The Long One
And here it goes (it might get long, just a forewarn):
So being in DC/Virginia is interesting.
At first it wasn't though.
So that's where I'm gonna start my recap - At first everything was really overwhelming.
Like I legitimately freaked out and ended up crying in a private phone booth for about twenty minutes on my first day of work.
It wasn't about the people, because they were really friendly.
I think it was just that I was starting this whole new phase in my life - the real life phase - when none of my other friends were doing it.
I have serious responsibilities.
Like I have an apartment I have to pay rent on, groceries I have to buy, meals to make myself, transportation I have to figure out, and a job I have to go to - and a completely new and unfamiliar city to do it in.
That's pretty crazy for any person to be suddenly thrown into - especially a 20 year old.
And I was doing it alone.
It wasn't like I could just call up one of my friends and we could figure out stuff together because we're both going through it cause there isn't anyone like that.
I'm it.
I'm living on my own in a foreign city.
Sometimes I wonder how I got this independent.
And then I remember Manchester.
But seriously, this entry has nothing to do with that place so forget I wrote it.
Anyway, then my boss (who works in NYC but came down to DC to start me off the first day) brought me into this meeting about things I had no clue about and was asking me to do certain projects pertaining to these things that were completely unknown to me.
Thankfully she talked to me the next day when she was in the airport and told me she didn't mean to be so overwhelming.
It was just that since she wasn't gonna be there, she wanted to make sure I had projects to keep me busy for awhile.
So that definitely comforted me on Friday.
But during the weekend I got wicked lonely.
See, my roommate is awesome and extremely nice, but we have complete opposite schedules.
When I'm getting up for work, she's still sleeping and when I get back at night, she has just left and when she finally gets back I've already headed off to bed.
Up until last Friday I hadn't seen her since the past Sunday.
That's crazy!
I live with the person, you know?
It's just weird.
So yeah - I just really wanted to see a friend.
Which is why I called up one of my sorority sisters, Chelsea, who lives in Williamsburg and asked if I could go see her this past weekend.
And she was happy to have me and so was her family and it was awesome to have someone to hang out with.
I wasn't aware of how colonial the area was (I mean, I guess I was but I wasn't thinking about it in those terms) and I ended getting quite a history lesson out of the whole trip.
I saw battlefields and old governor's palaces and the first settlement in America - Jamestown.
Hey, I thought it was pretty cool.
And I got to go to Virginia Beach (where I haven't been since I was 8 months old so it's suffice to say it was basically my first time there) during their Harbor-fest and saw the fireworks.
It was pretty great and I really needed that to just get back on my feet again.
But now things seem more settled - except for the fact that I have my first conference call tomorrow which I'm pretty much terrified about - and I'm starting to meet people and I'm getting the hang of this place.
I do miss NYC though.
DC's no NYC, that's for sure.
Which brings me to this - Things I've noticed about DC that differ from NYC:
1) The subway is cleaner, faster, more comfortable, and more reliable than NYC's.
2) People are more attractive here (but I think that's got a lot more to do with all of the government officials and politicians located here than anything else)
3) All of the touristy sites are in one area. Which is right near my office. Which is convenient during my one hour lunch breaks. Like, I've already walked passed the White House, the Treasury Department, the EPA, the George Washington Monument, the Smithsonians, the FBI, Ford's Theater, and the Capitol. All that's really left is the Lincoln Memorial and the Potomac River. Which is pretty crazy when you think about it seeing as I've only been working for about two weeks. I have discovered, however, that I really love the Lafayette Park that located across from the White House so I believe that's where I'll mostly be spending my lunch breaks.
Last Monday was rather significant so I'll write about that too - Ralph Nader came in to talk to the office (apparently this is a reasonably common occurrence so nobody seemed that overly excited about it) and then later in the afternoon we were all invited to this talk a few blocks away to discuss Uganda in which Ryan Gosling spoke. Again - crazy, right??
Oh, and this might be noteworthy - Last week there was a guy playing "Let it Snow" on some kind of homemade instrument on 13th Street in DC.
It was June 7th.
That's hilarious.
Alright. I guess this is long enough.
I'll update more when there's more going-ons (which should be next week according to my daily Greenpeace Intern newsletter).
Signing off in Virginia.
Oh - I forgot to add this:
On my first day at work, my orientation leader told me that there were over 800 applicants for the Summer Intern Program and only 13 were chosen and I was one of them so their expectations for me were very high.
Right.
Like that's not supposed to freak me out.
At all.
{Cue the freak out in the phone booth here}
Now that's really it.
"Your on your way
No looking back
There's no future living in the past
You're free at last"
P.S. TWO WEEKS FROM TOMORROW I GO BACK TO NYC!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm excited.
Can you tell?
:)
So being in DC/Virginia is interesting.
At first it wasn't though.
So that's where I'm gonna start my recap - At first everything was really overwhelming.
Like I legitimately freaked out and ended up crying in a private phone booth for about twenty minutes on my first day of work.
It wasn't about the people, because they were really friendly.
I think it was just that I was starting this whole new phase in my life - the real life phase - when none of my other friends were doing it.
I have serious responsibilities.
Like I have an apartment I have to pay rent on, groceries I have to buy, meals to make myself, transportation I have to figure out, and a job I have to go to - and a completely new and unfamiliar city to do it in.
That's pretty crazy for any person to be suddenly thrown into - especially a 20 year old.
And I was doing it alone.
It wasn't like I could just call up one of my friends and we could figure out stuff together because we're both going through it cause there isn't anyone like that.
I'm it.
I'm living on my own in a foreign city.
Sometimes I wonder how I got this independent.
And then I remember Manchester.
But seriously, this entry has nothing to do with that place so forget I wrote it.
Anyway, then my boss (who works in NYC but came down to DC to start me off the first day) brought me into this meeting about things I had no clue about and was asking me to do certain projects pertaining to these things that were completely unknown to me.
Thankfully she talked to me the next day when she was in the airport and told me she didn't mean to be so overwhelming.
It was just that since she wasn't gonna be there, she wanted to make sure I had projects to keep me busy for awhile.
So that definitely comforted me on Friday.
But during the weekend I got wicked lonely.
See, my roommate is awesome and extremely nice, but we have complete opposite schedules.
When I'm getting up for work, she's still sleeping and when I get back at night, she has just left and when she finally gets back I've already headed off to bed.
Up until last Friday I hadn't seen her since the past Sunday.
That's crazy!
I live with the person, you know?
It's just weird.
So yeah - I just really wanted to see a friend.
Which is why I called up one of my sorority sisters, Chelsea, who lives in Williamsburg and asked if I could go see her this past weekend.
And she was happy to have me and so was her family and it was awesome to have someone to hang out with.
I wasn't aware of how colonial the area was (I mean, I guess I was but I wasn't thinking about it in those terms) and I ended getting quite a history lesson out of the whole trip.
I saw battlefields and old governor's palaces and the first settlement in America - Jamestown.
Hey, I thought it was pretty cool.
And I got to go to Virginia Beach (where I haven't been since I was 8 months old so it's suffice to say it was basically my first time there) during their Harbor-fest and saw the fireworks.
It was pretty great and I really needed that to just get back on my feet again.
But now things seem more settled - except for the fact that I have my first conference call tomorrow which I'm pretty much terrified about - and I'm starting to meet people and I'm getting the hang of this place.
I do miss NYC though.
DC's no NYC, that's for sure.
Which brings me to this - Things I've noticed about DC that differ from NYC:
1) The subway is cleaner, faster, more comfortable, and more reliable than NYC's.
2) People are more attractive here (but I think that's got a lot more to do with all of the government officials and politicians located here than anything else)
3) All of the touristy sites are in one area. Which is right near my office. Which is convenient during my one hour lunch breaks. Like, I've already walked passed the White House, the Treasury Department, the EPA, the George Washington Monument, the Smithsonians, the FBI, Ford's Theater, and the Capitol. All that's really left is the Lincoln Memorial and the Potomac River. Which is pretty crazy when you think about it seeing as I've only been working for about two weeks. I have discovered, however, that I really love the Lafayette Park that located across from the White House so I believe that's where I'll mostly be spending my lunch breaks.
Last Monday was rather significant so I'll write about that too - Ralph Nader came in to talk to the office (apparently this is a reasonably common occurrence so nobody seemed that overly excited about it) and then later in the afternoon we were all invited to this talk a few blocks away to discuss Uganda in which Ryan Gosling spoke. Again - crazy, right??
Oh, and this might be noteworthy - Last week there was a guy playing "Let it Snow" on some kind of homemade instrument on 13th Street in DC.
It was June 7th.
That's hilarious.
Alright. I guess this is long enough.
I'll update more when there's more going-ons (which should be next week according to my daily Greenpeace Intern newsletter).
Signing off in Virginia.
Oh - I forgot to add this:
On my first day at work, my orientation leader told me that there were over 800 applicants for the Summer Intern Program and only 13 were chosen and I was one of them so their expectations for me were very high.
Right.
Like that's not supposed to freak me out.
At all.
{Cue the freak out in the phone booth here}
Now that's really it.
"Your on your way
No looking back
There's no future living in the past
You're free at last"
P.S. TWO WEEKS FROM TOMORROW I GO BACK TO NYC!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm excited.
Can you tell?
:)