DiploJournal
Congratulations, Team Canada
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What a game to close the Olympics. Although Team USA hung in with the superstar-heavy Canadian hockey team, things looked bleak in the third period. Trailing 2-1 with 90 seconds left, the American squad pulled their goalie to add another attacker. In a desperate melee with 10 seconds left, the puck found the back of the net and we were miraculously heading to overtime. Several bars and restaurants downtown blasted the game from outdoor speakers here in Ottawa and just about everyone on the street wore team jerseys and/or sported red and white face paint. At the end of regulation, you could here a pin drop. Team USA had just shot Canada’s dog.
The drama continued into the overtime with both teams pressing in a 4-on-4, 20-minute, sudden death contest for everything. When Sidney Crosby knocked in the golden goal, the place went nuts. I don’t mean just the “barn” in Vancouver where the match was played before a rabid Canadian crowd. I mean everywhere north of the border. Here in Ottawa, thousands of miles away, people swarmed the streets screaming and shouting. An impromptu “Oh Canada” sing-along broke out in the ByWard Market.
As I write this, the game ended over 1/2 hour ago and the medals have been presented to each player. The car horns, screams, and shouts in the street, however, show no signs of letting up. Just as Team USA took a collective knee on the ice and watched the celebration, I watched the celebration from my chilly balcony. Canada is Hockey. They were the better team, they stepped up when it counted, and they deserved the gold. What a perfect end to the Vancouver games for the home team.
Hockey and Canadians
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I planned all day yesterday to head to a local pub around 7:30pm to watch Team USA take on the Canadians in Olympic hockey. Although there was no medal on the line, the hype has been building for two weeks as the top seed Canadian squad demolished its first opponent, Norway, 8-0. Yeah, that’s a hockey score. You could feel tension begin to rise in the streets, however, after several much-hyped Canadian athletes, from alpine skiers to figure skaters, failed to medal. I’ve been cheering, and cringing, with home team fans since arriving. Setting aside the “own the podium” program aimed at securing the overall medal competition for the host country, Canada still has hockey. Even with a tough overtime win over Switzerland, everyone here remained confident that Canada would close the games holding gold in its national sport. Commercials like this have been running 24/7.
The combination of Canadian athletes under-performing, and a surprisingly strong showing from the Americans, increased the importance of the hockey game. The winner would move on to the quarter-finals and the loser would have to meet Germany for a chance at the quarters. As the 3-hour pregame started winding down, it was pretty clear that this hockey game carried a lot of pressure for both the players and the spectators. I’ve never been very good at being a quiet sports fan and I figured the only scenario in which I was going to make friends was if Team Canada jumped out to an early lead, the game never developed much tension, and I could buy a round for the happy locals. That didn’t sound like much fun so I made some dinner and stayed home.
What a game. I covered the San Jose Sharks as a photographer last year and at one point, there were five Sharks on the ice. Most of them sported a maple leaf, and shot at will. Incredibly, the Canadians outshot Team USA 45-23 but never held a lead. As much as I enjoy Ottawa and the people here, this was not a night for camaraderie with America’s closest international partner. I’ll be rooting for Canada to run the table through Germany, Russia, and maybe the Czechs. Right up to the finals. I can only imagine what a rematch would look like with the gold medal on the line. Go team.
First Impressions of Ottawa
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I’m now officially settled in Ottawa after my first full week. Having never been here before, I did not have a whole lot of expectations, positive or negative. The post reports I’d read focused on the negatives. Summed up simply, the reports described Ottawa as cold, expensive, and boring. So far, it hasn’t been nearly as cold as expected, it is expensive but not crazy, and I’m far from bored.
Ottawa is not a typical foreign service post in that security is not an overwhelming issue. The trend over the last decade has been to move our embassies out of downtown areas to more secure locations in the suburbs — even in Western European capitals like London. Embassy Ottawa, however, is relatively new and located right downtown on the banks of the Ottawa river. I thus chose to live a short walk away, in new building overlooking the vibrant ByWard Market neighborhood. From my balcony, I can see scores of restaurants, bars, and shops. Everything is a short walk, from the food shops in the market to the modern Rideau Centre mall. I might feel different if I were living in the suburbs, but there is a lot to do and explore downtown.
Yesterday, I walked down to Bank Street, a different downtown area across the Rideau Canal, to find an old-fashioned barber shop (complete with straight-razor shave). On the way back, I walked about a mile down the canal. In the winter, after the Canal freezes 20″ down, they open it up for skating — all 4-1/2 miles of it. It is quite common to see whole families with skates over their shoulders walking through the mall or in the Market, having skated downtown from the suburbs. I was thinking about renting some skates and giving it a try, but the line was daunting. Instead, I just walked the ice. It was packed with people of every age.
Rideau Canal Skaters
After heading back to town, I stopped in to Confederation Park to catch the last week-end of Winterlude, a winter festival highlighted by an amazing collection of ice sculptures: beautiful works of art that will eventually melt into the grass. The cold temperatures clearly don’t prevent Ottawans from getting out and about. The talk around the embassy, particularly among the local staff, is how warm this winter has been. Daily temperatures are getting up to 25-30 degrees. For a Californian, I still find that plenty cold, particularly with the regular stiff wind, but it can easily be 20-30 degrees colder this time of year. We’ll see if the warmth continues — it’s supposed to snow most of this coming week.
Before heading home, I stopped to do some food shopping. There’s a supermarket about three blocks away where I stocked up on staples last week-end, but I want to get into the habit of buying most of my food from the local market shops and carts. I visited the butcher, a couple of vegetable stands, and the patisserie for a baguette. It was so much more fun than loading up a big basket at Safeway.
I think I’ll have to add my own, more positive, post report extolling the virtues of Ottawa in the coming months.
Goodbye Arlington, Hello Ottawa
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Initially, the unprecedented snowstorms that blasted Washington DC provided a interesting diversion. After a day or two of unplanned unproductive time, however, the snow-induced Federal government closure had me wondering whether my departure date would be significantly delayed. With one lease ending and another beginning, a delay would have been a real headache.
I dutifully sat in front the computer at 6:00 pm every night last week, hitting the refresh button on the www.opm.gov website that would announce the operating status for the Federal government the following day. For five consecutive work days, the site proclaimed that all non-essential government services in the DC-area would be closed. No passports (including my diplomatic passport that was ready a week ago) would be delivered. No previously scheduled classes (including the mandatory two-day course I was scheduled to take) would be taught. No offices (includes those with whom I was required to consult) would be open.
My lease in Arlington ended on Friday and I had arranged, after a planned stopover in Syracuse, NY, to take possession of my new place in Ottawa on Saturday. Thus, if OPM announced Thursday night that the government would be closed for a sixth consecutive day on Friday, I wasn’t going anywhere other than a local hotel. I would have to stay and do nothing until at least Tuesday because Monday is a holiday. Thankfully, OPM announced that Friday would a “liberal leave”, late open, day. Not a typical schedule, but offices would be open and hopefully everyone I with whom I had to meet would be in the office.
I finished packing everything I could cram into the car, and the movers arrived around 9:30 am to pack out the rest. While they packed, I cleaned. They did an amazing job and I was on my way to run a series of last minute critical errands within 90 minutes. I managed to find all the various departments up and running, procured the requisite signatures to demonstrate I had no outstanding materials, I had passed my courses, I had processed all my timesheets and vouchers, and that I was good to go.
A call to the passport office to determine the status of my diplomatic passport and Canadian visa (yep, although I don’t need one if I’m going across the border for a vacation, I need one to cross the border in my official capacity for two years) was less conclusive. It seems the visa had been granted, but was still with the Canadian embassy downtown and they had nobody to run over and get it. No problem. Off I went downtown. Unfortunately, the visa pick-up window is only open between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm so I had to wait. Amazingly, the stars aligned and, at 2:00 sharp, I got in and, after a bit of search, they found it. Phew.
Everything checked off, I jumped in the car and hit the road North. The hardest part of the drive was getting out of the DC metro area. Traffic was backed up for over a mile. Assuming it was a snow-induced accident (of which there have been hundreds over the past week), I was a bit surprised to discover the cause to be a young woman in high heels, stomping angrily down the third lane of the highway. Traffic in both directions slowed to a crawl. The fact that she was topless might also have had some impact on the number of rubber-neckers slowing traffic.
I hit Syracuse just as snow started falling and, after a fitful night, left early this morning for the last three hours. I won’t pretend that it was no big deal to present my credentials for the first time while crossing the border. The customs officer glanced at my car stuffed to the gills and remarked suspiciously that it looked like I was moving to Canada. I was more than happy to explain my new position as Vice Consul at the US Embassy in Ottawa (nevermind that the title sounds a lot more impressive than the accompanying duties). His attitude changed immediately and, after a bit of a chat, provided the inaugural stamp in my shiny new diplomatic passport.
Ottawa is going to be a great fit. The place I rented in Arlington, VA was perfect as a home base for A-100 and ConGen training, but I doubt very much I will ever live in Arlington again. This Arlington Rap video has been making the rounds for a year but it really captures the feel of the place. Next time around, we’ll look for a place in Dupont Circle or around U Street.
After only twelve hours in Ottawa (and despite the two Starbucks I passed within 3 blocks of my building), I already know I’ll be coming back someday in the future.
A Walk Through Snowpocalypse
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With all that’s happening in our nation’s capital — health reform, financial re-regulation, and the new centerfold Senator from Massachusetts — you’d think 36 straight hours of local news would have something better to cover. Instead, the only story receiving round-the-clock coverage is weather. Dubbed Snowpocalypse and Snowmageddon, the DC metro area has received unprecedented amounts of snow. Dulles airport has recorded over 30″ since Friday and we’re within an inch of the all-time annual record snowfall.
Grocery stores have empty shelves and everything is shut down. No buses or above ground metro. No Smithsonian. Even the local mall and movie theater shut down. Thus, it was either stay cooped up or get an early start on the Ottawa outdoor activity. I donned my snow boots and Canada Goose jacket, wrapped a camera in a weatherproof housing, and headed for downtown.
The snow continued to fall in the afternoon which scared away 95% of the usual traffic and just about all the tourists. Some sporadic snowball fighting, snowman building, and cross-country skiing, but that’s about it. The DC mall like I’ve never seen it. Snowpocalypse indeed.
Street sign without a street
Large branches and entire trees snapped from the weight of the snow
Frozen Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument
Alexander Hamilton in the cold
Preparing for Pack Out
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I’ve got a few days of classes remaining next week, but I’m now officially in transition mode. There’s a long checklist of things to get done, but plenty of time so it’s relatively low stress. The impending snow storm this week-end will also limit the distractions so I can focus on getting organized and packing things up. It started snowing this morning and it’s supposed to keep going through tomorrow night with an expected 15-24 inches. This would apparently break the all-time annual snowfall record for the DC metro area. I’m convinced it’s a plot to get me used to weather in Ottawa.
Although I went through the pack-out process in October, it feels like a lot longer than 3-1/2 months ago. The movers came by this morning to do a pre-move assessment. Unlike most officers, I’ll be driving to post so I can fit a lot of my stuff in the car, leaving only a small subset that will have to be packed up and shipped. Thankfully, I’m moving into a furnished place downtown so I don’t need to worry about acquiring more stuff.
The drive to Ottawa looks like it will be pretty relaxed. Although it’s only about 10 hours, I’m going to stop for the night somewhere along the way because my lease ends in Virginia on Friday and I can’t get into my new place in Ottawa until Saturday. I now have a four-wheel-drive instead of the convertible I drove out from California, but I expect I will still be driving a little more slowly and carefully heading through the snow-belt on I-81 to Scranton, Syracuse, and the Canadian border.
Now if it will just warm up a little so the two feet of snow melts between now and Friday…
