First Day

Oakwood, Falls Church.  The main building with my building
showing in the background.

I did it.  I made it through my first day as an FSO.  Of course, this was probably the easiest day I will ever have (or so I imagine) since all I had to do was listen, fill out paperwork, sit, have my picture taken, have my finger prints taken, and things of that nature.
I drove with a few other new FSOs this morning to Main State.  We were worried that the Shuttle wouldn't get us to Main State on time.  We ended up being an hour early.  Security wasn't ready for us by the time we got there.  But I'm glad we went early because I was able to do the things for my badge that I needed to do right in the morning.  That means my badge was ready by 10 am when most people were doing the paperwork/verification/authentication necessary to have their badge printed.
After that, I went into the auditorium where we were to meet.  There was a little bit of waiting (but that doesn't surprise me after all the waiting I've done in the hiring process of this job) and then we began.  There was a welcome and we had a small swearing in.  I got the chills when we repeated the oath.  I know there is a formal ceremony later at the end of A-100, but still, it started to make it feel more official.  I'm really doing this.  I am serving my country.

Oakwood has a schedule of events including
an Ice cream social!!  It sounds like they
have a lot of good activities for the residents.

Next we had new hire information (I don't remember the order, but things like benefits and health insurance).  At 10am I got my badge (hurray!  Now it really is official!  I can walk around the building without an escort!), then filled out/turned in the remaining new hire paperwork that the registrar's office needed from me.  I was done by 10:30, so I went to lunch early.
I ate in the cafeteria.  It was really expensive.  It was good, but it was really expensive.  That kind of surprised me because the cafeteria in the ND Capitol Building was very reasonable.  I got a little extra so that I would have food for dinner (I didn't have the chance to go to the grocery store).  I still had two hours after that, so I got some information on health insurance plans, then made some important phone calls (like canceling the auto insurance policy on the car I gave to my sister).  I talked with some fellow 156th A-100ers before we headed back to the auditorium for the remainder of our day.  We had more information poured into our brains (retirement, security information, travel technicians).  I'm not sure if I have room for any more information in my brain after today!
Since I had my badge already, when we finished there, I was able to leave.  I decided to take the metro and got home around 5:00.  I did some laundry and then went to the grocery store.
It took a little for me to find the place, but I did.  I was surprised how reasonable the grocery prices were.  I got fresh produce for less than $1 per lb (including grapes, apples, and plums).  That was nice.  Since I walked, I didn't want to carry a lot of food, so I got some bread and sandwich meat in addition to my produce.  I didn't get milk or cereal :(

World Marketplace!!!!!!  There were something like 8 aisles
of international foods.  It was pretty exciting.

While I was there, I was surprised to run into several aisles labeled the World Marketplace!  They had so many different kinds of international foods!  I didn't spend much time looking in those aisles (as my space was limited) but I am excited to see what kinds of foods I can get when I have a little more space!
All in all, it has been a full and exhausting day.  Tomorrow the real fun begins (I think/hope).  Tomorrow is the beginning of orientation.