An update after two weeks in DC

I arrived in Washington DC 2 weeks, but I’m already in love with the city. There’s so much excitement and it seems like everyone I meet has a really cool job!

I’m working three days per week at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Department of Outreach and Communication. On my first day I sat in on a company's proposal to redisign the Center's website. They have really cool speakers and events everyday and I've been to:
-"Preventing and Rebuilding Failed States Amid Global Economic Crisis: What are realistic options for U.S. Policy?"
-"Renewing the Partnership between the U.S. and Mexico: Shared Responsibility and Shared Strategies"

-"Hijacked Justice: Dealing with the Past in the Balkans"

One of my jobs is to go to these events then write an event summary to post on the website. I'm still getting the hang of it. I also got to go with our director to the Woodrow Wilson House (Wilson's house after the presidency, now a museum) to pick out one of his top hats and a jacket to display at the Wilson Center :-)

The other two days per week I'm doing pubilc affairs in the Disaster Operations Center of the American Red Cross. During a disaster, public affairs of the DOC is reponsible for responding to national media inquiries and coaching local chapters on how to respond to local media. The first few days I helped to edit a new volunteer disaster handbook. Now I'm working to update a list of communications directors at each local chapter so we can send out a survey to determine each chapter's communication capabilites. Both jobs arepretty neat and everyone is really nice and helpful :-)

I’m living in a hostel in northern DC and I’m meeting a lot of other cool students who are here for summer internships. The hostel is a large 3-story townhouse with a common TV room and kitchen downstairs with bedrooms upstairs. Each bedroom has 4 bunkbeds with 8 total people, so it's kind of crowded trying get ready in the morning, but other than that it's fine. There's a basketball court and park across the street so it's fun to get some exercise there.

Other news:

-I went to a benefit dinner at the State Department on Tuesday night that was really cool. Check out the picture: it was super fancy and there were even some celebrities there. Former American Idol contestant, David Archelleta, performed "Imagine" and "Prayer of the Children;" he was really good.

-Earlier this week I heard General Petraeus, head of US Central Command, give a speech about our progress in Iraq, Arganistan, and Pakistan...pretty neat.

I've been pretty busy, so I'm planning on relaxing tomorrow. Until next time...See ya!

Awesome Florida Trip: knife juggling, tarpon bites, and crocs

My trip to Florida was awesome. We saw so much in just two weeks! Here’s a quick summary:

After driving 2.5 days, we finally made it to Key West from Nashville. On our first night we walked to Mallory Square to watch the sunset. While watching a street performer do tricks, and I was chosen to be a part of the show! He told me to lay flat on my back while he walked on a tightrope held up like a tug-of-rope by more volunteers. Then, he started juggled knives right over me. Whew! Also while in Key West, we sailed to a reef and snorkeled with tons of beautiful fish, had some awesome lemonade from a local named Izzy, almost went spear fishing with Captain Upchuck, and ate a “Cheeseburger in Paradise” from Jimmy Buffet’s original Margaritaville.

Next we headed to John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo to do some camping. We went snorkeling and saw a barracuda, did a kayak trip through the mangrove swamps, but the most exciting thing was the tarpon experience…After finishing our kayak trip, the locals encouraged us to feed the tarpon, a very large game fish that can grow up to 6 feet long and weigh up to 350 lbs. We bought a bucket of fish and took it out to the dock where approximately 150 tarpon were swimming. They told us to hold the fish in our hands right over the water and the tarpon would jump out of the water and bite our arms until we let go of the fish. They assured us that unlike sharks, tarpon have sandpaper mouths instead of sharp teeth and it wouldn’t hurt. We did as they said, and sure enough the tarpon leaped out of the water, bit our arms, then slid down taking the fish with them…wow! Check out the video here:

After Key Largo, we headed to the everglades. On our first day, we took a ranger-guided boardwalk tour and saw over 20 alligators in the swamp right under the boardwalk! The next day, we took a boat ride and saw a crocodile and some small sharks too. Here’s a video of some wildlife We also discovered that McDonalds in Florida sells cheeseburgers for $.60 a piece on Tuesdays. Naturally, my roommate and I decided to buy 33 cheeseburgers and eat as many as we could…it turned out to be not as good of an idea as it initially sounded.

After the everglades we continued onto Miami, our final destination. The walking tour of South Beach was cool, especially the interesting Art Deco architecture. We visited a famous tattoo parlor where they film the show “Miami Ink” on TLC. Little Havana was interesting and we ate some great Cuban sandwiches, bought some Spanish CDs, and found a cool cigar shop. On our last day, we visited a “fronton” where the interesting sport of “Ja-Alai” is played. Read a description of the sport here: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jai_alai) Tons of locals were gambling and yelling at the players and it was really exciting.

After returning from my trip I thought I would have time to relax, but instead my cousin Rachael had just graduated high school and my relatives were in town to help celebrate. We had a great time catching up, laughing, and eating good food.

I fly to Washington DC on Monday, June 1 and Thursday is my first day at the Woodrow Wilson Center internship. I’ll keep you posted!

An exciting summer ahead: Florida, DC, Argentina - subscribe to my blog!

I’ve just finished exams at UT Knoxville and I’ve got an exciting summer coming up. My last exam was May 5, and on May 8 I’m headed to south Florida for a two-week vacation with some friends. We’ll be spending time in Key West, Key Largo, the Everglades, and Miami.

On June 1, I’ll be flying to Washington D.C. for a summer internship from June 1-July 10. I am working 3 days per week in the Department of Outreach and Communication at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, and I’m working 2 days per week doing communications at the American Red Cross. I’ll be living at a youth hostel called “Loftstel,” that way I can save money on rent and hopefully meet some cool people. I’m really excited about being in Washington D.C. for the 4th of July.

After my internship ends on July 10, I’m headed back home to Nashville to relax for a bit. Then on July 20, I’m taking off to Buenos Aires, Argentina where I’ll be studying abroad for the fall 2009 semester. I’m participating in a Spanish immersion program at the “Universidad del Salvador,” a 9,000-student, Jesuit school in downtown Buenos Aires. Classes end on November 10 (because southern hemisphere schools have a reversed calendar), and I’ll hopefully get to travel around South America until mid-December.

I’m planning to blog bi-weekly about my internship and study abroad experience on this blog! So, stay tuned for more postings.

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I've just syndicated my blog as an RSS feed!

I just learned how to syndicate my blog as an RSS feed so you can subscribe.

If you don't understand what RSS is, there is a helpful article on howstuffworks.com

Here's his quick explanation:
"RSS is a method of distributing links to content in your web site that you'd like others to use. In other words, it's a mechanism to "syndicate" your content.
To understand syndication, consider the "real world" situation where artist Scott Adams draws a daily Dilbert cartoon. The cartoon is made available to any newspaper that cares to run it, in exchange for a fee -- and 2,000 papers in 65 countries do so.
Unlike Scott Adams, syndication of web content via RSS is unlikely to make you rich. However, it can be an easy way to draw attention to your material, bringing you some traffic and perhaps a little net fame, depending on how good your information is."

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Special Operations Air Force Chief tells stories about his missions in Vietnam, Iran

Despite a casual demeanor and relaxed speaking style, recently retired Special Operations Air Force Chief, Chuck Kaczmarczyk, had a captive audience of UT students in the Hodges Library as he told story after story of about his role in special operations missions over the past 30 years.

Kaczmarczyk discussed the final evacuation of Saigon in April 1975, the rescue of American citizens from Cambodia in 1975, a complicated rescue attempt to Iran in 1980 and a recently declassified military operation in Zaire in 1980.

He explained the internal dynamics of each military operation, the complexity and importance of these Special Operations missions.

We have the ability to walk around our streets care-free, and in other countries, Israel for example, they don't have that. Chuck Kaczmarczyk The retired Air Force Chief described his enrollment in the military not in terms of patriotic duty, but instead with a laugh.

"Chicks dig guys in tight flight suits," he chuckled. But a deep commitment to serve his country was immediately apparent in the way he spoke about his work and fellow soldiers.

On Nov. 4, 1980 on an Army base in Florida, Kaczmarczyk recalled being summoned to respond to what would be later known as the Iran Hostage Crisis. He didn't return to his home for over 110 days.

After months of special training in Guam and a squabble by military politicians, he flew to the remote mountains of Iran to execute a rescue mission of the hostages being held in the American Embassy.

However, because of a poorly planned base location and equipment failure, the joint task force was ordered to abort the rescue mission.

"You can read about his stuff in history books, but he was there," one student from audience explained.

"Have you ever faced an ethical dillema in the special forces?" one student asked.

He proceeded to tell the story of a team of Navy SEALs hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan. The team was discovered by some local sheep farmers. Although the farmers could disclose the soldiers' top-secret location, they were released. Within an hour, a local militia attacked the American soldiers. The unit lost three of its four members.

"We have a long way to go. We have the ability to walk around our streets care-free, and in other countries, Israel for example, they don't have that," Kaczmarczyk said in response to the current war on terror.

Kaczmarczyk hopes to share what he's been through by speaking to students.

"The military isn't for everybody, and I just want to share my experiences in a historical sort of way."

Discussion exposes African economic exploitation.

"People think that everyone has AIDS and runs around in loin cloths, and that's just not true." said Marissa Wilson, a UT student who recently studied abroad in South Africa.

Wilson helped organize a discussion event to promote student understanding of Africa.

The discussion featured a number of African professors at UT.

Students and professors discussed the corruption in African politics, and the West's role in supporting unfair economic policies.

To start off the discussion, everyone took turns introducing themselves to the group of about 30 UT students and professors.

UT Professors Will Jennings, Amadou Sall and Asafa Jalata introduced themselves and told about their background in Africa.

What we need is African solutions to African problems. Amadou Sall

Sall is from Mauritania in western Africa and worked for many years as a forest ranger in Africa before getting his Ph.D. in education from UT.

Jalata was born in Oromia, Ethiopia but fled as a political refugee in 1981 to come to the United States. Today, he teaches global studies at UT. These professors answered students' questions about Africa.

"How much impact does the United States have in African politics?" one student asked.

All three professors were quick to point out the heavy influence of western interests in currents African politics. In the 1700 and 1800s, European partitioned Africa into colonies to exploit the countries for their natural resources, and slaves.

Once African colonies had achieved their independence, they were still economically dependent on the Western world because multinational corporations owned the majority of property, Jennings explained. This western exploitation of African economies is the primary cause of African poverty and political corruption.

Another student asked if steps were being taken to achieve African unity, similar to the European Union movement.

The African Union is a loose coalition of all African countries. The only requirement for membership in the African Union is to be an African country, Wilson explained. Since it's creation in the 1960s, the African Union has been a "club of gangsters," Jalata responded.

Sall contended that imposing Western development standards on Africa doesn't make sense.

"What we need is African solutions to African problems," he explained. Western aid is counter-productive to African development.

"It all goes back to the Cold War, if you claim to be against Communism you are our friend. It's the same today, if you claim to fight terrorism you are our friend." Sall reiterated that U.S. foreign policy of supporting corrupt puppet governments to gain political influence or economic power in the country.

"We don't want anything, open your markets and let us compete!" Sall declared. Subsidies of American products make it impossible for developing African economies to compete in the global marketplace. For Africa to grow, there must be a fair economic playing field.

The event was organized by the University of Tennessee Issues Committee with the co-sponsorship of the International House Cultural Comparison Series and the Ready for the World Initiative.

Global career expert advises students on living and working overseas

Since 1990, Jean-Marc Hachey has been advising students about the international job search through global career seminars. UT Career Services hosted Hachey's presentation on Monday and Tuesday.

Hachey outlined the necessary skills to go abroad and the importance to of knowing your own cultural work ethic.

He followed up on Tuesday with a seminar detailing how to get international experience and convey it with an international resume.

In addition to giving presentations to students on his book, "The Big Guide to Living and Working Overseas," Hachey also consults professionals about international careers skills.

He speaks to organizations like the Canadian International Development Agency, the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, NAFSA and multiple NGOs. He is also a editor and columnist for "Transitions Abroad" magazine.

Originally from a small town in New Brunswick, Canada, Hachey has a diverse background in international work. He served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, World University Service of Canada, Canadian Crossroads International, and the German Volunteer Service.

He used his experience to provide students with entertaining cultural adjustment stories, practical career tips, and an exciting optimism for travel.

Travel brings you everything! Self-confidence, intellectual stimulation, and knowledge about yourself are all things that you will learn from travel. Jean-Marc Hachey
Monday's presentation answered the question, what type of person are international employers looking for?

Hachey was brimming with so many ideas and enthusiasm that his mouth could barely keep up with his brain. He quickly rattled off ideas for students to gain international experience while at their college campus.

For example, Hachey suggested joining a culture organization, like the Latin Student Association, and help to plan events in order to work closely with international students.

Additionally, Hachey suggested reading a book about intercultural business style and creating a presentation.

The presentation would compare and contrast all cultures from typically laid-back Latinos versus disciplined Japanese work styles. Hachey stressed that adaptability and a love of change are the most important traits of an international worker.

On Tuesday, Hachey focused on how to sell skills and compose an international resume. He emphasizes that international employers are not focused on a candidate's qualifications in their specific field of study.

Hiring professionals want to know, "Are you going to survive in a culture different than your own?" stresses Hachey. A multi page international resume is essential for applying for competitive jobs. Students should differentiate themselves from other applicants by identifying a specific focus in addition to their major.

For example, an economics major with experience in agricultural logistics, or a political science major with graphic design skills has a significant advantage explains Hachey.

"Travel brings you everything!" Hachey says. "Self-confidence, intellectual stimulation, and knowledge about yourself are all things that you will learn from travel."

Three years ago, Hachey targeted only 10% of students who had international interest. However, now Hachey predicts global career skills will be essential to all students.

"Now I ask myself, how can I ramp up my speech because I want to speak to 100% of students? Everybody needs to know this stuff!"