Mr. Scott goes to Washington - Act Two, Scene One: Sheena Easton's Revenge
That's right, loyal readers, today Claire and I ACTUALLY took the morning train, we ACTUALLY worked from 9 to 5, and then... we ACTUALLY took another home again. But sadly, there was no one waiting for us.
There. Having expended my Sheena Easton/Morning Train joke early on, I'll pause for a moment to say a big hello to my Grandma, who I've just learned (from my mother) has become quite an avid reader. Apparently she's been calling my mom about everything she reads on here. Unfortunately, I've doddled while writing this, and she'll be in bed long before I actually get this posted. (Grandma - I hope you're feeling better! Love to you and Gramps)
Today started off with a bang... I accidentally set my alarm clock for 6.30 PM, instead of 6.30 AM, so when I woke up a little after 7 (with orders too meet Claire at 7.50) I almost had a heart attack. Luckily Miguel had been up since 6, and was practically out the door, so I was able to wolf down a quick breakfast and fancy myself up without obstructions, and in fairly short order.
After that, we caught the train just before 8, and arrived downtown around 8.15 - ridiculously early. So we stopped by the Starbucks near the Naval Memorial, where we sat for about half an hour (getting more and more excited about the fact that we were actually starting our jobs in Washington!).
We arrived at the embassy a little before 9, where we went through security and checked in with the receptionist (who works in a little glass box beside the internal door), and were told to wait. While waiting, we met two other interns, and chatted with them briefly before the intern coordinator came down to greet us.
She gave us a quick tour of the embassy and went over a few of their standing orders, before dropping us off at our desks. It's a pretty awesome building -- we have a heavily subsidized cafeteria, a big gym in the basement, and some amazing views of the Capitol building. More importantly, they get Canadian news stations and papers, as well as Macleans magazine and the Canadian edition of Time. I'm happy, since I've been jonesing for a National Post since I got down here.
As soon as we sat down a strange man (who I'd later learn is the embassy's energy commissioner) wandered in and snagged Claire and I to go with him to a press conference they were holding in the embassy's new press centre (for those of you who watch West Wing, think of the White House briefing room, but with Canadian flags everywhere).
After that we returned to our desks, met our supervisor Pratima (who hadn't been in when we'd first arrived), and spent a bit of time setting things up and getting supplies. We then went to lunch with Pratima and got to know her a little bit; she seems really great, so I'm looking forward to working with her.
From there we ventured to the Public Relations department to steal some Canadian/American flag pins (which I'd looked for unsuccessfully in Canada), then spent a bit of time looking over a Congressional information circular that the embassy receives, and finished sorting out our desks.
Then, came the highlight of the day: Pratima dropped us off at a meeting of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee up on Capitol Hill. I was so excited at the fact that we were sitting in an actual Senate meeting chamber, watching actual Senators, and taking notes that we'll actually be using (when we're debriefed tomorrow!), that the lack of interesting subject material wasn't much of a concern.
That took almost three hours, after which we headed back to the embassy where we picked up our bags and headed home. On the way, we stopped and I picked up several boxes of All-Bran bars, including a new flavour I didn't know existed, which should keep me stocked for a little while at least.
Tomorrow the embassy is holding a big fundraising benefit to raise money for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, so Claire and I will be volunteering with that for part of the day. It's possible there will be a trip to a House subcommittee meeting tomorrow as well. It sounds like we're going to be doing a lot of different stuff without much structure for the first little while, which suits me just fine.
--
I was actually just watching Fox 5 news as I was typing this, and they mentioned the Senate Subcommittee meeting I attended today, and I thought that was pretty cool.
There. Having expended my Sheena Easton/Morning Train joke early on, I'll pause for a moment to say a big hello to my Grandma, who I've just learned (from my mother) has become quite an avid reader. Apparently she's been calling my mom about everything she reads on here. Unfortunately, I've doddled while writing this, and she'll be in bed long before I actually get this posted. (Grandma - I hope you're feeling better! Love to you and Gramps)
Today started off with a bang... I accidentally set my alarm clock for 6.30 PM, instead of 6.30 AM, so when I woke up a little after 7 (with orders too meet Claire at 7.50) I almost had a heart attack. Luckily Miguel had been up since 6, and was practically out the door, so I was able to wolf down a quick breakfast and fancy myself up without obstructions, and in fairly short order.
After that, we caught the train just before 8, and arrived downtown around 8.15 - ridiculously early. So we stopped by the Starbucks near the Naval Memorial, where we sat for about half an hour (getting more and more excited about the fact that we were actually starting our jobs in Washington!).
We arrived at the embassy a little before 9, where we went through security and checked in with the receptionist (who works in a little glass box beside the internal door), and were told to wait. While waiting, we met two other interns, and chatted with them briefly before the intern coordinator came down to greet us.
She gave us a quick tour of the embassy and went over a few of their standing orders, before dropping us off at our desks. It's a pretty awesome building -- we have a heavily subsidized cafeteria, a big gym in the basement, and some amazing views of the Capitol building. More importantly, they get Canadian news stations and papers, as well as Macleans magazine and the Canadian edition of Time. I'm happy, since I've been jonesing for a National Post since I got down here.
As soon as we sat down a strange man (who I'd later learn is the embassy's energy commissioner) wandered in and snagged Claire and I to go with him to a press conference they were holding in the embassy's new press centre (for those of you who watch West Wing, think of the White House briefing room, but with Canadian flags everywhere).
After that we returned to our desks, met our supervisor Pratima (who hadn't been in when we'd first arrived), and spent a bit of time setting things up and getting supplies. We then went to lunch with Pratima and got to know her a little bit; she seems really great, so I'm looking forward to working with her.
From there we ventured to the Public Relations department to steal some Canadian/American flag pins (which I'd looked for unsuccessfully in Canada), then spent a bit of time looking over a Congressional information circular that the embassy receives, and finished sorting out our desks.
Then, came the highlight of the day: Pratima dropped us off at a meeting of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee up on Capitol Hill. I was so excited at the fact that we were sitting in an actual Senate meeting chamber, watching actual Senators, and taking notes that we'll actually be using (when we're debriefed tomorrow!), that the lack of interesting subject material wasn't much of a concern.
That took almost three hours, after which we headed back to the embassy where we picked up our bags and headed home. On the way, we stopped and I picked up several boxes of All-Bran bars, including a new flavour I didn't know existed, which should keep me stocked for a little while at least.
Tomorrow the embassy is holding a big fundraising benefit to raise money for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, so Claire and I will be volunteering with that for part of the day. It's possible there will be a trip to a House subcommittee meeting tomorrow as well. It sounds like we're going to be doing a lot of different stuff without much structure for the first little while, which suits me just fine.
--
I was actually just watching Fox 5 news as I was typing this, and they mentioned the Senate Subcommittee meeting I attended today, and I thought that was pretty cool.
posted by Scoops at 11:33 p.m.
5 Comments:
Whew... I feel like the rude stouge interrupting a play right smack dab in the middle. And of course I have no clue what's going on here (especially that Sheena Easton joke) but I'm a keen listener once I'm tuned in so keep up the good work. Hope you have a great time in Washington (in seems you do already without my blessings) but I also hope all this schmoozing with senators doesn't give you a big head. I think one egomaniac (me, namely) is enough in Commerce, eh (a little choice of word to prevent home-sickness)?
- Sung
Scotty,
It sure sounds like you are having the time of your life. I am so happy for you. Are you missing your pants tree yet???
I do hope that with the help of your university education, you can figure out how your alarm clock acutally works (they can be tricky!). I of course am a college "grageate" so alarm clock setting isn't a problem for me.
Scott:
Gramps and I just love reading everything you write. We feel as if we are right with you every day. Keep it coming.
Mr. Scott,
Love the blog, darling! It's simply fabulous. Keep up the good work. And enjoy the bran.
A la prochaine...
Hey Scott!
I have to admit that after reading all of Act II (I'll tackle Act I in a few mins) I don't really have a comment. Why post anything you ask? Well, it's simply that I find myself in awe of the events and occurences you've had in the last six weeks and thought that you should know that myself, Gus and possibly Adam (adam not being home right now, but I'm sure he'd concur) are very excited to hear what happens next. It sounds like you're having an absolute riot!
Cheers bud,
Chris
p.s. Squirrels in the house this year: 3.
p.p.s. I forgot to mention: your blog is awesome (thoroughly amusing). I thought putting a comment in brackets there was appropriate. lol
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