Oh, The Places You'll Go!

6/14/10
Location: Arlington, VA/Washington D.C. area

I have officially been in D.C. for over one week now. To be honest, living and working here has required a lot more observation and adaption than any of the other six countries I traveled to in May. It is probably because I am spending a much longer period of time here and I am on my own and not with a group of 11, and getting around, working, and living here requires a lot more of my own processing. There is certainly so much that I have learned at my internship, both things that I was told and things I had to pick up on myself, but I can’t discuss that. What I can discuss is how things have gone in D.C. so far outside the workweek.

Things I’ve Learned on My D.C. Downtime:

1.     The Lay of the Land
My apartment is in Arlington, which looks pretty close to D.C. on a map, but it really isn’t. I knew I had to figure out how to get to work on the Hill before I actually started, so last weekend I took the Metro into the District to see if I could find it. The Metro truly is very easy to use and figuring out which lines and stops my commute required wasn’t difficult. However, once I stepped out of Union Station, finding my destination was a little trickier. There are signs everywhere by the National Mall telling people (mainly tourists) where to go, but not here. To make matters worse, they aren’t fond of numbered streets and if a street isn’t named Independence, Constitution, etc., it’s named A, B, C, D, E, F, etc. I got a little lost and had to call my mom back home to see if she could point me in the right direction by looking online. I eventually found my destination, after walking in a circle and getting drenched in rain (last time I leave my apartment without my umbrella in my purse). I was pleased I had successfully figured out how to get to and from work. The commute is about 40-45 minutes though, so I need to find another book to read after I’m finished with Roxana Saberi’s Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran. However, despite my initial satisfaction, I realized that there is so much more of D.C., Virginia, and Maryland on the metro lines that I have no idea how to get to and have not yet explored. I’m extremely excited to go back to old favorites like Georgetown and Alexandria’s Old Town, but even more enthused at the prospect of new favorite places.

2.     Online Shopping (For Professionals)

Now, anyone who knows me will tell you I love to shop. My roommates, close friends, boyfriend, and family will tell you I absolutely, positively love to shop online. I like a good mall and shopping with company, but you can never beat the sales online. Plus Googling “STORENAME coupon OR promotion code” before purchase works like a charm. Oh, and there is the no sales tax when I ship to Moorhead! Before my arrival in D.C. though, my purchases were mainly limited to sporadic clothes purchases from places like Forever 21 and American Eagle. Soon after settling into my apartment, I realized there were several things I needed. There’s no Target, Wal-Mart, or the likes in sight or nearby on the Metro. My roommates informed me those are all driving distance, but none of us have cars.  Fortunately, there is a CVS and a Safeway nearby, so I did stock up on full-size toiletries and groceries (walking with that haul home was not pleasant). But I still needed a pillow, a lunchbag, slippers! I ended up browsing pillows online at Target, Macy’s, and Kohl’s. Can’t say I’ve ever comparison-shopped and read consumer reviews for pillows before, but that’s what I had to do since I couldn’t touch it in-person. I needed a pillow so badly. Sleeping with a couch pillow and my folded Concordia blanket did not make for a night of uninterrupted, deep sleep. I got my hypoallergenic, down-filled, medium firm pillow just three days later and I couldn’t be happier!

I also got a Built lunchbag since packing my lunch during the workweek is a must to save the $ and apparently, no one brownbags it. Add slippers, a photo frame, work clothes from NY and Company, and a GRE study book and vocab box, and I had quite the week of shopping from my Macbook. Also, my lovely, thoughtful mother sent me a cute red trench coat that she bought online—awesome for those thunderstorm days; I won’t get drenched again! Thanks, Mom.:) Start-up costs were big, but hopefully now all I will have to buy is groceries and the occasional going out activities. Emphasis on th “hopefully.”

3.     You’re Not in North Dakota Anymore

The first thing I noticed during my first few days of the commute is how everyone looks the same. It’s quite disturbing, really. There are thousands of interns alone and everyone is wearing the business professional uniform, marching along like chicly dressed black ants up the hill known as the Capitol. It seems like nearlyevery girl is wearing pearl or diamond studs and carrying a Longchamp bag. I had never even heard of Longchamp bags before and had to ask my roomies what they were and why everyone had them. I also met my roommates’ friends and was shocked at how different their lives were from mine. I’ve never met anyone that lives like them before. It felt like I was dropped into an episode of The Hills when we went out for lunch—like I was sitting at a café with Audrina, Stephanie, and Lo and talking about the things they talk about. It was surreal. Everyone I’ve met has been extremely nice and friendly, but there’s something about the lifestyles and attitudes I’ve encountered that make me crave the down-to-earth nature and simplicity of the people and the life, respectively, in the Midwest. I miss my wonderful family, friends back home and in Fargo-Moorhead, street dances, the lakes, road trips, driving my CR-V with the windows down and the radio up. That’s how I imagine summer. It makes me wonder where I’ll end up. I’m almost done with college…I know I don’t want to settle down in a tiny town with little opportunities available, but now I also know that I have no desire to be a cog that does the same thing everyday for a gigantic machine in a metropolis either.

4.     Museums are More Fun Solo

Since I had some time to myself this past weekend since Whit is gone for the week and my other roomies, Anna and Kristi, were out, I decided to hit up some of the museums in D.C. I went to the Smithsonian Museums of Natural History and American History, and the Newseum. I’ve gone to plenty of museums before, and you can see in previous posts that I traveled to museums on my around the world trip like the Egyptian Museum and the British Museum. But every time I go to museums, I’m always with someone. Not this time. And it wasn’t strange like I thought it might be. It was better. When I’m with a group, I often just look with my eyes and maybe scan through a few captions or sidebars. When I was alone, I soaked everything in. I looked at everything closer and I read every word I could in the time I had. It was so much fun. I’ve never had such a great weekend more or less by myself before. The Newseum was a major highlight. It’s all about the news and journalism, my future career area, and historical and current events, which are probably my most passionate interest. For someone who loves the news and history, the Newseum was a dream come true. It’s also extremely interactive—there are so many things you could touch and they have 15 theaters, including one in 4-D. The Newseum also brought out a range of emotions from myself, which I wasn’t expecting. I’m normally not an extremely emotional person, especially at museums of all places. But I was delighted when I saw they had a place for my favorite social commentators Colbert and Stewart, dismayed when I saw the press freedoms around the world, awestruck when I saw D.C. from the 6th story Pennsylvania Avenue Terrace, and proud when I watched an movie about women in journalism. However, the exhibit that touched me the most was the 9/11 exhibit.

As I took in the front pages from that tragic day, the heartbreaking photographs, the tangled mess of the television and radio tower that once stood atop the first tower, I actually cried. The words and the photographs were heart wrenching on their own, but while reading them, I would flashback to that day. I can remember it, even though I was only 12 when it happened. I remember I found out first because my dad is a commodities broker (as well as a farmer) and my parents called the school to tell them. My parents actually spoke to some bond traders in the WTC towers regularly through their business. We watched the news for the rest of the day in the library. I remember sitting there in our plastic chairs at the TV on wheels, shocked and horrified by the thick, black plumes of smoke coming from the first tower and pouring into the sky. “You are watching history,” our librarian told us grimly. “This day will never be forgotten.”

5.     “You're on your own.  And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.” –Dr. Seuss

One last thing I’ve learned (or realized, rather) is that I graduate in less than a year. One year! That’s it and then I enter “the real world” as people call it and leave this fantastical picnic of fun and games known as high school and college. Which led me to wonder…what next? I made one big choice four years ago and now I’ve just been living the college life. True, I’ve always thought about what I want to do and I have been planning for it as I go. The thing is “it” is kind of vague and I’m not really sure what the next big decision I make will be. I am thinking I want to go to graduate school to get my master’s degree in journalism, so while in D.C., I decided it would be better to plan ahead then to think later “Oh shit, I should have done that then.” I ordered that GRE prep book and vocab box and requested program information from a handful of the top J-schools. I’m satisfied with that for now, but it’s still a little disconcerting just to think about the future. Where will I go? Who will come with me? Who will I lose touch with and who will always be there, no matter the distance? I have goals in mind, but there are always different courses and I have no idea how things will play out. But I suppose no one ever does, and that’s the fun of it.

"I go here." At the airport on the way to D.C.

My apartment living room and patio.


This T-Rex at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History doesn't
bare a striking resemblance to my T-Rex...


View of the Capital Pride festivities from the Pennsylvania Ave.
Terrace at the Newseum.


Me on said terrace.


Some of the 9/11 frontpages.


Giant screen in the entrance to the Newseum, which was showing
footage of the BP Gulf Coast oil spill...so awful.


One of my favorite quotes about journalism.


My roommates, Anna and Kristi, and I at "Jazz in the Garden":
Jazz performances on Friday evenings in the National Gallery of Art's garden.