A Stranger in a Strange Land

Today is my first day of training in DC- and there is 3 inches of snow on the ground! The federal government is working on a 2 hour delay, so my colleagues and I are scrambling to figure out what to do. Let me start at the beginning:

I arrived in DC yesterday afternoon and checked into my apartment around 3:30. I'm staying in corporate housing and the government is billed directly, so I don't have to worry about paying the bill or getting reimbursed for my housing costs. It seems like there are about 30 of us in my class who are staying here (the class is about 90 people, so we're a good portion of the group).

There was a welcome reception last night, so those of us here met in the lobby and took the metro together. It was fun to meet some fellow students and some of the people in our welcome committee- they have finished their training and are heading out to various corners of the world. We were given the address to check in the morning to see if the government would be closed or not.

I left the party somewhat early concerned about the snow and how I was going to get back to the apartment. I found a fellow classmate and we came back together. I unpacked, starting making a mental list of what I need to buy, and fell asleep on my murphy bed (yes, an actual murphy bed!).

I woke up this morning to 3 inches of snow on my balcony and the notice of the two hour delay. We were scheduled to leave the lobby on a shuttle at 7:30, so everyone was there. However, as a group we decided that even if we got to the building on time, since we don't have badges yet we are subject to other people's schedules to even get in the building and to begin our training. As a group we decided to meet back at 9am and shuttle together then. I think many of us are secretly hoping that the government will announce that it has closed by then!

Here's the really funny part. Apparently a few weeks ago President Obama made fun of the government's inclination to close when there is snow on the ground- remarking that it would never happen in Chicago! Hmmmm...

More to come soon, I'm sure!