> 9/1/2006 - First Day

I feel that I should preface this blog entry with my current location. As I type, I'm currently sitting under moonlight in front of the Lincoln memorial with a strip of dark water, the Washington Monument and the Capitol staring back at me. Seemingly within arms reach due to their sheer size, it's hard to keep my eyes on the screen. If you do happen to make it out to the DC area, or anywhere near it for that matter, this is a sight you absolutely cannot miss.

Washington DC is an interesting place. Despite everyone's generally dismissive demeanor, the humidity, and buses that just cant seem to be ever on time, it has a certain attractive quality lying in its sense of history and pride in politics. Everywhere you walk you can't help but notice that practically everyone is in a suit, connected by some means to politics. From what I can tell, there's plenty of ethnic/sex/class conflict here, but its politics that rules this town.

Anyways, this entry should certainly address my first day interning in the Senate. I absolutely hate first days anywhere. Be it in a new school, city, or job, first days suck. They're inevitably consumed with name games (the worst), ice breakers (ugh), or just pure anxiety. Thus, in part, was my first day at the U.S. Capitol. Though I luckily didn't have to worry about name games or ice breakers, anxiety was certainly present in typical fashion. Arriving about a half hour early (I hate it when I do that), I nervously stood in the hallway of the Dirksen building, attempting to look like I somewhat belonged there. As the day finally commenced, I found myself more and more relaxed as the time passed due to a few things -

1. The staff here is extremely welcoming. It's very apparent that they've done this a few times, so you immediately feel like you're apart of the team. This goes about 10x for Tim. You'll see.
2. It's easy to blend in and seem like you know what you're doing throughout the rest of the building. Just dress nicely and look like you have somewhere to be.
3. There's coffee in the basement. Or was it on the ground floor? I'm still working on navigation.

Though some of the tasks sound intimidating initially, they're actually quite easy. For instance, I was fairly nervous to answer the phone, but after watching Tim for a day, it seemed fairly simple and now I feel proficient. Luckily, everyone is used to the interns kind of training for the first week or so, so you have a nice buffer when you first arrive that helps you ease into everything. Another thing that's nice is that someone always has a small project you can consume your time with. It helps with the time and makes you feel included in the team. Despite anxiety that had been manifesting since the beginning of summer, my first day in the Senate was welcoming and fascinating. With all of the other interns arriving on Tuesday, I plan on acting like I own the place. It's time to get some sleep (up by 7:00 due to the horribly unpredictable buses), but more blogs are to come. ; 9/1/2006; AW-Boise-Boise State">