Week 5: Washington D.C.

I first arrived in D.C. twenty-four years ago on a cold January morning. I landed at National Airport, which has now been renamed to Reagan National Airport, and the ground was covered with ice and snow. I had never seen snow before, so I started kicking the ice on the sidewalks to make sure I was not dreaming. Before the plane landed, I looked out the window and I saw the houses down below covered with snow. A guy whom I became friends with on the plane, and who was also coming to this country for the first time, had a smile on his face as we both marveled at the snow covered houses. He then asked me, "So, what do you think this land will bring us?" To which I replied, "Opportunity, I hope."

Fast-forward twenty-four years, and D.C. is more vibrant than ever before. I still love the variety of food and culture that the city has to offer. A lot of people, however, do not stay in D.C. for a long time. Many people come and stay for two or three years and then go somewhere else. All the foreign embassy diplomats come for a two to four-year tour, and then they are either sent back home or to another country. U.S. government employees also move a lot. Those in the State Department, or those in the Armed Forces tend to move every two years. The same holds true for those working in Congress, depending on the outcome of the congressional and presidential elections.

D.C. is a city that offers a lot of opportunities to young people who are ambitious and bright, and who are ready to conquer the world.

There is also a category of people called the "power hungry" people. Those are the folks who try to impress others by becoming friends with influential people. Name dropping is a common practice amongst them. That's one aspect of this city I'm not crazy about, but as they say, to each its own.