Visitor from Oregon finds things done differently in nation's capital.

Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By Dan Anderson For The Register-Guard

Disheveled people line up before U.S. Senate committee hearings as if they were soup kitchens. Some of those in line even sleep on the floor.

Congressional staff members and senators walk past. They're used to the sight, and instead they focus on what's in the morning papers, their party's top blogs, their overcrowded Blackberry inbox or where to get strong cup of coffee.

The longer the line outside a committee room, the more newsworthy the hearing is. This is not because down-and-outs are the harbingers of legislative progress; it's not because they will stand before the congressmen and ask for an accounting of their misfortunes.

These people are in line because they have been paid to be there. Open committee hearings are public events. Lobbyists hire them off the street to hold their place in line, ensuring the lobbyists that they can have the choicest seats when the hearing begins, giving them face time with the senators.

This is just one of the many capital curiosities I've come across since moving to Washington, D.C., from Eugene.

It's one of the bigger metropolitan areas in the country, replete with the hallmarks of bigdom: an expansive subway system, locals bumping their way through tourists, major league sports teams, a high cost of living and tabloids exploiting the missteps of the hundreds of political celebrities and their associates.

All in all, Washington, D.C., is kind of a big deal. And it embraces this. Washington is socially and thematically unique - a certifiably U.S. city with self-confidence enough to flex both its brains and brawn without forgetting that it was built on the backs of farmers in Iowa, loggers in the Cascades and sharecroppers down South.

The city reflects this fact physically in its urban plan and landmarks. The White House, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and Capitol sit at the geographic tips of a Christian cross, a cross of wide lawns and water in the heart of the District of Columbia. The Washington Monument is positioned at the center of them all.

The interplay between the legislative and executive branches of government, and the perspectives of democratic heroes such as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington come to mind as one strolls within this parklike area or visits the many museums and smaller tributes occupying the land between the five main sites.

And east of the white marble buildings of the Capitol, its accompanying office buildings and the Supreme Court, lies one of the city's many tony neighborhoods.

I've found Capitol Hill a charming and convenient place to live while interning here. Stone townhouses with black iron stoops line sidewalks made of brick. Wide, diagonal boulevards cut through the street grid, creating awkwardly shaped intersections that occasionally afford views of the always bright-white Capitol dome.

The neighborhood appears much as it did in the 19th century, when almost all the structures were built. And because little wood is used in the exteriors, one can imagine the place staying just as it is for another hundred years.

Capitol Hill stays vibrant because of its proximity to the legislative seat, and residents are constantly reminded of it. In fact, Sen. Barack Obama and I waited for a stoplight together (he in his car and I on an undersized bike with a flat tire) after work one day.

Scenes like this are a little surreal for an Oregonian far from home. But that's why I came.

I'm here to see government and political journalism firsthand. Washington is the stage for a huge percentage of global newsmaking, and it's home to television and print reporters who linger in the halls of Congress with their cameras and notepads, constantly breaking stories.

This creates a general sense of urgency when Congress is in session. Politicians are a replaceable commodity, and the press never lets them forget it. I suppose this causes the other Oregonians and me to forget our West Coast pace for a while and run with the herd.

Besides, in a power town like this, neglect your mental and tactical edge and you might find yourself waking up to the latest bright-eyed lobbyist thanking you for holding his place in line.

Dan Anderson of Eugene is a congressional intern in Washington, D.C.