You see, I absolutely love Washington DC. The city part of it. I mean, the monuments are nice too, but America is way too monumental. I'm not sure if I'm the only one who thinks that, but it's true. Don't get me wrong. We should totally honor those who served in our wars and were great presidents, but I think we can repay them with something other than monuments. Have you seen Lincoln's? It's HUGE. I mean, the guy wasn't even that honest. Big white monuments taking up precious real estate and tax dollars- we just can't get enough!
The other thing I love about DC is the Smithsonian Institute. I'm pretty sure that everyone who has been to DC can testify that you could spend a month with the Smithsonian and still never learn everything they have to offer. I've been to the important ones before (American History, Air and Space), but this time I went to the art museums (Asian and African), along with the Portrait Gallery and the Postal Museum! I also made trips back to the big ones I'd previously graced with my presence. But I think the best one was the Postal Museum was one of the coolest. Did you know that there's some kind of intense Postal Investigative Service that has to do all kinds of investigating every time a natural disaster strikes? It's to protect the safety of those who use the mail system. And did you know that after WWII, the government gave all their old trucks and vehicles to the USPS along with over a thousand gallons of Army Green paint? I suppose that resourcefulness helps make up for all those monuments on the Mall...
Now, the real reason I was in DC (besides the fact that I LOVE DC) was because my mom had a conference for the American Society of Breast Surgeons (or some long name like that). I went to two things with her, the first being a lecture on the _______________. Let me tell you something. You know what it feels like popping back into Algebra after missing a week of school? That horrible clueless-ness that makes you feel like you're looking at Mandarin Chinese on the chalk board? Well, after missing a Biology degree, a med school degree, and countless hours of residency and surgical training, I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. And, based on the blank looks and face-palms of the surgeons behind me, I could only guess that they didn't either. But my mom was there, taking notes the entire time. That's how she puts food on our table... Go mom!
The second event I went to involving doctors was the President's Gala. This is like a prom for doctors. They get all dressed up and pretend to run late and everything. Except these doctors hack off boobs for a living and drink countless glasses of wine before dinner and then enjoy a performance by the Capitol Steps (which, I must say, is a fabulously entertaining political comedy. But then again, maybe that's only the case after a half bottle of wine. I don't know). But it was fun nonetheless.
But in the midst of all that doctor-pretending and Smithsonian stuff, I did have a chance to catch up with a good friend from high school, Zack Cady, who is going to school in DC. It's quite refreshing to talk to him sometimes, especially since we agree on almost every political topic. We had cheesecake and coffee and talked for quite a while, reassuring each other that there are a few sane people in this world with concurring political views.
Oh yeah. There were two other things I did in DC. One, I went to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. That's where they make all the money! It's pretty cool how they do it. Especially when they're popping out 1000 $100 bills every minute. And the other thing I did was go to Arlington Cemetery. Let me tell you: there's a lot of dead people at that place.
Oh! And I went to the zoo in DC. I'm not too sure what my obsession has been with zoos lately. Maybe it's because I get to see animals in a cage and I don't have to trek through the wild to get to them nor am I obligated to interact with them in any way. But the main reason I went to the National Zoo was because they have Panda Bears! I know, right? Like, the only time you ever see a panda is when they show a documentary stating that there are only 13 pandas left in the wild, and that the Chinese government charges a billion bucks a year for panda leases.
So anyway, the pandas just sat there. They eat bamboo for, like, 16 hours a day. So that's what they were doing when we were there and I'm sure that's what they were doing the entire day when we weren't there. The pandas are pretty fast at eating bamboo, too. But they do have an easy job. Just sit against a rock. Eat bamboo. Let insane tourists take your photo. My brother could do that if you replaced the bamboo with potato chips and Oreos. Or maybe he would eat bamboo, too. I don't know. There's just no telling with Andrew.
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| Just to let you know, I totally stole this image from Google. |
But the thing that drove me crazy about DC was the school groups. I completely forgot that it was typical spring break time, and therefore thousands of kids of all ages appeared in the city wearing horribly tacky matching shirts and talking loudly to one another. The middle schoolers (girls and boys) annoyed me, the preschoolers annoyed me, the high schoolers annoyed me, the foreign exchange students annoyed me, heck, even the Girl Scouts annoyed me. If there's anything I've learned traveling alone, it's that travelling in a group makes you completely oblivious to your surroundings and thus makes you a nuisance to the people around you and an embarrassment to your institution, whatever that institution may be. I know, I've travelled in groups before, but I never quite realized how much of a pain groups are for the rest of the tourists who try to arrive in a city without disturbing the peace. So to all my readers: keep that in mind next time you're travelling in a group.
So that was DC. Now I'm going to tell you about my college fiasco before another dozen people blow up my inbox with inquiries. Well, that and I also don't feel like writing a second blog for college stuff, since that is not part of my journey.
But here's the timeline:
Sometime sophomore year: I decided I wanted to join the military and do ROTC.
A random night, September, 2010: Mom makes me sit down and decide what I'm going to be when I grow up. Apparently, no one has a major called "I don't care," and if they did, ROTC probably wouldn't accept it. So, I choose Air Traffic Controller. After 48 hours, it grew on me.
September/October 2010: I fill out Air Force and Navy ROTC applications and apply to the following universities: Embry Riddle Aeronautical, Purdue, Ohio State, and Arizona State. The last three of these were randomly chosen. I was accepted to all.
December 2010: Interviews for both ROTCs. I told both of them that I would be willing to do a language fast-track program if chosen. Sometime after this I start to lose interest in sitting in a dark room all day telling pilots what to do.
February 2011: I get a partial Air Force ROTC scholarship to the Ohio State for Russian language and studies. No problem here, except our waiting for the Navy to see if they make a better offer. Keep in mind that National Choose a College Day is May 1st.
April 22, 2011: I get a full ride Navy ROTC scholarship to Rice University. I didn't apply to this one. Of course, the one college on my list of 5 universities is the one they chose to give me a scholarship to. Apparently, from what I found out the next day, Rice is a super prestigious, snotty school, kind of like the Harvard of the south. Apparently, there's no way I can do a last minute app. We think we've hit a dead end.
April 25: We find out that it's not so much the school that matters with Navy ROTC, but rather the ROTC unit. Apparently, I was in luck because Rice and the University of Houston shared an ROTC unit, and UofH loves anyone who even attempted an honors class in high school. I was so in luck. So they proposed I do a fast application to UofH so I could be accepted and still use my scholarship.
April 25, 26, 27: Crazy nut-case times where I had to re-send all those marvelous test scores and transcripts and redo another whole application! All those hours spent in the fall...wasted. Whatever. Of course, this had to be the week my high school was on spring break. So obviously transcripts couldn't get sent. This caused a slight delay.
May 2: I call to get my transcripts rushed to UofH, completely bypassing National Pick your College Day and resulting in dozens of emails and phone calls from my four other prospective universities.
Right about now: I should be getting an acceptance call sometime soon about going to the University of Houston. Of course, I wouldn't know if I got it because....I'm in Thailand! In a bus station. But that's a story I'll save for next time :)
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