A Clean Report

The last two weeks in the program have been really great, even though I can't believe how quickly everything is going! My internship at Smithsonian is still going really well. I finished fact checking an article on the Acoma settlement, which felt like a real achievement as it seemed to take a rather long time to get to the bottom of it. I have now started work on another article, which is equally fascinating, on the Conner Prairie living history site in Indiana. It has been great to be in touch with the writers and then to source out others who are experts in their field who can aid with the research. I really feel now I am helping my boss out a little bit with her work load.

School has been going really well too. Since I last wrote, I went and heard George Stephanopoulos speak at GW, which was amazing. It was fascinating to hear about his thoughts on the upcoming presidential election and I have to say people back in England are rather jealous that I got to hear him speak. We went to Capitol Hill the following day where we managed to sit in the hearing of McNamee versus Clemens, on the use of steroids in Major League Baseball. It was brilliant and I have just turned in a paper on the media coverage of that event. It was really interesting to see what the different journalists had reported on the subject of the hearing, particularly Mike Wise of the Washington Post, as we met him at the Hill the previous day.

This Friday just gone we went to Fox News Studios, which was a fantastic experience. We managed to sit in the studio room while the news was being broadcasted live and were able to hear through an earpiece the instructions for the anchorman/camera crew etc. We also learned about television writing this week, which was certainly a new experience for me, especially as I am so used to writing 3000 word English essays. It is a slight change when your target is only 4 sentences! I'm hoping practice will make perfect though!

Social life has been going really well - apart from the domestic side of things. Obviously living in America is just that bit different from England and I thought I was doing really well getting used to the way things were done over here - obviously not, as last week my roommate headed to the kitchen to leave for the gym and came face to face with bubbles and foam filling the entire kitchen! Yes, I had put the wrong type of liquid in the dishwasher (on someone else's instructions I might add - although my roommate did point out that he was not the best person to ask, considering he eats out pretty much every night!) So yes, there was foam absolutely everywhere, pouring out everywhere! (it does make me wonder about the condition of our dishwasher though.) I have to say we were in hysterics - I am going to known as the blondest student at GW now! But, at least we looked on the bright side our kitchen floor is probably the cleanest thing in our apartment!
So apart from that episode, everything else has been great. Too many nights out in Adams Morgan has started to be combatted with late night/early Sunday morning jogging sessions to make me feel I'm doing myself some good. I have found there are some great places to run near the Washington Monument. Although, the two guys I run with are often just two spots in the distance after the first mile as I struggle to keep up! I feel a few more sessions at the GW gym are needed! (The GW gym is absolutely brilliant, by the way, great facilities and it's free which I was amazed about- you wouldn't find that in England!)
Once again I'm absolutely exhausted first thing on a Monday morning, but it has been a great two weeks since I last wrote. I may be burning the candle at both ends (as my mother would say), with work and social life, but it is definitely worth it.