Our journey to Washington was in perfect time and flawless and really went off without a hitch despite the one slight interrogation but lets forget about that.
The anticipation and excitement at the airport was huge. We met our host families for the first time. These were the people we would be spending the next eight weeks with, forming friendships and contacts for life and hopefully bringing some of our own diversity to. Hence I was filled with apprehension but that was soon quelled upon meeting my host 'dad' David O'Brien. He is one of the nicest guys you could meet. He also has a nice BMW convertible.........sweet!
David also has a very stress-free approach to life which resounds in all things he does. I feel the next seven weeks with him upon writing this should be great!
We arrived on a Saturday and went home with our host families, giving us time to settle in etc. On Sunday, we, the 'Virginia Crew' were treated to a lovely barbecue by Meghan Ceyers. Plenty of fun was had by all. One thing I did remember vividly was the sweltering heat which contrary to what I expected seemed to be getting worse toward evening time but that's just me!
On Monday we met, all clad in our professional gear outside the White House and all sweating profusely from the near 96 degrees weather. However luckily, the WIP office was air-conditioned. The main event that day was the newseum and as the name suggests it is a museum dedicated to the history and admiration of news be it newspaper reports to TV news reports. It was truly amazing. There were newsreels from the fall of the Berlin wall to 9/11. Some of it felt like a step back in time.
Then came Tuesday with Michael Galligan-Stierle with his personality seminar. We had a fast track personality assessment to determine if we were a blue, a green or maybe a yellow or even a red. As obscure as it sounds, the colours represent a personality type. Though not completely convinced by this as I believe personality cannot be quantified when areas of the brain responsible for various personality traits are not fully known, it was fun and informative in parts. Other reasons come to mind too like how can a neutral personality test be created if the people creating the test supposedly have their own views and theories on personality traits that haven't even been fully understood in the first place. While I may not be very convinced, many others were and many businesses subscribe to it and I must thank Dr. Galligan-Stierle for his seminar, which many people loved.
Our next stop was Oakley's death tour. Why death? Well because in the past interns have perished under the extreme heat and walking distances around the various monuments. Only joking but it was scorching outside! It was amazing seeing the Lincoln memorial, the Vietnam and Korean veteran's memorial and Arlington Cemetery and also the Roosevelt memorial. One memorable moment was the changing of the guards at Arlington Cemetery. It was accomplished with finesse and procession and I could not help but feel for the soldiers who unlike us in our shorts and tee-shirts, were in full military attire amidst the sweltering heat.
Wednesday brought with it the Library of Congress tour and a seminar on the rare manuscripts. The library of congress is an immense building with a wonderful Italian, renaissance style architecture. We got a tour of the Jefferson Building by Elizabeth Pugh. An interesting part of the building was the 'Exploring the Early Americas' section which contained a $10 million dollar ancient map of the world bought off the German government by the library with various donations from patrons and congress.
Thursday was a big day. Our first port of call was the elementary school J.O. Wilson, located in North East DC. It is situated in a deprived neighbourhood but the school copes extremely well with its excellent staff. It has had a long, good relationship with the program and every year, the WIP class give something back to the school with fun and games for the children. Twenty-six of us were divided into four groups of around six people each. Each group had to prepare a snapshot of some aspect of Irish culture. They included Irish dancing, drama, music and the Irish language. I was in the drama group where we performed the ancient legend, 'The Children of Lear.' When I say it was one of the highlights of the week, I mean it. The children were great fun and enjoyed every second of our company. They learned some Irish, music, drama and dancing. One child, Earl asked Matthew if he could trade some of his Pokemon cards for Matthew's watch. I reckon he'll be a business man one-day but as the children were about to leave, I gave Earl my watch which I hope he can use or maybe even trade, whichever he prefers. It was a great public service on all our parts and as echoed by many of the alumni, proves to be one of the highlights every year.
We also got to meet Senator Leahy on the Senate steps of Capitol Hill. He had an acting role in the soon to be released Batman film, 'The Dark Knight.' Jonathan presented him with a photo-shop edited cover of Time magazine, with Senator Leahy on the front cover and the bat symbol in the sky behind. He was unsurprisingly delighted.
Finally the end of the epic week came and for some it was a particularly important day. Andy, Elaine, Gary and Sarah had to present their speeches at an event hosted by the Northern Ireland Bureau at the National Press Club. Their speeches were excellent and really set the standard for everyone else.
We had a costume part for the evening event, the theme being, 'Icons of the '90's.' I went as Donald Trump, with the appropriate catch phrase, "You're fired!" Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and there was plenty of food and drink, a testament to the hospitality of the host.
Overall what can I say, a great week and surely a great start to an epic summer.
