In the Washington Bureaucrat’s first ever piece of slightly less than pseudo journalism, join our spring intern for this hard hitting, soft power, six-part series as he goes undercover at the State Department to learn where foreign policy comes from.

Monday

My internship, I am emailed, is scheduled to start on Monday. Classes also start on Monday. Monday being the only day available for intern orientation at the State Department, I call the internship administration office expecting them to tell me tough shit.

Unbureaucratically, Suzy Miller on the other end of the line offers to set me up with an individual orientation session Tuesday at ten. Not only does this fit my schedule beautifully and relieve me of the anxiety of having to cut class to go to an unpaid internship, but it also promises to be significantly shorter than the full-day agony those forty suckers scheduled for Monday must have to endure. I should have known better.