Coming to America

Wow - what a fortnight!

Two weeks ago, I was sunning myself in Phuket, Thailand (pictures to follow soon so keep tuned!). This was followed by a trip to Washington DC last week for a 2 day meeting. With the vagaries of international travel being what it is, I only got back to HK yesterday despite leaving Washington DC on Friday!

So, what did I make of my very first trip to the US?

TSA
Getting through customs in America really is as annoying as you have heard about. I'm not going to bother moaning about it too much here as my views on this are well known anyway. However, I think the border patrol guy at customs tried to catch me out in a lie!

After scanning my passport and asking a raft of questions, he asked me if I enjoyed my last trip to the US. The thing is - I've never been to the US before and I'm guessing he should have seen that when he scanned my passport. Naturally, I told him that I had never been to the US before but I can't help but wonder if I would still be in the US, locked away in a dark and dingy cell, if I had said anything else!

Streets
I knew about the street names in America before I went so this wasn't a surprise. Nonetheless, the European in me just can't get used to the way streets are named in the US.

In case you didn't know, streets in US cities are laid out in a classic Sim City grid. The first street is named 1st Street and the second street is named 2nd Street. Meanwhile, the streets running perpendicular to these are named A Street, B Street etc. As you can imagine, this makes it supremely easy to find your way around.

Having said that, while I love the ease of finding your way around, it does feel very artificial and manufactured. I guess its no surprise that The Matrix was made by Americans!
Zing!

Hot Dogs
The number of locations selling hot dogs is also unbelievable. Not sure if this is a symptom of the fact that I was walking around a tourist area but it felt like every couple of blocks, there was another street vendor selling hot dogs with an appropriate line of waiting customers, hungry for their processed meat and bread!

Chatty
Americans (or should that be DCians?) also seem to be incredibly chatty. They seem willing to chat about anything to anyone at the drop of a hat. While checking in to the hotel, it felt like the girl at the reception was trying to do a background check on me! Normally, I wouldn't mind but after a 20+ flight in economy class (the company wasn't willing to stump up the cash for business class tickets), the only thing I wanted to do was get to my room and crash.

And this isn't just the receptionist either. As another example, while on the metro, I noticed one of the passengers accidentally step on the bag of another passenger. After apologising profusely, the two people started to talk about what they had just bought and how it was a good deal!

Just feels so strange. In HK, if someone steps on your bag, they are more likely to give you the evil eye ("how dare you place your bag where I might step on it!!") before cursing at you and walking off!

Great day
They also seem to love saying "Have a great day!". On the metro, in hotels, in restaurants. And they say it with such passion as well - as if they really do want you to have a great day! Considering how friendly the general population appears to be, I wonder where they get custom agents from...
Zing!

Pictures

Not sure why but a lot of the buildings in downtown DC use this architectural style. When I showed the missus the pictures, she said it felt as if I had gone to Italy instead of DC. Didn't feel like I was in Italy at the time but there you go.


The Washington Memorial (or is it Washington Monument?) - one of the most instantly recognisable landmarks in DC. I've seen pictures of it before, but the pictures don't prepare you for the sheer size of the monument. That thing is frakking huge!

Also, as a Castle fan, I have to point out that in miniature souvenir form, this is also a deadly weapon!


A picture of the Lincoln Memorial taken from the National World War II memorial. Being the sad tourist that I am, I naturally went to the Lincoln Memorial and sat on the famous steps to take the below picture:


What can I say - its an iconic image!


Capitol Hill. Considering this is taken at night without a tripod, I'm fairly happy with the results. Also, the light at the top apparently means that congress is in session. Amazing what you can learn while on a business trip!