Hey YAA-Universe, this is Phung-Bot and I’m currently in Washington, DC. I’ve traveled here as part of a cross cultural exchange titled – Volunteerism: United We Stand. There are 100 countries being represented and yours truly is representing Canada. Washington, DC is fantastic! It’s so clean and there is so much to do. I arrived here on Saturday and after a short drive I was at my hotel. I walked into my room and the first thing I saw was two beds. I said to myself “Well, they told you you’re not sharing a room. Time to build a fort.” That’s right I said it was time to build a fort.
After showering and changing my clothes I went for a walk around the neighborhood. Washington is incredibly clean. It’s like a less busy version of NYC but much cleaner and less shady. I found a pharmacy and picked up a few items. I also hit up an amazing burrito place on the way back.
On Sunday, the entire group of delegates met up and the Department of State took us on an amazing tour of Washington, in particular, some of the monuments. Did you realize all of the monuments and museums are free? Wha? No way! I’m not a museum type of guy but that’s value. Everything was so big and awesome to see in real life.
While hanging out at the tourist sites I quickly made friends with many of the participants. I met people from countries I have never even heard of. It blows my mind that there is much culture that we aren’t exposed to. It’s so wonderful to know that the work we do at YAA is also being done in other countries and this exchange is an opportunity to bring ideas and great minds together.
The following picture has a story behind it. I saw this family taking photos and there was a mom, dad, and young son. The son wanted to take photos but the dad wanted to make sure to explain the options of the camera. This
moment brought back memories of my childhood. It also helps that this family looks just like my family, the resemblance is nuts. I showed my girlfriend this picture and she pretty much died laughing.
After the tour the bus took us back to the hotel. I step off the bus and asked “What time is it”? To which someone replied “12:00”. I realized that I could catch the Washington Capitals game. I dropped off my stuff and rushed over to the Verizon Centre. I flagged down a scalper and he had a single ticket left and he gave it to me for 1/2 off. The game was amazing! The hockey arena is really nice and the sea of red was reminiscent of the Flames Stanley Cup run. I made friends with 3 dudes who were fascinated that I was from Canada. They kind of scared me but I warmed up to them.
Today we started the programming for the exchange. We’re bring divided into sub groups and after our stay in Washington, the groups will be going to different cities. I’ll keep these locations a secret until I get there. The day was great and I met lots of great people. The day came to an end with a brief overview of the American Political system. Let’s just say that it’s pretty complex:
It was a lot of information and head couldn’t quite handle it. It was really interesting, there was just lots of it. But I did learn that in the US Political system all of the decisions are driven by the people.. All laws and changes are made at the local level and eventually driven up to the top. Pretty interesting stuff.
Tomorrow we head off to another location for another day of learning and sharing. Hopefully the traffic won’t be too nuts as there are lots of road closures due to the Nuclear Summit. Here are some more photos from my first few days:
