Two Weeks....

left of my short DC life. Ah! Yesterday after work my roommate Meri and I rode our bikes down around the monuments and tidal basin, then back up to Georgetown where we stopped at an Argentinian Cafe for Espresso and Gellato, then we changed and walked out to a nearby bar for a couple beers. Talk about your action packed DC evening. There's so much to do in DC that I'm going to miss, I need to squeeze everything in to the next two weeks!

Announcement: Next Big Adventure!

At some point in the last months the adventures of me turned into something not so adventurous and more sedintary and my brain became filled with less witty observations and insightful commentaries and more whining about how boring it is to sit in a cubicle and push paper all day. And thus the blogging tapered off into nothingness. This development, among other factors, was an indication to me that my life was due for a new twist. Luckily for you I am not the type sit around and wait for things to happen. SO- In January I submitted the online portion of the Teach for America application... Three months and a few interviews later I've accepted a position as a Secondary English Teacher in South Dakota on the Pine Ridge or Rosebud Indian Reservation beginning fall 2007. :-D

A few other fun things happened in those months, a successful Holiday House Party on T Street, Christmas at home, a fun trip to Boston and a buisness trip to Kalamazoo (Yes! There really is a Kalamazoo), many more nights out in Georgetown, a visit to my Senators' offices on Capitol Hill, and more recently finally getting around to some DC touristy things (See pictures in Flickr account over there --->). But the long and short of it is that even though I work for a great organization, really like my coworkers, and fully believe in our mission and values, big city 9-5 office life just is just not my thing, at least not right now. I may one day return to work in an office for an organization I care about, but hopefully it won't be until I'm actually high up enough to have an office-- cubicles are just not good for anyone.

In the mean time-- Westward Ho!! I'm ready for some Wide Open Spaces :)

The time line looks something like this:
April- mid May:
Continue plugging along in my cubicle
Take Praxis II teachers test
Read massive quantities of TfA pre-reading
Find someone to take my room, my job, and my bike
Pack all material possessions into my car
May 24th-ish: Drive to Minneapolis
May 26-June 1: NAFSA 2007 Annual Conference and Expo in Minneapolis MN - We need temps if you're interested!
June 3 - June 8: Drive to South Dakota for induction
June 8-10 ish: Drive to Houston
June 10- July 14: TfA Institute in Houston
July 14- Early August: Hang out at the lake in MN
Mid August: Move to South Dakota
Late August: Be a real teacher!



Further updates and reflections are coming soon. Renewed blogging activity is obviously a must, but right now I should be working! Ciao

Cute little guy, isn't he? I killed four of these minniature monsters this evening. blech. In case you're wondering, it's commonly called a camel or cave cricket. They are found in dark moist areas like caves or... you guessed it, basments! kinda like the one I live in. Lovely. Needless to say, my dehumidifyer is now going full blast- best purchase ever.

Apologies for my lack of blogging. It certainly hasn't been due to lack of excitement. Well, not excitement really, but there have been plenty of amusing anechdotes strait out of typically twenty-something "young professional" big city life. Like xerox mishaps and printer jams, answering phone calls meant for NASA or FAFSA (it's NAFSA!!!!!), a pizza party in my hotel room on my first ever buisness trip in Minneapolis, meeting wonderfully friendly layed back Pacific Northwestern international educators on my second ever buisness trip to Boise Idaho, the power going out on my birthday because no one thought to pay the electric bill, participating in a brain research study to make extra cash, dancing with a giant bannana and Tigger in a bar on Halloween and randomly running into someone from my high school class, mid-term political madness, a trip to Philly for freinds cheesesteaks and sight seeing, navigating the city on my bike, farmers markets, happy hours, and generally doing my best to be a responsible, independant, grown up or something like that.

It's been interesting. I'm learning a lot. About myself, my streangths, weaknesses (I should definitely avoid xerox machines in the future if possible), and interests, about DC, about professional associations, about international education, about life in general. I passed my three month mark at work a week ago. Hard to believe I've been here that long, but also hard to believe it hasn't been longer. I have to come up with some goals for myself for my slightly overdue three month review, perhaps I'll share them with you after I come up with them :) I do like goals as you may have noticed.

P.S. Listening to The Writers Almanac online is very soothing.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch!

Our House

at my mother's request I have finally taken a few pictures of my house and room. As you can see it's a bit difficult to take a picture of our house because there are lots of nice big old trees in front of it, but there you have it. Someday I'll take more pictures around DC. But next weekend I'll be in Minneapolis! woo! I'm excited :)

Oh, funny story, so my boss asked me to make a list of resturants and attraction downtown around our hotel. So I went to the hotel website and filled out the online "contact us" form to ask if they had a list. And the next day I get an e-mail back from none other than Amanda!!! We're staying at the hotel she works ah. HA! too funny.

I'm being dorky and staying in to read tonight because I have to finish this crazy book on Goddess Worship for our book club meeting next weekend. It's called "When God was a Woman"... it's a bit text book ish. I recently finished "The Time Traveler's Wife" which is GREAT. You should read it. And I started Zadie Smith's "On Beauty" and would really like to be reading that right now, but the ancient Goddess calls....

tschuess

Ra Ra for Richmond!

I can't believe how German I am sometimes... living there for so long affected me more than I thought. I bought a bike over the weekend and I can't even tell you how much I have complained (at least in my head) since then about the lack of bike-friendlyness in DC. Not only that but I find myself worried about rules and laws and feel distressed that there seem to be no laws about bikes. I'm sure there are, but no one knows or follows them. How can people bike without bike laws??? How can there not be a bike rack outside every building?? But riding a bike to work is fun, and a huge improvement over taking the bus, so I guess I'll relax about it. I would like to start a campaigne to make DC a more bike-friendly city. Someone out there get on that for me, would you?

Backpedaling a bit (haha, it's a bike joke!), I had a great weekend in Richmond. I drove down there Friday night and met Jackie and Emily at Jason's apartment. Saturday afternoon we went down to Carry Town and then to UR campus to wander around. It was weird but nice. I somehow forgot how incredibly beautiful it is. I guess you don't notice so much when you're living there, but it really is a perfect little bubble of prettyness. And they remodeled the science center AND the dining hall which blew me away, I'm a tiny bit jelouse. Overall it was nice to see it and made me happy that I went there and have so many fond memories, but I'm done with that part of my life and wouldn't want to go back now. It's a good feeling. What I miss most is my classes, but that just means I need to get my butt back in school soon, and I can manage that. Moving on, Saturday night some of Jason's friends from high school living in DC came down and we all went out for a very nice dinner at one of my favorite Richmond resturants. (The Hard Shell, in case you're interested) There was wine and bread and wine and crab legs and wine and key lime pie and a little more wine.... It all felt very posh and grown up. Richmond night life is kinda like that. After dinner we went out to a couple bars and then all went back to Jason's to continue the party..... a good time was had by all. Sunday I stopped at Target, bought a bike and a de-humidifier (oh the joys of living in a basement) and then spent half and hour with two high school aged target employees trying to fit it in my car, I finally had to buy a wrench to get the front wheel off and get it home. whew.

Now it's back to work for me. Work is getting a bit more interesting as I get involved with more projects. I'm very excited for the meeting I'm going to in Minneapolis in a few weeks because a)I finally get to meet some members and see some faces to go with all the names I'm e-mailing and it should be interesting and b) It's in Minneapolis which means it's a free trip home and I get to see everybody!! :)

York, PA

hmm, there's a new blogger. I'll have to play with that later. After 7 hours of sitting at a computer at work I'm not all that excited to log on when I get home, hence the not so frequent blogging. But here's a quick update on my life anyway. My weekend in York was really nice. It was great to see Caroline and be around a close friend who's known me longer than a few weeks. I'm hoping she's going to apply for the open position in my department.... we'll see! I didn't really see the tourist sights in York (there are some) but we did go shopping and I got to go to TWO family labaor day picnics and eat a lot a lot of picnic-y food. So it was nice and relaxing and good to be away from the city and all the stress of moving and whatnot.

This weekend promises to be a bit more on the wild side, at least that's what Jackie is hoping for. I was never really all that wild during the four years I lived in Richmond before, so I'm not sure if that will pan out... but we'll see. I could go for a let loose kinda weekend about now. This 9-5 cubical stuff is getting to me... it's a little scary that I'm actually starting to get used to it and I'm not sure if that's a good thing.

I saw Grant today! Here visiting his sister at George Mason, he invited everyone he knows in DC out to dinner, we had a two law students, two grad students and three young professionals. It's like I keep saying... DC is the place to be!

in fact it's so exciting here that I'm wiped out and may fall asleep right now before 10 pm. wooooo. it's a crazy life I lead. :)

Big City Life

No one has clicked on the link I put up in my last post so I'm guessing no one has sent a letter to their congressmen... how dissapointing. I know you're reading this, so do it!

In other news... life in DC is going well. The miserably unbearable humidy has finally given way to rain and cloudyness, which is a good thing in my book, it was gross before. I had a fun weekend. Friday I went to the National Gallery after work. I was still wearing my work shoes (I usually keep them at work and wear flip flops, but I forgot) so I was kind of distracted by the pain in my big toes and didn't thouroughly enjoy it. I did, however, enjoy the gift shop where I bought several prints for my room. I bought Matice's "Open Window" as it seemed apropriate because I have no windows in my basement room.

Saturday I met Shannon and Mike at the American History Museum where we wanted to see the Jim Hansen Muppet exihbit. It was not so much an exihbit as a couple small displays, but it was fun anyway. That night we went to a Leg-Warmers concert, they are an 80s cover band and it was GREAT. Everyone (including me) was decked out in full 80s gear and singing at the top of their lungs and pony stepping their hearts out. It was fun :) Who doesn't love the 80s (in a haha, glad we aren't actually in them anymore kind of way)? My camera was unfortunately out of batteries... sorry. I am going to take DC pictures soon, I promise.

Sunday I went to mass at the Georgetown University Chapel. It was move in weekend for freshmen, which I thought might make me feel nostalgic, but it mostly made me really really glad I don't ever have to go through that again!

Work is going well. I'm starting to feel kind of like I know what I'm doing, or at least sounding like I do when I'm on the phone. Which is good, because the girl training me who I work with most closely is actually being promoted and leaving our department in a couple weeks. Her position (which is the same as my position) is open by the way, if anyone is interested in a very cool (if not very well paid) job in DC working with me everyday. I'll have some say in picking the next person, so you have an in! This means that I'm going to be training the next person, which is pretty funny since I'll have been here for about a month and a half at that point.

It's an interesting place to be working. Yesturday I got to meet a couple of University administrators from Moldovia. It was kind of a depressing meeting, since we can't really help them make the connections with American Universities that they are hoping to make, and I'm not sure if they are going to find schools who want to set up a program in Moldovia. And they talked about how little money they have, and how strict the governement is. But they were really nice and I really wanted to help them. I also am very glad to be an American citizen.


This is long and babbleing. Obviously I'm missing having good friends around to talk to every day. BUT Shannon will HOPEFULLY be moving here very soon (pressing my thumbs!) and I'm going to York, PA this weekend to see Caroline!! YAY! And next weekend I'm going to Richmond to meet Jackie and Emily! yay! (and weird, to be going back to Richmond). More on those trips (and pictures) later. Ciao.

Working Girl

Hello! Here I am, still alive and well and living it up in DC and still loving my life. I now have two full weeks of work under my belt and it's going swimmingly. I like the organization a lot and my co-workers are really nice and fun. The work I do is not the most thrilling, lots of answering phone calls, filling in spread sheets, etc, but I at least feel like it's for a greater good and I'm interacting with my co-workers a lot of the time, so it's not too tedious. And I do get to work on some interesting, challenging projects, writing some promotional stuff and things like that, so it will be good. I will definitely be very busy and learn a lot.

My living situation is likewise amazing. It took no time at all for me to fall in love with Georgetown, it's just too cute and perfect and there are a million little independant shops and resturants around I can walk to, and then M street a little further down if I want the hottest shopping street in the city. I love that I can walk places. I do have some parking issues because I need to get DC plates and license before I can get a permit to park on the street and before I can get that I need proof of residency and this and that and the other thing, it's a long horribly process with lots of documents and paper work that rivals even German beaurocracy. But I'll get it done.

I finally got my bed that I purshased two weeks ago (there were some miscomunication issues with the delivery people) and funished my room with a great desk from goodwill and shelf and dresser from a garage sale. I deserve a pat on the back for my thriftyness. If I weren't so tired and lazy I would get out of bed and take pictures. I'll do that soon. I've gotten some housemate bonding time in this weekend and the girls I live with are very fun and nice. I went out with them Friday night. Night life in DC is nuts. There are sooooo many young people, it's like... I don't even know what it's like. Everyone is just a few years out of college, working in the city at some kind of amazing world changing job, happy, and single. Adams morgan is totally insane, when the last bar we were in closed we went out and the streets and sidewalks were completely full of people hailing cabs and stumbling home. I've already run into a couple UR people randomly around town, and I expect that will continue. DC is obviously the place to be.

Thus far I don't find the people here to be overwhelmingly obsessed with politics or TOO self important. Although there is kind of this sense in the city that it is the center of the world and just being there somehow makes you more important. Luckily the people I work with are very down to earth, my closest coworker is even from MN! And my housemates are also pretty normal and laid back. So maybe I just haven't met all those typically DC people yet. We did have a couple young guys knock on our door working on a grassroots campaign for the Democratic National Party. One of them had the longest beard I've ever seen on a probably college aged guy. We invited them in and gave them probably the smallest donation the DNP will ever get, but it was about the support. What a horrible job though, that's dedication. I'm sure the ten minutes they spent chatting with us in our house were the best and most encouraging of their night.

So, in conclusion, I love my life. Setbacks thus far have been relatively minor, and I feel like a totally independant and with-it adult type person. It's a little frightening, but in a good way. Other things are bound to go wrong, but I think I'll be able to handle it.

I hope you are all eaqually excited about life right now, or at least enjoying reading about mine :) I'll try to keep this updated with less general rambling and more interesting DC anecdotes in the future. Until then, Ciao.

Chapter One: A room of her own

I got a room!!! In Georgetown!!! I'm living in Georgetown and working three blocks from the White House. My life is like a cheesy chick book. Minnesota girl starts her first real job in the big city... living in a Georgetown row house with three other young girls she's never met and working in the city... You'll laugh and cry as she stuggles to pull off looking put together in buisness suits, trys to act hip exploring the bar scene, meets wacky new politically crazed friends, and even bumps into the President (literally!). This is a heartfelt novel that everyone who's ever tried to make it on their own will identify with.

Ok, maybe I took that a little too far, but you get my point :-P I should totally write book jacket blurbs, by the way.

Don't worry...

I will keep blogging, I know you are all on the edge of your seats after my last abbreviated post... and I'm not really going to fill you in completely right now. I'm exahsted. I drove 20 some odd hours in the last two days in my un-air conditioned car (in case you didn't catch that, my car has NO AIR CONDITIONING!!). But, here I am, in DC, alive and well and ready to start my life as a real person with a real job-- or something to that effect. Cubicals, 9-5, buisness professional, dental plan, retirement fund, morning commute, the whole bit.

I think I couldn't write during the decision making process because I was afraid of over thinking it and making things hard on myself. This is a great oportunity, I can just stay for a year, it will be a great experience, it's in DC, it's an organization I'm interested in, and they're actually paying me. I didn't want to stop and think about the whole leaving home less than a month after getting back part of it. That hit me somewhere in Wisconsin :( But luckily I had several more states to recover and I'm over it for now and excited to be on a new adventure in a new city.

Tomorrow: apartment hunting, or room in group house hunting as the case may be. Wish me luck (or find me someone in DC to live with!)

I'll probably write more about the last couple weeks soon.

Big News

I got a job. I'm moving to Washington DC. Next week.

eep!