on work, things are moving along swimmingly here at the VOA london bureau. i've been working on the production side of things for the past week and have enjoyed it immensely. i now know how to take in a story from VOA correspondents all over the world, be it through phone line, ISDN, FTP or email. i'm also quite proficient in the editing software VOA uses. once i've made the necessary edits, i can pass stories to the Washington bureau, which is ultimately responsible for broadcasting all the stories VOA puts out.

it's actually not a complex process, just a series of baby steps to get things to air. once mastered, it moves fairly quickly and now, a week later, i've been able to turnaround stories in about 10 minutes. it's cool to hear things i packaged broadcast worldwide just minutes after i've sent them to washington. i feel pretty comfortable with this stuff now. certainly, i'll sometimes still miss a step or cut things up wrong, but there have been no major upsets with my work so far. the technicians i'm working with have actually said that i picked up the software quickly. i'm always open to learning new programs, though the people here have said VOA's systems for getting out its news are "antiquated," so they won't be much use to me after i leave this place.

otherwise, my days in radio production come to an end tomorrow (friday). all of next week will consist of reporting, and i hope to get at least one story done. my big, major, juicy story that i can't talk about here. i'm conducting my first interview for it tomorrow. following that i have two more stories lined up for the duration of my internship here. i think my boss likes me, or at least doesn't hate me. he's kind of a serious, poker face type of guy with a great broadcast voice, salt-and-pepper beard and tons of experience. he's also an amazing editor with oodles of patience. he's the top guy in a sometimes busy newsroom and i've never seen him lose his cool or change his tone. very solid guy, i'd like having him as a boss as he doesn't meddle or micromanage. since i've been in production, i've only interacted with him a handful of times per day, which is good for me since i need a lot of room and independence no matter where i work. i'm sure we'll get to know each other better when i start my editing rotation in two weeks. but for now, all is well on the workfront.

the weather has been unseasonably beautiful the past few days, even too warm for a jacket. tonight holds a thai dinner and two-hour class with my professor. hasta manana.