Mr. Scott goes to Washington - Act Three, Scene Four: The Wide World of Hats
Well, loyal readers, here we are again.
I didn't realize it had been so long since I'd last posted, so once again I'll be posting a couple of entries in fairly short order. This entry will document the period from Saturday, Nov. 5 (night) to Saturday, Nov. 12. Then (hopefully) tomorrow I'll update you on my comings and goings this past week.
On Saturday night (Nov. 5) we went to the movie as planned, but Marie was experiencing weird stomach pains so we took her to the hospital after the show, where she stayed for the next day or so (thankfully she was fine - it was diagnosed as a weird stomach flu or something). I must say, the American emergency room wasn't quite as I expected it. I guess I've always pictured it as kind of like a medical McDonalds - you know, a number of cash registers where you'd walk up, give them your insurance information and get immediate service. Instead, we had a really long wait (Brendon and I were dismissed around 11pm, Claire stayed with Marie until 6.30am), which kind of felt like home!
On Sunday (Nov. 6) I helped Claire move her and Marie's stuff out to their new apartment in Arlington. It was a long and laborious process, although I had the nicest cabbie from Ethiopia who updated me on the current political situation in his homeland. Marie's mother had flown in flown in from Iowa when she heard Marie was in the hospital, so she took Marie, Claire, Brendon and I out for dinner on Sunday night, which was nice.
On Monday (Nov. 7) morning, our Washington Center event was actually a visit to the Canadian Embassy, which was fun. I got to feel all official with my staff pass, and I knew a couple of the people talking to us. They gave us a presentation about Canada and our foreign affairs, which, of course, Claire and I already knew. The Mexicans, however, really ate it up. That afternoon we were given a lecture by a peace-studies coordinator, who is also an avowed pacifist and anarchist. While I won't go into it at length, as part of our program we have to write essay responses to three of our lectures - I'm currently writing one of mine on his lecture, and try as I might to avoid it, I'm coming across as a bit of a warmonger. That night we had class, as always.
Tuesday (Nov. 8) I spent some time finishing up my report on the CATO monetary conference I'd attended the previous week. We also had another intern briefing, this time with the head of the Embassy's Public Relations section. He was a pretty interesting guy and talked about the importance of understanding the American political system for successful diplomatic efforts. Best of all, he was very... blunt... in his assessment of the Liberal Party's current manipulation of anti-Americanism for their own political gain coming into the next election.
On Wednesday (Nov. 9) I was off to the Senate, where the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a joint hearing to look at high energy prices. Testifying on behalf of the oil industry were the CEOs of all five major oil companies. It was the longest hearing I’ve attended yet, in part because with two committees in attendance there were around 30 Senators each taking time to ask questions of the witnesses. As some of you may know, this hearing was later used for a comedic bit on “The Daily Show,” which I thought was pretty cool since I was there and saw everything they were spoofing actually happen. My archnemesis Barbara Boxer (D - CA) figured prominently, wreaking havoc as usual.
Thursday (Nov. 10) morning I finished my report on the previous day’s joint hearing. After that I attended a lunch seminar on behalf of the embassy’s agriculture counsellor at the German Marshall Fund. The topic was related to ongoing reforms of American and European sugar policy, and was about as exciting as it sounds. The reception was attended by a number of diplomatic missions, although I'm pretty sure I was the only intern at the table. Once that was over I returned to the embassy to start my report.
We were given Friday (Nov. 11) off, but I went in to work for the morning since the embassy was holding a ceremony in the courtyard for Remembrance Day. It was a very “Canadian” ceremony: they had a bagpiper, played O Canada and God Save the Queen, and read In Flanders’ Fields (although the reading was poor; I should have volunteered).
It was really interesting because representatives were there from the armed services of a number of Commonwealth and Allied countries, including a couple of high-ranking British officers who had very interesting uniforms (one had quite a spectacular hat - feathers and everything). The Ambassador gave a great speech, telling the story of an American pilot who volunteered to join the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940, and who died in Europe in 1942. That afternoon Claire and I went to the mall, and then she went to meet up with somebody (I can't for the life of me remember who, or why) while I went out for some Chinese food with my friend Jonathan.
Saturday (Nov. 12) morning, Claire and I finally made it over the Holocaust Museum, which was quite an experience, although a bit of a downer. The museum itself was brilliantly designed; as you entered the permanent exhibits you picked up an ID card, which followed the life of a person who lived during the Holocaust. As you progressed (the museum was laid out chronologically) you would check to see where your person was. Unfortunately all of the ID cards I could find (and I shifted through that pile for a while) were women, so I picked the pretty Romanian one with the fabulous hat. I guess that British officer must have put me in a 'hat' kind of mood.
As far as the museum itself, I couldn't believe how much authentic stuff they had brought over from Europe. For example, they had paved the second floor with cobblestones taken from the actual Warsaw Ghetto. During the tour you walked through one of the train cars used to ship people off to the concentration camps - and it was sitting on train tracks they'd brought over from Birkenau! They also had a copy of the famous sign over the gates to Auschwitz (you know, "Arbeit Macht Frei"), which I found particularly striking, and a recreation of one of the prisoners' barracks complete with actual bunk beds from the camp.
That took us several hours, and afterwards I didn't really feel like doing much else, so I went home. To try and make myself feel a bit better, I picked up some McDonald's for dinner - it helped for a little while, but then I just felt gross.
And on that pleasant note, I'll end for today.
Abrupt? Certainly.
I didn't realize it had been so long since I'd last posted, so once again I'll be posting a couple of entries in fairly short order. This entry will document the period from Saturday, Nov. 5 (night) to Saturday, Nov. 12. Then (hopefully) tomorrow I'll update you on my comings and goings this past week.
On Saturday night (Nov. 5) we went to the movie as planned, but Marie was experiencing weird stomach pains so we took her to the hospital after the show, where she stayed for the next day or so (thankfully she was fine - it was diagnosed as a weird stomach flu or something). I must say, the American emergency room wasn't quite as I expected it. I guess I've always pictured it as kind of like a medical McDonalds - you know, a number of cash registers where you'd walk up, give them your insurance information and get immediate service. Instead, we had a really long wait (Brendon and I were dismissed around 11pm, Claire stayed with Marie until 6.30am), which kind of felt like home!
On Sunday (Nov. 6) I helped Claire move her and Marie's stuff out to their new apartment in Arlington. It was a long and laborious process, although I had the nicest cabbie from Ethiopia who updated me on the current political situation in his homeland. Marie's mother had flown in flown in from Iowa when she heard Marie was in the hospital, so she took Marie, Claire, Brendon and I out for dinner on Sunday night, which was nice.
On Monday (Nov. 7) morning, our Washington Center event was actually a visit to the Canadian Embassy, which was fun. I got to feel all official with my staff pass, and I knew a couple of the people talking to us. They gave us a presentation about Canada and our foreign affairs, which, of course, Claire and I already knew. The Mexicans, however, really ate it up. That afternoon we were given a lecture by a peace-studies coordinator, who is also an avowed pacifist and anarchist. While I won't go into it at length, as part of our program we have to write essay responses to three of our lectures - I'm currently writing one of mine on his lecture, and try as I might to avoid it, I'm coming across as a bit of a warmonger. That night we had class, as always.
Tuesday (Nov. 8) I spent some time finishing up my report on the CATO monetary conference I'd attended the previous week. We also had another intern briefing, this time with the head of the Embassy's Public Relations section. He was a pretty interesting guy and talked about the importance of understanding the American political system for successful diplomatic efforts. Best of all, he was very... blunt... in his assessment of the Liberal Party's current manipulation of anti-Americanism for their own political gain coming into the next election.
On Wednesday (Nov. 9) I was off to the Senate, where the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a joint hearing to look at high energy prices. Testifying on behalf of the oil industry were the CEOs of all five major oil companies. It was the longest hearing I’ve attended yet, in part because with two committees in attendance there were around 30 Senators each taking time to ask questions of the witnesses. As some of you may know, this hearing was later used for a comedic bit on “The Daily Show,” which I thought was pretty cool since I was there and saw everything they were spoofing actually happen. My archnemesis Barbara Boxer (D - CA) figured prominently, wreaking havoc as usual.
Thursday (Nov. 10) morning I finished my report on the previous day’s joint hearing. After that I attended a lunch seminar on behalf of the embassy’s agriculture counsellor at the German Marshall Fund. The topic was related to ongoing reforms of American and European sugar policy, and was about as exciting as it sounds. The reception was attended by a number of diplomatic missions, although I'm pretty sure I was the only intern at the table. Once that was over I returned to the embassy to start my report.
We were given Friday (Nov. 11) off, but I went in to work for the morning since the embassy was holding a ceremony in the courtyard for Remembrance Day. It was a very “Canadian” ceremony: they had a bagpiper, played O Canada and God Save the Queen, and read In Flanders’ Fields (although the reading was poor; I should have volunteered).
It was really interesting because representatives were there from the armed services of a number of Commonwealth and Allied countries, including a couple of high-ranking British officers who had very interesting uniforms (one had quite a spectacular hat - feathers and everything). The Ambassador gave a great speech, telling the story of an American pilot who volunteered to join the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940, and who died in Europe in 1942. That afternoon Claire and I went to the mall, and then she went to meet up with somebody (I can't for the life of me remember who, or why) while I went out for some Chinese food with my friend Jonathan.
Saturday (Nov. 12) morning, Claire and I finally made it over the Holocaust Museum, which was quite an experience, although a bit of a downer. The museum itself was brilliantly designed; as you entered the permanent exhibits you picked up an ID card, which followed the life of a person who lived during the Holocaust. As you progressed (the museum was laid out chronologically) you would check to see where your person was. Unfortunately all of the ID cards I could find (and I shifted through that pile for a while) were women, so I picked the pretty Romanian one with the fabulous hat. I guess that British officer must have put me in a 'hat' kind of mood.
As far as the museum itself, I couldn't believe how much authentic stuff they had brought over from Europe. For example, they had paved the second floor with cobblestones taken from the actual Warsaw Ghetto. During the tour you walked through one of the train cars used to ship people off to the concentration camps - and it was sitting on train tracks they'd brought over from Birkenau! They also had a copy of the famous sign over the gates to Auschwitz (you know, "Arbeit Macht Frei"), which I found particularly striking, and a recreation of one of the prisoners' barracks complete with actual bunk beds from the camp.
That took us several hours, and afterwards I didn't really feel like doing much else, so I went home. To try and make myself feel a bit better, I picked up some McDonald's for dinner - it helped for a little while, but then I just felt gross.
And on that pleasant note, I'll end for today.
Abrupt? Certainly.
posted by Scoops at 5:36 p.m.
1 Comments:
Scoops,
I promise I have not abandoned the Scoop! Just wanted to note that everything sounds wonderful as per usual. And as a sidenote, I shall send out that email involving the copying and pasting!
Miss you! Have muchos fun.
Lindsamuffin
Post a Comment
<< Home