The more I stay in D.C., the more I dislike it. Being the nation’s capital, I honestly expect much more. There is nothing that really makes up this city. It’s a fine place to visit, and as I’ve said before, I have enjoyed all of my previous visits. But it didn’t take too long for the novelty of the city to wear off.
After living in D.C. for almost two months, I have finally figured this city out. D.C. is a city where people really do nothing but work. It’s a place where people just go through the motions. It feels like a lifeless city. Nobody seems happy. It’s as if everybody here is simply living to die. I’ve never lived in a city before where I looked at people and they all just looked like zombies to me; and I’ve lived in Japan, a place where everyone acts and thinks the same!
Interspersed among the local workers are the tourists, which, oddly enough, I hate. I’ve been a tourist myself in many different cities across the world (D.C. included), but for some reason, I hate tourists. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It’s like I’m hating myself, but either way, with there only being two main groups of people in D.C., it makes me like the city even less because it is so bland.
Apart from the lifeless people who live here, the city is simply boring. The geography is flat. There aren’t any great parks, and there isn’t any beautiful scenery. There is one thing to do in D.C.: museums. Again, the museums are great, but when you’re looking for a little bit more to do than look at stuff and read things, there just isn’t much substance here. Basically, there is nothing to do here past 5 o’clock because that’s when the museums close.
I have asked the advice of what to do from locals and people who have lived here for awhile, as well, and I never get great answers about it. One person told me of the lovely coffee shops and bookstores in the area. Another person mentioned going to see a show at the local theater. Someone else told me where to find good food. Actually, a lot of people told me where to find good food.
But what does that say about the city? There’s good food? I can find good food, coffee shops, bookstores and plays in any city. It’s not unique, which is what really brings D.C. down. There is nothing actually special about the city, and the vibes that the local people give off from working all the time just brings it down even more.
With so little to look forward to, this city clings onto anything it has, no matter how uneventful it may be. The weather is getting better, and with that, the cherry blossoms will be in full bloom soon. Everywhere I go, I see cherry blossom stuff. There are even cherry blossom stickers in the subways to make it seem like the cherry blossoms blooming is the next great event in history.
Sadly for D.C., it’s not. Maybe they do it for the tourists. That could be a possibility, but I still feel like they do it because they are so excited of the fact that the cherry blossoms are going to bloom because nothing else even remotely exciting happens here.
Fortunately for myself, I won’t be here for much longer. D.C. just really doesn’t have much to offer me. It’s basically like any other city, except with six million people living in it. To me, it’s boring. There’s less to do here than in my hometown, which only has a couple hundred thousand people in it. Unfortunately for me, though, I am leaving as soon as it gets warmer. You can’t win them all, I suppose.
All Grades Final 