It’s location based ad that is extremely frequent to people in NW DC around the embassy.

None of those things you mentioned are in Van Ness. Van Ness is a section of the Forest Hills neighborhoods that stretch from CP up to those shops stopping before the CVS. The 5000 block of Connecticut ave is more its own little thing that fills the gap between Van Ness and Chevy Chase

If they want some exercise or hiking I can recommend the C&O canal. It’s got some really fun trails and is great for walks too. April should also be great for Al king along the sections of Rock Creek Park that are now permanently closed to traffic

Their fresh produce (meat, veggies ect) is the one area of their groceries that I believe hasn’t suffered too much with the Amazon takeover. Almost everything else they stock their shelves has been lackluster and in slow but steady decline in quality. I’m gonna be sad if they scrap my lemonade purchase

My dad did this for a couple years. If the job itself and his boss weren’t so bad he’d have been there longer. Iirc he would sometimes take the Acela but that the north east regional was less than half the price for only and extra hour on the commute the Acela can take around 2 hours 30 mins while the north east regional from what I’ve seen takes around 3 hours 30 mins. If this is gonna be a weekly thing I’d recommend you take that to save some money in the long term. Unless you can get the company to pay for your trip also it’s 100% easier to make a train commute productive if you want instead of on a plane.

Also as a side note the Amtrak lines from DC to NYC are electrified meaning your commute via train is immensely more environmentally friendly than a plane with less personal hassles than you would get going through an airport.

1 I’m born and raised in the city and went to HS and college here too.

2. All my friends growing up are gone off to live elsewhere in the country and most of my current friends don’t even live North America. So no I don’t know many people outside work

I wouldn’t really know many coffee shops but there are a number of them in the area especially brand name places and franchises. Also you have asked the eternal question that plagues this subreddit. How to make friends. For the most part your best bet is either your study classes or to do casual sports leagues like kickball or some other sport.