Cross cultural exchange

Settling in to DC means a couple of adjustments for a field biologist.

First: suits.  Things that have to be dry cleaned and ironed.  As anyone in the business world knows, investing in work clothes is a business in itself, and since my favorite pants are of the Carhart variety, it's a new concept.  I can't expect to wear the same thing day in and day out, and can't expect it to still last for a couple of years.  Luckily, my program is filled with scientists, so the women all check each other's outfits out, and stand around at breaks in our orientation and discuss where to shop for "professional" clothes.

Second: parking.  Temporary parking permits, and street sweeping days.  Almost got towed my first day here for parking on the right side of the street on the wrong day.... and was let of the hook of the tow truck by a nice man.   Folks in DC are more mellow than expected.   I hear the Dept. of Transporation fares poorly when compared to other DMV's.  Sadly, that's one of my next stops.

As for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS, I can say they put on a pretty fancy orientation to the city, the culture of the capitol, and federal politics.  They asked us not to talk or write about the content of our speaker's talks so that the speaker's can maintain a sense of open and honest discourse, which they may not if they felt their information would be more public.  In general,  we've had a series of policy experts come in to orient us on Washington culture, which seems to be about who you know, and maintaining your capital as a scientist by keeping your head up and your mouth shut until the opportune moment to insert information into discussions.   It's logical, I guess.

We had a great session on the federal budget, which made it clear that compromise is rife, and no one has enough information to make perfect decisions.  At least we didn't when we tried to balance the budget.  Likewise, an economic journalist gave us a brief rundown on the broader picture of the economy, debt, and crises.  It makes only slightly more sense now, and not because he wasn't a great speaker.  But now I know a book to buy to try to make more sense of a crazy topic.  Greg Ip's The Little Book of Economics, fresh off the press.

Tomorrow we start up again, with Civics 501, and the Legislative Branch.... at the Library of Congress. We'll meet with people from the legislative branch, who will also be frank with us about their take on the business; therefore, unbloggable.  Looking forward to it.