The Federal government is an interesting thing. I learned how to put a gas mask on in case of attack. I was hand delivered a print out “certification of completion” for doing so. I feel much safer now. Indeed, my first day at work was spent entirely in orientation, half of which was about employee health benefits, which I of course am not eligible to receive. I do, however, accrue paid leave like a full-time employee.
I am also getting interesting work. On Wednesday I had 6 hours to write a memo for the guy who is going to Hanoi to negotiate a bi-lateral investment treaty with Vietnam on the relationship between US bankruptcy code and the ICSID arbitration clauses in existing US BITs. Thursday I worked on the American response to 3 WTO panel questions in EC– Tariff Treatment of Certain Information Technology Products. I got a little stressed worrying that my memo discrediting one of US Trade Representative’s assertions was worded a bit… forcefully. I got more stressed about it when my memo was forwarded without editing and I was CCd on the email and it was suggested that questions could come directly to me. I am waiting for the “who are you to say that my argument is ‘plainly overstated’ and my justifications ‘inadequate’?” e-mail. After work I had my first exposure to DC softball culture, which is everything it is cracked up to be. I saw two grown men throw punches. My supervisor Joel was kind enough to let me join his spring team for the playoffs (he only did so after sizing me up and asking about my baseball/softball background, which made me like him more). We emerged victorious and uninjured, and I had a few hits. We are called the DOC Sox, which is a horrible name, but the people on the team seem pretty great. Afterward was the apparently obligatory flip cup marathon, complete with a healthy amount of intern hazing. This included 51 year old Susan, our pitcher who does the north korea embargos, throwing a full beer in my face when I made fun of the white sox too hard.
Today was even more like a WTO exam than yesterday. An EC member state just altered their list of allowed alcohol denaturants and is now taxing certain perfumes from the United States at the same level as alcoholic beverages (a lot). Excise taxes are different within the EC of course, so perfumes from some other member states are not being. Anyone with familial connections to the cosmetics industry, fear not. I am tasked with creating the legal stick that will scare them into returning Bitrex to the list.
