Whirlwind DC

Here, in succinct summary format, are the highlights of my Spring Break DC trip. I really, really liked the city and after seeing it have decided it's a place I could see myself being for a while for professional reasons. The ambiance is definitely not LA. The cliche of LA being a laid-back, mellow city really was solidified for me when I experienced DC. Life moves at a much faster pace there, and you really do see the change in environment on a weekday (important-looking people bustling around in suits) versus a weekend (families taking a stroll on the National Mall and people throwing frisbees around). The distinction is not so much defined in LA.

Flew in on Saturday evening, checked into my downtown DC hotel, and quickly realized I was in a part of town that basically died after 6 PM. Chinatown was about 4 blocks down and that was a little more exciting.

On Sunday I visited Newseum and some of the Smithsonian museums. Newseum was in a word, awesome. I would totally recommend it on a sightseeing trip to DC. There was so much interesting information, captivating exhibits, and just such a rich collection of print and digital media. Highlights were seeing the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski's original off-the-grid cabin in the Montana mountains when he was living in solitude and the Pulitzer Prize gallery. But the entire museum was redeeming. I wish I had more time to see more Smithsonian museums, but the ones I visited included the National Gallery of Art (everything from impressionism pieces to American and European scenic paintings to scratch-your-head modern art) and the Hirshhorn (more of the good-ol'-scratch-your-head stuff).

Monday and Tuesday was my Wilmington, Delaware trip. I had a productive (and hopefully promising) meeting with company staff and directors. I can't say too much about that right now, for better judgment, but we ended up taking a nice little unexpected detour to Philadelphia, which I LOVED. I loved it so much I am expressing it in pictoral form.
Philadelphia was just so gosh darn charming. The brick buildings, the history, the sprawling parks and greenery made it seem like a DC without the tension. I really could see myself living there for a while and enjoying everything the city had to offer. After I got back that night I had dinner with a friend from college and she was cool enough to take me down to U Street, apparently a street that stands on its own in terms of history.

On Wednesday I did a walking tour from the Capitol down to the Lincoln Memorial, a 2-mile stretch. Nice, long walk which included the Supreme Court, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial. The highlight of my DC visit was definitely the Library of Congress. Talk about a beautiful building. All the buildings in DC are locked in a competition to see which is more imposing and important, but the LOC really stood out on its own. I fell in love with the Greco-Italian-German architecture and just the majestic grandeur of the place. Everything was so out there, but it worked together harmoniously. Later on I hit up the White House and had dinner with a good college friend who gave me some very insightful experience on his DC experience so far and what it's done for him. We also hit up Dupont Circle, which was a nice little yuppie area (and I use that term in the most positive sense possible).

Thursday I met up with friends in POIR and went to Ben's Chili Bowl, which is supposed to be famous in DC. It was pretty good. I'll leave it at that. We walked to the Jefferson Memorial and along the riverfront, then the Kennedy Center. It was a gorgeous day. Sadly enough I was two weeks too early for the Cherry Blossom Festival, which would have been amazing to see.

Needless to say, being there a week made me think about how much I would miss my family, my friends, mellow LA, and my dog. It also made me realize how I need to look beyond my bubble and blaze a path for myself now, so that one day I can love my family, like my friends, bask in mellow LA, and coddle my dog not as a poor graduate student who lives for the moment, but as a provider for all the people and things I care about and as a mature someone who can look beyond what's in front of me and out towards the horizon.

Smart City

Getting a good vibe from DC so far. It's "East-Coast-y," with tasteful buildings, sufficiently friendly people, and just enough hustle and bustle for an urban center. I was sitting at a bench on the National Mall today, semi-self consciously looking at my map like the clueless tourist I was, when the man next to me handed me the copy of his map and said it was much better because it contained all the landmarks. We struck up a nice jovial conversation that lasted for a while. He was from Israel on half business, half pleasure in DC, a city he had been to 10 times. No introductions, no pretentiousness, no ulterior motive. Just a nice chat. At times I forgot my current job prospects were not here, but 1.5 hours away by train. If Wilmington turns out to be a mini-DC of sorts, I wouldn't mind at all.

When I've been in my hotel room the channel is set to CNN, because that's what comes on when I first turn on the TV and I just need some background noise so I don't bother channel-surfing. I'm entrenched in the depression and tragedy that is the Japan earthquake/tsunami. Non-stop coverage. How are Japanese people so resilient? As their homes and belongings and loved ones and essentially, lives, are washed away, they queue in line for gas and the convenience store like it's just another really long line that can't be helped. My dad told me way before this happened, that if a huge quake ever hit Japan, you would never see chaos break out, because this society possessed the utmost civility and we would see things unfold in an orderly way. Spot on.