Sunday afternoon, I'm sitting here doing a little research about firms for my summer internship. There are thousands of firms across the country, small and big, local and national, and even international firms. They are all different, each has their own philosophy that sparks my interests. They have offices overseas, Shanghai, Tokyo, Dubai, London, you name it. Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to go somewhere else other than Seattle, Washington DC, to work and meet new people?
I won't be able to go home this summer because of the internship, which really sucks because I already made plans for Hanoi. Maybe this is just a silly dream, but I dream of being able to work for a Gensler, a Perkins and Will, a HKS in Hanoi, to be able to go home and still have a job that I worked hard for.
I was disappointed with my job last summer at home. Yes I didn't realized that until a few weeks ago when I started business class. I worked for a small but well-known firm, worked on high-end projects, charged people huge amount of money.... I should be happy. But no, I worked as a decorator, specifying wallpaper without any knowledge of it whatsoever. I spent hours looking at a floor plan with tons of odd arrangement and yet I was not allowed to fix anything. Why? There is a quote I read somewhere a few days ago that I don't remember exactly what it said. But the idea is that architects sometimes call themselves interior designers, that is unacceptable because they never had the education, they are only interior decorators. I dream of a day when architects realize that they better focus on their job and not try to do other people's job. Stop being so arrogant.
My point is that I was so disappointed with my internship at home, that i'm afraid I will never be able to find a real Interior design job at home. I will always be the interior decorator who struggles with not being able to move any walls or drop a ceiling. I will always be the one who people call to "please repaint my room, please redecorate my living room". That is not my job.
Working in the states is the only way I can do what I really went to school for. My dream is to convince my firm to open an office in Hanoi, for me to be at home, for them to open their opportunity to the world. Is it so hard? If Hanoi was like Dubai, with millions of opportunities, fast growing and constructions everywhere, then is won't be so hard. But for now, my dream is to work for Gensler, the number 1 architecture and design firm in the US.
