Photos

I've been posting some of my best pictures on the posts here, but if you want to see more of the pictures I'm putting them on a different site. Here's the address: www.Jonathan.CannonPhotograph.com.

Arlington National Cemetery

So in case you can't tell I made it to Arlington National Cemetery today. It was pretty impressive. I got to see the changing of the guard and the wreath changing ceremony. The precision was very impressive, but I did find myself doing what I always do now when I'm traveling: comparing it to Europe.

It was definitely more touristy than Normandy was and it was nice just to be able to walk across the grass at Normandy. However, Arlington is so much larger than Normandy; the size is incredible.

As I was leaving the cold front that was supposed to come through today got here and the wind picked up. By the time I got out of the metro station at Dupont Circle it was raining (thanks for the umbrella, Mom).

I had an original cheesesteak for dinner and now am just hanging out. All in all, a pretty good day.

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There's so much to say; everything is so incredible here. I met New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg today. Actually I just shook his hand, but it was still cool. Though I did get to hear him talk in a very small news briefing with the National Journal writers. 

I also got to listen to two economic reporters from Newsweek at breakfast in their D.C. office. It's right down the street from the capital. We went out on their balcony (of sorts) and you can see it and the Washington monument. Also one of the guys pointed out where the Pentagon was from there.

In other news, I'm going to get a new phone tomorrow. Maybe I won't lose this one; I hope.

Also I realized something about my daily commute yesterday; I take the metro toward Vienna everyday on my way home. Granted, it's Vienna, Virginia, but I still thought it was worth mentioning.

Tough Times

So it's been an interesting few days. I've had my first class and my first full day of my internship. I feel better about them, but I'm still nervous. 

I did have a stressful day yesterday, but it was unrelated to work or classes. I managed to lose my cell phone. Yea me! I've never lost my phone before and I come to D.C. and lose it on a bus. As of yesterday afternoon they hadn't found it yet. I did manage to suspend the service though, in case someone found it and decided not to turn it in, but even that was an ordeal.

I called to cancel it and had to give my pin code, which I didn't know. So they asked me a security question. That, I also got wrong. So they told me go to a Sprint store. Do I know where a Sprint store is in D.C.? (In case you don't know the answer to that is, "No.") I found them online and then managed to make it there. 

I got there after they closed, but the guy was nice enough to let me in anyway. And he helped me suspend my phone. The one cool thing that came out of this so far is that I climbed the stairs that were featured in The Exorcist on my way back. I didn't know that's what they were till someone told me when I reached to top. It was A LOT of stairs.

Monument Tour

I played tourist today. I went on a guided monument tour that was provided to us by the program. It's normally not the way I like to see things when I travel, but the guide had a lot of really cool facts. Plus the buses had AC.

I'm not going to go into all the details of the tour, but here's a picture of the Capitol Building.

Hello again

So I’ve decided to rekindle my Vienna blog for my time in D.C. I know I’m not the best about writing, but I’ll try. It never hurts to get a little encouragement though.

Anyway, by the time I post this I’ll be in D.C., probably in my apartment. I’m writing this on the plane for now though.
It’s hard to describe how I’m feeling. I go from excited to scared about every five seconds. Hopefully I’ll have calmed down by the time I’m posting this. It probably doesn’t help that I had to get up at 2:45 this morning. That’s right a.m. My flight left 6:45 and of course you have to arrive ridiculously early, but I’m not knocking airport security I know it’s essential, just frustrating.

I have had a fairly interesting flight however. These some kind of girls’ sports team, at least I think that’s what the group is. It’s not very big, but they’re junior high-aged girls and they keep calling this one guy, “Coach.” Seems pretty obvious, huh? But they’re driving everyone crazy, especially the flight attendants.

Coach was sitting in front of me, but in a very cozy version of musical chairs, he and two other people moved around so another guy could have a window seat. Seemed like a lot of moving, but no one seemed to mind. After the guy moved I figured out why everyone was going to so much trouble. I overheard someone, on the phone before the plane took off, say it was Terrell Owens. I think he’s a football player, but I better check before I post this, lest I look uninformed.
I’m also sitting next to a to a couple that’s in love with crosswords. They’re both working on different ones, and sometimes they work on one together.

I helped on one of them. The clue was “sharks and jets.” They kept saying it over and over. The guys what thinking it had to do with sports like the New York Jets, but I knew without even looking. (Aren’t I smart? ☺) In case you haven’t figured out it’s Westside (still don’t know if that’s one word or two) Story, though it was actually just Westside.

Now that I'm here I have a short bit to add: My roommate's name is Matt; the stairs I have to climb to my apartment are Vienna all over again; and on the way in I pass the Iwo Jima memorial and the French Embassy.

Alps and Bike Tour

The Alps were amazing and it could not have been a better weekend to go. Our group was defineitly meant to go this weekend, we bounded so much. It feels like I've know the group so much longer than I actually have.

I got a lot of much needed rest at the Alps too. I slept late on Saturday and just stayed in in front of the fire. Then on Sunday a second group of us hiked to the top of one of the mountains where there is a cross. It was an amazing view and an exhausting hike, but it was completely worth it.

On Sunday night we had a communion service in front of the bonfire and then headed back to Vienna on Monday.

Nothing else interesting has happened this week until today. We took a bike tour around the ring today and it was amazingly cool. I think I will go rent a bike for the day and ride around. Other than that not too much to report, German is coming along and have used it some.

Tschüs