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Today, I got some wonderful news - I've been accepted to an internship position in Washington, DC. Bad news: I've never lived in a city with a population larger than 6,500 people. A few questions:
1) What should I know going into this experience of living in a large city? Are there any tips that anyone can give me to make the transition easier?
2) My apartment and utilities are included in the internship, as well as a living stipend. How much can I expect to pay per week for groceries for a single person? How much does a fast food meal cost? Something more elaborate? (I'll be living on Capitol Hill, within walking distance of the Library of Congress, if that helps). (Edit: To adjust this, I don't drink alcohol, so don't figure any alcoholic beverages into the above costs)
3) Does anyone have any general advice of must-see things in DC, aside from the usual? I'll definitely be visiting all of the monuments, important government buildings and the Smithsonian museums - anyone have anything more out of the way that they'd recommend?
Thanks for reading all of this, I look forward to hearing your replies and getting some advice on this!
Find someone who has been here at least six months to buddy up with. Don't go out alone at night until you've been here a couple of months and developed some street sense. If you have a Capital Hill internship, there will be tons of other interns to hang with. Food costs about the same in most places, maybe even a little less because of volume here. Start working your way through the Smithsonian museums.
Once you've found that buddy, I hope you'll be able to do some exploring of other parts of the Metro area on your weekends. One fun place to walk around is Old Town Alexandria on the Virginia side. You can take the blue or yellow line Metro to the King Street station. Take King Street all the way down to the water and enjoy the shops, restaurants, and people-watching!
1) Get familiar with public transportation, get in the mindset of how to get somewhere using the metro and bus lines, or as someone pointed out get a bicycle and slowly get familiar with riding in traffic (if you want).
2) I am not sure, I know that eating downtown for fast food places is not cheap
3) get out and see the neighborhoods, read up in the Post (Washington Post) about places to see and do, going out to eat, check out a play, bike in Rock Creek Park, check out The Awakening statue before it gets moved, etc.. etc.. You start with one and build up a library of knowledge and work on favorites.
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