paraphernalia

Monday
Instead of spending last night re-packing (as was the plan), I spent it downloading new music to my MP3 player. So today I finally caught up on some important Radio National and JJJ podcasts. Yes, I am a nerd!

I actually got a lot out of it – not least the Aussie accent! I finally heard a fair and balanced account of Singapore’s politics and media (about time!), cried to an account of HIV Positive kids and the plight that befalls those suffering from a un-talked-about disease. Think about it, when was the last time you saw a fund-raising initiative for HIV. We generally (and largely subconsciously) take it as a self-inflicted illness. Well, for these kids it’s not and their story is DEFINITELY worth listening to.

OK, so now I’m off my soapbox, I’ll continue. In case you hadn’t noticed, health is a HUGE issue for me – public health especially. Methinks I’ll work in that field at some point…

The biggest news that I had yet to hear about from home was the election of Kevin Rudd as Labor’s new leader. Given how politically aware I thought I was that came as a bit of a shock. Odd, eh? I don’t know how effective he’ll be at bringing back my favoured party, as he has the personality of a rock. We’ll just have to wait and see.

And now onto the actual travelling business. My bags arrived at 11 (yay!) – clearly this lost baggage business happens to United frequently because they have a fast and effective procedure in place.

After a brief but touching reunion with my bag (“Ah so that’s where those clothes were!”) I headed straight for downtown. I had lunch at a Subway-style place called Potbelly. It’s a million times better than Subway and surprisingly good for fast food. I had a beef sub there and it was definitely filling, a perfect starter for one of the best tours I’ve ever taken.

Last time I came to DC I found out about the Voice of America tour. The VoA has been in operation since WW2 and is basically the ‘objective’ propaganda station of the US, built to counter the German and then the Soviet media. It has never broadcast in the States, but now broadcasts in something like 100 countries and 20 languages. I think those numbers are actually far higher, but I can’t remember right now. The tour takes you behind the scenes of their studios and why they exist. It was really interesting to hear (from their point of view) how they view objectivity and their purpose. They never broadcast unconfirmed information and take their mission as providers of truth VERY seriously. No one here is unilingual, and that in itself fascinates me. You need to book ahead online to go on a tour, or just show up at 1 or 3pm. Definitely recommended.

After the tour I finally had a chance to meet with Scott, a friend-of-a-friend who works at the IMF. It was a really insightful coffee meeting we had, discussing politics, the IMF and higher education. Given his role there, as an inside-but-independent observer and critic, he’s got a birds eye perspective and is a wealth of knowledge.

Finally it was time to head back to Fairfax to repack. I spent the evening alternating between that and posting lots of photos of Facebook. Ah the dilemmas of a traveller.

Tuesday
Woke to a call from United telling me my flight was cancelled and thus spent the morning fixing that up. I spoke to a really helpful United employee (see they do exist!) and, provided all goes well, I should end up there tomorrow night. Not too bad I guess. I went downtown for one last time to drop off some of my luggage with Cliff for Dad to come and collect later on. We had lunch at the Old Post Office (a really interesting building if you ever get the chance to visit).

From there, I headed straight back to Fairfax to shop at Tysons 1 with Melissa. This mall is the 6th biggest in the US so I felt I should pay it a visit. It turns out not to feel that big, as the Americans build out not up, but it was still huge. The parking alone reminded me of one place: Castle Towers. Nowhere in Sydney has truly terrible public transport like the Hills, and nowhere in Virginia has good public transport, so I guess they share that in common.

I bought some pants, and a long sleeved shirt at H&M and then watched Casino Royale. It’s typical Bond fare. Not too demanding and definitely farcical at times. Good fun and definitely plane material.

One highlight for today were the ads on the Metro. “If you don’t eat on our trains, we won’t sit on your kitchen table” & “4 out of 5 dentists recommend gum in your mouth instead of in our trains”. Priceless, eh?

Wednesday
Argh! I hate the cold weather, it's official. All flights today are grounded from Dulles airport, and indeed 90% of airports on the East Coast due to a severe weather system. Clearly I’m spending more time in DC.

Unfortunately I had nothing planned and really no interest in doing anything so I spent the day using the Internet and watching TV. Oh, and I shovelled snow. Before starting it I saw that as a rite-of-passage – something that must be done before you can say you have truly lived in the snow.

Now, afterwards, I agree with that statement, but I’m still never doing it again. Clearly I’m not doing it right because it kills. It hurts muscles that don’t normally get used.