Falling Mist

That describes the weather on Saturday.  Chilly and damp, but still busy.  

But first, this somebody I've been talking about actually wants to be named and said it was ok to put our picture up from the embassy.  As I think many of you have looked it up, I'll wait until the next photo op.

I thought it would have been fun to give him a nickname, that favored blogger thing to do.  Zigzag because he doesn't walk in a straight line?  Freckles because he has some (and they're cute)?  Bonsai boy because we're small?  But he says I can use his real name, so everyone, meet Jeff.

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Second, I've just realized many of you are wondering how the interview went on Friday for the position of translation quality control specialist.  I feel really good about it.  I think I answered their questions succinctly, and to the best of my ability.  I even got to use the word "circumspect" :)  

The two tests they gave me were fun and easy (though I am sure many would be bored to death by such work), so I hope that shows.

The first one was comparing a source English user's manual to the target German user's manual.  If I saw anything at all that needed changing or correcting, I had to make marks and was also allowed to mark the source to aid the next person.    Layout, formatting, spelling, etc.  After I go through it, a native speaker would recheck my work.

The second test was formatting a target body of text in Word, dotted with notes to the editor, to resemble as closely as possible the finished source document in my hand.  It was a translated first page of a Russian nuclear contract.

I really had fun doing those.

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On to the Saturday adventure.  J. picked me up in the falling mist and we went downtown to see some kites.  Since it wasn't technically raining, the 2009 Kite Festival went on by the Washington Memorial.

Walking through the courtyard of the Ronald Reagan Building of International Trade and Commerce.  I took this photo because it reminds me of the gate of the Royal Academy where it exits to Piccadilly in London.

Passing by the Warner Theater, we saw all these signatures in the sidewalk:  Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Eric Idle, Englebert Humperdinck, Tommy Tune, Liza Minnelli, Twyla Tharp, and many others.

Kites in the gloom - can you spot the Lincoln Memorial in the misty distance?

In the Smithsonian Castle gardens:

There are many different types of sakura - these are in the Magnolia family

Gate of Heaven - entry into a small tribute to the Garden of Heaven in China

Standing under a weeping cherry tree

Leaving the garden

At the US Botanic Garden:

A baseball cactus in the Desert section, and a stella type plant in the Bromeliad family (of which pineapple is a member.)  OH!  I forgot to take a pic of a pineapple plant!!

L:  Looking down from the second level in the Jungle section.

R top: Pink Powder Puff - yes, it was called that and J. is certain it is my favorite.

R bottom:  Orchids are his favorites.

We went to the neighborhood of Adams Morgan for dinner, and chose a Himalayan restaurant.  The weather demanded spicy food and a warm atmosphere, so we chose well.  I forgot to take pictures of the food, so he reminded me to take this one of the gulab jamun we had for dessert.

Starters were crispy puri with seasoned aloo (potato), chickpeas, and tamarind sauce.

For mains I had some spicy Himalayan dumplings with chutney, and he had lamb rogan josh.

Afterwards, we went to a bar called The Reef, which was filled with aquaria.  We had chocolate martinis and watched an iridescent fish and a yellow fish.  I claimed the iridescent one because it fascinated me - J. named him Walter, and his yellow one was called Sunshine.  Sunshine was well-behaved and polite, but Walter was a rabble-rouser.

I also had a nuts and berries drink that I likened to drinking cake.  Then we had a second dessert (!) of lavender cake.  Lavender, I tell you!  All in all it was a wonderful day, sun or no sun.