Crossing off another…

13/1/12

Hello from the wide cold north again. I’m back and after sleeping for 16 hours, I’ve regained this time zone. The Bulgarians I lent my room to in my absence didn’t tear it apart, and the faint odd smell was quickly dispatched. So, update.

Odd that, knowing I would get to check one off, I didn’t bring a pen. English James and I, with our day free, we ventured to the Mall shortly after our tour of the White House. While we had come in the night prior, the Washington Monument stood out against the rest of the city, a pillar of brilliant white with a spot of blinking red as planes from Reagan National Airport seemed to keep buzzing the presidential residence. It was easy to mark out the city by that alone, and we were around one of those markers that was unmistakable. It’s a monument that doesn’t just stand for a man or even an idea, but a nation.

When I was in London, I was on a walking tour and keeping no track of my location, we turned a corner and, staring me flat in the face, was Big Ben, possibly (certainly debatably) the most recognizable building in the world. It literally stopped me in my step, and I could only stare, as if I could make it part mine the longer I looked, or I could unlock the secrets of it, how it must have looked to the quarter of the world once under the crown, or siphon off the old sentiment that it was the center of what was considered proper western civilization.

The Washington monument, along with the White House, like Big Ben, can now be seen as another symbol of the most powerful country in the world; just as England fell, so too will America, but while Big Ben can also symbolize a legacy, the Washington Monument can’t claim the same, or at least, one that isn’t fully developed or constantly changing. Also, being intimately involved with the country in question, I don’t know if I’m seeing it as someone else might. D.C. feels like vaguely like a different country, but one I have no expectations from, or relate myself to very closely – I suspect this is being a part of the east coast, but it may also have to do with not being in a state, and thus I have no conception of it.

The feeling Big Ben gave me inspired me to write entry 36 (see Big Ben, Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty), and I felt like I wanted to do that one again, so I did 38 (Washington Mall, Roman Colosseum, and Sydney Opera House). English James and I walked up behind it from the White House (as much as can be said to be the front or back), and, looking south to the Jefferson Memorial, west to the Lincoln Monument, and east to the U.S. Capitol building, I could say definitively that I was on the Washington Mall. Borrowing a pen from one of the men sitting around, to James’s clapping, I crossed off 38a. The list has been updated.

Also, I’ve changed the rules of 31 a little, because Lubica saying hi to my dad for two seconds on video Skype didn’t seem worthy, and the idea is for it to be the same girl. So that’s the state of the list. I’m also a few scenes away from completing 6a, and will be getting assigned a section for my Norwegian level 3 class, passage of which certifies conversational status, so it’s a step towards 1.

Additionally, in D.C., I got the opportunity to follow Marie around to her new classes. I will be expanding on this later, but I bought a few LSAT prep books just now off of Amazon, they should be here in a week. It’s taken a lot of thought and I think this is the direction I’m going to move (and perhaps after wards I’ll move in a direction Marie hasn’t suggested).

It’s strange to think I am entering the last leg of my time here, that I’ve only 7 months left on my rent, and 8 on my visa, which I won’t be renewing. This place doesn’t feel new to me anymore, as I’ve “come home” twice now, first from Cape Town and second from Seattle. Oslo is beginning to have less of an obvious connection to me (“I’ve been there!”) than it does a passive one (“Yeah, Oslo, what about it?”). I suppose this is because it’s not worth a mention, like Seattle or Dallas, as I’ve lived there, gotten used to it, smelled the air, eaten the food, payed the rent, held a job, made native friends and had real friendships. When did this happen?!

I was just suggested to check out a Facebook group, “New in Oslo” and I almost blurted out, “I’m not new, I’m about to leave!” Hopefully I’ll find out if that’s true, and where to, soon. Interview monday.
-Schuyler

Summation of the Action: 38a is crossed off, making steady progress with 1b (languages) and 6a (book). And since I’m a member of the human race, I resolved to lose some weight this year, so I guess progressing towards 7 (pull-ups). Last I checked, I could do 6 of them in a row.