The Big Apple

It's been so long since I last posted! It's hard to believe my semester is flying by so quickly. I only have two weeks left here in DC, which means eight more days of work.

Since several weeks have passed since my last post, I realize it will be impossible to cover everything comprehensively. So I'll do it quickly --

Tori came up to visit for a weekend. Alison and Patterson came up to visit the following weekend. I went home the next weekend for Easter as a surprise for my mom and to have a quick vacation. I registered for classes (History of Eastern Europe, Ethics of Peace and War, Health Policy and Politics, NC Politics and Public Policy, Public Policy thesis class, and Self Defense). I took a practice LSAT and walked around the city during nice weather. Oh, and I worked some.

And then on Thursday I went to New York with the entire UNC group here in DC. So that means all of the domestic policy students like me when along with the foreign policy students, including our respective DC professors. I would like to preface the following by saying that I had been to NYC once before but I don't remember it being quite so large or dirty. I definitely had a great time, but I've been spoiled in the much smaller, slower city of Washington, DC.

We left Thursday morning on the 7:30am train and arrived in New York around 10:45am. We checked into The Pod Hotel, as charmingly tiny as it sounds, and then immediately took off to learn. Thursday we had combined meetings with foreign and domestic policy students. First we went to Citi (Citigroup, Citibank, etc) and heard from all sorts of executives in the company about their business policies and interactions throughout the world. Afterward we went to the Council on Foreign Relations and heard about the basic purpose of the foreign policy think tank and how they compare to other research organizations. They also gave us some very interesting and valuable information about internships for CFR. If I were more into the foreign policy side of things, then I would definitely be interested. Truthfully, I have a strong feeling that my future remains solidly in the domestic policy sphere.

So that was Thursday's "class." That evening we all went to Chinatown and had some great Chinese food. Upon arrival, I immediately noticed that it was a "hot pot" restaurant -- I have very distinct memory of NOT enjoying Hot Pot when I was in Asia. But this was delicious (we opted out of the hot pot option). Sometime I really miss good Chinese food and eating with chopsticks a majority of the time. Afterward we went back to the hotel and Michelle and I went exploring around the hotel and walked ten blocks or so to Times Square and took in the crazy, active NYC nightlife in the heart of Manhattan. Ha - I say "heart" because it seems that way to me, but don't quote me on that. My knowledge of NYC geography and culture is limited as I am a good Southerner. (That was painfully obvious as I toured awkwardly through the crowded streets and tried not to gawk at the height of the buildings or cringe at the overwhelmingly commercialized Fifth Avenue.)

On Friday we split - our professors each took their own classes to the day's events. We went to Goldman Sachs, Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange (and Euronext apparently), and the Milbank Foundation. The day included a smattering of discussions about the economy, the housing market, the potential recession, North Carolina politics, health policy, and UNC basketball. So clearly we talked a lot! I wish I could go into detail about each of our speakers and meetings, but it's nearing midnight. I might have to save that for later.

We went to a genuine delicatessen that night (and a famous one!) where we had enormous amounts of food because that was the only choice. And then more Times Square and early to bed because I was exhausted. I still am, actually, but fortunately I'll be sleeping in my bed tonight and not in a bizarre hotel. Today we went to the fabulous Metropolitan Museum of Art before catching the 3pm train back to DC's Union Station.

Fortunately we made it back in time for the Final Four game. Unfortunately we played horribly, made a huge almost-comeback, and then lost the game. It was one of the worst games I've ever seen UNC play, but they genuinely tried to beat back the rather large Kansas team, scrambling for points to cut the 26 point deficit to only 4 points. But then we lost by a significant margin. Go Heels - you're still my team even if you had terrible timing to have a terrible game.

So that's my life these days in a nutshell. I'll be home in a couple of weeks, but I hope I can post before then. I have my final assignments, which are due about a week after our last class. I need to get started on those well before I get home, but I'm sure I can squeeze in some time to post!

Cheers.