all a bit of a blur

So it's all been a bit of a blur recently. Things have been happening so quickly that I haven't had time to really sit down and write about it.

Last week's highlight was a toss up between the White House tour and happy hour at the Australian Embassy. You wouldn't think that they'd be close, but happy hour was surprisingly good and the White House would honestly have had trouble living up to all the hype that it's accumulated in my mind over the years.

The Australian Embassy's happy hour was called "Oztoberfest." They'd really gone all out and had sausages and sauerkraut and a band and, of course, lots of beer. Crownies and VB and some Aussie reds and whites. Sadly, there weren't that many Aussie accents to be heard, but it was a young crowd and Canada made a pretty good showing, with lots of Embassy interns in attendance. Definitely worth braving the rain and generally terrible weather for some drinks with good mates.

Getting a White House tour is not as easy as one would think. You basically have to know someone who knows someone in the the White House. My housemate was kind enough to hook us up. After submitting my name, country and date of birth, passport number and almost ever other piece of personal information I have, we were granted dates about a month in advance. It's a really nice place, but a lot smaller than it looks in the movies.

Security's everywhere and you're not allowed to bring anything other than change and keys into the grounds. However, you can feel the power, importance and history emanating from it, but the rooms themselves aren't anything that a manor house in Europe couldn't match. The fact that it's still a working building makes it that much more impressive. At the end of the tours take away the ropes, roll back the carpets and continue to make the decisions that impact the rest ofthe world. The fact that it's a self-guided tourwas unfortunate and took away from the experience a bit. Definitely a must-see during a stay in Washington and something that's getting harder and harder to do- it's only recently that they began to give tours againg at all.

Sunday was a picnic organized by the Embassy in suburban Maryland. Very picturesque and fun for the whole family, complete with pumpkin carving, bbq and a boat ride down the canal.