What it means to be an intern.

1. " We can't pay you much, but this is going to be a great experience. "
We can't pay you much, but are grateful for the cheap labor that you have to offer. Also, be prepared to work hard. That's what experience is all about!

2. "I don't really see this as being a 9 to 5 job, you'll be in control of when you work."
Ha! Of course this isn't going to be 9 to 5, because their is no way you can get everything we expect you do done the the few hours contained between 9 and 5.

In the same vein...

3. "I don't think this job can be defined in the terms of part time or full time."
You are going to be working full time, but paid like its part time.

3. "Since you don't really have a lot of experience doing on particular thing,"
we'll sort of just have you doing, well, everything. Look at you, young and energetic, you can learn pretty much anything on the spot, right! (This really applies to me: My original job description was marketing and promotion, now here is a comprehensive list of things I do that are not really covered by the umbrella of marketing and promotion: shopping for snacks at Walmart, acting as some sort of expert about education in the States, translating between English and Chinese and vice versa, market research, filming advertisements to put on Youtube, consulting on art, developing website content, writing articles, writing code, and recording the voices for iOS applications.)

4. "We'd like you do be pretty independent."
We have no clue what exactly you are going to be doing.

5. "This should be really fun and you'll learn a lot."
Well, this is actually very true. As much as I loathe heading to Kitty Pad (woe is me, what I name, if only naming the company were my responsibility too...) every morning, its decent, and I am learning a lot, things that I never thought I would come across, and my collegues are mostly fun to be around (especially when we share Youku videos in the "Kitty Pad Underground Chat Room" on QQ, China's version of AIM). However, I'm glad this intern business only lasts for a summer.

Also, its true what they say about internships, that they can help you decide what you want in a career. Thanks to my life at Kitty Pad, I think I've found my calling... (Though it is almost totally unrelated to what I do between the hours of 9 to 5 or so)