One piece of advice: always pack your suitcase with clothing for every occasion. You never know what items of clothing you will suddenly need. I learned this life lesson today when I found out that I needed a business suit for a meeting with the head of the PR department at a local television company. Okay, so, long story short; before I left for Berlin, I got in touch with my childhood friend who currently lives there and we decided to meet up. She’s been interning at a company that deals with a large majority of the television production in Germany. I must admit, I was a little jealous and wondered how she got her foot through the door. So, this morning she called and invited me to an event that her company was hosting. To my great surprise, she invited me to go with her! I quickly accepted; but then it dawned on me that I didn’t have any professional attire!

I rushed to the shopping district to find the perfect business outfit. Let me tell you, this wasn’t easy! My body isn’t typical European size. Pants that would fit nicely around my waist would be too long in length and last minute tailoring wasn’t an option. I decided to forget about finding pants and, instead, settled on a dark-gray, pencil skirt and a white blouse with thin, black, vertical stripes. I matched it with a lighter gray suit jacket and black Armani shoes. Even though it took me all afternoon to find this outfit, this was a record for me. Normally, finding business wear takes me, at least, a week!

Appearance wise, I would have been completely embarrassed if it wasn’t for my quick find. Everyone around me, including my friend, were professionally dressed; it, actually, really overwhelmed me. I had to network and professionally introduce myself in German, which is something that I’ve never done before. I was very nervous! Luckily, I looked the part and even received a few business cards. Phew!

So, moral of the story: Pack lightly, but make sure you pack everything! Life is full of spontaneous events, that’s what makes it so exciting.

Love always,
Mia