well hello there..
YAY! I have internet for the first time since I left blacksburg!
this summer i'm living in arlington with my aunt and working in DC at a federal building project. It's pretty cool, and when it's done it will be really cool. I started out commuting to work every morning on the Metro, which is a great and wonderful under-used form of transportation. Every morning I get up at 5:20am, yes that is right, not a typo; and get out the door by 5:50am. How do I do it you ask, well.. simple. I am magic. And once I get out the door, I walk 3 blocks to the bus stop, where I catch the bus to Ballston. I then grab a Washington Post Express, another wonderful part of taking the Metro, which I read on my 20 minute ride to New York Ave. I also bought a CAR this summer and so if i'm late getting out the door I take that. But I think in the interest of my tires going across an active construction site every day I will be taking the Metro a good bit...
I go to Laurel, MD about once a week for training, and on one of these trips I had an excellent dinner with Jenn and Ryan, who i hadn't seen since around Easter! He has the best stories from Europe, and I even got to meet one of his high school friends who was very nice. Jenn has also visited me in Arlington a few times and it's been really great living up here so far. I visited Suzy and got to see Jen, after all of her adventures in Europe and seeing the new Pope in Rome. She even brought us back rosaries, telling us she'd gotten us a present from "benny" ;) I also got to explore the city a little with Lisa and Suzy, and I've had a great time catching up with everyone's stories from the summer.
I also get to see Mike, who has moved to charlottesville and is now working for GE, on the weekends. Last weekend we went to Jenny and CJ's wedding in Sterling which honest to God was the nicest wedding I've ever been to. Just beautiful. And very simple. We had alot of fun! This weekend we are going back to my house in Greenville which should be a nice vacation. i miss home. It's very different living far away from home for a year. I'm looking forward to going down to the pool for the festivities, Mrs. Fuduric's party for the fourth, and setting off fireworks at the park. So much fun. I'll try to post pictures soon. I think we may even go to Charleston for Sunday with my family. Very excited! I miss him very much.
The only gripe I have about living here is the traffic and the attitude of people around here.
Traffic in Northern Virginia/DC/Maryland is insane. Since I am working at a construction site and getting to work at 6:30 am every morning and leaving at 3:30 every afternoon, my commute is not so bad. The same cannot be said on Fridays, where everyone begins leaving the city at noon. This friday I am supposed to leave my office at 12, and I pray that I will be out of the inner circle by 1. I'm going down to Blacksburg to move into my new apartment! YAY!
the attitude of people is also an interesting subject. People in this area genuinely don't like to say hi if someone walks by, frequently putting their head down or looking away just long enough for people to pass. I've experienced this behavior at Tech, but never to this large scale. Also, some of the people at my office at least are convinced that no one should have anything better to do than work. I was berated when I asked for overtime for working more than 40 hours a week. I can't believe that people really don't want to go home after they are done with work for the day. Sheesh.
Thats all for now. i think i've written enough for one day and I look forward to some comments now that I can actually respond again. I miss you all and hope you are having a good summer!
-liz
this summer i'm living in arlington with my aunt and working in DC at a federal building project. It's pretty cool, and when it's done it will be really cool. I started out commuting to work every morning on the Metro, which is a great and wonderful under-used form of transportation. Every morning I get up at 5:20am, yes that is right, not a typo; and get out the door by 5:50am. How do I do it you ask, well.. simple. I am magic. And once I get out the door, I walk 3 blocks to the bus stop, where I catch the bus to Ballston. I then grab a Washington Post Express, another wonderful part of taking the Metro, which I read on my 20 minute ride to New York Ave. I also bought a CAR this summer and so if i'm late getting out the door I take that. But I think in the interest of my tires going across an active construction site every day I will be taking the Metro a good bit...
I go to Laurel, MD about once a week for training, and on one of these trips I had an excellent dinner with Jenn and Ryan, who i hadn't seen since around Easter! He has the best stories from Europe, and I even got to meet one of his high school friends who was very nice. Jenn has also visited me in Arlington a few times and it's been really great living up here so far. I visited Suzy and got to see Jen, after all of her adventures in Europe and seeing the new Pope in Rome. She even brought us back rosaries, telling us she'd gotten us a present from "benny" ;) I also got to explore the city a little with Lisa and Suzy, and I've had a great time catching up with everyone's stories from the summer.
I also get to see Mike, who has moved to charlottesville and is now working for GE, on the weekends. Last weekend we went to Jenny and CJ's wedding in Sterling which honest to God was the nicest wedding I've ever been to. Just beautiful. And very simple. We had alot of fun! This weekend we are going back to my house in Greenville which should be a nice vacation. i miss home. It's very different living far away from home for a year. I'm looking forward to going down to the pool for the festivities, Mrs. Fuduric's party for the fourth, and setting off fireworks at the park. So much fun. I'll try to post pictures soon. I think we may even go to Charleston for Sunday with my family. Very excited! I miss him very much.
The only gripe I have about living here is the traffic and the attitude of people around here.
Traffic in Northern Virginia/DC/Maryland is insane. Since I am working at a construction site and getting to work at 6:30 am every morning and leaving at 3:30 every afternoon, my commute is not so bad. The same cannot be said on Fridays, where everyone begins leaving the city at noon. This friday I am supposed to leave my office at 12, and I pray that I will be out of the inner circle by 1. I'm going down to Blacksburg to move into my new apartment! YAY!
the attitude of people is also an interesting subject. People in this area genuinely don't like to say hi if someone walks by, frequently putting their head down or looking away just long enough for people to pass. I've experienced this behavior at Tech, but never to this large scale. Also, some of the people at my office at least are convinced that no one should have anything better to do than work. I was berated when I asked for overtime for working more than 40 hours a week. I can't believe that people really don't want to go home after they are done with work for the day. Sheesh.
Thats all for now. i think i've written enough for one day and I look forward to some comments now that I can actually respond again. I miss you all and hope you are having a good summer!
-liz