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JOURNAL ENTRIES
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryAlright folks? It seems this journal actually has gathered a bid of an audience and next week the numbers tuning in might even reach double figures!! On Saturday I boarded the infamous Greyhound Bus service to travel up to Baltimore to visit some cousins who live there. Believe me, you can meet some strange punters on board a Greyhound Bus. I did engage in an interesting conversation with a lady from Guatemala who, despite her limited grasp of the English Language, managed somehow to talk for the entire 2 hour journey. Mostly the conversation followed the trusted formula of her pointing to some object, then me telling her what the english word for the said object was (i.e. “seat”, “watch”, “shirt” etc..) and then she would delight in letting me know what the spanish translation was. One highlight of the conversation was her story of her friend who is supposedly an actor in Los Angeles. She kept saying “big, green man” and then flexing her muscles before giggling uncontrollably. It turned out that she was actually talking some sense and she had been the week before to LA to visit her friend…the actor Lou Ferrigno. What, doesn’t that name ring any bells?…he was the actor who played the ‘Incredible Hulk’ in the 80s TV series. She gave me his telephone number and told me to call him sometime. The highlight of the weekend was the Baseball match on the Sunday when we went to Camden Yard to see the Baltimore Orioles take on the Cleveland Indians. This was my first ever baseball match and it was indeed an experience. I’ve never really understood the attraction of baseball before from watching on TV but being at a match and actually grasping some of the finer points of the game makes a big difference.
Then it was back down to DC courtesy of the luxury of the Greyhound Bus service where you have to be 5 foot nothing to fit in the seats. The walk between the Bus station and the Metro Station was a tad unnerving. Thankfully all the potential muggers in this city are so polite and they request rather than demand money and even if you turn them down they say please and thankyou afterwards The highlight of the week (and possibly of the entire trip) was our visit to the West Wing of the White House last night. About ten of us were randomly selected (yeah right – they just picked the best interns) to go on a tour of the West Wing which is the real power-base in the White House. I was really in awe walking around and seeing the Cabinet Office and the Oval Office etc.. I was in my element. Its quite humbling to look into the Oval Office and think of all the legendary figures who have conducted their business in that room. Another point of interest on the tour was the Press Room where, for those of us who regularly watch the news, President Clinton is often seen giving press conferences behind the poduim. Not content with having my photo taken behind the podium, I almost managed to destroy the White House plaque which hangs on the curtain behind the podium. (watch out for it the next time you see a White House press conference being covered in the news – it might be a tad lop-sided after an accidental brush with my elbow!) That’s as much as I can recall off-hand but if I remember anything else important about this last week then it’ll end up in here at some point in the not too distant future. Til then, be good.
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryWell hello to everyone back home waiting (with baited breath no doubt) for my next journal entry. A good deal of the latter part of last week was spent at Capitol Hill. On Wednesday it was our turn to be the hosts as we entertained the 300 kids from Project Children in the Russell Senate Buildings with games, toys, face painting and the old favourite; Candy Floss. Secretly this was me in my element but don’t tell anyone. In the afternoon the more industrious among us headed back to the Young Leaders Office where we “worked” on the website design. I hesitate to use the word worked since that’s not really an accurate description of the afternoon. Colin showed us that his years of Computer training at UCD did not go to waste (he knows how to turn it on and everything), Barry wrote his journal and checked his e-mail (y’know, the sort of important work he deals with on a day-to-day basis) and Johnny finally was persuaded to wash the paint off his face. Thursday provided the opportunity for the Young Leaders Class of 2000 to impress some of the elected representatives on Capitol Hill. Reps. Crowley and Lowey held a short conference where several of our esteemed colleagues presented a short talk on their experiences in DC as part of the Young Leaders Scheme. I think those who were present were extremely impressed by the talent and potential that is evident amongst the group and consequently, Rep. Crowley has insisted on the provision of $250,000 from the Appropriations Bill to go towards the program next year. After the Conference had ended, myself and John decided it was our turn to get in on some of the Capitol Hill action and so we embarked on a tour of the Political Offices in an effort to get our photographs taken with as many important people as possible. We did manage to track down Reps. King and Payne who were only too happy to pose for a photograph with Northern Ireland’s future leaders!! Unfortunately it was a busy day in terms of voting on the Congress so we missed out on meeting Senator Ted Kennedy among others. Nevermind…I’m sure he will call in the next time he’s in Cloughmills!! Another note of excitment on Thursday was nearly getting into the the White House for the end of term Congressional picnic. Unfortunately, my one-time friend Adam let both John and myself down at the last minute with some weak excuse about needing FBI security clearance or something like that. Ok its nearly 5pm and I think someone is about to lock me inside this building so I’d better finish this at a later date.
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryWell hello to everyone back home waiting (with baited breath no doubt) for my next journal entry. A good deal of the latter part of last week was spent at Capitol Hill. On Wednesday it was our turn to be the hosts as we entertained the 300 kids from Project Children in the Russell Senate Buildings with games, toys, face painting and the old favourite; Candy Floss. Secretly this was me in my element but don’t tell anyone. In the afternoon the more industrious among us headed back to the Young Leaders Office where we “worked” on the website design. I hesitate to use the word worked since that’s not really an accurate description of the afternoon. Colin showed us that his years of Computer training at UCD did not go to waste (he knows how to turn it on and everything), Barry wrote his journal and checked his e-mail (y’know, the sort of important work he deals with on a day-to-day basis) and Johnny finally was persuaded to wash the paint off his face. Thursday provided the opportunity for the Young Leaders Class of 2000 to impress some of the elected representatives on Capitol Hill. Reps. Crowley and Lowey held a short conference where several of our esteemed colleagues presented a short talk on their experiences in DC as part of the Young Leaders Scheme. I think those who were present were extremely impressed by the talent and potential that is evident amongst the group and consequently, Rep. Crowley has insisted on the provision of $250,000 from the Appropriations Bill to go towards the program next year. After the Conference had ended, myself and John decided it was our turn to get in on some of the Capitol Hill action and so we embarked on a tour of the Political Offices in an effort to get our photographs taken with as many important people as possible. We did manage to track down Reps. King and Payne who were only too happy to pose for a photograph with Northern Ireland’s future leaders!! Unfortunately it was a busy day in terms of voting on the Congress so we missed out on meeting Senator Ted Kennedy among others. Nevermind…I’m sure he will call in the next time he’s in Cloughmills!! Another note of excitment on Thursday was nearly getting into the the White House for the end of term Congressional picnic. Unfortunately, my one-time friend Adam let both John and myself down at the last minute with some weak excuse about needing FBI security clearance or something like that. Ok its nearly 5pm and I think someone is about to lock me inside this building so I’d better finish this at a later date.
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryWell hello to everyone back home waiting (with baited breath no doubt) for my next journal entry. A good deal of the latter part of last week was spent at Capitol Hill. On Wednesday it was our turn to be the hosts as we entertained the 300 kids from Project Children in the Russell Senate Buildings with games, toys, face painting and the old favourite; Candy Floss. Secretly this was me in my element but don’t tell anyone. In the afternoon the more industrious among us headed back to the Young Leaders Office where we “worked” on the website design. I hesitate to use the word worked since that’s not really an accurate description of the afternoon. Colin showed us that his years of Computer training at UCD did not go to waste (he knows how to turn it on and everything), Barry wrote his journal and checked his e-mail (y’know, the sort of important work he deals with on a day-to-day basis) and Johnny finally was persuaded to wash the paint off his face. Thursday provided the opportunity for the Young Leaders Class of 2000 to impress some of the elected representatives on Capitol Hill. Reps. Crowley and Lowey held a short conference where several of our esteemed colleagues presented a short talk on their experiences in DC as part of the Young Leaders Scheme. I think those who were present were extremely impressed by the talent and potential that is evident amongst the group and consequently, Rep. Crowley has insisted on the provision of $250,000 from the Appropriations Bill to go towards the program next year. After the Conference had ended, myself and John decided it was our turn to get in on some of the Capitol Hill action and so we embarked on a tour of the Political Offices in an effort to get our photographs taken with as many important people as possible. We did manage to track down Reps. King and Payne who were only too happy to pose for a photograph with Northern Ireland’s future leaders!! Unfortunately it was a busy day in terms of voting on the Congress so we missed out on meeting Senator Ted Kennedy among others. Nevermind…I’m sure he will call in the next time he’s in Cloughmills!! Another note of excitment on Thursday was nearly getting into the the White House for the end of term Congressional picnic. Unfortunately, my one-time friend Adam let both John and myself down at the last minute with some weak excuse about needing FBI security clearance or something like that. Ok its nearly 5pm and I think someone is about to lock me inside this building so I’d better finish this at a later date.
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryOoops, I forgot to mention that I met up with my menor Chuck Dolan yesterday. He works for Ketchum Public Relations. (and no they do not produce 57 varieties of sauce) Chuck took me out to lunch in a flash eatery and we had a good chat.
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryFriday night was uncharacteristically quiet and so it afforded the opportunity to get to bed before midnight for a change and, even better, have a lie in the next morning. It would appear that lie-ins in the morning are just not part of Washington culture. Saturday afternoon was taken up entertaining the kids from the Project Children scheme. There are about 100 young children in the DC area at the minute from Northern Ireland and this was one of the days where we were expected to organise activities (football, rounders, BBQ etc..) to keep them amused. In the evening the much awaited Newcastle Utd v. DC Utd football match took place. After all the hype it was a poor match…a very poor showing from Newcastle who seemed more concerned about keeping names off the injuries list than getting names on the score sheet. The match ended 3-1 but honestly, I’ve seen better on a wet and windy day at the Ballymena Showgrounds. Once we got rid…sorry, that should be said goodbye to the Project Children crowd we headed out for the night to provide our own entertainment. And entertainment was the name of the game with many of our potential “Young Leaders” selflessly crossing the religious and political divide in the name of cross community relations…on behalf of the group may I thank those nameless individuals for the time and energy they spent developing more contact across the sectarian divide !! Then it was on to some dodgy eating house where, after John M. (showing that he’s a trade unionist at heart) failed spectacularly in negoiations with the restaurant staff for better working conditions hence leading to shorter waiting times, we were eventually served at 4am by which time no-one had enough energy to eat anyway. That takes me up to Sunday when we were kindly invited out to Ann’s house where her host family had laid out a spectacular feast for the group. Doug also gave some of the more active members of the gang a crash course in American Football after which our team (under the guidance of Jim Fitzgerald) promptly humiliated his yank-laden team with our array of sublime skills and devilishly clever tactics. Adam showed he’s a born quarterback with a dazzling display of radar-guided passes (to imaginary teamates) and I discovered that I really could star for the Redskins (or perhpas just Ballymoney 4s) next season with a series of hard-hitting tackles (mostly on Diane) and a deft array of side steps. (past trees, shrubs etc…) On the work front things have been quiet this week as my proposed move to the Construction Dept. has had to be postponed for a few days as the boss is away to a Trade Union Convention in Chicago for the week. Nevertheless, the staff in the Legal Dept. have (grudgingly) welcomed me back and are keeping me busy in the meantime. Tomorrow we all have a day off work as it is the Project Children Capitol Hill and we have all volunteered (not sure if that is the correct word) to help out. I’ll let you know later how it went. Au Revoir.
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryOk I’ve a lot to get through here so bear with me. There were no plans to head out on Monday night so I came home and got my hands dirty for once and cut our host family’s lawn…your turn next Kev. Tuesday afforded another opportunity to make my way down to Capitol Hill to attend a House hearing. However, all the hearings scheduled for that day had been put back because there were votes being cast in the Senate on amendments to the Budget Bill. The staff in Senator Ashcroft’s office were kind enough to give me a pass to the Senate Gallery and so I spent my morning watching the Senate in session. For non-congress persons such as myself it was excellent ot be able to see all the big names gethered in one place…Ted Kennedy, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Trent Lott etc.. Of course, for those gits…sorry, I mean interns who work on the Hill, this is old hat. People had been commenting earlier in the week on how I was beginning to resemble an Old English Sheepdog – finally I decided enough was enough and so I went to get my hair cut on Tuesday evening. What I wasn’t expecting was a bill for $17 for the privilege !! Thank god we’re only here for 2 months. And anyway, pleny of people have complimented me on my hair cut since so perhaps it was worth it !! Wednesday morning provided a good opportunity to catch upon sleep…during a House Committee meeting on China’s military capabilities. At least I wasn’t the only one in the room in the land of nod as half the Congressmen on the committee also used this occasion to catch up on some rest !! Once the meeting had ended I met up with Adam and Ciara and we went to check out the room in the Capitol where Rep. Crowley is holding a conference for us next week. More importantly, I got my first ride on the Capitol Subway – a special underground train which Representatives and their staff use to travel between their offices and the Capitol Building. On the train we met Rep. Donald Payne (who Kev is interning with). He had just returned from “the province” where he was an observer at the Drumcree parade and he gve us his thoughts and insights into the situation. He also invited us to come round to his offices at some stage so he my regret saying that when 30 of us turn up on his doorstep some morning !! On Wednesday evening we were invited by our new US friends Nick and Claire to go out to a party at their flat in college. It was a good night except for for the fact that their flatmates insisted on going to bed at 10pm. On the metro home we regailed the other travellers with our own interpretation of the 100 best Irish songs including that eternal classic: “Low lie, the fields of Ballynafeigh”. As usual Macko nearly got us into a fight by arguing that black was white or something equally stupid with one of the yanks who started to take it personally. P.S. This was in an area where there has been a massive increase in violent crime and muggings within the past couple of mnths…nice one John.
My last 2 days at work in the Legislative Department have been fantastic. The Union kindly agreed to let me attend the Convention of the TTD (Transportation Trades Department of which the IUOE is a member) in the Capitol Hilton Hotel. The various high profile speakers who were in attendance included Senator Daschle, Rep. Gephardt, Rodney Slater, (who is part of the Clinton Administration as US Secretary for Transportation) Rep. Oberstar. The speeches included some of the most inspiring oratory I have ever heard. Aside from political figures there were also many outstanding leaders within the Trade Union movement present including Sonny Hall John Sweeney and Rich Trumka who is an absoluely fabulous speaker. I’m name dropping here I know but I can’t help it !! The undoubted highlight of the conference was the keynote address this morning by Vice President Al Gore. Ok, ok, so I didn’t shake hands with him, nor did I get a chance to telll him that we are descended from the same clan…the Rankins of Co. Derry, but I was in the same room as him and that’s good enough for me. Mr. Gore is actually not a great speaker. He was once described as being “charismatcally challenged” which is perhaps unfair but he does not seem to have the ability to raise the roof as such. Of course the yanks were loving every minute of it, making sure there was a statnding ovation at least once every couple of minutes and that sort of thing but it struck me that Gore does not seem to be a natural orator – not that that is essential to be a good leader…but it helps ! Anyhow, the weekend is upon us once more and who knows what it might bring…well you’ll just have to wait to find out won’t you.
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryWell the excitement of passing my exams naturally called for a few celebrations and so Tursday night in Lucky’s was as good a night as any for that purpose. Unfortunately my prowess on the pool table was out-weighted by Macko’s skill which, shall we say, left a lot to be desired…and I mean a lot !! As usual the girls left early leaving Adam, John and myself to fly the flag for the Class of 2000 and fly it we did…a memorable night.
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryWell by my high standards its been quite a while since I’ve updated this thing so; are you sitting comfortably….?….then I shall begin.
In the evening we attended a dinner reception in the Emerald Isle following the inagural meeting of the first ever Young Leaders Board. My hopes of being served something to remind us of home (i.e. Champ, Irish Stew, Ulster Fry) were dashed as they insisted on serving us a wonderful gourmet platter…its a hard job, but someone has to do it ! Our after dinner speakers gave us exactly what the group needed after 4 weeks living in some of the most affluent areas of the Washington DC area…a touch of reality in documenting the ‘other’ side of the city. Its hard to forget that DC is home to some of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in the US…DC has also been dubbed the “Murder Capital of the World”. It is also highly ironic that, in a city which is seen as the centre of world democracy, the residents do not have the right to vote in elections to both houses in Congress !!
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryWell it looks like I missed out on some scandal in DC at the weekend but no doubt the resident group gossips will fill me in soon enough. On Saturday and Sunday Kevin and I enjoyed the hospitality of our host family’s daughter and son-in-law in their country retreat on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay. Saturday evening entailed a spot of fishin’ on the bay and beginners luck was shining on me as I landed a Croaker and a couple of Spots. (these are types of fish but I’m sure you already knew that!) P.S. Like many of the group I am nervously awaiting news of exam results any day now.
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryGreetings. I’ve just read over my journal entry from last night and I am truly shocked at the standard of my spelling; apologies one and all.
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryWell after my rather quiet day at work on Monday I decided that, since I only work a couple of blocks away from the White House I would stroll down in that direction. To say I was disappointed by the building would be untrue but I couldn’t help but think that, compared to some of the other tourist attractions such as Capitol Hill and the Washington monument, the White House appears rather small in comparison…almost like a 2 bedroom bungalow built beside the castle on the hill!!
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryI really think the interns who, like me, had to work today deserve some sort of award or something while the others are probably still lying in their beds.
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryWell last night was a memorable occasion as our host “mom and dad” Martha and Jay, took myself and Kevin to see our first live basketball match. The big team in Washington are the Mystics and they play in the WNBA. (Women’s National Basketball Association) Unfortunately my expert coaching from the sidelines (row Z to be exact) was of no use as the Mystics lost narrowly to the Phoenix Mercury team. However, it was a wonderful occasion and the crowd of 16,000 far exceeded my expectations.
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryHi folks,
Well you know what they say, another day, another dollar…actually strictly speaking that’s not true as I’m not even paid to be doing this…doh!
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryHey Folks,
Well I’ve just about finished my first day at the trade union. Looked over some cases involving disputes between employers and the union so its good to actually get stuck into some real law for a change!! I also got taken to lunch by my boss today but I doubt that will happen too often judging by the prices of the restaurant we were in! Anyway its past 4.15 so I don’t want to hang around too long. Catch you later…..
Young_Leader: Paul Fleming Journal_EntryPaul, welcome to Young Leaders 2000 from the Webmaster. We all look forward to following your summer adventure here in Washington, DC through your Journal. If you have any questions or problems with your Journal, please email webmaster@storywise.com. Good luck!
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