Getting Used to Being Away

I am full. My tummy is full of pho and happiness but mostly pho. 

We just came back from dinner. We went to a Vietnamese restuarant out in Columbia Heights called Pho 14 and they supposedly have been voted "Best Pho in DC" so we went in with pretty high expectations. And they were met! The broth was good. It was good.

I have been getting better gradually over the past week or so in terms of homesickness. Work is still pretty slow but it has gotten lighter; I am not so nervous anymore. I know I will be later on as I continue to meet new people in the staff and once Congress gets back in session again. But that's ok. I am not heartbreakingly homesick anymore. I am still homesick, but nto as bad. Yesterday was actually the first day I didn't tear up even once at all ha! 

Work has generally been really mundane office work--answering phone calls from constituents, sorting and logging in mail, etc. I was so excited to be sent to buy cardstock at the Office Supply Store the other day, only to find out that I didn't need to anymore because we had some cardstock in the office so I ended up not going. This coming week, I want to make sure to go exploring the tunnel systems of the Capitol grounds. I mean, technically, there is nothing wrong with looking at maps as I go along on errands and stuff, but I wanna be comfortable with this place and really know it. 

As the homesickness subsides, my excitement is still here, if not increasing. Tomorrow, we're gonna go to the Museum of Natiral History and then eat at a Korean place at Chinatown during Happy Hour or something. I am excited--been craving kimchee! 

Huh. Food would be the thing that makes me feel better about being away from home...

Cups of coffee/tea: 3 (I have green tea bags here in my room, plus I finally went into the Union Station Starbucks...BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE PEACH GREEN TEA! Sadness!)
Number of times a creepy guy has said hi to me: 3

Day One Done!

Done with the first day! Whoo! It hit me today that this is now school and the real world at the same time. Summer is OVER. I need to get crackin'.

The first day was pretty slow because Congress is still in August recess which means they are not in session. I got to leave early which I will be doing this first week so that I can go around and explore the Capitol grounds and the rest of DC for a little bit before the big jobs flow in. I didn't get to do that today because I had to do a Target run, but I will definitely make sure to bring either a change of clothes or a pair of comfortable shoes tomorrow so that I can go and visit the botanical gardens or something. That'd be neat.

I guess one thing that's been on my mind lately is home. I can't help but compare what I'm seeing here to what I've been used to seeing at home so of course I am homesick. I have never been this far away from home for this long amount of time before and when my dad texts me or I hear my mom's voice on the phone, I still tear up. 

But I know it will get better. The tricky thing is you THINK that thoughts of home will comfort you when you're homesick, but they don't. They make me more emotional. What works is when I'm listening to stories. Duk does that really well, so when I get to talk to him, he makes sure he goes on and on about his day so I don't have to think about mine too much and how far ahead and far away it is from home.

Okay, off to read! This semester is gonna be a lot of reading...

Cups of coffee/tea: 0
Number of times a creepy guy has said hi to me: 3 (REALLY NOW!)

This is it!

Well. Here I am. I just finished unpacking completley and setting aside the things I bought earlier today at Target. I am sitting at my desk in my dorm room in Washington, D.C. My internship starts tomorrow. 

Am I excited? Yes.

Am I nervous? DEFINITELY. More so than excited. 

I am terrified and doubtful and just scared in general because this is a new city and I am far away from home (4,953 miles to be exact, and yes, I looked it up). I am starting a new and very different semester which is not at all like school, it is more like a new job. This feels like the most real thing I have ever been thrown at in my scant nineteen years of living, so of course it terrifies me.

But this is another risk that I don't really get to choose to take, I know I have to take it. Because this will make me into the person I want to be: the world-changer I've always dreamed of being.

I am trying to psych myself out now so that I won't be so nervous tomorrow, but I can't. No matter what, I'll be scared and nervous the entire time on the inside, but I know I can't really show it. I just have to make sure I breathe, observe, and listen. And smile and remember how incredibly lucky I am to be where I am.

Cups of coffee: 0
Number of times a creepy guy has said hi to me: 2