It's official

We got business cards today. Crazy. (and cool...) And one more shot from the ball (by the professional photog for the night). Everyone but Bryan.... a sharp looking bunch if I say so myself..

Today I went to the White House

Sorry I'm late posting this - I found the Amazing Race online and so had to watch it. And it was two hours!

This morning was our White House tour. Started off poorly with our group not being on the official list of visitors so there were faxes that had to be sent and approvals made (guess who was coordinating this visit? the person who used to run my program. Coincidence? I think not!)

Anyway, they let us in eventually, and it was a lovely, slightly cool morning for standing around outside.

We only got to see the East Wing - not that I was expecting to get in to the Oval Office or anything, but I thought they were be an opportunity to peak around the corner or something, but it was not to be. You only get to see maybe ten rooms in total, and while impressive, if you have been to any of the Royal homes in England, this was really nothing special. I did like some of the art though. They are strangely proud of the fact that the British burned the place in 1817 or whenever it was. Maybe 1817 was when the repairs were finished (clearly I wasn't paying too close attention on this tour). You would have thought they'd be slightly ashamed of this fact, but no, they went on and on about it.

My favorite part of the tour was actually right at the end as we were leaving. Looking up from that particular exit you could see a window that had a little butterfly decal on it. I thought that that must be one of the girls' rooms, or a room where they spend some time. Either way, I was glad that there was a sign, however small, that children lived there and that they could behave like children, even though they were growing up in the White House.

Ball round-up

Okay, I have fully recovered from my NSO ball experience. Actually it was quite a lovely night, though capped with an hour plus wait for a cab to get home. There was a torrential downpour so this apparently was the cause, however, it was a good lesson to have multiple cab numbers on hand. I now have 3 recorded in my cell phone.

It turned in to a full day of pre-ball prep. I decided to go for a manicure in the morning, and for E and L, my manicurist wasn't quite as fabulous as the one I had in Vegas, but pretty close. In the afternoon I decided that something needed to be done to my hair, so I wandered down the street and went to the first place that looked like they didn't cost a fortune. I just had them style it - though we did have a bit of a language issue with me saying that in the humidity it was better to go curly and as a result they made my hair so flat it stuck out like two sheets of paper from my head. However, with some adjustments, it was fine and still probably better than I could have done myself.

I'm including two pictures here - first of my FFF taking a picture of Kentucky and then me with our Russian fellow. (or as it turns out me first than the other! stupid up-loading) He makes a lovely accessory. I would like to point out for the record that I bought this dress for the opening night of Rent in...1998? and it is really a modern miracle that it still fits. It doesn't currently fit as well as it should, but it still goes on, so that's a victory. It was also at the time the most expensive item of clothing I had ever bought, so I guess it has paid its dues now that it has been worn at the Kennedy Center. (and yes, Canstage folk will recognize it as what I wore to our ball last year...)

I love the orchestra. Or maybe it was a combination of the concert hall and the orchestra but still. I'm actually excited about going to see them perform again. I was mesmorized. The two hard core orchestra people in the fellowship had criticisms but I suppose since my main previous symphony experience was at Roy Thomson hall pre-reno, I thought they were the bees knees. Seriously.

The dinner and dancing part of the evening was what it was. I'm learning that DC does not do vegetarian. The cocktail party on the Friday night had NOTHING (well except the cupcakes - and believe you me I had a couple of those) and so maybe it's just that the rich in DC don't do vegetarian, but I'm finding it very difficult when eating out. Trader Joe's of course would lead you to believe that the entire nation has converted, but that is not the case. It's just something I'm going to have to remember in future and pack a granola bar! There was a vegetarian option - salmon (so they don't quite get it) and so I didn't eat all that much over the course of the night. I'm glad I didn't pay for it, is all I can say....

Overall, the night (after the actual concert) was a little anti-climactic but such is life.

Sunday, I ventured into a new part of town and tried out a Greek restaurant near the Portrait Gallery. I liked the area so much that after work tonight, me and FFF went to the portrait gallery for a couple of hours and then had a glass of wine at the bar next to the restaurant I was at yesterday. It is truly brilliant having free galleries so you can pop in and out as you like without any pressure - FFF laments the lack of good wine here and I have to say I mostly agree with her. DC is not a wine town. And when you find somewhere with a decent list, you pay for it. I don't mind plonk myself, but I guess it is unFrench to drink crap wine.

We went through the American Presidents at the gallery in preparation of our White House tour bright and early tomorrow. Neatest thing was the Abe Lincoln bit where you can go out to the balcony where his inauguration took place - they then also have some very gruesome photos and images from his assassination. But it's an interesting chapter in their history for sure.

Think of me on the metro at 7am - ACK. Why they couldn't have chosen 1pm I'll never know...I'll say hi to the Obamas for you if they are back from the G20....

Shout out to Miss Laurie today on the occasion of her birth.

I'm off to the NSO ball to celebrate....

I don't really know how I ended up in a life where I'm at the same cocktail party as Obama's chief advisor on the environment, but that seems to be what's happened. She was a lovely woman.

I realize that I haven't really said what I am doing all day. Other than going to balls and receptions and such that is.

Three mornings a week we have "class". These are actually more seminars or discussions with the three most senior members of staff - the VP of Marketing, VP of Development and Michael Kaiser, our CEO. We also have finance class but it seems to be more sporadic. So far they are really the best part about being here. It's this amazing amount of access to people who are so smart and good at what they do. It is such a painless way to learn all this...stuff... about areas that I've had little exposure to- officially anyway. And it is amazing how generous they are with their time. These are not un-busy people but they clearly love talking about what they do all day. I'm completely paranoid about being late for one however (MMK says "on time is late") so I tend to get to work half an hour early, so it makes the day long!

Otherwise in my rotation currently I am writing my first NEA grant (National Endowment for the Arts) and I would just like to say no one should complain about the Canada Council grants ever again. The level of bureaucracy involved in this thing is astounding. They are very, very picky about formatting and what you put where, it is like they are looking for ways to disqualify applications based on technicalities. Of course this is horrifying as I don't want to be the fellow that lost them a grant because I named a file incorrectly! Actually I think we are stretching it a bit with this particular application but fortunately I am a gifted wordsmith.

Tomorrow it's back to cocktail parties..

America is weird

As seen on the streets in Old Town. Yup. Clearly we are a centre (center) of sophistication.

Green M&Ms

Did you know that green M&Ms are supposed to be lucky? I'd never heard this but all the American fellows say so.

Weird.

Weekend round-up

This weekend really was the first one that felt like a weekend - full of things to do and seeing people that I like. I mentioned Saturday's adventures with FFF, on Friday night the Kentucky fellow actually came out to Old Town and we found a fish and chips place that sold Guinness so we were happy. It is not as good as Chippy's I'd have to say but fun and casual nonetheless. She had the stingray - she said it was good, but was full of bones. I can only speak for the chips of course (oh and I had a side of baked beans - awful actually!) and they were quite authentic but in American size portions. We were sharing one fortunately but we could have fed a family of four with them.

Living in Old Town is truly like living in the Beaches - cute but remote. Honestly it takes not much more time for me to get to work than it did in Toronto but it feels further away. And when I think about it, I'd never live in the Beaches...but it's fun when friends come to visit :-) I've been looking around at what's available in DC and really nothing affordable where I'd want to live, so for now I'll stick with cute.

Sunday we had our first fellows potluck at a fellow's place in Arlington. Now I'd been looking at Arlington as a possibility, but wow, I'm glad I'm where I am instead. It's just Mississauga. The walk from the metro to his home is probably 10 -15 minutes but it's all huge suburban streets with office towers and condos. Not even a street level Starbucks. Shudder! It's pretty soulless, though apparently lots of hip young people live there, but I imagine they all drive. Who knows. Anyway, the potluck itself was quite lovely - though there is one fellow who is not like the others. Bossy, bossy, bossy. And I know it comes ultimately from a place of insecurity (they were in fact the last one chosen and we all know it because someone turned it down) however, let's just say I hope to never be in a kitchen with them again! FFF and Kentucky and I are likely going to stick together for the most part I think, which is just fine.

On the metro, when we are entering or leaving Virginia, they always say "next station Rosslyn, the last station in the Commonwealth of Virginia". This cracks me up. Apparently there are four states that refer to themselves as Commonwealths. A guy I work with told me that he had a grade school teacher that actually taught that there were 46 states in the union and four commonwealths (he couldn't remember the other three but I tasked him with looking it up for me for tomorrow). Anyway, from now on I shall tell people that I live in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

I walked to Trader Joe's yesterday morning pre-potluck and I pass probably five churches en route. Sunday morning they were all going strong. Three of them are gospel, baptist type places and I could hear the preaching, and in one case the amplified band complete with guitar and drums, from the street. It is honestly the liveliest I've heard Old Town to be.

Old Town fact #1 - the library down my street a few blocks is on the site of an old Quaker cemetery. Not sure why it was built over but there you go.

Sunday night I had my first work function where I was being trotted out to talk to donors. There was a performance of our resident ballet company the Suzanne Farrell Company followed by a very small reception for some rich people. Suzanne Farrell was George Balanchine's muse apparently and he created many works specifically for her. Her company now specializes in reproducing his repertoire. Classical ballet is not really my cup of tea, but this program was essentially the greatest hits so I found it quite enjoyable. At the reception, two donors, upon discovering that I was Canadian, invited me to their Boxing Day party that they hold annually (I politely declined as I will not be here) though I hadn't realized that they don't actually do Boxing Day in the States. It's just the day after Christmas - Boxing Day is of course a British thing but I'd forgotten that. Another donor repeatedly asked me to join him for dinner (I repeatedly politely declined). So all in a days work I guess, the novelty of the fellowship impresses the people with money.

For the NSO ball next Saturday, one lady did advise me that black was out this year and that jewel tones were in (she herself will be wearing emerald green). However, watching the Emmy's when I got, it seemed everyone was in black, so who is to be believed?

A final shout-out to Bev on her birthday! (and now please forgive me if I forget yours or don't post on your birthday. It doesn't mean I don't love you).

Apartment envy

First, I will express my sympathy for the chilly weather my northern friends are experiencing. It is beginning to cool down here as well though - today's high is only 23 C :-) Actually these last few days have been perfect, no humidity, sunny and temperatures in mid 20s. Lovely.

My FFF (French Fellow Friend for those of you not keeping up to speed) and I indulged in the true American pastime yesterday of going to the mall on a Saturday afternoon. Next weekend is the National Symphony Orchestra gala/ball which is our first black tie event, and naturally requires shopping. We went to Pentagon City (where I had been once before) because of it's sheer size really - and they have a DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse) across the street, which I felt was a store my FFF should experience. (and thank you Kitty for the Starbucks assistance - they call it a tea latte here - weird). Shopping included some selections for our fellow fellow whose wife if very pregnant so today we are having a potluck/surprise baby thing for him.

After shopping I went to have dinner at FFF's apartment in Adams Morgan. Sigh. This is what the difference is between making Euros before you come here and making Canadian dollars. The place is beautiful. Obviously it's costing double what I'm paying so it should be, but I'd have envy of this apartment anywhere in the world, let alone here where everything real estate is so incredibly expensive. It is the sort of place I'd want to buy - open concept kitchen livingroom with a loft bedroom up above. Sigh encore.

I miss my Annex apartment.

I took a cab home last night and was pleasantly surprised that it was only $20 which means from work it will only be about $15 on those nights I'm there especially late (the metro stops much earlier here than I'm used to as well, it's not just me being lazy). There are odd things about cabs here though. Now I've only been in two of them since arriving but both times they want to barter about the fare (why have a meter then??). Now I have a good sense of what it should cost me to get out to Alexandria, I'll be better armed. But that stuff ticks me off. Also apparently they are allowed to pick up another fare while you are in the cab (as long as you are going in the same direction) and get paid in full from BOTH passengers. And this is legal. I am adjusting my tipping practices accordingly.

Washington tidbit #27 - they are out of stamps! There are two post offices in my daily life. One is between me and my metro station if I go a certain route, the other is in the Watergate building (the Watergate building has everything, it's bizarre). Both are out of $0.75 stamps which is the amount of postage required to mail a letter to Canada. So either there has been a run on people mailing to Canada or no one ever mails to Canada so they haven't bothered to print any. The outlet near me told me to try back in two weeks. Two weeks for stamps. So don't expect to be hearing from me any time soon is all....

Photo Day

So you know how in grade school every fall they took the class picture and you agonized for days about what to wear to it? (and not long enough in my case if I harken back to some of the outfits I chose...) Well that's tomorrow for us. They take a picture of the fellow "class" and post it on the website. Yup, I'm so not excited about this (and yes, I'll let you know when the picture is up)

They sent a rather long list of what we weren't to wear - no white shirts or black suits or loud patterns or clothing that wasn't "appropriate" for "our industry". I would hate to tell them that jeans and a t-shirt would actually be the most appropriate garb for my industry but that might break their heart. The list ended with "but wear what you want". So I'm wearing black. Yes this colour was on the "to be avoided" list, but it's not a suit, it's a dress. So there.

Washington fun tidbit #12:

The metro stations are not air conditioned - the trains are but the stations aren't. At the Foggy Bottom where I get off every morning at the exit to the station they have a large stand-up fan. Like one you could buy at Home Depot. And it just oscillates back and forth so you get a blast of cool-ish air as you walk by. I find this odd, though somewhat enterprising.

Happy Hour

Have I mentioned the DC obsession with happy hour yet? Well it seems to be every day of the week at every bar and restaurant in town. Typically from 4 - 7pm or later. Seriously, I haven't paid more than $3 for a drink since I got here (well that's not true. The expensive Georgetown bar on the river was $6 for a G&T but all the food was half price). I swear everyone here must be an alcoholic.

Tonight after work, the girl fellows all went for a drink - well two. Plus munchies. I spent $10 including a good Canadian sized tip (bad tippers here as well). This is a good thing since we are all of course on strict budgets, but still I find it hilarious. Also, since literally every bar has something, it's not like it's crowded anywhere. I'm just remembering going to Hey Lucy on King street for cheap martini Wednesdays with the Mirvii (and cheap meant $5 - 6 if I remember correctly) and how packed it would be and how awful the service was because they didn't have the staff on (and would run out of glasses frequently as well). And actually, how watered down the martinis were too. The downside is a lot of places don't have table service, and since I'm lazy, I find this annoying. However, I suppose for $3 I can stumble to the bar...

Tidbits

Things I may not have mentioned:

My sublet does not have a television. Which is probably lucky for you (if you are reading this, I mean you!) as I would certainly not update as often if I could vegetate in front of crappy television on the couch like I'm used to. I understand though that my beautiful Sony Bravia looks very good in Miss E's apartment. This does not give me much comfort. I am however able to watch a fair portion of garbage on hulu.com so thank god for my lovely MacbookPro.

This photo is of the view, more or less, from my office. It looks out onto part of our Grand Foyer (or foy-yer as they say here which cracks me up. Have I mentioned that already? perhaps...) and out to the Potomac. Do not think for a minute that I have a glamorous office (well it's all kinda cool, but you know), the Fellows currently working in Development as I am, sit on the balcony to the Grand Foyer. The perk is the natural light and the view. The slight downside is the noise, as there are two stages in the foyer - one at either end - where community programming happens every day and so the sound checks etc. can be distracting. Yesterday we had a dance troupe whose name I've forgotten but consisted of all male, gay cowboys line dancing to disco. I thought it was fabulous (how can you go wrong with singing and dancing gay cowboys?). I started to do some of the moves, but only my French fellow friend joined in (clearly we are going to be the strange foreigners of the bunch).

The other slightly unnerving thing is that helicopters (I'm assuming military ones as they are somewhat more butch looking than the TV camera crew ones I'm more used to seeing) buzz the building pretty much at eye level to my office. I'm going to try to get a photo of one but in the meantime, believe me that it is alarming to see one flying RIGHT there.

One of the interesting things I am experiencing is the concept of starting and ending meetings on time. The reality is that there is just too much going on to drag things on endlessly or to wait 15 minutes while everyone shows up. It starts whether you are there or not and it ends when it's scheduled to because everybody then has to be somewhere else. And decisions get made in these meetings and action items that are decided upon get emailed out within minutes of the meetings ending. It's all a bit unnerving it's so efficient. I could suggest that perhaps a few less busy organizations could learn from this approach. Ahem.

We are confirmed for our White House tour in two weeks! Very exciting. However there will be no photographic evidence of that either as we are basically only allowed to carry our ID in with us. Still it will be very cool. I am waiting to hear back from the Canadian embassy as I want them to invite me to something. A lunch or gala of some sort. No biggie.

And, in closing, a bird pooped on my hair yesterday. My FFF (French Fellow Friend) and I were having G&Ts in a very civilized fashion at a somewhat swanky but not, bar along the Potomac towards Georgetown. And plop! Poop. That's good luck, right?

My boss

Well everyone's boss actually. He wrote about us!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-kaiser/the-biggest-problem-facin_b_279108.html

Sort of about us anyway... :-) He's quite brilliant I think....

Corrie - less

No joy finding Coronation Street down here, so I've had to resort to watching it in 8 minute installments on YouTube. While searching, I found this little chestnut... (no spoilers for my Canadian viewing friends)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDP3wvUWVuI&NR=1

Open House

Day Three was a bit of a baptism by fire. We Fellows were talent wranglers for the 25th annual Open House at KC. We were to act as guides for the artists and to make sure they got where they needed to be on time. Hilarious really since I'd have trouble describing how to get to my own office...

Long day, but successful I think with thousands of people turning out. The programming was a lot like the stuff Harbourfront will do for long weekends - geared at kids and families.

My artist was a street performer from France, who could drive his piano at a surprising rate of speed - we lapped the building!

Hopefully this brief video will work...

It was kinda neat actually and he was very Pied Piper like and would have dozens of kids following him.

My version of Hell

Was my morning ride in to KC this morning for the open house. Unbeknownst to me, today was also some sort of march on Washington protest against government funded health care. My metro ride is usually about 20 -25 minutes. Today it took almost 60 and it was 60 minutes crammed into a train with red necks. It was truly the worst of America. (and why you should only live in Manhattan, Brooklyn or San Francisco if you choose to live here at all...).

I was honestly trying to ignore it all and to not engage (even with the guy who'd spelled fascist incorrectly on his sign) but then this lady asked me for directions and I told her (amazingly I sort of knew) but with the caveat that I had just moved here and she should confirm with a local. I have afterall spent all of 2 hours on the Mall so may not be quite an expert at it. And then she asked me where I was from and I thought to myself, "oh, here we go".

Well you know me, if you ask for my opinion I will give it to you. And she asked. I said I supported Canada's health care system, flaws and all, because it meant everyone could afford and I believed deserved, a basic standard of care (two people in my program have been turned down by the KC's insurer and they are both young and healthy - what's that about? should they now be without healthcare for the rest of their lives at the ripe old age of 28?). She just kept saying that she wanted people to have a choice and why didn't I have a choice. She said the system was cheaper funded by insurance companies. So I guess it's just me who think they are pretty much second only to the drug companies when it comes to pond scum.

I said I didn't need a choice, there wasn't any need to choose one way or the other because I could go to any doctor I wanted to (assuming you can get an appointment - granted there are flaws to our system - but certainly the government doesn't tell me what doctor to go to). The concept that every citizen (and landed immigrant and permanent resident) of Canada got health coverage based on their citizenship alone was so foreign to her should couldn't grasp it. She said but then the government has access to your bank accounts (huh?) I said no, the doctors billed the government directly, the patient wasn't involved. Anyway, suffice it to say the amount of ignorance and fear on the train was palatable. Ultimately there was the expected racist overtones - there was a huge concern with any immigrant getting free health care ( I thought, ah, they are good enough to look after your children and clean your house, but they shouldn't get health coverage - I showed great restraint in not saying so!!).

The idea that your tax dollars should be used for anything other than "protecting themselves" was abhorrent to them - I did point out that protection could also include internal issues, but honestly it was like talking to the wall. I really stupid, ignorant wall.

The true kicker, this woman was a nurse.

Honestly, it made we want to run for the border.

First Day

This is the front door into the office. Yup.

I just thought this was funny.

I down, 18 to go

Yesterday I was a bit of a tourist and went to visit the White House and the Natural History Museum (part of the Smithsonian). We fellows are going to try and arrange for a group tour of the White House (which has to be requested up to six months in advance) because, why not??? though I do think I'd keep expecting to see the characters from the West Wing. From the outside, it looks pretty much like you'd expect. Hard to get to at the moment and certainly gone are the days you could just drive by the outside (which I seem to remember doing once on a family trip).

I took a picture of the dinosaurs in the museum because..dinosaurs!! Actually I have to say, I liked their dino collection almost as much as the original (and still the best in my mind) exhibit at the old Museum of Man in Ottawa (that's what it was called! it was the 70s). I suppose because it was the collection of my childhood, it will always be the ultimate dinosaur display.

I have to say though the gems and minerals collection at the Smithsonian was really my favorite part. I am attracted to bright, shiny objects I guess.

Americans like flags

This is on the side of City Hall in Old Town (my hood). I don't think a Canadian flag exists that is this large. Anywhere. Apparently there is a farmers market here on Saturdays so I will have to check it out (though not this Saturday as I am working...)

Today I concurred the metro (subway). Well that is I used it. Funnily enough, my farecard got de-magnetized somehow (it was from my visit here in April so anything is possible) so I actually couldn't get out of the station until I looked pathetic at the station person, which seemed to work. Being kinda cute and uber Canadian polite has its advantages.

I met up with one of the other Fellows at Pentagon City to do a few things. Pentagon City is essentially Mississauga so my version of Hell. But there is a big mall there which can be handy and it was halfway between where the two of us are staying so...anyway, useful to know where it is and to avoid it if we can manage it in the future.

Tomorrow I'm thinking Target and then something potentially touristy before I meet up with all the other Fellows for a pre-first day beverage. I'm getting my sea-legs I think (or rather DC legs - ha! that was a funny....)

First Obama sighting!

Okay, so it was a cardboard cutout on King St. in Old Town Alexandria (I live on the fringe of Old Town about five minutes or so from the super touristy bit). But I had you going for a minute :-)

Yes Virginia!

I have arrived. I have a visa. I have legal entry into the United States of America. Weeeee!

I was told by Customs Guy - when being spoken to sternly about not losing my paperwork (for future reference, I have it all now of course...) that 10 of the 19 9-11 hijackers were on this same type of visa so they take the security very seriously. Okay then. I wanted to say that the most subversive thing I had planned on doing when in the US was promote the idea of universal health care, but I thought better of it.

The Philly airport is crap.

I had packed lightly as you know (four checked bags!! ugh!!! and big heavy over-weight ones at that - all of which remain packed at this moment, I am avoiding the unpacking having packed and repacked them about three times in the last 48 hours in a desperate (failed) effort to economize). And without the Christensen-Torr clan to assist me on the DC leg, I was worried that I was in for difficulty. However, the baggage gods took pity and they all a) arrived and b) fit on the trolley, so I was feeling pretty lucky.

I have roommates. I've not had a roommate-roommate since university so this is a HUGE adjustment for me which I am trying to be zen about. However, I have a really big room at the front of the house with four windows so I can always just spend my time in here if I want to avoid people. Though everyone seems very nice so far. Fingers crossed.

I made my first trek in my new hood to Trader Joe's tonight. This is a crunchy-granola grocery store that sells lots of vegetarian things but no kleenex. And wine. I love that they sell wine. I didn't buy any (ahem!) but likely will tomorrow since they are open (weird on Labour Day). Tomorrow I will also find the Metro station (subway) and figure out how that all works before I start at the KC on Thursday.

Now I am very tired and should open a suitcase or something...

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya...

Last few days have seen me pack up my office, my apartment and re-pack the too many suitcases for DC. My life fits into a 10 x 5 storage unit. One that's fortunately 8 ft high, though I'm dreading ever trying to get anything out of it. Dread.

I should qualify that my life is in one storage unit and strewn around the Torr's living room in Oakville. 4 suitcases is too many but I can't seem to shrink it. There are many seasons between now and next June. Of course when I was in France in my 20s for 3 months I took one backpack.

How things have changed...

Tomorrow we begin the adventure in earnest. Wish me luck folks.