Why does the White House make me think like a terrorist? (I am not saying I am one.....please don't deport me Government if you are reading this.....)

Spring break has come and gone.  St. Paddy's Day has come and gone.  Easter is just around the corner.  Time sure is flying.  I can't believe I have been here for 7 months.  I am not looking forward to summer here as when I moved last August, I was super grumpy because it was so flipping hot (with the humidity we were up in the 40s Celsius - I refuse to convert to Fahrenheit hahaha).  I am at a cross roads for my touristy things as many things I want to see outside but right now, there are no leaves on the trees and I want to wait until the cherry blossoms are out in full bloom, but if I wait until then, then it will be too hot for me to want to be outside and will want to do all the museums as they are air conditioned, but then I will not see all the outside things.  Oh such a conundrum I am facing.  The cherry blossoms are starting to bloom though, and the National Cherry Blossom Festival is about to start, so that must mean that spring is around the corner. 

I have to admit that this city is slightly ridiculous when it comes to the weather - we were supposed to get "one of the worst snow storms in the history of Washington", so of course everyone panics - grocery stores are bought out, people are getting into their bomb shelters, etc etc.  The day of the impending doom storm, schools are shut down, government offices are closed and the metro is on stand by for the weather.  What ends up happening?  In my area, I get maybe a centimeter of snow, if that.  It wasn't cold enough to stick so when it came down, it stayed for a couple of minutes and then started melting.  The next day?  Nothing was on the ground and it was gorgeous and sunny out.  I do not think that the weather people know what they are doing around here.  Here is a picture of the snow when it was coming down - the flakes were pretty huge so I was pretty excited that we might actually get something, but I was let down by the weather gods *shakes fist - damn you weather gods*

I had this wonderful plan of trying to get done a lot of touristy things during spring break, but I think my mind decided to take its own spring break and just not work and be uber lazy.  I have a paper due tomorrow (Tuesday) and I still have to finish it.  I wanted to get a lot of my cross stitching done but I hardly touched it.  Yet, I have no clue what I did this past week that took up all of my time hahaha.  One thing that I did end up doing was to go see Lincoln at night - I have not even seen him during the day, but at night, he is quite a sight.  We passed the WWII Memorial but since the fountains were not working, I did not want to stop and look at it - I would like the full effect.  Kind of demanding that way, I know.  Walking alongside the Reflecting Pool when the sun was setting was so gorgeous and serene and peaceful.  Get up to Lincoln and he is magnificent.  One one side is his ever-so-famous "Four score and seven years ago" speech and on the other side is his Emancipation Proclamation speech.  Such an eloquent fella he was.  After, we just sat on the steps, overlooking the Pool and seeing the Capitol and the Washington Monument - it was an unreal feeling to be sitting there, knowing that Martin Luther King did his I Have A Dream speech right there, that Forrest Gump was filmed right there, being able to see first hand the things we see in pictures and movies.  That is when we came up with a wonderful idea - as I am slightly paranoid of doing things that may cause me to be deported, but yet I still think of doing some times, I want to drink with Lincoln, but getting an open alcohol/public intoxication ticket does not really appeal to me if it will cause me getting deported, so we decided that on the day of our graduation, we are going to get all dolled up and fancy and go drink with Lincoln to celebrate our graduation.  And be one of the best photo op's in the history of TCSPP. 

 

When I first moved here, okay not exactly "first", but at some point in time, I was looking into getting a tour of the White House, but on the Canadian Embassy webpage, it said that there were no tours allowed for Canadians/Immigrants/Internationals/Hosers/whatever we are called.  So, I do some googling to see how else I can circumvent this little speed bump and get into the White House legally.  Apparently due to budgetary costs, they are not offering White House Tours to anyone.  But probably by this time, if those snipers on the roof have high frequency earpieces and can hear the tourists below, my face is plastered somewhere saying to not let me in.  I do not know what it is about that place that turns my mind into diabolical thinking.  Steph and I went to go sit by the White House while on route to supper one evening and sitting there, I was watching the security police patrol the grounds.  Then started wondering where the snipers were positioned.  Also wondering if the windows to the White House were bulletproof as there were no people pacing the windows.  I also thought it would have been uber cool of Obama to just step outside and give the fellow Americans a wave or too, but sadly he did not.  I do not even think they live there.  The White House is probably just a decoy or something like that and they live in some other place.  It made me wonder though if people took pictures of the Prime Ministers house or if people even know/care where he lives.  But, from far away, the security guards looked pretty hot. 

 

One thing on my to-do list for spring break that come hell or high water I was going to do was to get my Library of Congress Library Card - this was one of the top things on my to-do list when I first moved here and so, 7 months later, I can finally strike that off!!!  I got a little sidetracked along the way though - it was the Rock N'Roll Marathon that day and one of my fellow classmates, Kalyn, was running in it.  Now, admittedly, the thought never crossed my mind, but when I unintentionally found myself along the marathon route, I decided to do a good deed and cheer on Kalyn when she would pass me.  Problem with this nice thought was that I didn't know when she started, what she was wearing, how fast she runs, etc etc.  So then came my wonderful powers of deduction, stemming from what I knew about her - she is short, so any tall people I didn't have to look at.  There would have been a 75% chance that she wore sunglasses as she is that type of person and perhaps a hat.  Her hair would probably be in a bun or something like that (not loose) and probably not decked out in a ridiculous costume that some people were wearing.  Knowing all of that, it should have made it easy to spot her......not at all.  I stood there for 2 hours trying to spot her and I don't know if I ever did.  What I ended up doing was that when there were large groups coming up, and I knew I probably would have missed her face when scanning them, I just started yelling out "Go Kalyn!! You Rock Kalyn!!!!! just for the hope that she was in that group and could hear me.  This was my first marathon I have ever actually stood and watched and I felt in awe of them.  I think it was a half marathon (no clue what that really means) and for a slight moment I decided that I wanted to do one, but then I found myself in an internal fit of laughter as I hate running and that was probably one of the most foolish notions I have ever had.  Maybe if I could roller blade it I would think about it.  It was kind of inspiring to watch though. 

 

Only a month and a couple of weeks left in this semester.  Again, time is flying.  Which also means that school is going to start getting crazy hectic, along with all the practicum stuff that is going down, tea is going to be my best friend to get me through everything.  Oohh so in tribute of St. Paddy's Day, and my love for the Muppets, I will leave you with this youtube clip that my mom sent me.  It gave me good laughs so I hope it does the same for you.  Take care all!!! Happy St. Paddy's Day!!!!

My name is Greta Schmidt. I am an astronomer (not an astronaut). And did you know that Batman is Russian!!!!!!!

Well my whole idea of blogging after I do something is slowly going down the drain.  It really should not be too hard to sit down at the computer (which I am at all the time) and write about what I did, but yet it seems like it is something along the lines of training for a marathon (although that is something that I have never done, but in my head they are kind of the same).  I am too old to be changing up my procrastination routine I think.  But now I have to go back into my head and figure out what I did these past couple of weeks that I want to comment on.  Along with old age comes my inability to remember things.  Damn you old age!!! 

I have heard many wonderful things about the International Spy Museum (http://www.spymuseum.org/) and so I decided to head there.  Note to people:  this museum was chalk full of kids....I mean chalk full.  They were everywhere.  Under your feet, above your head, anything that was interactive they were doing.  And if you know me at all, you know I have somewhat limited patience for children, so this was not the most funnest place for me. Also, this museum was one that you could not take pictures at, which normally does not stop me but a) there were a crap load of security people walking around watching people and b) I was paranoid that since we were at a spy museum, they had workers there dressed like lay people who were actually trying to catch people using their cameras, so I rarely took a picture (I took one picture and then panicked about it, thinking I was going to get deported, or my camera taken away from me - both equally problematic in my eyes).  But seriously - in a place that you have to pay, one would think that pictures were accepted.  And really, come on, were they afraid we were going to steal important spy secrets?  I need to get those glasses that has a camera built into them so when I look at something, I can take a picture.  Then I would be totally good to go.  In the beginning, we got to this one room and had to pick an identity and maintain it throughout the museum.  My identity - Greta Schmidt.  I am 33, from Germany.  I am an astronomer and I am heading to London, England for business for 4 days.  I was born in Bornstedt, Germany.  I repeated this information over and over again and for no reason - during the entire time there, I did not have to use this information; nobody pulled me into a room and interrogated me (thankfully as I would have had a heartattack probably) and at the end, I did not get a prize for remembering my true identity.  Nothing.  Kind of disappointing.  It was here though that they had the emblems of the security service associations from around the world were posted in the "briefing room" and on the Russian one - it was the Batman symbol!!!!!  I knew it!!!! Actually I didn't as it never occurred to me that Batman is Russian.  Throughout the museum, there were things from CSIS which made me happy.  I just imagined Riya saying something like "Canada has a secret service agency? What for??'.   Over all though, there is a shitton of information to read and look at and very informative, but the kids......man they were annoying me. 

Another thing that I need to remember about myself is that when I feel like doing a touristy thing, I need to put aside the whole day and not have anything to do afterwards.  So, people, if you ever hear me discuss doing something touristy and then planning on getting some school done or something like that afterwards, smack me across the head via the interwebs.  I haven't seen the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and it is right around my corner and with the way that the transit system was, I decided to do something close to me.  And, while there, I was going to hit Starbucks and get some studying done.  So - plan - hit the Basilica in the morning and then hit Starbucks in the afternoon for studying.  Sounds good, right? Not so much.  Get to the Basilica and holy crowballs it is amazingly gorgeous and wonderful and serene.  There is so much stuff to see and read - I think about 98 things to see and read and take in while there.  Yeah, I was not prepared for this.  When I go to a museum, I like to read and see everything so putting aside a couple of hours to get through this Basilica, not feasible at all.  I definitely have to go back and take it all in.   I also would love to go to a mass there - and I am thinking Good Friday would be a pretty spectacular one.  And I will have to say that I did not swear outloud while there - just in my head when a picture came out fuzzy.  I picked up some pamphlets while there and this one cracked me up:  How to Make a Good Confession.  Review your life with the help of some questions, which are based on the 10 Commandments.  The questions:

• do I pray to God every day? Have I thanked God for His gifts to me?
• did I take the name of God in vain? Did I curse or take a false oath?
• did I miss Mass on Sundays or holy days of obligation through my own fault? Am I attentive at Mass? Did I keep fast and abstinence on the prescribed days?
• did I get drunk?
• did I willfully look at pornography, entertain impure thoughts or engage in impure conversations or actions (sorry Ma and Papa for you finding out that I am not a virgin this way.....)? Did I use artificial means to prevent conception (sorry Ma and Papa for not providing you with grandchildren)?
• did I tell lies? Did I sin by calumny, or detraction, of others?
• have I envied other people?

I would be in that confession box for a very, very, very long time.  Abiding by all of those, in my eyes, would lead to a very dull life.  No swearing....come on......it is a perfectly acceptable way to express one's feelings.  If I ever become a counselor, I am going to encourage swearing.  Healthy.  Very healthy.  Anywho, I regress from the issue at hand.  Seeing as I didn't instantly burst into  flames heading into the Basilica, I think I am safe.  Maybe I should start going to church though to make sure when the unfortunate time of my demise comes, I am somewhat on the up-in-up on the good person list.  Does God look at Santa's list, cause if so, I should be fine.  Except for the fact that I call him a pedophile (Santa, that is) so probably am not on his good list anymore.  Crap.  Anywho, the place was amazing.  I am definitely going back to take it all in and experience everything and maybe cleanse the soul a little of stress and bad juju that may be in there. 

I am also learning a lot about my Canadianness in terms of Americanness.  First off, they do not call it toque's here.  I still do not know what they call them - caps, beanies, something like that.  Not toque's though.  Another thing, I say "zed"; they say "zee" down here.  I got pointed and laughed at when I said "zed".  I still speak Celsius and not sure about Fahrenheit for conversions.  I think I am missing another Canadian reference - oh, curling.  They call it 'is that the game with the brooms?'  And I am still thinking I am missing something.  It will come to me later. 

Hope everyone is doing wonderful, keeping safe and healthy and happy.  Miss you all and love you lots!!!! And thanks Ma for the kick-ass birthday toque - I LOVE IT!!!!