Settling in
Well, I'm settled in in Virginia. Sort of. I feel pretty out of sorts with no people around. I vacilate pretty widely between feeling like I have lots to do and am going to really settle in and feeling alone and a little overwhelmed. I've been sleeping in a lot, which is not normal!
I did make it safely, the good old Saturn held out until I hit the Washington beltway, when it overheated a little in the traffic. WHat does one do when one's car starts to poop out? Find a mall! Or that's what I did, so I ended up in Bethesda, Maryland, wandering around Nordstroms waiting out rush our and letting my engine cool.
When I got to my house in Arlington, no one was home as one of my roommates, Christina, is a lab technician who works nights (biotech research associated with the Pentagon, I think) and the other, Joanna, is a consultant who was working away. So I found my way inside using the spare key and unloaded my stuff with a little help from the hunky guy next door (a good sign, I thought), all while trying to keep Joanna's cats from getting out (a bad sign.) I met both Christina and Joanna the next day, and both seem very nice, but very quiet. I wasn't exactly looking for "Sex in the City," but maybe a little bit "Friends," especially because I don't really know anyone here, so I was sort of disappointed they weren't more social. The house is beautiful, really nice hardwood floors, great location 10 minutes walk from work, but I'm keeping my eyes open for something maybe a little more...youthful, and a little cheaper. We'll see. I have a month to decide, which is nice.
Yesterday I went into D.C. to check out the actual Bill of Rights in my first bit of brown-nosing for the new job. Also, I stopped by the National Air and Space Museum because, as I always say, "Space is cool." This weekend is the dedication of the WWII memorial, so downtown was packed. Some say, "terrorist threat!" I say, "they were handing out free water bottles!" It was pretty happening, all the veterans and tourists milling around. In spite of being the middle of the capital of one of the biggest, most powerful countries in the world, you put people on folding chairs or under big striped tents and you're right back in N. Michigan at the 4-H show. I think that there is a certain American spirit that exists just in the way that we interact with each other, and it was fun to see. Not always pushing or consuming or anything, just chatting and being...American. Sort of down-homey. It's interesting, because it's distinctive. I never noticed that same atmosphere when I was in England or Australia at fairs or markets there; it was very different. And back to the Bill of Rights, I discovered that what we know as the first ten amendments are actually the third through the twelfth of the amendments that were proposed, but one and two weren't ratified at the same time as the others. (Two was only added in 1996!) So how about that? I guess that you DO keep learning after you graduate.
Also, I would like to note that nature has it out for me. In addition to being followed about by a little cloud like a character from Peanuts or something (it's always raining on me!), I keep getting hit by cicadias (yuck yuck yuck) and yesterday two birds actually fell out of a tree and landed on me (seriously!). Anyway, I know that things like this happen to Liz Ross all the time, but not usually to me, so it's been something out of the ordinary, being on Mother Nature's hit list.
I did make it safely, the good old Saturn held out until I hit the Washington beltway, when it overheated a little in the traffic. WHat does one do when one's car starts to poop out? Find a mall! Or that's what I did, so I ended up in Bethesda, Maryland, wandering around Nordstroms waiting out rush our and letting my engine cool.
When I got to my house in Arlington, no one was home as one of my roommates, Christina, is a lab technician who works nights (biotech research associated with the Pentagon, I think) and the other, Joanna, is a consultant who was working away. So I found my way inside using the spare key and unloaded my stuff with a little help from the hunky guy next door (a good sign, I thought), all while trying to keep Joanna's cats from getting out (a bad sign.) I met both Christina and Joanna the next day, and both seem very nice, but very quiet. I wasn't exactly looking for "Sex in the City," but maybe a little bit "Friends," especially because I don't really know anyone here, so I was sort of disappointed they weren't more social. The house is beautiful, really nice hardwood floors, great location 10 minutes walk from work, but I'm keeping my eyes open for something maybe a little more...youthful, and a little cheaper. We'll see. I have a month to decide, which is nice.
Yesterday I went into D.C. to check out the actual Bill of Rights in my first bit of brown-nosing for the new job. Also, I stopped by the National Air and Space Museum because, as I always say, "Space is cool." This weekend is the dedication of the WWII memorial, so downtown was packed. Some say, "terrorist threat!" I say, "they were handing out free water bottles!" It was pretty happening, all the veterans and tourists milling around. In spite of being the middle of the capital of one of the biggest, most powerful countries in the world, you put people on folding chairs or under big striped tents and you're right back in N. Michigan at the 4-H show. I think that there is a certain American spirit that exists just in the way that we interact with each other, and it was fun to see. Not always pushing or consuming or anything, just chatting and being...American. Sort of down-homey. It's interesting, because it's distinctive. I never noticed that same atmosphere when I was in England or Australia at fairs or markets there; it was very different. And back to the Bill of Rights, I discovered that what we know as the first ten amendments are actually the third through the twelfth of the amendments that were proposed, but one and two weren't ratified at the same time as the others. (Two was only added in 1996!) So how about that? I guess that you DO keep learning after you graduate.
Also, I would like to note that nature has it out for me. In addition to being followed about by a little cloud like a character from Peanuts or something (it's always raining on me!), I keep getting hit by cicadias (yuck yuck yuck) and yesterday two birds actually fell out of a tree and landed on me (seriously!). Anyway, I know that things like this happen to Liz Ross all the time, but not usually to me, so it's been something out of the ordinary, being on Mother Nature's hit list.