Real America

Yesterday: Pizza for breakfast in Baltimore airport. Lunch at McDonald's and 25 cents beers in one of Geneseo's biggest bars. Pizza again.

Today: Headache. Soon taking the car to Binghamton and somebody's 21st birthday party. Sleeping on their couch.

Tomorrow: Early Thanksgiving dinner with Meaghan's family. Back to Geneseo, maybe a bar crawl in the evening.

Monday: Rochester Airport > Baltimore Airport > DC. Hopefully in time to catch "Citizen Havel" at the European Film Showcase.

On the Road Again

I love airports, I love leaving somewhere. Right now I'm sitting in the cafeteria at Baltimore airport, boarding a plane to Rochester, NY in 15 minutes and enjoying free(!) wi-fi. I'm on my way to see Meaghan, one of my best friends from my spring semester in Groningen, Holland. I finally had the time to take three days off, which means I will only work two days next week before thanksgiving! I've been so irritated and stressed lately for no reason other than lack of sleep, which usually doesn't bother me that much. Thus, a vacation is just what I need. I should also have time to update this poor neglected blog more often.

Sudden Death

I apologize for this blog being completely dead at the moment, but I'm just too busy! This week and most of the last one have literally only involved me going to work, speeding home or straight out, showering and not having time to eat, going off to some event, shopping with friends, drinks or whatever, and then coming home and going straight to bed. But I like it! I will try to update soon and add some photos.

Sunday, sunny Sunday

I apologize for my completely blog-free week (plus a link in the last post that didn't seem to work - it's fixed now), I have been so busy lately that I have barely had time to be on the internet (I have finally managed to upload photos on facebook though, so take a look there if you are lucky enough to be my friend :). It's been a good week, containing margaritas with visiting Swedish politicians, drinks with various European DC interns (organised by me and two friends who are now admins of a big facebook group), shopping, a visit to a seedy but lovely gay bar, a night of dancing to fantasic music (The Sign! Take me Out! Roxette's Dangerous!), and today a trip to nearby town and upper-classy suburb Alexandria, where the sun was shining and we ate ice-cream in the harbour.

Sunday

It's been a busy and fun week. The highlight was when I was sent to a congress (àt Capitol Hill, that white cupola building on all DC souvenirs) hearing to take photos for the embassy website. See the result here.

New York, New York

I desperately need to sleep right now, but here is at least a picture from New York, taken at Brooklyn Bridge. My first impression of the city is mixed, from the very little I managed to see during two days I don't think it lives up to the hype, but that's just me. Good night DC, Good morning Europe.

Start Spreading the News...

In two hours I am (hopefully, the so-called "China Bus" we have booked doesn't seem too reliable) on a bus to New York! It seems that everyone (especially Swedes) who goes there get completely knocked over and absolutely love the city. Somehow I don't think I will.

In case you would forget in which country you are, the publicity boards in the metro will quickly remind you

Euro Night, Rooftop Concert and the Czech President

Ok ok, I am extremely slow with my updates at the moment, but the weekend has been busy and the weather is still lovely.


So, last Friday was the night the much anticipated Euro Night, held at the French Embassy. It was a lot of fun but also extremely busy, it was so much work refilling food and saying "it's a shrimp and salmon salsa with cucumber and vodka sauce on top" (no, we didn't come up with that, the ambassador's chef did) to hundreds of people, that I didn't have time at all to actually walk around and try out food myself (except some salami and kebab from Germany, they were close and I was hungry). Adding to that it was a complete horror to wear that thick-layered folk costume in a very warm room, thought I would drown in sweat. See another photo and a blog post about the Swedish representation here.

On Saturday it was time for the first House of Sweden event up on our super cool rooftop. Swedish hiphop star Adam Tensta performed and I had a lot of fun during the last hour, when I finally got to leave my position by the door, ticking off guests. It is fun though to have such a varied intern position, suddenly I was doing nightclub work. More info and photos (not of me though) here.

Today I finally got to go to one of the many seminars that are organized in DC. Some of the other interns go on those all the time and write reports, but as a culture/press intern it is not really my task. I signed up for this one out of interest, and I'm glad I did so. The key speaker was the President of the Czech Republic, who has quite controversial views on certain things. I still get a bit starstruck around here; it felt exactly like a normal university lecture and the auditorium was quite small, so it was hard to fathom that I was sitting just metres away from the President. The seminar was about change and prosperity in central and eastern Europe after the fall of communism, obviously a very interesting topic even though I didn't agree with some of the speakers' views.

A Good Day

I have been at work from 09 to past 22 today, but when you get a free lunch at the ambassador's residence (was there with some colleagues to prepare things for Euro Night tomorrow) AND a free fancy three-course meal at House of Sweden in the evening because a few important people didn't show up, I'm not complaining.

Monument Spotting After Dark

Women of WWII Memorial, if I remember correctly

Washington Monument

The White House

a Day in Dc

After sleeping until noon, and reading pointless blogs in bed for an hour (I deserve it), I eventually managed to get out of the house. My plan was to go back to the excellent history museum I wrote about a few days ago.




On the way there I started noticing signs that a demonstration had just finished, which turned out to be the case. I had just missed a huge demonstration against Obama and his health reform, apparently drawing anti-Obama crowds from across America (people seemed to like to wear something stating where they are from - "don't mess with Texas" and the likes). I read when I got back that tens of thousands had participated.


Of course the American flag was everywhere, as usual. These women did not make as extreme use of it as many others, but this was the only photo I had the opportunity to take without appearing creepy.




Some people were very creative with their posters or whatever they are called. Many referred to communism (to the point where Obama's face was inserted on a poster of Mao, etc) and socialism. Tomorrow the pro-Obama side will hold a demonstration as well, which I will try not to miss.



I finally made it to the history museum 50 minutes before closing (I love the fact that almost all museums here are free), and managed to see half an exhibition about Abraham Lincoln. After that I discovered that a huge family festival for African Americans, hosted by the National Council of Negro Women, was going on. The Mall (name of the strech of land from Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol, five minutes from here and the location of most DC landmarks and museums) was packed with tents and had two big stages, one with a DJ and one with live performances (among others a woman who had apparently been in Destiny's Child when they formed the group)and speeches. I stood there for a while (not blending in very well, was one of maximum 10 white people) and listened, and the speech from the 97-year old founder of the family reunion day got me tears in my eyes. It was followed by another speech from a charismatic woman I have forgotten the name of, filled with statements such as "Obama cannot save us, we have to save ourselves" and "I don't like to be referred to as a descendant of slaves. We are not the descendants of slaves, we are the descendants of Kings and Queens of Africa!". It was overall a very interesting event to watch. I read somewhere that 55% of Washington DC's population is black. This was the first time that even seemed remotely true, as the inner city tends to appear predominantly white.


After a while I went shopping in H&M instead, and on my way home I ran into yet another demonstration. This time it was carried out by what I believe to be mostly Mexicans, demaning improved rights for immigrants.

Lots of politics in one day.

Busy busy

I literally have not had time to write anything here the past days, but I like to have a busy schedule so that's a good sign. On Wednesday me and some other Swedish interns went to see a French movie (Les Beaux Gosses) at the French Embassy (huge); including a reception with wine and... marshmallows. On Thursday most of the Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Finnish (and two Slovenian) embassy interns went to a quite crappy Indian restaurant together, and yesterday some of us went out (again, crappy music).

Work is going well, I'm organizing a big seminar in October, helping out with some smaller tasks, and me and another intern are preparing for the upcoming "Euro Night" next week. All EU countries are going to get their own big table at the French Embassy (or Maison Francaise rather), and will prepare something small to eat and maybe drink, while Swedish hiphop singer Adam Tensta will perform. Really looking forward to it; and will have to wear a folk costume for the first time in my life...

Obamarama II

I think I might have been very close to Mr. Obama himself today, even though I didn't actually see him. I was walking to H&M after work (which was more busy today than the whole of last week combined, phew) and the White House is on the way. As I was approaching the crossing of a heavily trafficed road leading away from there, I realised police cars had literally blocked all the connecting roads, and the policemen were standing outside their cars (I wanted to take a photo but as the policeman was staring at me any sudden hand movement felt like a bad idea). 30 seconds later two police cars speed down the road, sirens on. They are followed by two fancy black cars (with older men in them, as far as I could see), which in turn are followed by two black landrover-style cars with shaded windows. The whole entourage is followed by yet two police cars with screaming sirens. So, I think it is highly probable, and I choose to believe, that it was Obama in the car. Maybe he saw me; we were only three people waiting at that crossing, so everything must have gone very fast. It is still hard to realise that many of the world's most important institutions and people are only a short walk from where I am sitting right now.

Labour Day Weekend

Today is labour day here in the States, which means we got an extra long weekend. I have taken it extremely easy - a bit of sunbathing (it is still scorching hot here, every day), a bit of the usual monument spotting, a bit of going out, a bit of cleaning, a bit of laundry, a tiny bit of shopping, and more. At least I managed to soak up some culture by visiting the National Museum of American History. It is owned by the Smithsonian Institution which runs a large number of museums here in DC, all free. I plan to visit at least one per week, let's see how it goes.



I got to the huge History Museum 1½ hours before closing (I should have learned by now that leaving home without a map never is a good idea) so I only had time to check out the entertainment and American flag section (we all have our priorities in life). Among other things I saw the original red shoes from the Wizard of Oz, a very familiar Disneyland Dumbo (got a bit nostalgic but didn't miss that Fantasyland music), and above all the original star-spangled banner which inspired the USA's national hymn.
It was raised in Baltimore in 1814 when the Americans defeated the Brits, and it's big enough to cover a whole living room (photos were not allowed). The exhibition also features a televised number of photographs depicting the importance and various uses of the flag as an American symbol (including ku klux klan), all accompanied by "hymn-sounding" music. After endless Euroculture (the MA I'm doing, in case you didn't know) lectures and discussions about how the EU tries and fails to create European symbols such as the EU flag, it is especially interesting to see how particular Americans seem to be about theirs. I obviously knew before I came here that I was going to visit a generally very patriotic country, but I didn't realise the extent to which people are actually flying the flag - it is everywhere.

One week in the States

So, my first week in DC is over. I'm liking it a lot so far; we get to know a lot about how a big embassy like ours works, and the city is pretty much like I had imagined - important buildings around every corner and people in suits everywhere. The constant fatigue of the first days is finally starting to fade, and yesterday and Thursday I've been able to see a bit of the DC afterwork/nightlife. Unfortunately my prejudice about Americans liking hiphop/R n B much more than I seems to be true so far, but hopefully there are some places with good music as well. We have also met some more embassy interns - from Finland, Slovenia and Norway, and tonight we are going to a Norwegian housewarming party, so everything is good on the social side. Have to go now, one of my housemates has a friend with a swimming pool, which is a very good thing when it's this hot outside. I thought fall would come reasonably early to Washington as well, but the past week's weather rivals that of southern Spain in the middle of summer.

Obamarama

US tourist (although mostly aimed at domestic tourists it seems) shops must be extremly happy that Obama won. So happy they are selling everything with a picture of Obama on it. I have seen many souvenir shops in my life but the ones I saw on my Sunday walk in the city and in a mall beat them all. Life-size cardboard Obama figures, Obama chocolate, Obama stationary, countless Obama books, Obama mugs, Obama pens... everything.

First day at work

So, my internship has offically started. Its been a busy day, containing meetings with the ambassador and the responsible of trade, setting up my computer account, moving into my office (yes, all interns have their own office, with a name plate outside) and briefly going through the events that will take place this fall (among other things we will host a big EUROVISION PARTY!! I almost fell off my chair in excitement but I think I managed to hide it). My supervisor is not here at the moment so I'm still not a 100% sure what I will actually do except helping out with events, but it's nice to have some (reasonably) quiet time now for a few days. I can barely keep my eyes open any longer, so good night people.

House of Sweden

Today I have continued sightseeing, to the point where my legs hurt even when I am lying in bed. I went to Chinatown (which has an Urban Outfitters where I wanted to buy everything), a big mall/train station, Capitol Hill and finally a nice supermarket. I will post the photos soon, can't be bothered to get out of bed and find the camera right now.

Anyway, tomorrow my actual internship begins, here:

Sightseeing Deluxe

It is now 21.05 (btw, the time on this blog is set to DC time, so where it says below that I have written something at 21, it means 21h here and 03h at home), it is still very warm outside and I am sitting in our terrace. Even though it is facing the courtyard it is very noisy - crickets, traffic, sirens, airplanes flying low, the odd helicopter... but I guess it's all part of the charm of a capital.

Today I have been sightseeing; we live ridiculously close to the main monuments so everything is accessible by foot. Due to the extreme heat and a very very bad choice of shoes I had to move slowly, so by the time I got to my last stop, the Lincoln Memorial, it was already dusk. I sat down on the stairs and stayed there for a good half an hour, just looking around and realising that I am in the USA (which is hard to miss - American flags are everywhere) and that I'm actually going to live here for five months.

The White House, as you know


Squirrel in the city centre

"I give you one extra!" said the Asian saleswoman. I have no idea why, but I love free things.

Washington Monument

Reflecting Pool

Lincoln Memorial - just down the street from where we live