Mac, reading up on the upcoming April issue. Just being in an office and hearing the random parts of phone calls and conversations was enough to give me a taste of what life was like working for a magazine. After sorting out some back-up discs and arranging them in the (it seemed much awaited) “new cupboard” I got to do some more practical things like test different cellphones for an upcoming article. I can officially tell you that I am a techie amateur as it felt like an hour after I had the Samsung Omnia touch screen phone figured out.

Sorting out back-up discs – there were so many!

Figuring out the Omnia!

Tuesday 10 March
I woke up feeling a bit down today. I guess you can’t explain the feeling, it’s just something us girls experience. But after spending a morning at seventeen, I feel great! Just being here has somehow improved my mood. Not a bad compliment for the team hey! What have I learnt so far today? Well, the team has been looking all morning to find the perfect picture of Miley Cyrus, and the cover for the next issue is HOT – no, it's not Miley!! During my Samsung Omnia / Beat Box comparison, I’ve also learnt that when it comes to cellphones I might be a bit conservative, or rather practical. I want to be able to flick it out, press the buttons without having to look and have it perform basic functions. But… it still has to look good!

Wednesday 11 March
It’s a funny concept coming into a workplace for just a short time – it’s like entering a private space and getting a behind-the-scenes peek of what everyone else sees in the form of a magazine. You find a combination of planning, crisis management, teamwork and creativity, and somehow it gets woven together to form a perfect brand that satisfies us readers. For behind-the-scenes pics on seventeen's fashion shoot, visit www.seventeen.co.za
I have the great opportunity to write a piece for the magazine on anything I want and suddenly I’m out of the ideas that normally keep me up at night! Bono of U2 once said that if you do not know what to write about, write about that. To take my mind off writing ideas, the new iPhone arrived to my utter delight. Despite the fact that I prefer practicality in a phone, the iPhone has indeed blown me away. Ooh, it’s beautiful and easy to use and sleek and… I like it!

The iPhone rocks!

Thursday 12 March
Sometime between yesterday and today my creative juices have gone through the blender and came out as some sort of cocktail. I don’t know if they are good ideas or not, but at least I had some ideas for my article and got my fingers going. I just sat in on a very short brainstorming meeting where the team had to come up with three very catchy lines. And they amazed me! It couldn’t have been five minutes and they had the catchiest, cutest lines. Liza, the Managing Editor, also gave me a rundown on how things work here, from planning months ahead, to brainstorming, designing, writing, doing fashion shoots, checking everything and re-doing what needs to be redone. It seems like a crazy production line, but it works like a bomb! My story is in for proofreading so I’ll wait and see if I’m on the right track…

Friday 13 March
It’s Friday the 13th – luckily I’m not superstitious! I’m more prone to bad luck in the kitchen. Like last night when I tried to bake a chocolate cake and the result was about twelve broken bits...
It seems that the piece I wrote might be used for the magazine. I had an interesting search on the Internet looking for photos of celebs to go with my story. Let's just say some trends are better left at home!
seventeen are starting to prepare for their Dance issue, so I spent some time this morning looking through old issues as well as overseas Prom copies. It was quite interesting searching for new and fun topics to add into the new Dance issue. There will be enough info to equip every girl from head to toe as well as other essential tips… loads to look forward to!