Washington DC
I wrote this in Barnes and Noble in Bethesda, 25 April 2004. The plan was to describe my whole holiday (18-25 April 2004) in Washington DC so I wouldn't forget it all again. I failed, but at least there's this much. And a few photos.
Posted 22 June 2004 with some corrections and additions.
Sunday
Flew Virgin to Washington Dulles airport. The 8 hour flight is two hours shorter than I'm used to, so seemed relatively comfortable (but not anything like as comfortable as my last trip in first class!). The airplane was smaller too. It had the fancy new videos that allow you to watch ~50 films + lots of TV etc whenever you like, rather than to a fixed schedule. I eschewed Kill Bill (vol 1) (which I'd like to see, but suspect requires a larger screen) in favour of Big Fish (at least if my Oxygen-starved brain serves me correctly).
My parents were there when I arrived. We went to put my name on the car rental so I could drive it and encountered something I never had before: a helpful and knowledgeable car rental clerk (also Dollar, which is what I usually get lumbered with). We got some food at a Giant supermarket (that's just the name of the shop). Why can I only find smoked Gouda cheese in the US, even though it's imported from the Netherlands? (I'm bringing some home.)
In honour of one of the purposes of this holiday, my dad gave me a diary I had written when I first came to America, aged 9. I gave up after 4 days, and it had atroashus spelling but it did remind me of a few things: a salt water swimming pool on the boat over, waking up early on our first day in the US and concluding that it was indeed a land of wonders (there were cartoons on all morning!). In general though, my memory of my time as a child in Washington is very vague. My younger sister remembers far more than I do.
Monday
We went to visit our old house. We couldn't go in, but the layout of the streets (our house in the fork where Thornapple St joins Rollingwood Drive) was sort of as I remembered. Not unexpectedly, they seemed much smaller - the house of one friend (Ben French) which I remembered as some way down the street, was practically next door. Also the ends of the streets were the bounds of my "territory" - such a small area. Surprisingly my memory clearly had Thornapple to the left and the house facing slightly to the right, but I found Thornapple to the right and the house facing slightly left. Did my memory or reality suffer a parity transform?
We also visited the French family (just met the parents).
Then we went to visit my old school. We met a very friendly person from the development office who showed us round. I remembered practically nothing: perhaps the school on a hill with an arced road leading up to it. The sight of the gym reminded me of a school play of Ten Little Indians. I don't even remember any friends at the school (maybe I didn't have any). We left our addresses, no doubt to be bombarded by requests for donations (they can try).
Posted 22 June 2004 with some corrections and additions.
Sunday
Flew Virgin to Washington Dulles airport. The 8 hour flight is two hours shorter than I'm used to, so seemed relatively comfortable (but not anything like as comfortable as my last trip in first class!). The airplane was smaller too. It had the fancy new videos that allow you to watch ~50 films + lots of TV etc whenever you like, rather than to a fixed schedule. I eschewed Kill Bill (vol 1) (which I'd like to see, but suspect requires a larger screen) in favour of Big Fish (at least if my Oxygen-starved brain serves me correctly).
My parents were there when I arrived. We went to put my name on the car rental so I could drive it and encountered something I never had before: a helpful and knowledgeable car rental clerk (also Dollar, which is what I usually get lumbered with). We got some food at a Giant supermarket (that's just the name of the shop). Why can I only find smoked Gouda cheese in the US, even though it's imported from the Netherlands? (I'm bringing some home.)
In honour of one of the purposes of this holiday, my dad gave me a diary I had written when I first came to America, aged 9. I gave up after 4 days, and it had atroashus spelling but it did remind me of a few things: a salt water swimming pool on the boat over, waking up early on our first day in the US and concluding that it was indeed a land of wonders (there were cartoons on all morning!). In general though, my memory of my time as a child in Washington is very vague. My younger sister remembers far more than I do.
Monday
We went to visit our old house. We couldn't go in, but the layout of the streets (our house in the fork where Thornapple St joins Rollingwood Drive) was sort of as I remembered. Not unexpectedly, they seemed much smaller - the house of one friend (Ben French) which I remembered as some way down the street, was practically next door. Also the ends of the streets were the bounds of my "territory" - such a small area. Surprisingly my memory clearly had Thornapple to the left and the house facing slightly to the right, but I found Thornapple to the right and the house facing slightly left. Did my memory or reality suffer a parity transform?
We also visited the French family (just met the parents).
Then we went to visit my old school. We met a very friendly person from the development office who showed us round. I remembered practically nothing: perhaps the school on a hill with an arced road leading up to it. The sight of the gym reminded me of a school play of Ten Little Indians. I don't even remember any friends at the school (maybe I didn't have any). We left our addresses, no doubt to be bombarded by requests for donations (they can try).