Well, I have survived my test, which I had Monday night. I have no clue when I'll get my grade, but I feel I did pretty well. I ended up hand-writing 6 pages...man did my hand hurt afterwords!
I've decided to chronicle a few odd things and funny anecdotes that I've seen since coming to DC. Enjoy!
1. Pigeons will hit you in the face. So you best duck out of their way, because they won't move out of yours. That wasn't a pleasant experience.
2. People are typically somewhat friendly on the bus.
3. Someone will always smell on public transportation. You just get used to it.
4. Don't tell a longtime DC resident that you can't parallel park. They will laugh and think you are joking.
5. The city of DC is a sissy when it comes to weather. If it's not beautiful and sunny out, expect a much longer bus ride. Even if it's just raining.
6. Drivers like to use their horns.
7. 911 vehicles do not seem to have courtesy hours. They will blare at all times of the night.
8. Bikers are brave.
9. Grocery shopping is not fun when you have to carry it back to your apartment. And you don't realize how much you have purchased until you're halfway home.
10. You cannot get tired of seeing the Capitol, the White House, the Washington Monument, or any other monuments while riding around the city.
11. Parking prices are insane. As such, people who own cars are insane. ;)
12. Tourists stick out like a sore thumb, even those who are trying to blend in. How? They are the only ones wearing jeans in DC because everyone who lives here dresses nicely, even on weekends.
13. Don't breathe too deeply. Random sewer smells frequently overtake you as you walk along the sidewalk.
14. Drivers are pretty courteous to pedestrians. But if you do cross at the wrong time, expect to get honked at.
15. Nobody says pop (for soda) here. Weirdos.
16. Nobody who lives in DC grew up here. Everyone who lives/works here has moved from somewhere else.
17. The Metro runs above ground in some areas. FYI. It feels odd when you come above ground though.
18. The National Mall is HUGE. You do not realize this until you start to walk it, then reality sets in. :)
19. The sidewalks here are well equipped to make one fall. Fall count-4 times.
20. The weather here is freakishly warm. It was a high of 78 today!
If I think of any others, I'll post them in another post.
Jen
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The National Zoo
In lieu of studying for a test, I shall post again!
Yesterday I went to the National Zoo. The great thing about Washington DC is that many attractions are free, including the Zoo. Great for a poor college student's budget! :)
All three of my roommates had visitors this weekend (sigh....nobody visits me) and they all had plans to do stuff with their friends. So I decided I would visit the Zoo by myself. It was actually pretty nice. The weather was beautiful, and I went early on in the day, so not a whole lot of people were there. I saw Giant Pandas, Lions, Fishing Cats (they dive into water), crazy apes, tigers, bears...oh my! ;)
The only problem was...the Zoo is built on a hill. Now, I did not initially realize this. Since they are doing construction on parts of the Zoo, some of the paths were closed off. So I walked all the way from one side of the Zoo to another, then realized I had to walk back the way I came...all 8/10 of a mile. Then I realized I was at the bottom of a HUGE hill. So I trudged up the hill and grabbed some lunch and rode the Metro back to my apartment, where I promptly took a nap. I was exhausted!
To get to the Zoo, the Metro stop is the Woodly Park/Zoo stop, which hosts the 3rd longest continuous escalator in DC, which is 204 feet long. It's a long ride. Oddly enough, that station uses THREE escalators to get you to the surface-it's really deep. Actually, DC hosts the longest escalator in the Western Hemisphere, at the Wheaton Station. And yes, I plan to visit that station at some point. If you are ever on a game show and that question is asked, you owe me dinner or something. :D
Jen
Yesterday I went to the National Zoo. The great thing about Washington DC is that many attractions are free, including the Zoo. Great for a poor college student's budget! :)
All three of my roommates had visitors this weekend (sigh....nobody visits me) and they all had plans to do stuff with their friends. So I decided I would visit the Zoo by myself. It was actually pretty nice. The weather was beautiful, and I went early on in the day, so not a whole lot of people were there. I saw Giant Pandas, Lions, Fishing Cats (they dive into water), crazy apes, tigers, bears...oh my! ;)
The only problem was...the Zoo is built on a hill. Now, I did not initially realize this. Since they are doing construction on parts of the Zoo, some of the paths were closed off. So I walked all the way from one side of the Zoo to another, then realized I had to walk back the way I came...all 8/10 of a mile. Then I realized I was at the bottom of a HUGE hill. So I trudged up the hill and grabbed some lunch and rode the Metro back to my apartment, where I promptly took a nap. I was exhausted!
To get to the Zoo, the Metro stop is the Woodly Park/Zoo stop, which hosts the 3rd longest continuous escalator in DC, which is 204 feet long. It's a long ride. Oddly enough, that station uses THREE escalators to get you to the surface-it's really deep. Actually, DC hosts the longest escalator in the Western Hemisphere, at the Wheaton Station. And yes, I plan to visit that station at some point. If you are ever on a game show and that question is asked, you owe me dinner or something. :D
Jen
Another week, another conference
Work this past week has been odd. Since the Ecology and Education Summit is now over, I am finally remembering that there are times at work when you aren't frantically running around trying to finish tasks! Things have calmed down a bit, be we are still busy. Why, you may ask? Well in 2 weeks we have a workshop for college students-a 4 day event. Aka my first weekend in November will not exist.
Since the workshop is fast approaching, and I am the main intern in charge for this workshop, my focus immediately changed from Summit to NEON Workshop on Tuesday when I got to work. All those tasks we pushed aside for the Summit caught up to me, and I spent most of the week catching up. Still, much less busy and stressful than pre-Summit era. :D
On Thursday a few of us ESA people went to ANOTHER education conference, which related more directly to Climate Change. The Climate Change Education Workshop was held at the US Department of Commerce. If you are thinking about doing a conference in DC, I wouldn't recommend the Dept of Commerce. The security was insane-full DC federal security: official photo ID, x-ray bag search, metal detector, and even only allow 1 person in the entryway at a time. It was a bit inconvenient as a lot of people came (100 ish?). But the conference was interesting. I was VERY likely the only college student there, and Meghan (the other ESA intern) was likely the only grad student there. Everyone else appeared to be employees at various education/environmental agencies. A lot of the things we talked about were discussed at our EE Summit the week before, and some of the speakers were the same. But it was interesting to hear things from a different viewpoint, and nice to not be an employee (less stressful!) at the conference! ;)
Jen
Since the workshop is fast approaching, and I am the main intern in charge for this workshop, my focus immediately changed from Summit to NEON Workshop on Tuesday when I got to work. All those tasks we pushed aside for the Summit caught up to me, and I spent most of the week catching up. Still, much less busy and stressful than pre-Summit era. :D
On Thursday a few of us ESA people went to ANOTHER education conference, which related more directly to Climate Change. The Climate Change Education Workshop was held at the US Department of Commerce. If you are thinking about doing a conference in DC, I wouldn't recommend the Dept of Commerce. The security was insane-full DC federal security: official photo ID, x-ray bag search, metal detector, and even only allow 1 person in the entryway at a time. It was a bit inconvenient as a lot of people came (100 ish?). But the conference was interesting. I was VERY likely the only college student there, and Meghan (the other ESA intern) was likely the only grad student there. Everyone else appeared to be employees at various education/environmental agencies. A lot of the things we talked about were discussed at our EE Summit the week before, and some of the speakers were the same. But it was interesting to hear things from a different viewpoint, and nice to not be an employee (less stressful!) at the conference! ;)
Jen
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Ecology and Education Summit
The past few weeks have been pretty busy, thus the absence of posts. I shall try to make up for it now! :)
The work I've been doing at my internship has nearly all been related to the Ecology and Education Summit that the ESA was organizing. Well, last week the Summit took place! Wow! Talk about a busy weekend!
It started with me arriving at the National Education Association building at 7am on Thursday the 14th. We were planning on opening registration at 7:30am, since we had over 200 registered participants. However, lots of people showed up early! We had barely started setting up registration when I turned around and there was a line. The whole Thursday I wasn't able to listen to any of the speakers and panels because the other intern (Meghan) and I were busy solving small crises. Little logistical errors that were bound to happen. And sorting out registration, as some people thought they had registered and hadn't, or registered twice, or showed up to register on-site, which we weren't doing. Needless to say, it was an insane day!
Friday I got to show up a bit later-at 7:30am. :) Friday was still busy and crazy, but I was able to participate in the Summit and bit, which was nice. I learned a lot and was able to share a lot too! It was exciting that people looked at Meghan and I like equals, not just interns or students. They valued our ideas and made sure we were heard. It was a great group of people!
Then Saturday I didn't have to be at the NEA until 8:30am, which was nice. By this point I was utterly exhausted, but Saturday was an amazing day! The Summit had ended, and only about 60 people were invited to participate in the Saturday Action Plan workshop. It was neat because Meghan and I were basically just participants at this point, and we didn't have to worry about anything but participating in the Summit. We spent the day discussing ways to improve environmental literacy in the US, and I was actually one of the 2 people working on a legislative action template/plan. I, along with a small group of people, will develop a template for communities to create legislative changes in their communities, states, and even federally. Pretty cool! I'm super excited to work on this project!
Overall the Summit was a great experience, and it was awesome to see the results of my hard labor come to reality, and go off with only a few minor problems. And I learned a TON in the 2 days I was able to participate!
Jen
The work I've been doing at my internship has nearly all been related to the Ecology and Education Summit that the ESA was organizing. Well, last week the Summit took place! Wow! Talk about a busy weekend!
It started with me arriving at the National Education Association building at 7am on Thursday the 14th. We were planning on opening registration at 7:30am, since we had over 200 registered participants. However, lots of people showed up early! We had barely started setting up registration when I turned around and there was a line. The whole Thursday I wasn't able to listen to any of the speakers and panels because the other intern (Meghan) and I were busy solving small crises. Little logistical errors that were bound to happen. And sorting out registration, as some people thought they had registered and hadn't, or registered twice, or showed up to register on-site, which we weren't doing. Needless to say, it was an insane day!
Friday I got to show up a bit later-at 7:30am. :) Friday was still busy and crazy, but I was able to participate in the Summit and bit, which was nice. I learned a lot and was able to share a lot too! It was exciting that people looked at Meghan and I like equals, not just interns or students. They valued our ideas and made sure we were heard. It was a great group of people!
Then Saturday I didn't have to be at the NEA until 8:30am, which was nice. By this point I was utterly exhausted, but Saturday was an amazing day! The Summit had ended, and only about 60 people were invited to participate in the Saturday Action Plan workshop. It was neat because Meghan and I were basically just participants at this point, and we didn't have to worry about anything but participating in the Summit. We spent the day discussing ways to improve environmental literacy in the US, and I was actually one of the 2 people working on a legislative action template/plan. I, along with a small group of people, will develop a template for communities to create legislative changes in their communities, states, and even federally. Pretty cool! I'm super excited to work on this project!
Overall the Summit was a great experience, and it was awesome to see the results of my hard labor come to reality, and go off with only a few minor problems. And I learned a TON in the 2 days I was able to participate!
Jen
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Meeting El Presidente and Volunteering
Did I trick you with this title? :) No, I didn't meet President Obama this week, but I did meet former Presidente de Mexico Vicente Fox!! I love DC, did I mention that?
Through TWC this week I had the chance to meet the former President of Mexico Vicente Fox, who served from 2000 to 20006 (Mexico has 6 year terms). It was pretty neat! He came to TWC and the students from Mexico plus a few others were invited to come. Being in the Ford Global Scholars Program means that I got an offer to go! And of course I responded quickly and managed to secure a spot. President Fox spoke about his program in Mexico, the importance of education, and about leadership. It was really neat, and although her apologized for his poor English, it was nearly impeccable! And we gathered for a picture and afterwords I managed to shake his hand. He didn't stay long, but it was a neat experience!
On another note, I completed stage 1 of my civic engagement project which is a requirement of TWC. My roommate Karlijn and I went to a place called Prevention Works DC, which works with HIV/AIDS prevention/treatment and aids drug uses by providing clean equipment and detox/rehab if they want to go. It's proven that programs like this have a very positive impact on the community of drug uses because it gives them the support they need. I helped to make wound care kits, which they distribute free to people suffering from drug-related wounds. It also had cookers and filter for them to use with their drugs. Kind of odd work for me to get involved in, but it's proven that these programs reduce the rates of drug use. It provides users the opportunity to get help if they want it. Or at least provides them safe equipment so they can be healthier. The rate of HIV infection is 1 in 20 people in DC, which is crazy high! Thus I thought it would be interesting to be involved in an HIV related project since the problem is so serious here.
Now I must write my paper for Model UN. Ugh...good thing it's half done!
Through TWC this week I had the chance to meet the former President of Mexico Vicente Fox, who served from 2000 to 20006 (Mexico has 6 year terms). It was pretty neat! He came to TWC and the students from Mexico plus a few others were invited to come. Being in the Ford Global Scholars Program means that I got an offer to go! And of course I responded quickly and managed to secure a spot. President Fox spoke about his program in Mexico, the importance of education, and about leadership. It was really neat, and although her apologized for his poor English, it was nearly impeccable! And we gathered for a picture and afterwords I managed to shake his hand. He didn't stay long, but it was a neat experience!
On another note, I completed stage 1 of my civic engagement project which is a requirement of TWC. My roommate Karlijn and I went to a place called Prevention Works DC, which works with HIV/AIDS prevention/treatment and aids drug uses by providing clean equipment and detox/rehab if they want to go. It's proven that programs like this have a very positive impact on the community of drug uses because it gives them the support they need. I helped to make wound care kits, which they distribute free to people suffering from drug-related wounds. It also had cookers and filter for them to use with their drugs. Kind of odd work for me to get involved in, but it's proven that these programs reduce the rates of drug use. It provides users the opportunity to get help if they want it. Or at least provides them safe equipment so they can be healthier. The rate of HIV infection is 1 in 20 people in DC, which is crazy high! Thus I thought it would be interesting to be involved in an HIV related project since the problem is so serious here.
Now I must write my paper for Model UN. Ugh...good thing it's half done!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
TWC Gala
On Monday evening was The Washington Center Gala, which is a really nice (black tie optional) fundraising event that TWC has held for years. I was lucky enough to be invited, and it was an amazing experience! There were over 400 people there, many of them long time donors to TWC, including the Ford Motor Company, who funded my scholarships. :) I actually was able to sit at the Ford table, right at the front, with a few of my other Ford Fellows. I was seated next to an incredibly nice lady, and we had a great time chatting during the dinner. Surprisingly, I didn't feel out of place at all! This small-town Iowa girl felt right at home among some of Washington's powerful people!
The Gala was held at the National Building Museum, which is an enormous building near the Capitol. The decor was stunning-TWC went all out! I was told by one of the ladies I talked to during the cocktail hour that only the most prestigious and important events in Washington are able to be held there. Naturally, I felt honored to be there.
It was kind of a late night for a Monday, as we didn't leave until after 10pm. As we were leaving, we were told to take one of the vases of flowers. Let me tell you, if you carry a large vase of beautiful white flowers through the Metro at 10:30...you get a lot of odd looks. :)
Pictures are coming soon!
Oh! I nearly forgot! As part of the Ford Fellows program, we were asked to attend a luncheon with a few Ford executives on Monday, before Gala. We went to a great Italian restaurant downtown, and were served an incredible lunch. I happened to sit in the right seat and sat next to Ziad Ojakli, who is a Group Vice President at Ford! So I was able to talk with him for quite awhile and it was pretty neat.
Monday was a great day overall. 2 three course meals...which both were amazing! And I was able to meet some really nice, amazing people. I love DC.
-Jen
The Gala was held at the National Building Museum, which is an enormous building near the Capitol. The decor was stunning-TWC went all out! I was told by one of the ladies I talked to during the cocktail hour that only the most prestigious and important events in Washington are able to be held there. Naturally, I felt honored to be there.
It was kind of a late night for a Monday, as we didn't leave until after 10pm. As we were leaving, we were told to take one of the vases of flowers. Let me tell you, if you carry a large vase of beautiful white flowers through the Metro at 10:30...you get a lot of odd looks. :)
Pictures are coming soon!
Oh! I nearly forgot! As part of the Ford Fellows program, we were asked to attend a luncheon with a few Ford executives on Monday, before Gala. We went to a great Italian restaurant downtown, and were served an incredible lunch. I happened to sit in the right seat and sat next to Ziad Ojakli, who is a Group Vice President at Ford! So I was able to talk with him for quite awhile and it was pretty neat.
Monday was a great day overall. 2 three course meals...which both were amazing! And I was able to meet some really nice, amazing people. I love DC.
-Jen
Saturday, October 2, 2010
National Mall and Pentagon City
Karlijn and I headed down to the National Mall today to check out a Chinese Culture Festival, which sounded really great. It was actually a bit lame. They had some really good Chinese dancers, but we expected to see some booths and eat really good Chinese food. There were only a few vendors, and some of them weren't even making the food on site. I wanted some Chinese dumplings, but they only had noodles and such. So we decided to walk down the Mall and head over to Pentagon City Mall so I could get a clutch purse to take to Gala.
As we headed down the Mall, we saw other small demonstrations, hard core kickball games, lots of tourists wandering around, and the "One Nation Working Together" rally. It was huge! There were TONS of people at this rally, and it hadn't even started much. They changed the directions of the Smithsonian Metro escalators so they were only heading up, so we had to walk a block to find the other. Crazy! The Metro was SOOOOO full of people coming to the rally. I've never seen anything like it! It was busier than rush hour traffic on Monday morning!
Karlijn and I grabbed some food at the Pentagon City Mall and shopped around. There are some super expensive shops there (who pays $250 for a shirt?!) but I found a really cute clutch for $12. Success! Now I'm all set for Gala and only had to spend $12 on the ensemble...which is pretty great for any girl! Luckily I already had the dress, shoes, and jewelry, which I brought with me "just in case" I had a reason to use it. I'm glad I do!
-Jen
As we headed down the Mall, we saw other small demonstrations, hard core kickball games, lots of tourists wandering around, and the "One Nation Working Together" rally. It was huge! There were TONS of people at this rally, and it hadn't even started much. They changed the directions of the Smithsonian Metro escalators so they were only heading up, so we had to walk a block to find the other. Crazy! The Metro was SOOOOO full of people coming to the rally. I've never seen anything like it! It was busier than rush hour traffic on Monday morning!
Karlijn and I grabbed some food at the Pentagon City Mall and shopped around. There are some super expensive shops there (who pays $250 for a shirt?!) but I found a really cute clutch for $12. Success! Now I'm all set for Gala and only had to spend $12 on the ensemble...which is pretty great for any girl! Luckily I already had the dress, shoes, and jewelry, which I brought with me "just in case" I had a reason to use it. I'm glad I do!
-Jen
Friday, October 1, 2010
A Week in a Post
This week has been pretty busy at work, and has truly flown by! My supervisor was gone Wed, Thurs, and Fri, and we are in the midst of preparing for the Summit coming in less than 2 weeks. Eek! So I've been contacting people left and right, getting bios, logos, hotel confirmations, etc. And we are starting to prepare in earnest for the college workshop in November, so the past day or so I've been contacting students and helping them to arrange flights, among answering all their questions. All of this with my supervisor in California! With the time difference and her schedule, if I had questions I had to be resourceful or wait! :) But over all, it's been a successful week, although I am TIRED!
On Monday we had Career Boot Camp. Sounds impressive-not. They had a speaker (who was so-so) and then we went to 2 sessions. I went to one on Peace Corps (which I'm strongly thinking of doing) and one on making a profit in non-profit. I actually scheduled an informational interview with the guy who did the non-profit one. That means I'll go and talk with him about his job, and how he got their, and more about the company. Just a bit of networking and finding out more about an organization. I'm excited!
The bus rides are always interesting...the benefit of being on the bus versus the Metro is that I can see what's going on. And I like to people watch. I've got the route pretty well memorized now, so I just have to glance up every now and them if I am reading. Or if the police are doing a drug bust in the park on the side of the street. Sirens are noisy, and so are motorcades! There are a TON of noisy, fast motorcades in DC. And it's always fun to see how a person reacts when you sit in the empty seat next to them. A common occurrence in DC, but it's interesting how many people don't like it. Some people don't pay you any attention, some just gather their stuff up when it's sprawled over the seat, some act surprise when you ask them to move their stuff, and some are overly polite and try to make sure nothing of theirs touches you at any point. And some remain asleep.
We've had some interesting weather this week. Well, interesting tropical storm remnants! Thursday was super rainy, and today was crazy windy and chilly. I had to go to a meeting at the Washington Center today (free pizza-yay!) and I was nearly blown over a few times. But it was nice to get out and see what the streets are like during the lunch time period. I don't go out for lunch, as I pack my own, and people are much nicer during lunch than they are in the morning!
I will get to attend the TWC Gala on Monday. This is a pretty big deal, and I'm excited about it! Only 30 students (out of 450ish) are invited, and we'll get to talk to and network with a lot of important people. It's black tie optional, but everyone will be wearing some fancy duds. I have a nice black dress I brought with me that I'm going to wear, along with my (fake) pearl necklace. I'm excited for the chance to use my networking and dining etiquette skills that I've learned the past few years. Don't get me wrong, it's a bit stressful too. The Gala is a fundraising event, so us students are there partially to talk with the donors and show them how beneficial the program is. However, it's also a chance for me to make some important contacts. We do also have to help seat people and other such tasks, but hey, it's an amazing opportunity!
I've thought of many things this week that I should blog about, but lo and behold I have forgotten them. I shall have to write them down in the future...
-Jen
On Monday we had Career Boot Camp. Sounds impressive-not. They had a speaker (who was so-so) and then we went to 2 sessions. I went to one on Peace Corps (which I'm strongly thinking of doing) and one on making a profit in non-profit. I actually scheduled an informational interview with the guy who did the non-profit one. That means I'll go and talk with him about his job, and how he got their, and more about the company. Just a bit of networking and finding out more about an organization. I'm excited!
The bus rides are always interesting...the benefit of being on the bus versus the Metro is that I can see what's going on. And I like to people watch. I've got the route pretty well memorized now, so I just have to glance up every now and them if I am reading. Or if the police are doing a drug bust in the park on the side of the street. Sirens are noisy, and so are motorcades! There are a TON of noisy, fast motorcades in DC. And it's always fun to see how a person reacts when you sit in the empty seat next to them. A common occurrence in DC, but it's interesting how many people don't like it. Some people don't pay you any attention, some just gather their stuff up when it's sprawled over the seat, some act surprise when you ask them to move their stuff, and some are overly polite and try to make sure nothing of theirs touches you at any point. And some remain asleep.
We've had some interesting weather this week. Well, interesting tropical storm remnants! Thursday was super rainy, and today was crazy windy and chilly. I had to go to a meeting at the Washington Center today (free pizza-yay!) and I was nearly blown over a few times. But it was nice to get out and see what the streets are like during the lunch time period. I don't go out for lunch, as I pack my own, and people are much nicer during lunch than they are in the morning!
I will get to attend the TWC Gala on Monday. This is a pretty big deal, and I'm excited about it! Only 30 students (out of 450ish) are invited, and we'll get to talk to and network with a lot of important people. It's black tie optional, but everyone will be wearing some fancy duds. I have a nice black dress I brought with me that I'm going to wear, along with my (fake) pearl necklace. I'm excited for the chance to use my networking and dining etiquette skills that I've learned the past few years. Don't get me wrong, it's a bit stressful too. The Gala is a fundraising event, so us students are there partially to talk with the donors and show them how beneficial the program is. However, it's also a chance for me to make some important contacts. We do also have to help seat people and other such tasks, but hey, it's an amazing opportunity!
I've thought of many things this week that I should blog about, but lo and behold I have forgotten them. I shall have to write them down in the future...
-Jen
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