Koreans Play Charades, Too

My time in DC has been quite the experience so far. Meeting new people and learning new things, all the while adapting to this bustling city has made the past ten days seem like a blur. As the daily metro rides to GW and early morning classes quickly become routine I find myself looking forward to coming weeks.

Jing Zhong, the China specialist at the Global Resource Center gave the orientation for my internship. It was entirely in Chinese, for which I was both scared and grateful. While it’s great to have someone to practice the language with, it can be intimidating at times. At least I’m not the only one eating with chopsticks during lunch.

At the WISH open house we ran into four exchange students from Korea that we’ve affectionately dubbed “K-Unit”. Since then, we took a few excursions together, the most entertaining event for me being a game of charades. It was lots of fun, and I learned some interesting cultural facts.

Apparently, the dogs in Korea never urinate on fire hydrants.

~David

Indian dinner with K-unit, Glenn fellows, and some other WISH interns. Good stuff, and a great time despite a billing snafu. SO MUCH NAAN.

-Sam

(ps K-unit, best-unit)

A New City

Ten days here in our Nation's Capital. What a ten days it has been. A new city with new people to live with, a new routine, new assignments... a whole new way of life.
My first ten days have been perfectly enjoyable - a little disconcerting, considering that in the future I will have to surrender much free-time here to policy research and writing some papers. There have been museums for us to check out and a contingent of some extremely friendly Korean exchange students for us to meet, as well as one of the most intense games of Monopoly I have ever witnessed.

All in all the quarter looks like it will shape up to be an extremely fulfilling one even though, as of yet, I haven't quite seemed to be able to narrow down my policy paper topic further than, "not health care".

Josh

National Press Club

On Friday I attended an event at the National Press Club. For those who do not know what the NPC is it is an organization that is just for journalists. According to its website the purpose of the club is to “provide people who gather and disseminate news a center for the advancement of their professional standards and skills, the promotion of free expression, mutual support and social fellowship.”

The speaker was a prominent USA Today journalist and also the president of the organization. She spoke about her experiences as a journalist. She had all kinds of different stories from her times working the beat in Miami to her time reporting from Iraq at the beginning of the war. During the question and answer period I had the opportunity to ask her a question. I asked “How can I make the most of my internship?” Her response was targeted toward future journalist but relates to each and every one of us no matter what internship we have. She told me that I should wake up at midnight and read every single news story and then write two news stories from those that are the biggest stories of the day. Even though I am not a journalism student she made me realize that my internship is not just a “9 to 5 job”. I need to do much more in order to get the most out my internship. I should be reading, researching, and learning about anything that is being discussed in my office. The issues that we come across in Washington are complicated. We work with very smart, competent people and it is our duty not only to ourselves but to the people we work for to be best informed and be ready to do what is asked of us.

Hey, I know that guy

Even going to work is an adventure in DC. Working for the US Business and Industry Council has been a blast so far, and on Friday, something happened that blew my mind.

I'd been working all week without having met my boss, Alan Tonelson, mostly taking assignments over the phone and working independantly. When I finally met him Friday morning, he was in the midst of a torrent of frenzied activity. We ran into something of a snafu, as he was due to appear on CNBC in an hour, and our office manager had swiped his keyboard for my use while he was out of time.

The crisis averted, he finished a press release to notify our members of his spot on TV, ran out of the office, and fifteen minutes later, I tuned in and saw him LIVE! It was amazing to see the speed of business on Capitol Hill - one minute I'm dealing with office hassles with Alan, and the next I'm watching him as a talking head discussing US economic policy. It was awesome to flip the channels and think, 'hey, I know that guy.'

-Sam

First Weekend

What a fun day! Today some of us from 225 went over to the book fair that was on the mall.  We've been so busy this week that I hadn't gotten a chance to see the west side of the Capitol before today. It was much different than I remember. It had much more meaning now than it did the last time I saw it. I kept thinking about inauguration day and the millions of people that crowded the mall in celebration of our new president.  

Though we wanted to see the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial today, the weather was not ideal so we instead went to the American History Museum. I was literally in awe from the time I got there until the time I left. I felt so overwhelmed with how many exhibits there were and how little time we had . The first floor was awesome. They had a hands-on section for children, Invention at Play, that I was only halfway through when one of my classmates told me that everyone was waiting for me.  Unfortunately, this continued to happen with the rest of the exhibits. I could have spent much more time exploring, but 5:30 came quickly.  I am definitely planning on going back, if for nothing else, to see The American Presidency in more depth. 

It's only been a week, but I know that this quarter will bring many more great days. I'm hoping that the weather tomorrow will be better so that I can see the other monuments.  - Liz

http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/us_law/etn/elect08/index.aspx?source=home

Hey Everyone!! I hope the third day of internships are going well. I just want to invite everyone to an event that Human Rights First will be hosting called, "Protecting America Post-Guantanamo" next Tuesday September 29th from 2:30-3:30 in the afternoon. I recognize that everyone will most likely be at their interships during this time, but if your interested please try and come. Listed bellow is an official invite for the event. If you have any questions please ask!!!

Jessica

“Protecting America Post-Guantanamo”

Please join us for a panel discussion with four
of the nation’s most knowledgeable retired military leaders

Tuesday, September 29, 2009
2:30 – 3:30 pm
U.S. Capitol Visitor’s Center, Room SVC 210

Fed up with the spread of misinformation and disinformation
by those opposed to closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo,
four prominent retired military leaders set the record straight.

Panelists

General David M. Maddox, USA (Ret.)
Former Commander in Chief, US Army in Europe

Lieutenant General Harry E. Soyster, USA (Ret.)
Former Director, Defense Intelligence Agency

Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, JAGC, USN (Ret.)
Former Judge Advocate General, US Navy

Major General William L. Nash, USA (Ret.)
Former Commander, US Army’s First Armored Division,
and of Task Force Eagle, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Moderator
Elisa Massimino, CEO and Executive Director, Human Rights First

Please RSVP to FourmyK@humanrightsfirst.org

Class Begins!

Today, being the first day of class, brought on a full agenda. We fellows started our day off at 8:30am with a lecture covering policy formation delivered by the director and our professor Dr. Kolson. The two pieces we studied and discussed consisted of James Madison's "The Federalist No. 10" and Charles E. Lindblom's "The Science of 'Muddling Through.' " Each of which were interesting and will aid us in the development of our policy papers.
Following our lecture we headed off to the Library of Congress for an extensive tour. In summary, the LOC is as grand and beautiful as it is resourceful. However, one would expect nothing less form the world's largest library.


At the end of our tour we each received library cards! These will come in handy for research purposes and will also serve as great souvenirs! We ended the day with a WISH welcome reception where we were given the chance to mingle with tons of other Washington interns and enjoy the catered food. Tomorrow morning and Friday morning we head to our internships for full days of work and have plans to fill the weekend with sight seeing. Even though our time here so far only consists of a few days, we are finding D.C. to be a very impressive city and are looking forward to what all this quarter will bring. Oh, and this post would not be complete with out a quick shout out to my parents. Hi Mom & Dad!

Chelsea

A New Class of Glenn fellows, Fall 2009

Welcome, a new class of Glenn fellows has arrived in Washington! They are ready for a very busy and exciting quarter! They visited an exhibit at the National Building Museum on Monday.