First, my news: I have a job! In the fall of 2008, I’m moving to Chicago! I’m going to be a staff clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. (Basically, I’ll be helping to write case opinions in concert with the judges.) I’m really excited about the job, and I think it’ll be good to be back in the Midwest. I’ll miss California (in fact, this cold I have from biking in the rain is making me miss it right now...), but I’m pretty excited to see what comes next.
I found out about the job while I was in England for the weekend, and receiving that email definitely added to the fun. I went to England to meet up with a couple of friends from the states and crash on their hotel floor, which was surprisingly comfortable. Some observations from the weekend:
- We visited the Tower of London, where I ended up running into one of the other interns from The Hague. The tower had lots of fun stuff from famous people who were locked up there, many of whom carved on the walls in desperation 500 or so years ago. Across from the former cells, we saw the crown jewels and some of the largest diamonds in the world. It’s an interesting contrast.
- In further contrast, we also went to Windsor Castle, one of the queen’s official residences. (I live down the street from an official residence for the queen here, but Windsor was somewhat more impressive.) The castle was the home of all the monarchs who locked their family members in the Tower of London, so it provided a good balance to the day.
- Everything in London is absurdly expensive. The price would be normal if listed in dollars, but of course it isn’t. For example, a beer at the pub was 4 pounds ($8). On the other hand, the beer was called Old Speckled Hen, so at least it was funny.
- We went to the British Museum, which had a lot of amazing artifacts, including the Rosetta Stone and other items pilfered from all corners of the globe. It was pretty amazing, except that unfortunately the Holy Land section was closed. (Just like the British to keep us out of the Holy Land...)
- We went to see a show in a West End theater, which was fun. The show was called “The 39 Steps,” a comedic spoof of the classic Hitchcock film. It was a very British sense of humor, very tongue in cheek. I can’t say it’s the best play I’ve seen, but it was a unique cultural experience.
- We kept looking in the wrong direction when we crossed the street; the British system takes some getting used to. I definitely almost walked in front of a double-decker bus a couple of times, and you’d think I would’ve seen those coming. On most of the street corners, they’ve written “Look Left” or “Look Right” in front of the curb. It kind of makes you wonder what the pedestrian mortality rate had to be in order for them to write that everywhere. (Or it makes me wonder, as I’m just that morbid.)
- We found a vegetarian Thai all-you-can-eat buffet. I’ve never been so happy. (Finding out about the job made me happy too, but mainly in the sense that now I’ll have money for more buffets.)
The trip was much easier than my previous international travel. I flew out of Rotterdam airport, which is closer to me and only has a couple of gates. The flight was literally a half-hour; they played an episode of “Friends,” and then we were in England. This is the first time I’ve even been on an international flight that didn’t either land or take off in the U.S. or Israel. I was literally the only non-EU person on the flight. When we arrived at passport control, every single person from the plane got in one line except for me; I walked straight up to my own counter. It pays to be an American.
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