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!

zainab slemang

Zainab, 20, is a UCT student doing her Honours in Media Theory & Practice. Here’s what she had to say about her intern week at seventeen…

guillotines and paper cuts – day 1
So this morning, I was driving around the city quite aimlessly. Well, I wasn’t completely without an aim… I was trying to locate the seventeen offices, but being the direction-less buffoon I am, I drove past the road I was suppose to turn down twice before the brilliant idea of actually calling someone occurred to me! I’m not usually nervous or shy but by the time I made it to the reception area (late by exactly three minutes), I was feeling a little queasy. What I was expecting, I can honestly tell you I don’t know. As soon as I got upstairs, Liza, the managing editor, put me to work. If there’s one thing I enjoy it’s being busy, and for the next three hours I was content with typing up data. After a quick lunch break, I got back to work typing out sales figures then cutting them out and pasting them on their appropriate covers. The cutting proved a bit of a mission – not only am I unable to use a guillotine but apparently a craft knife proved quite difficult a tool as well! Luckily for me, no one seemed to notice how uneven I had cut the paper. All in all, my first day as a seventeen intern was not too bad and I even managed not to make a complete idiot of myself!

“the book”, a birthday and a meeting – day 2
Remember in Ugly Betty where Betty accidentally takes the holy grail of the magazine world (aka “The Book”) home with her and then promptly loses it? Or maybe you remember Miranda’s insistence that her first assistant hand-deliver “The Book” to her home each evening in The Devil Wears Prada? Well, today I got a chance to behold the glorious object known as the mock-up or “The Book” (Don’t you just love saying that?). While seventeen’s mock-up is not as glamorous as Mode or Runway’s, it definitely is an eye-opener (and I’m totally stoked because I got a sneak preview of next month’s issue already! It’s a good one, so look out for it). Reading the notes written on the pages of the mock-up as well as getting a chance to sit in on the signing off of the March issue showed me just how much hard work goes into the making of your fave mag. So much attention to detail is given – there was even a debate about the model’s eyes in the fashion spread, I kid you not.
The entire seventeam also sang Happy Birthday to Jill, the Digital Intern, who turned 21. Thanks for the amazing cake, Jill! The rest of my day was spent surfing the Net, paging through some of the huge collection of incredible seventeen magazines from all across the world and attending a brief production meeting where Khwezi, the editor, and Liza addressed the April issue of seventeen as well as the agenda for the upcoming week.

mac navigation and other lesser-known things – day 3
Today was pretty busy. The Internet application froze on the Mac I was working on, so after freaking out that I’d broken the machine (have I told you I’m technologically-challenged as well?), I eventually asked Ashleigh, the layout designer, for some help. Luckily she didn’t find it a silly question (if she did, she kept it to herself). Later the team held a features meeting where I was allocated a few tasks, one being to go off in search of the contact details for all the major mobile companies. My task was simple enough – find cellphones that could be comparable to the iPhone. The difficult part came next: getting the contact information of each company so we could ask them to send us a mobile phone or two to test (and play around with – LOL). Research can sometimes become tedious, especially on the Internet where you have to sift through millions of useless facts before coming to something useful. I managed to find some useful numbers! You can also find LOADS of useful things on www.seventeen.co.za - like celeb gossip, fashion and beauty tips, health advice and more!

phone calls with a side of sushi – day 4
Thursday morning and follow-up calls need to be made. Thing is, no one I need to speak to is answering their phones! Is it too early to call people? Maybe, but I need to get some good quotes (and a few numbers too). I eventually, through sheer persuasion caused by panic that I wouldn’t get anything done, managed to convince a few friends to email me the relevant stuff. Whew! With that done, I settled into the day’s research and later took a quick break for lunch – some good old avocado maki. Being the brilliant multi-tasker I think I could be, I attempted to pour wasabi sauce over my sushi while sending a text message. Needless to say, the wasabi landed on my dress (thankfully black) and the text in someone else’s inbox. Guess it was just another day, another wacky moment at the seventeen offices. I did manage to get through to quite a few cellphone people. Some just said they’d get back to me but with Carmen’s help (the features writer) we managed to get at least one to send us a new phone! Wow!

putting it out there and saying farewell – day 5
After a few days of thinking about a topic I could write on for my soapbox assignment, I was finally struck by some inspiration. I’ve written about many things over the past few years and one of the few articles I am extremely proud of is a piece of narrative literary journalism (or creative non-fiction), which I wrote for my main senior research project in my final year of varsity. The piece told of my interactions with a group of refugees, with a focus on three individuals, whose lives had been affected by the horrific xenophobia attacks that had taken place all over the country. It focused on their thoughts as well as their future plans. In my interactions with them I was struck by their humility and the way in which some of them readily forgave their attackers. Why I digress like this is to show that I believe that my writing can have an impact on the lives of others in the same way many of my favourite writers and journalists have changed my perceptions of things through their work. That is why I chose to write my soapbox on something I hope to incorporate in all of my future work: peace journalism.

My internship has gone extremely quickly. I have to admit it’s been a new and different experience and I learnt a lot about how the magazine is brought to life by the amazing team at seventeen HQ. I know I’ll definitely be looking out for the next issue of seventeen so that I can be reminded of my time here!

hard at work doing some research!

sticking up sales figures (they look pretty straight to me!)

natalie and chanel (part 2!)

Day 3
Natalie: Today was great. We started out sorting more job bags. It felt like an endless pile but we probably just took so long because we wanted to look at almost everything in each bag! When we were done, we helped update the celeb list – it was quite funny because even if they were famous, but not good looking, Chanel didn’t want to write them down, so I had to watch that she wrote down every one, even if they weren’t her type. He he. After lunch we drove to the photo shoot, and I started to get little butterflies in my tummy, I’d never even watched a photo shoot before, let alone be in one! When we got there I relaxed though. Everyone was really friendly, and I got my make-up done which was awesome, I felt new :P. I was really nervous when I walked in front of the camera, I had no idea what to do but the photographer helped me through it and it turned out to be a lot of fun! For behind-the-scenes pics on seventeen's fashion shoots, check out www.seventeen.co.za
Chanel: Emptying out job bags is so interesting as we get to see each page in its different stage, until it is approved. Wow, your English has to be impeccable… I guess I’ll have to concentrate in English a bit more – it’s not going to be easy… that teacher sucks the life out me! No pain, no gain! At the photo shoot everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun. They have so much clothing just sitting there, I was soo tempted ☺ just joking. It was pretty exciting to see how the fashion side of the mag is put together. I don’t think the fashion department is for me though, you could put me behind a computer the whole day and I’m a happy camper.

Day 4
Natalie: Today was a nice, relaxed day. We sat and read through a whole lot of international magazines looking for guys and girls whose names could go onto the celeb list. And I had my packet of sour worms so I didn’t even feel like going to lunch – I was just so comfortable chilling here at the mag. I think if I had a job like this I'd never have a frown on my face again.
Chanel: Today, first of all, was dead hot!!! Everyone is so friendly and even if I don’t go into this field (not likely) I want to learn the design side of things just because I’m passionate about it. Every morning I understand wanting to come to “work”, it’s not a drag. Even though it’s behind-the-scenes, I rate that this a lot better than being any kind of model. Our list of celebrities is almost done… regrettably Natalie made me write everyone’s name down. I also wrote down every hot guy's name ☺.

Day 5
Natalie: Last day today ☹ can’t believe our week is already over! It was such a great learning experience and it really helped me decide what I want to do with my future. This morning we came and were the only people here for a while cos everyone had gone for the seventeen team photo. When they came back we went to UCT with Carmen (features writer) to ask guys on campus what the deal-breaker is between girlfriends and hook-ups (It’s for a story in the April issue). I think we met the world’s most shallow guy today. He said a girl has to be hot to date her – that’s it. I nearly smacked him! Other than that we found some guys who were decent and nice. Back at the office we had to steam iron some clothes for the Nike shoot, where we burnt ourselves millions of times and envied the girls who get to wear such nice clothes. When the girls are finished getting their hair and make-up done we are going to the beach to watch the shoot. Can’t wait to see how it’s done. ☺ Thanx seventeen for having us. It was awesome!
Chanel: Awh ☹ It felt so permanent being here. I love this place. This morning the office was so quiet but we sat uploading photos on Facebook. The computer we use has a camera on the monitor with a whole lot of effects on it so we’ve taken like 80 photos. Our little trip to UCT was fun except for this one guy who wouldn’t be a sport… gosh. We met these really nice guys who said a bunch of nice, not so confusing stuff. Anyway we’re going to be off to the Nike photo shoot soon. Thanks to the whole seventeen team for having us, they made us feel so welcome☺ Have a good 2009!

Natalie striking a pose for the fashion story!

Steam ironing clothes for the Nike shoot

natalie and chanel

Natalie and Chanel, both 17, from Benoni, are spending the first week of Feb at seventeen HQ in Cape Town! Here’s what they’ve been getting up to so far…

Day 1
This morning we got up early (way too early!!) – I guess we were just really excited. We’re staying only a few blocks down from seventeen’s offices, so it’s a five-minute walk, but we left early just in case we got lost again. We were extremely early – our intern day only starts at 10am – so we went to KFC for breakfast, they were supposed to open at 9am but they weren’t…gosh! We did meet a cute guy who was also waiting :p. When we got to seventeen, we saw the kind of people that came in and out the door and they looked really chilled so we weren’t worried at all. Our first job was to sort out the seventeen magazines from all the different countries, we had no idea there were so many, we thought only us South Africans had the privilege of being able to buy seventeen every month, but apparently not… guess everyone needs a little seventeen in their lives☺.
After that we looked at the February dummy book and had to write letters about any topic that we wanted.

Natalie: It was really hard to pick one article to write about because they were all so good. But I found one that I related to, so I wrote on how sports can change your life. I thought it was pretty cool that we get a say in what we did and didn’t like about the issue… I loved it all. Since I was 12 I’ve wanted to become a desktop publisher and work for a magazine. Now I’ve got the opportunity for a week and I’m not nervous at all. I wanted to see if this was something I’d really enjoy as much as I thought I would and I’ve decided from the first minute of being here that it is. Everyone looks so happy here, it looks as if it is more fun than work. And if you enjoy your job you never have to work a day in your life.”
Chanel: “I take Design at school, this is my last year and then I’m done with school, but Design has taught me the sorts of things I’d use in this industry. This week ahead may just help me decide if this if what I want to do for the rest of my life. I love design and after today I think it would be cool to be a designer. I don’t think its possible to get bored if I worked here. You get to guide the youth of today, how amazing is that?!” Today was just awesome☺

Day 2
Today just flew by, before we knew it, it was lunchtime already. Today we had to sort out things for recycling… seventeen also do their bit for the environment☺. We also did some filing and then went to lunch. When we got back, Carmen, the features writer, had arranged for some boys to come into the office and smell all these different shampoos for a story in the April issue. They each had to choose the one they liked and had to say why. Wow, there was chocolate, watermelon, kiwi and another one that smelt like medicine!
Chanel: “I had a lot of fun today, its really interesting how the office works like a well oiled machine, everyone has their part to do when it comes to the magazine. It’s amazing to sit and watch how the magazine is put together, its not quite what I thought it would be.
Natalie: Today was awesome! I spent most of the day watching the things the girls do. This is almost too much fun to be called a job :P And the amounts of products sent here to be tried out is amazing. It was quite funny to watch the guys pick the shampoo they liked and to come up with a reason as to why. The fashion department are short one reader for tomorrow’s real girls shoot so they asked one of us to help out, which is going to be something remembered ☺ Can’t wait for tomorrow!
For behind-the-scenes pics of seventeen's fashion shoots, go to www.seventeen.co.za

Sorting out seventeen's library!

Helping out with recycling!

With the boys at their shampoo test!

tarryn and meggan

Tarryn, 21 (left) and Meggan, 20 (right) are students at the University of the Western Cape. Here's what they had to say about their internship at seventeen!

Day 1
Tarryn: When I arrived I was terribly nervous as I didn't know what to expect. I immediately thought of The Devil Wears Prada. I feared I would be the slave to a glamourous fashion guru who ate inexperienced interns, such as myself, for breakfast. To my delight it was quite the opposite, the team at seventeen were friendly and helpful. I sat in on a meeting, which made me feel welcome and helped me gain insight into what it takes to put a magazine together. I had no idea that there were so many different aspects involved in the magazine. I felt like a child in a candy store being surrounded by real-life editors and writers. The opportunity to intern showed me first-hand what it means to be part of a magazine and I realised I had a lot to learn, but my dream of being behind-the-scenes at a respectable and highly successful magazine had just come true. My first day proved to be a great success!
Meggan: I had this feeling of nervousness come over me when I arrived but that soon disappeared soon after I met Liza who introduced me to the rest of the team. Everyone was so friendly! The first task I was given was to search for celebs on the Net and give an update on their whereabouts and latest activities. It was fun to find out what the stars have been up to lately. Then I was asked to distribute points to seventeen’s UrbanScouts (sign up to be a Scout on www.seventeen.co.za). I think it’s great that seventeen has such a close relationship and interaction with their loyal readers. These two tasks seem fairly simple, but they were actually quite time consuming. I also had the opportunity to sit in on a meeting to discuss the next issue. It was very enlightening and impressive when I heard about all the things that had to be considered for just one issue. The office atmosphere is quieter than what I had expected which leaves you feeling calm, but there’s also lots of laughter and fun.

Day 2:
Tarryn: I enjoyed sitting in on the meetings and felt inspired by the energy and creativity of the editorial team. The meetings were productive and at the same time encouraged the contribution of fresh ideas and opinions. I admired the freedom that each person felt to express their ideas and that each contribution was well received and taken into account. The topics discussed are important to girls in society and it was nice to know that the content being produced is properly researched. Each member of the seventeen team is unique and their personalities contribute to their work. I could not believe I was given the incredible opportunity to write a piece in the March issue. I liked the fact that I was treated with the same level of respect as the other staff members. I definitely feel I picked the right career and I’m happy my studies weren’t in vain.
Meggan: The reason why I wanted to intern at seventeen was because I wanted to know how things really worked behind-the-scenes of a magazine. I wanted some confirmation that this is still what I wanted to do. Today I continued updating the celeb list. Liza took some time out of her busy schedule to explain the ins and outs of putting together a magazine, which I found very enlightening. It was interesting to hear about the long procedure and all the channels the dummy book has to go through just to get published. When I looked at their dummy book with all the changes on it I didn’t realise how much they work and rework the details. Later I was allowed to sit in on a meeting where the team discussed the content of the March issue and which features to use or lose. I couldn’t believe how much fun I was having just by listening to their ideas and being in the same space. Putting together a magazine is really hard work but you don’t even notice it because you have so much fun while doing it. After today I definitely know that this is still the field I want to go into. Before I knew it, the day was over. Time flies when you’re having fun!

Day 3:
Tarryn: I worked with Meggan on our piece for the March issue, and enjoyed phoning our guy friends to ask them what they would want to know about the girls they are dating. I enjoyed every minute of my three days at seventeen. I really liked the environment. I cannot wait to enter the media industry next year!
Meggan: Today I worked together with Tarryn on piece for the March issue. We had so much fun! We also decided to get an insiders opinion on the questions so we made a call or two to our guy friends who really helped us out. It was nice getting people involved as well. I sat in on another meeting today where the team discussed a timeline and I learnt that it is so much more convenient to start way in advance in order to meet your deadlines. I also helped put the new dummy book together. It was interesting to see yet again how they pay close attention to detail. All in all, my time here was spectacular and I enjoyed myself more than I thought. A part of this feeling comes from the team where there’s a perfect environment and never a conversation without a laugh!