Another week has passed in Basel! It's hard to believe that I've now been here for over two!

This week has been good and I feel like I've now really settled in. Work is great and I'm doing new things every day. This week I've still been learning the basics in preparation for my project starting tomorrow. I feel like I'm making progress and developing a good understanding of the department and the work I'm doing.

On Tuesday, I attended a lunchtime presentation about a new product in my department. It's great that I get to go along to all these things and I get a brilliant insight into what it's like to work in a business environment.

At the beginning of this week my mentor, Marcia suggested that I make a list of objectives for my 8 weeks with Syngenta. This was a really good idea as it focused me to think of exactly what I want to get out of these 8 weeks and encouraged me to continue to make the most of my time with the company. We then discussed my list and Marcia has given me lots of advice and ideas. She has given me contact details for people who are currently on Syngenta's graduate program, but who also don't have business related degrees. I'm going to try and set up some lunch meetings with them, as it would be good to hear about how they made their career decisions and got into the program.

This week I also met with other people who work in my department but that I'm not directly working with. Everyone has been giving me such great advice and making time for me, which I really appreciate. It's this kind of opportunity that makes this internship so valuable and already I feel that come the time I am applying for graduate roles I'm going to be in a good position to make decisions about what I want to do.

Syngenta announced their half year results this Thursday and I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the employee presentation of the results at a nearby Hotel. The CEO Mike Mack made the presentation and then a question and answer session with the executive committee followed. I then had to rush back from this for a conference call with two other people who are working on the same project as me. We updated them on our progress and made plans for the meetings that begin tomorrow.

Like some of the other interns, I am bound by a confidentiality agreement, so I won't be able to talk about the details of my project. What I can say though is that being involved in it is better than I could ever have imagined! I'm mostly working on financial analysis but I also love the business side of it and it's really inspiring me and making me think about what I want my future career to be like.

Last weekend I went to Freiburg in Germany and had a great time! I met up with my cousins who are travelling in Europe at the moment. We went through the Black Forest to Lake Titisee on Saturday and enjoyed a day there. On Sunday we enjoyed pastries for breakfast and explored Freiburg.

I spent yesterday in the city and watched the Basel Tattoo parade in the afternoon. I've never been to the Edinburgh Tattoo but now I have been in Basel! I also bought an all-day tram pass and then spent some time going all over the place to get to know the city a bit better. Now, I'm just back from a trip to Bern! It was only an hour on the train and is a really nice city. I'll tell you more about it next time!

I hope all the other interns are still having a good time. I'll write again next weekend!

Rhona