Walking out after clearing immigration at JFK, a slow smile
spread across my face. The first thing I did was drink water out of a water
fountain. Safe, clean drinking water – right out of a wall. It’s underrated.
Now I’m settled in, but without a cell phone. I bought an
unlocked phone for this sim card I purchased awhile back, but apparently you
still need some sort of service, which I do not have. I’m not into buying
something else to add to a landfill in a couple weeks, so I’m trying this for
awhile. There’s a landline in the hotel.
And the hotel is nice. I’m near the metro and the shuttle
pickup for work. There’s also a Target Express nearby, which is this pint-size
version of the box store. And boy, have I hit Target lately.
 |
| Hong Kong, enjoying a rootbeer and a fantastic burger. |
The $350 order I placed before departure has begun to
arrive, and once here, needing 100 pounds to complete a shipment to Istanbul, I rode with a
friend to the big box Target and dropped another $225. I also hit up the
Express in the evening for a few household foods for the hotel. Trader Joe’s,
too. No problem making weight.
My Marriott earns me points and free breakfast, too. I just
finished this morning; have to gauge how long it takes for me to get ready for
the 8:10 shuttle. Class starts at 9, but I need to find a computer to check my
email – apparently some people got their housing assignments and I hope to see
where I’ll be living.
I haven’t yet been to the gym, but one of the Target
purchases was replacement workout pants. My previous ones had the beginnings of
a very large hole. They’re done now.
Since I’ve been back, I’ve eaten out three times:
Potbelly’s, Cosi and Fatoosh, my favorite Moroccan-Lebanese place here. That’s
one of the reasons I’ve been looking forward to the stay here – Fatoosh. It’s
fabulous. And lunch today will be the third meal I’ve had from the one meal.
Portion sizing in America
is crazy big.
One downside to this brief stay in DC is that since it’s
technically spring but already oppressively hot in Guangzhou, I’d forgotten
that early spring is still sort of winter. And I really forgot what winter was
anyway. So, basically, even though I am a professional and here for work, I
will be wearing my FSU hoodie at all times. It’s not freezing cold, but chilly
enough to need two layers.
Today I begin a two-day class, and I have a lot of things to
catch up on. One is the layout of the place; I really don’t remember. But, more
fun, is I get to track down a bunch of people I know who are here in training
right now. Despite the challenges of no cell phone, I’ve been in contact with
three already.
My flight over was absolutely fine, although the JFK-DC leg
was really bumpy. Quite coincidentally, two of my Guangzhou local colleagues (not my
department) were on my flight and headed to DC. One flew into a different DC
airport, but the other and I ended up parting in the DCA airport. His class
isn’t in the same location, so I won’t see him again, but the IAD-bound colleague
said she’d look for me at lunch.
It’s a very different lifestyle, knowing people from all
over the world and reuniting with them at this little collegiate-ish campus in Virginia.
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