August 31st-2nd, 2002

Labor Day weekend and you will be happy to know that I did absolutely nothing!  Ok, not absolutely nothing, but pretty close to it.  I did some shopping with my housemate, Jimmy, and went running a bit.  We got the broadband internet up and running using this system called HomePNA which enables you to run a network over regular telephone lines so I was able to upload this updated website after over four years of having the same design!  

August 29th, 2002

Today Valerie left :-( and I had my SEAS (School of Engineering & Applied Science) orientation.  This orientation was pretty much a waste of time, except I met this guy who was going to be in one of my classes.  He hooked me up with a faculty member who may be able to get me a job.

August 28th, 2002

I finally found out from my new unit, 4th Civil Affairs Group, when my next drill is going to be:  September 6th-8th.  We're going down to Quantico (where Marine Corps OCS and the FBI Training Academy is) for a PFT, gas-chamber (ugh, just did that in June) and a land-nav course.  I haven't been PTing for awhile since I've been so busy moving and everything so I better get in shape fast.  I have a little more than a week, but I think I should be ok.  It also rained today so it made for a muddy trek through the woods on the way to the Metro.

August 27th, 2002

We rode the Metro for the first time today.  Now, to get to the Metro, we had to walk through some woods and it takes about 15-20 min.  It's not so bad, but I imagine it could be if I was really tired after a long day.  Thankfully, it is rather cool today.  Anyway, the Metro costs $5 a day to ride so it's a significant expense.  The $5 a day is actually supposed to be a visitors pass, but the daily fares from Fairfax to Foggy Bottom/GWU cost $2.80 one way, so it's more worthwhile to put up the $5.  There are also weekly and monthly passes too, so I'll have to look into those as well.  The metro is fairly clean and the trip takes about 20 minutes or so.  There's this interesting custom about using the escalators though.  If you want to stand on the escalator, you're supposed to stand on the right.  This is so people who are in hurry can walk past you on the left.  It's hard to imagine why someone would be in hurry to save a couple seconds, but who knows, I may just turn into one of them one day... dun dun dun...

August 23rd-26th

We spent this time in Canada.  We made a stop at Niagara falls.  I tried to take some digital pictures, but unfortunately, we were getting drenched from the falls so some of them have water droplets on the lenses.  I met a lot of little cousins that I hadn't ever met before.  My father's side of the family has nine siblings, which equals many many cousins.  
We came back to D.C. via Dulles International Airport and we had to take this shuttle between terminals that looked like it came straight out of Star Wars.  Very strange and cold (air conditioning on super high) ride.  

Niagara Falls pictures

Dulles pictures

August 22nd, 2002

More sight-seeing today with my family.  We went to the Air & Space Museum, which was pretty cool.  Unfortunately, no Space Shuttle Enterprise.  Turns out that it'll be on display at the Steven F. Udva-Hazy Center in Virginia, which opens next December.  We also visited the Lincoln Memorial and I got some good pictures of the Mall.  After this, we went to Baltimore because our flight was the next morning out of Baltimore-Washington International.  There wasn't much to do in Maryland so we stayed in the hotel room and watched Jaws.

D.C. pictures

August 21st, 2002

This day was spent mostly sight-seeing and visiting the campus.  The George Washington University is pretty much situated in the middle of Washington, D.C.  It is composed of several blocks of buildings which are the dorms and academic departments.  I found out that my department:  Engineering Management & Systems Engineering is on 18th and G. Street, N.W., which is about a block from the White House.  Pretty cool, huh?  I just hope no one attacks the White House while I'm in class.  We visited the National Mall, which actually looked pretty gross.  The grass was either dead or dying and the reflecting pool between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument was half empty.  I found out later that there is a drought here, so that probably explains why it was like that.  While we were looking for a place to fill the gas tank (there was not one gas station in D.C.), we stumbled upon Pentagon City shopping center where there was a Costco, a Best Buy, and Borders.  Heaven!  Afterwards, we turned the car in and met my parents at the airport.  They helped me move more of my stuff into my place.

August 20th, 2002

Today was my flight to D.C.  I spent practically the whole night packing and got about an hour and a half of sleep.  The flight was at 8:34 am from Long Beach so we left at 5:30 in the morning.  My dad drove Valerie and I and we got there around 6:30 or so.  Either fortunately or unfortunately, it was absolutely dead at Long Beach Airport so we checked in 5 minutes.  So we spent the next hour or so hanging out at a breakfast buffet on the 2nd floor.  There was a quick stop in Chicago, where we were supposed to switch flights to get into D.C.  However, Valerie and I actually had different flights.  It turns out, however, my flight (the earlier one) got cancelled and I got redirected on Valerie's flight (which got delayed).  The good thing was that we got seats next to each other.  When we finally got into Reagan National Airport, we rented a car from Dollar and tried to get to my place in Fairfax, Virginia.  We got lost in the city for awhile though, and didn't make it until around 10:30 at night.  For those of you who've never been to Washington, D.C., the transportation system is an absolute mess.  Something about confusing the British or some rubbish like that.  Also, it was incredibly hot and humid here.  I expected this, but it was still rather suffocating.  Anyway, we finally got into Fairfax and found the place.  I met with my landlord, Mark, and was relieved to find that he is very cool and accommodating.   We drove to a McDonald's nearby and had chicken nuggets and did some quick shopping at a Safeway.  After we got back, we unpacked a little until bedtime.