Saturday, April 29, 2006
Mmm, Beer…
In honor of Germany's upcoming role as host of the FIFA World Cup (yes, soccer), the news magazine Der Spiegel's English website has been putting together a "Germany Survival Bible". Since Germany holds a special place in my heart, I decided to check it out. I've got to say, it was pretty amusing.
There's everything from an explanation of the unique structure of a typical German toilet (really, it's not nearly as bad as they make it sound) to a stereotyper's guide to German humor to an explanation of the enmity between northern and southern Germany. The latter seems to have a very distinctive northern German slant, but I'll leave that alone for now. The best, and probably the most useful for tourists, is the article talking about German beers. Friends have often asked me before trips to Germany what beers are good and where to find them. Well, guys, now there's an answer, and there are even notes about which ones have the greatest risk of a hangover. So pick out a beer, a region, a flavor, and a degree of hangover likelihood, and go to town!
OTHER AMUSING THINGS: In your next perturbed email to a friend or colleague (choose such colleagues wisely), take advantage of some guidance from one of our greatest bards. Includes phrases both recently assembled and long-ago published.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Return of an FSO
The Foreign Service is a strange and unique thing, and this becomes more apparent with each passing day. This evening we received the first return visit by one of our already-departed A-100 colleagues. (Note: for those of you unfamiliar with the Foreign Service, A-100 is the term for the two-month entering/orientation seminar in the Foreign Service).
Jeff left for his assignment in Tokyo back in January, and he came back this week to get married. Almost all of the class members who are still in DC doing long-term training showed up at the appointed happy hour location to spend a few hours with him. The majority of us had all sorts of questions generally following the "what's it like?" theme, and Jeff was gracious enough to share some tidbits from his experiences at post so far. He has really been enjoying himself, and he says his work in Tokyo, dealing with American Citizens there, has been really interesting and rewarding. It was great to see him, and some of his stories from his first few months at post were really entertaining.
One of the most fascinating things about the evening's conversation, though, was the difference in perspectives between someone who's been out working and those who have been here training. Jeff commented a number of times that it seems to him like such a short time ago that a much larger group of us were gathered together at another happy hour to toast our January departees, of which he was one. Each time he mentioned this, though, the rest of us looked at each other with disbelief, and invariably one of us would say something to the effect of, "Wow, that was SO long ago!" Perhaps it's the old thing about people unconsciously imagining that the worlds they leave behind simply stand still until they return. Or maybe it's the fact that every last one of us who is still here has been chomping at the bit for months wanting to get out and start working.
At any rate, I know I'm not alone in wishing Jeff a wonderful next few days and a beautiful wedding on Saturday. I'm sure he and Lisa will have a great time next week in Tahiti, and I look forward to seeing them once I get to their neighborhood in August.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Oddities of the Day
It's getting late on a Monday evening, and before I officially call it a day I thought I would share a few odd things with you for your amusement:
— I woke up this morning, started my routine of hitting the snooze button on my alarm, fell back asleep after the second time the alarm went off, and soon woke up to realize there was a man hanging outside my 7th floor window with its not-quite-completely-closed blinds. Definitely startling. Turns out the sheet of paper the apartment building slid under the door on Friday and that I noticed on Saturday and decided to read later was about window washers. Maybe I should start reading those things in a more timely manner…
— I realized at some point today that I am jealous of people with dark, straight hair. With this curly blond-ish mess I've got, it's very difficult to make it look really classy, but straight dark hair has this sleekness and richness to it that is always classy and always looks put-together, no matter what. Plus, it looks good in all sorts of cuts and styles. It's really not fair.
— I learned this evening that Hasbro is developing a new, updated version of the board game Monopoly. Apparently they want to include landmarks from a variety of American cities in this new version, and they want people to vote for their favorites in each of 22 cities. A pleasant surprise: they've actually included 7 cities in that group that are in the western United States (I'm counting Honolulu among these). An unpleasant surprise: among the Seattle choices is supposed to be Pioneer Square, but the "representative" photo they intend to put in the game is not of Pioneer Square at all, but of the Space Needle and a couple of skyscrapers. So are we meant to vote for Pioneer Square or for the Space Needle & Downtown? (For those of you who are unfamiliar with Seattle geography, Pioneer Square is the old part of the city, boasting only a single skyscraper at a diminutive 42 stories tall.) Honestly, Hasbro, get it straight! Personally, though, I avoided the whole question – nothing is as fundamental to Seattle as Puget Sound. At any rate, this might be an interesting diversion for homesick Foreign Service types too, so go ahead and vote, everyone!
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Honorary Guy
Today I spent the majority of the day hanging out with a new group of friends. I met them through the whole friend-of-a-friend thing, and they invited me to join them for a picnic, barbecue and other madness in DC’s Rock Creek Park today. Telling myself this is great because I need to get out of the house more anyway, I made a quick salad (it’s simply beyond me to plan ahead for anything these days), grabbed a bottle of wine, and headed out to Northwest DC.
This group of recent DC transplants is composed of six guys and one other girl. Topics of conversation, when they were not of the usual DC type (think politics, international affairs, etcetera), were often of the sort one might expect from a good-sized group of male twenty-somethings. Every so often, someone would start to say something, then look over at Ann or me and think better of it. Then, inevitably, someone else would say, “She’s a guy, it’s okay,” and the conversation would continue in its original vein. I’m a guy. Wow, I didn’t even have to go through surgery! And to think I thought the whole “honorary male” thing was just a rumor about allowances made for powerful or professional women in certain middle eastern countries…
It was a really good afternoon, I have to say. A rarity lately, there was very little of that dense intellectual stuff going on, and it was just a regular gathering of a group of people hanging out with people they like and enjoying a nice day outside. We cooked, ate, threw ice at one another, drank beers and Pepsis, mocked each other and ourselves, cooked and ate some more, and played ultimate frisbee. The latter was only stopped when one of our number was injured and we all decided not to tempt fate. It was actually my first time playing ultimate frisbee, and let me tell you, I ache. I suspect I’ll truly be loving life when the real aching sets in tomorrow. Small price to pay for a day away from it all.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
My “Spring Break”
The Korean section at FSI gave the students a couple of optional days off at the end of the week last week as their version of a spring break, so I used them to take a long-awaited trip to visit my brother in Vegas. As I promised earlier, here are some of the photos from that trip.
Sedona Arizona – There were lots of cool rock formations on this trip…
A cliff dwelling known as "Montezuma's Castle" – a misnomer that just kind of stuck.
A (faint) rainbow in the Grand Canyon during a great little thunderstorm. The rock in the middle has a name too: Isis Temple.
Still a big hole in the ground – cool lighting, though.
Not pictured here: Jerome, Arizona (I was just too enthused about the place to remember to take any photos) and a day of pampering at the spa (including my major haircut) and going to a fantastic show at the Bellagio in Vegas. We shall have to leave those to your imagination. 🙂
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
5 1/2 Months
One of my Korean teachers asked me today how long I had been studying Korean. I thought about it for a minute, and then I realized that I've been studying this crazy language for five and a half months. Five and a half months! For heaven's sake, you would think after all this time of studying so hard all week every week I would be able to hold a coherent conversation at a tempo greater than about a sentence a minute. As it is, my pauses trying to figure out words or grammar constructions seem to at least triple the amount of time it takes me to say anything. I'm really starting to think I just need to go to Korea and simply start winging it there. I mean, it can't actually be that difficult – lots of people speak Korean, and lots of Koreans speak English, right? There's got to be some sort of simplified, everyday version of the language that's not as complicated, right?
Monday, April 17, 2006
The Latest Journey
It's late at night and I just got back from a wonderful trip to visit my brother in Vegas. No, I didn't do any gambling, but I had a great time. There will be more later, but consider this a little taste of what's to come.
Recipe for a great, gambling-free trip to Vegas and the surrounding area: Take one vehicle and a couple of family members (including some gas money) and head out across Hoover Dam to Arizona. Go down Oak Creek Canyon to Sedona and wander through some shops. Head out of Sedona, enjoying views of some stunning rock formations along the way, to a Native American cliff dwelling known as Montezuma's Castle. From there, head into Prescott to spend the night at the very well-appointed vacation home of a friend or colleague. The next day, head out of Prescott, up and back down the very steep and winding road that is highway 89A to the little mining town of Jerome, perched rather precariously on the side of a steep hill. In Jerome, wander in and out of several shops featuring the work of local artisans, being sure to talk to some shopkeepers and learn some of the local lore. Upon leaving Jerome, make a bee-line for the Grand Canyon's south rim. The entrance fee to the national park is worth it. If you can, try to be there during a thunderstorm and sit on the edge of the canyon enjoying a little bit of rain and the endless echoes of the thunder reverberating through the canyon. If you have all sorts of time or are able to spend the night, hike down at least partway and enjoy a picnic. Otherwise, get back in your vehicle, drive back out the road you came in on, and head back toward Hoover Dam and on to Vegas. The next day, pamper yourself in Vegas (or better yet, let someone else pamper you). Sleep in, go to a spa and enjoy a massage, a facial, a haircut, and of course some time in the hot tub and sauna. In the evening, go to a show at one of the big casinos on the Strip, then head out to a late dinner at one of Vegas' top-notch restaurants. And whatever you do, at the end of this fabulous trip, don't try to fly through Chicago when they're having thunderstorms and all sorts of delays at O'Hare.
Effusive thanks to my brother and his girlfriend for hosting me and treating me to a really great vacation. Also to my mom for once again patiently putting up with my brother and I acting like siblings.
Later this week: some photos to inspire you to create your own wonderful trip to the great American Southwest.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Botany 101
This being my third spring in DC, I really should have figured this out by now. There is this tree here in DC that can be found in people's yards, along parking strips, etcetera that gets lots of bright purple blooms all along its branches in the spring. I've been trying with no luck to find someone around here who knows what the name of this tree is. No reason, really, other than that it just bothers me that I don't know it. Anyway, here is a close-up of a branch. If anyone out there knows the name of it, could you let me know?
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
On the Bus
Today I had to go to northwest DC, to my old neighborhood that is only accessible by bus. Bus rides in DC are always an adventure. Because of the way the city is segregated, the crowd varies markedly from one route to the next, but one thing is always the same: if you ride the bus any time but during rush hour, there's always some crazy person on it.
Does anyone ever wonder about that ubiquitous crazy person on the bus? I mean, at some point that person was somebody's adorable little girl or boy, probably built castles out of wooden blocks in kindergarten and stole cookies out of the cookie jar at grandma's place. Where did things go wrong? Nobody wants to grow up to be the crazy bus dude, but there are enough of them in this city to make them ever-present.
Sunday, April 9, 2006
U-G-L-Y…
I bit the bullet and went shopping today. In one of the last stores I went to, there were these two kids, maybe 8 or 9 years old, telling one another how ugly they were. Then one of them breaks into the "U-g-l-y, you ain't got no alibi…" rhyme and I couldn't help myself. There I was staring at yet another pair of cropped, torn, embroidered and be-dazzled jeans, wondering whether these were the ugliest pair I'd seen yet, and these kids break into the ugly song. Not laughing would have been simply too much to ask.
My jeans shopping was pretty productive today, though. Well, not in terms of finding a couple of good pairs of jeans as I had planned, but I did find one. And I ended up coming home with a lot more than just that. The results of my day are as follows:
Most of this is stuff I've been meaning to pick up for quite a while and just hadn't gotten around to it. Though the jeans are definitely an accomplishment, I'm most excited about the crimson purse. This will be my first venture into the world of colorful purses (tote bags don't count), and I'm looking forward to not having to change purses when I change from brown shoes to black. Next thing on the list: another good pair of jeans, probably to be put off until the next time I'm in NYC and can go to this great little jeans shop there.
Girl in the Rain 