Enjoy Here While You’re Here, Folks
It boggles my mind how all you District dwellers don't appreciate the scenery around here. Yes, I'm a recent transplant to D.C., and to the East Coast in general, so my sense of newness really helps the amazement of seeing the beautiful architecture and famous buildings and monuments. But let me tell you, on my drives up and down Interstate 5 in Seattle, not once in two years did I glance at the skyline, see the Space Needle, and not feel amazed. Every single time I saw that World's Fair monstrosity hovering over the Seattle Center area, I felt a tinge of excitement. "I LIVE in Seattle," I'd say to myself with a bit of a smile. "I live in Seattle!"
Almost every day since I moved, I've caught myself in a moment of equal amazement. I watched the fireworks from the Iwo Jima memorial and said to a date, "I live in D.C. I'm watching fireworks in the capital!" While on another date Thursday night, a guy and I took a stroll by the White House, the Mall and over to the Jefferson Memorial. I felt the little-kid giddiness start to swell up in my chest, and I asked him if we could pause to look at everything and take it in. He humored me, and I think I perplexed him with the huge grin plastered on my face. I went to a Nationals game Saturday night and saw the Washington Monument in the distance. "Holy crap!" I said to my group. "We're in Washington, D.C.! Do you see that?!"
Each person I was with had the same sort of reaction: "Huh. I guess I'm jaded." To which I'd say something like, "Really, how cool is this?! We're in Washington, D.C.!"
Don't give me that "I guess I'm jaded" nonsense. That, to me, translates as "Gee, I'm so caught up in my everyday life that I can't take 10 seconds out of my busy day to appreciate my surroundings." I'm sure you get that rush when you travel, right? It's not that hard to feel the same way about a familiar place—and it might lower your blood pressure a bit, too.
Thankfully, on a bike ride to Virginia (Virginia!) yesterday, my housemate picked up on my excitement and pedaled with it (though he's lived in the DMV area his entire life).
Try to enjoy here while you're here, because there's no here anywhere else.
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4:20 pm
are you trying to annoy me?
4:25 pm
we'll break your spirit yet, Brianne!
4:27 pm
Just a heads up... at some point you will start to think, "Why the fuck is everything marble and/or overrun by tourons?"
4:33 pm
I've lived in DC for four years, and I still get excited about everything.
5:04 pm
I find it excellent that the mere mention of the word Virginia merited an exclamation point. Finally the Old Dominion is getting some props!
But what was that about the DMV area? I've never heard this part of the country called that. But, I guess you learn something every day...
5:20 pm
When I was at GW, "monumenting" was widely acknowledged as one of the best cheap date options around. So it's not that we're not aware of the backdrop; I guess we're just utilitarian about it.
5:27 pm
Based on my experiences at most DMVs, I would imagine that this "DMV Area" is somewhere near Camden, New Jersey.
FWIW, it's not about being jaded, it's about those places becoming mundane to you. It's no longer The Lincoln Memorial(!!), it's just the big white building you pass on the way to the airport.
Clearly the Space Needle never got mundane to you. But you only lived there two years. That's not very long in adult years. Right now you're really into the "idea" of living in Washington, DC (and apparently the exoticism of Northern Virginia). That'll pass quickly. Stay here 4-6 years and the touristy things will stop being so notable. They'll just be home.
6:03 pm
I was born and raised in D.C. and spent my school career in the DCPS. I can't tell you how many field trips I've taken to the monuments and museums that litter the center of our fair city. I've also had to go there a number of times with out-of-towners.
When you've been around these marvelous monuments your entire life (and have been stuck dealing with the floods of tourists gawking at them) you can't help but be slightly less impressed by them. If I started off in a small city, though, with no frame of reference and then arrived here, well I'd be pretty impressed.
The key is avoiding them completely for a few years and then go back and seem them with somebody with fresh eyes. That helps recapture come of the wonder.
9:34 pm
I wish these "ohI'mfromanotherstateandI'vejustmovedhere" posts would stop. I'm going to guess the majority of people reading this blog are transplants to the DC area, which means these posts are pretty boring for us. What next? You'll muse about the rules of the Metro escalators? Ssstttoooppp.
2:00 am
welcome to dc! contrary to most of the comments above, 99% of us aren't jaded....here's hoping you hold onto your amazement for a long, long time, or, at the very least, continue to be proud to call dc home.
9:44 am
I love living here. There isn't a time I walk out my building and see the Capitol building that I don't feel moved.
But I do have to agree about the tourists from above comments. Ugh, tourists. Do they know how to walk on an escalator? Do they know how to spread out on a platform instead of huddling in one blob outside a set of doors? Do they realize we have walk signs and that you can't just cross the mall any time you feel like it?
Other than tourists and the allergies I've recently developed, there isn't a moment that I look out my window and don't feel a twinge of emotion as I see the Washington Monument. Honestly, DC is the greatest place to live.