Spring in Session

So, it seems to be spring already for about a month, but I must say it doesn't really feel like it here in DC. Even though one day the weather seems great, the next day it's horrible. Right now, I can hear the thunder and rain is pouring down. And of course, the weather is great when I have to work, while it's horrible when I could use some sunshine.
During one of the moments when I did get a breath of fresh air the last few weeks I visited the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin. Very touristic, but I must admit it did provide a beautiful surrounding for the Jefferson Memorial (see picture) and the Roosevelt memorial. I also enjoyed the visit of Jasper Claessen (my reverred friend from the Vechtdal College in Hardenberg who is now getting his PhD at the MIT) combined with an Easter celebration with a lot of friends and Chloe's family. But apart from such happenings I've been mainly working on school, SIFE - and moving to my new place!
Yes, once again I moved, this time to live with Chloe in her - our - appartment at Columbia Heights. It all happened on Saturday April 4th. Now I live a bit further away from downtown and campus, but it's a more 'hood'-like neighborhood, a great appartment and low costs. Can't complain! And of course a girlfriend to complete the package! I was hanging around at her place so much already that the difference doesn't seem that significant, but it's a great experience until now.
And next to her appartment, I also invaded her workplace. I got the opportunity to volunteer with Ashoka as an Award Writer to write nominations for Ashoka fellows Joseph Adelegan and Ursula Sladek for certain awards that would support their initiatives. It was great to get to know more about them and get an insider's view of Ashoka. They support a large number of great fellows all around the world. However, instead of offering support, I think I'd rather do something myself. But there is a lot to learn and a lot to discover out there. It was just a short volunteer-job, so I'm already done, and now I can focus on...finals!
Yes, finals are coming up again, but luckily I don't have that much to worry about: a relatively short project for Business Arabic (I'll probably translate the website of Al Majmoua), a take-home exam for International Political Economy, and a normal exam for International Macroeconomics and Finance and for Financial Management. Oh, and a paper for Negotiation Skills, a class that took up my whole last weekend. It was fun, but time consuming, and of course it deprived me of any chance to enjoy the few days of nice weather we have here.

Some while ago, when I realized that the semester was almost over, I also realized that this one (academic) year at GW seems to have gone by even more quickly than a semester in Leiden or Tokyo. It has been a great, crazy experience, and I'm happy I have one more year to run around DC, discovering the nightlife, nature, NGO's, national heritage, my next employer and new friends. And looking back on the last few months, I have done a great amount of things that where on my to-do list for a while now:
- Live in the USA
- See New York
- Find a girlfriend who shares (almost) every interest
- Learn Arabic
- Establish my own organization
- Set up community projects
- Study economics
- Learn about Finance and financial management (I even already learned some things about investment banking, but that was just a weekend-crash-course)
- Get an internship in finance
- Learn more about microfinance (okay, that will happen this summer, but I already took care of it)
- Arrange a trip to the Middle East (a region where I haven't been yet)
- Learn negotiation skills
- Play basketball on a street-court in the US (even though it was just with 12-year old kids)
- Campaign for Obama
- Attend his inauguration

Not a bad score for one year. I'm curious what summer and next semester will bring!