How To: Survive OFII

A long stay in France requires a trip to the Office Français de l'Immigration et de l'Intégration, or OFII. It's a process that we were warned about in our information packets, a process that we received a lecture on during orientation, a process that I believed I should be freaking out about. In reality, though, it's not too scary. It just involves a lot of waiting. Here's how to (barely) survive.

How To: Celebrate July Fourth in DC Without Being a Total Tourist

I live in Washington, DC.

Okay, that's a lie, and I promised I wouldn't lie here so here's the truth: I live .3 miles from the DC border. I work in DC. I went to school in DC. I spend a good chunk of my time in DC. But I live in Maryland. And I've lived here long enough to know that it's probably not the best idea to head downtown on the Fourth of July.

Usually, my family and I go see fireworks up in Rockville and watch the Capital Fourth ones on TV. But this year, my friend Hanna was visiting me, and I figured she'd rather see the Nation's Capital than the town that inspired this song.