Wash out

My first week in Washington D.C. went really well. It's a sunny Sunday afternoon and I am thrilled to say that the last seven days have exceeded all expectations I had for my internship experience.

The job is great. I am writing, editing, re-working, wordsmithing and doing all the things I love doing. When I'm not writing stories and preparing press releases, I am getting to know the staff and learning what exactly they do.

It's been the best lesson in civics that I've had in a long time. While I'm writing about House and Senate committees, I am learning about the inner workings and peculiarities of them.

The weather has been milder than I'd expected. That's a relief. Amy, my sweet host and Lester, her other houseguest and also a good friend, bought me a bright tangerine peanut hat to keep my head warm and my ears toasty. What a sweet prezzy. And far ahead of schedule for Chrimbotime.

Learning the busroute and the metro was a pretty fast process -- all the signs are in English and it's about as logical as any Japanese transportation -- so I'm mostly good to go. It only takes me 30 minutes (most days) to get to work, so that makes it the *same* travel time as home. No complaints there.

Entertainment-wise, I haven't indulged that much in all that the city has to offer. Amy, Lester and I went to the Corcoran Museum (next door to the White House) to see a Warhol exhibit. It was pretty good, even though he's not my favorite. We browsed through the modern art gallery, too. Good stuff. Plenty of electronic media and film pieces that kept us guessing. (Gotta love that about modern art.) Saturday, Lester and I went to the Freer Gallery, a Smithsonian Museum, to see some Asian artwork. The Chinese calligraphy was gorgeous. So was the ukiyo-e woodblock printing and Japanese screen prints. Such delightful colors! I'll always have a soft spot for Japanese artwork.