Screw Alabama…Sweet Home DC

Just a minute ago, my co-worker Nikola just said that the last time she talked to her mother, she was reminded that we only had 3 more weekends in DC.  I really can’t believe that I’ve been here for 7 weeks.

I’ve actually started to feel “at home”, minus my family of course, here in DC.  I know my way around the city pretty well, and feel accomplished when I can give someone directions.  Admittedly, I have also begun to recognize the locals from the tourists.  The tourists have a certain look about them; perhaps they stare blankly at a metro map like I did when I first got here, or travel in large packs kids in tow, or stand to the left instead of the right on the metro escalators.  Their habitat? The orange and blue metro lines, because those let off at the Smithsonian stop right near the National Mall.

The people I have had the opportunity to meet here are unbelievable.  I’ve developed a close relationship with my roomate, Karla, and am even planning a trip out to see her at the University of Michigan for the Michigan/Michigan State game, which I hear is pretty fun.  It’s crazy to think that a few short weeks ago, I was thrown into a situation with a bunch of people that I didn’t know from all walks of life, and I have been able to develop meaningful relationships with a bunch of WII kids.

DC Law Students in Court has also provided me with some unforgettable connections.  The fact that all of the interns go to different schools and simply see each other during the work day doesn’t seem to affect our relationships.  We’ve begun to call the intern workspace “the playpen” because it’s where all of us “baby interns” work.  Our office also has an intern from Canada, who refers to the “government” as the “crown”, so one of the other interns decided to put on his best Queen of England impersonation voice and herald “the crownnn will appeallll” throughout the office.  Everyone laughs and has a good time, but gets work done and learns simultaneously.  I will truly and honestly miss each one of them when I have to leave in a few short weeks.

While this won’t be my true farewell post, I felt like now would be a good time to reflect.  I know that I still have a few weeks, and plan on seeing as much as possible!  Below is a quick list of what I did this weekend, just so everyone is still caught up…

1. Visited the Newseum (definitely go! It’s a great view of the city! You can even be an anchor on your own news show…I would have, but when I went, it was crowded with 7 year olds and felt a little awkward…)

2. Sang kereoke at the top of my lungs (I’m great at Bon Jovi, though I could use my brother’s rock band talent.  In fact, that can be your Brian Fun Fact. My big brother INSISTS on being the lead singer whenever we play Rock Band, and loves to sing Wanted Dead or Alive and Cheeseburgers in Paradise.)

3. Saw Inception (Leonardo DiCaprio is a BABE..and the movie blows your mind!)

Until Next Time…

xoxo

Katherine

List of things I’ve learned about living in DC

So, my roomate Karla and I sat down and put together a list of things we’ve learned while here.  Some of them were things we were told, but never took to heart.  Some of them are things we’ve learned along the way. So, here we go…

1. Walk on the left, stand on the right–the standard escalator protocol.   People will get angry if you stand on the left and will let you know with a very obviously irked “Excuse me”.

2.  Always tell your roomated when you’ll be home late.  Now, by late I don’t mean 1 or 2 on a Saturday night, come on, your roomates are not your moms and dads.  What I’m talking about is if you plan on staying out until, oh, 5:30am on a work night.

3. Buy a SmarTrip.  These are basically the equivalent of the E Z Pass on all major highways, only for metros.  They make waiting in like 5 million times easier, plus you can go negative on them, just in case.

4. Appliances in the apartments are versatile, use them for a bunch of stuff instead of buying your own.  Example?  I used a wisk to mash potatoes the other night instead of buying a potato masher.

5. The metro is not your chauffeur.  It does not deliver you door to door.  There is, almost 100% of the time, a decent amount of walking involved after you get off the metro until you arrive at your destination.  Plan accordingly.  In that same vein, the metro does not come at the exact times you need it.  During off peak hours (the hours that are not deemed “rush hours” to get to work), you may have to wait upwards of 15 minutes.

6. Be prepared to get lost.  Simply taking one right instead of a left could result in a 40 minute adventure.  Trust me, I walked around the Judiciary Square metro stop trying to find the court house for, oh, about 45 minutes on my first trip there.  I soon realized it was almost right next to the metro, I just didn’t see it.

7. IT GETS HOT.  The summer months can be brutal in DC.  Pack light-weight dress clothes, and avoid a suit jacket until you get into the office.

8. Lunch breaks aren’t just for lunch.  That one hour in the middle of the day is a great time to go eat on the Supreme Court steps, or meet up with some VIP in your field for a cup of coffee.  Get out of the office!

9. The cookies in the Crystal City metro station are bomb.  If you ask the lady, she will even go in the back and get you one right out of the oven.  Yep. I said it.  Right out of the oven.

10. Wear flip flops, bring heels.  My feet took a BEATING after my first week here.  Honestly, you could probably see more blister than you could foot at one point.  I bought a pack of band-aids that were specifically intended for blisters, and still ended up with blisters.  Yes, the heels look cute, but they’re not worth it until you get into the office.

11. If you think you won’t like something, try it anyway.  I had no idea what dim sum was, let alone half of what was served when I went.  Nevertheless, I just ate.  It was phenomenal! If you’re usually not a museum person, start with something like the Newseum or International Spy Museum.  Not all museums are boring…or filled with dead stuff and dead guy’s paintings, although those are VERY cool if you’re into it.

12. Spin the negative, embrace the positive.  Let me tell you, the last thing I wanted to do was take two metros and a bus to get to some guy’s house to serve him a subpoena in the summer heat.  Still, I learned how the bus routes worked.  My absolute dream was to go to court and sit at counsel table, which I got to do last Friday, and I cannot wait for another opportunity to do the same.

13. Start reading the newspaper.  Any newspaper.  Don’t want to buy one? They give out two different ones, free of charge, in the metro stations every morning!

14. Get excited for the barber shop trio that sings in random metro stations.  They are the best. One wears a fidora and all white suit. He is my favorite out of all of them, and takes requests.

15. Realize that no job is too small.  Yes, copying and filing can be boring.  Okay, lets be serious, it is boring.  However, these tasks are essential.  There’s nothing in the world like going to court and not having everything you need because you failed to file it properly.

16. If its free, its for me.  This should be your motto.  Lunches, drinks, dinners, newspapers…literally anything.  A lot of networking events come with free lunches and dinners, so you can kill two birds with one stone!

17. If your boss invites you, GO!  Your boss is probably THE easiest person to network with in DC at first. If they invite you to some obscure place that you usually wouldn’t go in a million years, graciously accept.  If they invite you to lunch and you just ate, go and grab a diet coke.  At the event/place, you may meet someone that does exactly what you want to do, find out that your boss knows someone who does what you want to do, or just be able to shake the right hands and kiss the right babies.  We heard about a girl who actually turned down the opportunity to go get free ice cream with their boss…weird, huh?

Anyway, this list will probably grow as I spend more time here, but it’s a start.

xoxo

Katherine

Happy Birthday, America!

Well, let me say that right now, I’m VERY lucky to be in an office building because it’s about a million degrees outside! Okay, that’s a little bit of an exaggeration, but it’s been in the 100′s all week, starting last Friday.  Coincidentally, last Friday started the madness that IS the 4th of July weekend in DC.  Needless to say, it felt like everyone and their mother was in the city for the weekend.  It’s actually really funny, because I’ve begun to feel like a local; I can recognize a “tourist” from a mile and I suppose they think I know my way around pretty well because they approach me frantically (wearing their visors and fanny packs, of course), asking me how to get to either a Smithsonian or some monument on the National Mall.

Saturday was the beginning of this madness for me.  A few friends and I decided to go to the Folk-life Festival, also called Smithsonian Alive.  Basically, all of the Smithsonians set up a few hands-on exhibits on the National Mall.  The exhibits ranged from tequila making, a hippo transport crate, jewelry from different nations and a bunch of traditional dancing (which my friend Ross decided to take part in.  Literally, he decided to get up on stage and perform with some of the traditional Mexican dancers.  He was approached all day by strangers who wished him congratulations on his dancing ability. )  After wandering around for a little while, we decided to go to the aquarium.  While the aquarium at the zoo is 200% cooler (I also went to the zoo this weekend), it was a great way to cool off.  Curiously, the National Aquarium is located in the basement of the commerce building.

Sunday, being the 4th, was obviously crazy!  To begin my day, I went to the Natural History Museum, where I got to see a few exhibits about the history of mankind, different types of animals (I adopted a polar bear while I was there and named him “Little Papi” after the Red Sox DH), and the Hope Diamond (which I DEFINITELY wouldn’t mind owning .  I ate dinner at the museum, and then headed over to the Capital Lawn where there was a free concert. However, by the time I got there, it was way too packed to find a good seat.  Instead, I headed down toward the World War II memorial to listen to the Navy Band and just hang out.  It was incredible to look out over the reflecting pool and be able to watch the sunset over the Lincoln Memorial.  Soon, the fireworks began to start and they were literally right over my head.  I could not have gotten a closer seat! They were absolutely spectacular.

What was NOT spectacular was the metro station after the fireworks were over.  Let me describe it for you if I can.  So, picture you and about 2,000 of your sweatiest friends.  Now, pretend you are underground standing shoulder to shoulder surrounded by concrete without airflow for about 45 minutes.  Yes, that is what the metro station was like and that’s how many people were in just that ONE station in DC on the 4th.

The 4th of July has always been my favorite holiday, and being in DC for it this year only made me love it even more.  I originally picked it as my favorite because it knows no religion or gender or race like some holidays.  Literally, every American can acknowledge that on July 4, 1776, we emancipated ourselves from England.  Being in DC, though, made me feel truly patriotic.  Every major building was covered in red, white and blue.  Everywhere you turned, there were flags, patriotic songs, or just fellow Americans wearing our nation’s colors!  I guess the moral of the story is that if you have the opportunity, visit DC on July 4th…but stay at a place that doesn’t require a metro ride.

xoxo

Katherine

From Courtroom to Courtroom

So, I know I haven’t posted in a while, but I actually went home to CT last weekend for a funeral, so I didn’t have a lot to write about. By the way, I’ve found that getting to the airports  (BWI, Reagan and Dulles) are all fairly accessible.  I flew out of BWI in Baltimore and just took the metro to Union Station and Union Station runs transit to BWI.  My trip back to DC, luckily, was much shorter because I was able to talk my way into the first class section of a direct flight to Reagan International Airport, which is literally one stop away from the Hamptons.

The one thing I can say is that after being home for just a few days, I missed DC and was really excited to pull into the Crystal City station. Often, even within these posts, I’ve found myself typing “home” when referring to DC.  The city truly has me spellbound, and I’m already planning to try and come back to intern over my 7 week winter break.

Last week was VERY hot in the city.  Our attorney asked  my partner, Nikola, and I to go out and serve subpoenas in the southeast quadrant of DC for a trial this week.  Although it was definitely frustrating at times, it was rewarding to finally learn how to navigate different parts of the city. In fact, I was proud when I was able to give two different people directions to two different locations today.  The best part of the subpoena assignment was the ability to see those that we subpoenaed testify at trial this morning.  Even the one woman who swore that “she wasn’t coming into no courtroom” was in court bright and early this morning.

I also made my way to courtroom 310 in the DC Superior Courthouse to watch the verdict in the Wone trial be handed down.  While there was damning evidence against the three co-defendants, there was not enough to convict them of any of their charges.  Two entire courtooms as were at maximum capacity at 11am when the judge made her ruling!  Afterword, there were probably 10 or 11 news stations outside with cameras and microphones waiting for lawyers (yes, each side had a small army of lawyers!) and such for comments.  We were even able to see one of the defense lawyers speak to the press!

I’m very excited to experience the 4th of July in DC.  I hope to get to the National Mall to watch the fireworks.  Hopefully, I can chill with my boy Lincoln and watch the fireworks go off over the reflecting pool in front of him…

Until next time…

xoxo

Katherine

P.S–I found out the marina that I went to was called the National Harbor in Maryland.  They have water transit to all of the Nationals games, outdoor movies and music festivals all summer!  I’m very excited to go back!

Trial and Good Food and Adventures, Oh My!

So, I know its been a while since I last posted, but I’ve honestly been super busy!  Work has sped up a lot and I’ve been working hard on one particular case for the past week.  I performed a full investigation, wrote a full report on my investigation, did legal research regarding case law for pre-trial, created a trial binder, and was in court this morning for the first hearing.  My bosses here at DCLSIC have definitely kept me busy doing important, interesting things.  I’ve also been able to attend a few sessions of the Robert Wone case.  For those of you who don’t know what that is, check out www.whomurderedRobertWone.com.  The fact pattern honestly sounds like the making for a made-for-TV movie, complete with twists, turn, and deception.  If you don’t check out the website, I’m sure you’ll just have to turn on Lifetime in a few months and watch it.

As promised, I will tell you a little bit about the AMAZING Museum of Crime and Punishment.  First of all, we went on a day where it was free to the public.  As it turns out, a lot of the museums are free.  I’ve only been to about 3 Smithsonians and a couple of other obscure museums, but I’ve never paid!  Anyway, they had a lot of historical memorabilia that had to do with punishment throughout the ages.  Literally, their artifacts ranged from guillotines to gas chambers.  The second floor was set up as a mock CSI lab.  There were also simulations where I was able to hold a mock Glock 9mm and shoot at the “bad guy” shooting back at me.  It’s definitely a must-see, especially for anyone interested in the justice system.

I’ve also had the awesome opportunity to go out to some amazing lunches, dinners, and happy hours.  There is an Irish pub right up the road from my office where we all go out on Thursdays to grab some appetizers and drinks after work.  They have the most AMAZING brownie dessert you could imagine, complete with Guinness ice cream (I know it sounds gross, but go with me on it).  I truly look forward to Thursdays because our outings provide me with the opportunity to truly meet and connect with the lawyers and law students in my office.  They have provided me with irreplaceable information about almost everything; they help me decide how to budget my money in the city, how to get around, tips with the bar exam and law school, etc.

I also found an awesome marina (by accident really) right over the border in Maryland.  It has a ton of cute shops, a W hotel, a boardwalk and lots of restaurants.  My friend Alex and I went one night and were able to hang out on a bench and eat Ben and Jerry’s right next to the water.  We plan on going back tonight to watch the Celtics v. Lakers (yes, I wrote that as if they were the prosecution and defense in a legal dispute  instead of a basketball game).  There is also a little restaurant just up the road from the apartments that have half price burger Mondays.  Sometimes, after class, we all go and enjoy some really good $4 burgers.

Last weekend was a lot of fun too.  On Friday, I went out with some of my friends, Sri and Amanda,  who work for the Public Defender Service.  I actually met them through a mutual friend down here, and it turns out that we live pretty close to one another!  It blows my mind how friendly people are and how easy it is to network with people from my age range.  Anyway, I went to a few hot spots around town, listened to some great jazz music (there’s a jazz festival in town for a week!), and just soaked up the city nightlife.  On Saturday, my friend Alex and I decided to check out some of the monuments at night.  Now, I know it sounds really weird, but they definitely have a different feel after the sun goes down.  First, all of the tourists (I guess I’m not one anymore?) are gone and there are very few people mulling about so you get an awesome view and are almost alone in the monument.  Second, they are all illuminated and make for a truly indescribable experience.  We first visited the Jefferson Monument is set right next to the Potomac River overlooking DC.  As legend says, the Jefferson was constructed across the river so that he could look out over the city and ensure that democracy was upheld.  Next, we went to the FDR memorial, which to my surprise, was more of a path outlining his terms in office as opposed to one singular structure.  It was really moving to listen to music as I “walked through” major historical events like the great depression.  On Sunday, I went to the Holocaust Museum, which was definitely an emotional experience.  I was able to actually place myself in the shoes of a child who lived through the Holocaust, which literally brought me to tears at some points.

Today, being Thursday, is office happy hour.  I will go out with the team after work and socialize for a little bit.  After that, I plan to head back to the marina I found for some ice cream and to hopefully watch the Celtics OWN the Lakers. 

Until Next Time,

xoxo

Katherine

A seriously busy/amazing few days…

So, perhaps one of the single greatest things ever happened to me on Sunday.  Okay, maybe that’s a little bit of an exaggeration, but it was really awesome.  So, to first understand this story, you must know that I am a hardcore, die-hard, bleed-red-and-blue type Red Sox fan.  In that regard, I was super excited to hear that they were in town (and by town, I mean Baltimore, which is only about a 40 minute ride away from the Hampton), and playing the Orioles.  I arranged to go with my friend Rob to the game on Sunday.  We woke up pretty late, but got to Baltimore around 12.  We ate a quick lunch at Pickles Pub right across the street from Camden Yards.  It was at this point that my flip flop broke and I was forced to walk around part of Baltimore with one and 1/2 flip flops.  Anyway, we bought really cheap tickets in the outfield at the box office and decided to go inside.  While walking to our assigned seats, we saw a few empty seats about 20 rows behind the Sox dugout and decided to sit down.  We sat and enjoyed a few innings, but spotted some empty seats about 5 rows behind the dugout and decided to move down there.  Finally, during the 6th inning or so, it began to RAIN!  Everyone decided to either leave or return to the comfort of their box seats.  Instead, my friend and I moved down to the first row right behind home plate.  In fact, my dad called me at one point and said, “Sweet heart!  Are you sitting in the first row at the Sox game?! I just saw you on TV!” I could practically reach out and touch the players(although I’m 99% sure you’d get kicked out of the park).  It was absolutely awesome!
Yesterday, two of my friends, Alex and Haidar, came into town.  They will be here for a few days, and aside from the idea of sleeping on a couch, are really in love with what they’ve seen so far.  Today, after work, I am taking them to the National Museum of Crime and Punishment.  Apparently, they have over 100 interactive exhibits including crime scene reconstruction and an area where you can analyze ballistics testing, fingerprinting, etc.  They even have Al Capone’s jail cell and Ted Bundy’s car!  I can’t wait!  I’ll be sure to write all about it once I actually go.

Speaking about the law, my internship is going really well.  Tomorrow, I will perform my first investigation and witness my first trial prep.  I’ve had practice honing a keen eye through training here at the office, and will actually get to employ these skills when analyzing the apartment tomorrow.  Then, if the case goes to court, I get to testify!  On Thursday, I will be going to court to take intake from clients.  “Intake” is conducted at the very beginning of forming a complaint.  Basically, its taking all of the information about a specific grievance.  On Friday, I will be out and about in the city serving people legal papers.  Just like the title says, I have a very busy week!

I hope to get the the memorials and monuments at night at some point in the near future and will definitely get to the National Holocaust Museum and the National Zoo soon as well!

Until next time!

xoxo

Katherine

So much to say after only one week!

So, after only a few days, I’ve already had such a great experience here in DC.  The very first weekend I spend here was Memorial Day, so as you can imagine, there were TONS of people all around the city.  My roomates and some of the other WII students decided to check out a few of the sites like the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, the Vietnam and Korean Memorials, etc.  We even got to cool off and dip our feet into the fountain at the World War II memorial!  Then, we all went to a concert on the lawn of the capital building.  I’ve never felt more patriotic!

Anyway, I should probably back up and explain how many friends I’ve already met here.  My roomates, Karla, Jia and Akiko, are all fantastic.  We get along really well, and, being from different countries, all cook really delicious and different foods!  I love all of the aromas that come out of the kitchen when we are cooking dinner.  About 30 of us live in the Hampton Apartments that the WII program provides, and honestly, living here was a great decision.  Not only to we have a really spacious apartment (with our own balcony overlooking the Arlington skyline)  but we are less than a block to the closest metro and always have friends around seeing that a bunch of us live here. Seriously, I’ve quickly found that it’s impossible to be bored here.  There is always something to see or do or people to meet.  In fact, some of the guys in the program who live upstairs organized a party for all of us to meet each other and hang out casually last night, and I met people I hadn’t met before.

I also started my job on Tuesday at the DC Law Students in Court program.  Basically, I work for a non-profit organization that provides legal counsel for those who can’t afford it.  While we typically deal with landlord/tenant disputes, we also have a general civil and criminal division.  I work with one other girl who is an intern with WII, Nikola, an undergraduate intern from Canada, a girl working on her masters degree, about 6 law students and about 6 attorneys.  We had an ice cream social yesterday in the office so that we could meet and greet everyone.  I also introduced my office to Sporcle.com.  If you don’t know what it is, try it and you’ll be addicted just like us.  Anyway, based on yesterday, I know I will have an awesome summer.  So far, my schedule for next week looks like I’ll be in class on Monday, have to serve people all around the city notices that they are being sued Tuesday and Thursday and then go on an investigation and help with trial prep on Wednesday.  When I go on an investigation, I basically go to a tenants apartment and take notes on problems with the apartment.  If there are cracks in the walls, dripping faucets, rats in the closet, etc., then I write it all down and draft a memo.  Then, if the case goes to bell hearing or trial, I can testify in court about my observations!  So cool, right?

I could seriously go on for pages and pages about how much I love DC already and all of the amazing people I’ve met and things I’ve done.  Somehow, I don’t think anyone would want to read a short novel about my first week in DC.  My roomate Karla and I just woke up not too long ago, and are planning on going to the Eastern Market (a farmer’s market of sorts) before getting ready to cook dinner and check out DC’s nightlife.

xoxo

Katherine