While studying abroad in Copenhagen last year, I always said the hardest thing to get used to was grocery shopping.

Stepping into that grocery store was intimidating, to say the least. It’s hard enough that everything is in a different language, but the types of products, arrangement, pricing, and even social interaction that takes place in the grocery store are so radically different that, despite how much I’ve traveled, foreign grocery stores still make me pause with foreign unease.

It wasn’t just Copenhagen, either. In fact, grocery shopping in Tokyo was much more difficult, for obvious linguistic reasons. But on the other end of the spectrum, even visiting a convenience store in London, or closer to home, even New York City can be a shockingly unfamiliar experience for someone like myself, who’s grown up in rural America and moved to Washington, D.C.–a city that is, well, remarkably unique. Sure, there’s no language barrier, but there’s still that odd feeling of unfamiliarity. I remember the first time I walked into a Duane Reade–it felt exactly like walking into a 7-eleven in Japan, a Netto in Copenhagen, or a Sainsbury’s in London.

Now the only reason I write all this is because this morning I got that very same feeling walking into a Rite-Aid here in Crystal City.

I walked in and was suddenly stunned by that odd feeling of out-of-place-ness. That feeling you get when you go in a place that you expect to feel comfortable, normal, and consistent, but instead are confronted with an environment radically different from your own–like walking into a foreign grocery store.

There’s nothing particularly remarkable about this Rite-Aid that I can pin this feeling on. The products were the same, the prices no different. Even the layout was remarkably similar to most of the CVS’s and Rite-Aids around the District. Perhaps it was my mood, my state of mind at the time, or my imagination still lost in the book I was reading on the metro.

I woke up at 3:30 a.m. today. Admittedly, that wasn’t my plan.

In fact, I woke up at 3:30 because my poor roommate had managed to lock himself out of the building when he ran back outside to look for something he thought he had lost (he works late nights). We ended up talking for about 20 minutes, then I found that–surprise, surprise–I couldn’t go back to sleep. I’d gone to bed at a shocking (for me, especially), 11 p.m. last night.

I stayed up and read part of Netherland by Joseph O’Neill (which is an absolutely fantastic read so far, by the way) until about 4:30 a.m. Then napped and snuggled with the kitty (don’t diss it) until about 5:00 a.m. Then I got up for real.

So what’s the point in me describing my morning to you so far? It was early, and I love it. And I feel like I’m in a constant struggle to establish a morning routine that I enjoy.

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Woke up feeling like crap today.

I’m doing my best to avoid whining on Twitter quite as much, so I figured I might try writing a quick post to complain about it instead–it’s my blog anyway, right?

My roommate (@ptklein) and I basically decided that the month of July just hates us. Not only has this entire month been unbearably hot (culminating with the record heat on Saturday and, ya know, that massive, random storm that killed people–along with everyone’s power and cable–yesterday), but we’ve discovered that we have yet to have one full week where we haven’t had at least one pretty crappy day.

There have been some redeeming days this month: I’ve had a lot of fun at most of the events I’ve been at, I’ve enjoyed the company of a lot of really great new friends lately, and I’ve managed to relax just a tad from time to time. That said, I wake up this morning and here I am coughing, wheezing, phlegmy, and my back hurts. God only knows what I did to deserve all this, but it started on Friday and doesn’t appear to be letting up soon.

Blargh. Ah well, consider this the entirety of my whining for the day–might as well make the best of everything else I can. Have a great day, folks.

Tenley Circle
Originally uploaded by DDOTDC

I’ve been through this intersection so many times, I could resist posting this photo (and I’m too lazy this morning to write up a full, substantial post).

The DC DDOT has started posting old-timey photos of the District on Flickr, and it’s some of the coolest stuff I’ve seen in a long time. This photo depicts the main traffic circle in Tenleytown, the neighborhood near American University (where I go to school), and only one mile from where I currently live. For the past three years I’ve traveled through this circle almost every other day in some capacity or another, on my way to the metro, grabbing food with friends, or running errands to the Best Buy, Ace Hardware, or good old CVS.

It’s hard to imagine what it must’ve been like back in 1955. At the time, my business school was just being founded–that very year, in fact. From the angle in the photo, though, it doesn’t even look all that terribly different. The street remains essentially the same size and shape, although with significantly more traffic. And the large church on the left is still the defining landmark of the traffic circle.

Take a look through all the photos on the DDOT Flickr page. Enjoy!

Standing Out
Originally uploaded by Mulia

I don’t have that much to say tonight, but this photo pretty much summed up what was on my mind today.

And now I’m not trying to be obnoxious or conceited or egotistical–God knows I don’t actually think the entire world is wrong and I’m always right (which is obviously not the case, if you know me very well at all).

Instead, I look at this as sort of a motivational tool. I want to be right, so I can help fix everything that’s wrong with the world.

It’s also an anti-frustration tool–stuck in a situation where you know you’re right and someone else is wrong? Whip this beauty of a photo out and it’ll make you feel better. It did me.