You know that you are in Washington,DC when:
1) People just call the city "DC"
2) The goverment closes schools because there is 40% CHANCE of snow.
(That is if they aren't already closed to the tar roofs)
3)Everyone calls the 10 inches of snow last year "The Great Blizzard"
4) All the people running the city agencies know the mayor from their time in the lorton prison together (a bit dated though).
5) There are 15 main ways to get out of the city onto highway but no signs to say where these are.
6)Drivers pick up strangers from bus stops so that they can drive in the HOV lanes.
7) You spend 2 hrs to find parking space and it's for"one hour only".
8) The road you are on is suddenly interrupted by a building.
9) People give directions by how long it will take to get to the destination at differents time of the day.
10) Weather mandeclares the weather is suddenly a cool 89 degrees with only 90% humidity and you are happy.
11) Diplomatice plates bring on anxiety attacks.
12) The weather man calls for a 2 inch of snow and you have to rush to the grocery stores to buy diapers, milk, bread, and toilet paper and you don't even have a baby.
13) You watch World/National News to find out what to do this weekend.
14) You race the elevator.
15) You dream of moving to the suburbs only to look out the window of your $300 000 house directly into your neighbours window 4 feet away.
16) Nobody you know actually makes anything.
17) Most of yours friends wants to become "independent consultants" (or already have).
18) All your friends are either:
a) lawyer
b) computer people
c) work for some goverment organization with a short abbreviation (i.e. DOD IRS, DEA, DOE, etc....)
d) Work for the location, not a person (i.e. "for the pentagon", "on capitol hill", "for white house")
19) Knowing somebody that can get you into an embassy, white house or congressional party is a status symbol.
20) People talk in acronyms and that actually understand each other.
21) When you ask someone what they do for a living they respond "I WOULD TELL YOU BUT I'd HAVE TO KILL YOU"....... and they are serious.

Hey Palpali,

Next month is the best time in terms of cherry blossom season. Also, the best kept secret of DC is the Arboretum... hides a herb garden, bonsai plants and a huge meadow of wild grass.

I'd recommend all, and what sitara said, 'cept the everest resturant
only thing i say about that is, DON'T GO! better to eat at mcdonalds than there!

the cherry blossoms are part of my reasoning for wanting to visit in april. thanks for the suggestions! and redstone, what's the deal with everest? namitho khana? naramro service? what's the word? how about kumari in baltimore? i imagine it's relatively easy to get between dc and baltimore- at least by train. is this an accurate assumption?

everest ma, naramro khana, namitho, namaro service, everything is naramro.
i've heard good stuff about Baltimore one. From DC to baltimore, 2 hrs drive. Train, i don't know, maybe 3 hrs or so. don't know if a train goes there or not, i don't travel on train much!
drivin is much easier as you take i-95 north, takes you right thru baltimore!

Do not say bad words against workers in our Embassy. They are all doing part time in our Embassy. Their full-time work is somewhere else...

part time doesn't mean you don't do your assigned job! if you can't fulfill, don't work!!!
i work part time don't mean, i can slack off...
and i work 2 jobs! whoa!

yeah redstone agreed,
part tyaam bhandai ma substandard ta hunu bhayena ni....
About mt. everest, i do not know why did you have such a bad experience.
I found the food at everest average. The service was good, or may be it might be because i am close to people working out there.
They have very good "himalayan sizzler" kind a like the bakery cafe and above all "chyaang". wow chyaang !!!
One thing though,the price of momo is too expensive, the price is like nepal, huncha ni "sandaar momo --ek plate to dus rupiya" well we are paying in dollar and 10 momo for 9.99 that is too expensive

Apparently the humor could not crack up anyone. Let me give you guys a hint... in any Nepalese Embassy most of the staff should be Nepalese and appointed by the government of Nepal on a full time salary basis.

Ohh...i was planning to come to DC next year....may be i should switch off the plan!!

..

- Even smaller mercury spill (from broken thermometer) will shut down whole school indefinitely and becomes headline news in region.

Back in Nepal, kids fight over who get to play with the mercury from the broken thermometer.

Peopel tell you they are from DC but in reality they live in Virgina or Maryland and visit DC may be once in six months.

that's like people who say they are from ny, when in actuality, they live in westchester!

Well Dulles Airport is listed as Washington DC in the international flight roster....I think that's interesting!

And who would have thought Ronald Regan National Airport is actually located in Virginia also?

Someone I know was visiting her aunt in Fairfax, Virginia from Taipei, Taiwan and was told to fly into Dulles Airport. So she asked her travel agent to book the ticket for Dulles and ends up in Dallas, Texas. This happened for real!

Test, who said i was joking, i had no intention of being humorous when i said that. I am serious. I know some people who had bad experience in embassy, and for myself, i went twice, and same shit! you think thats a coincidence?

RedStone,
You could not probably understand me. I do not think I ever said you were joking. On the contrary, it was me pulling the legs of the staff there. Some folks there actually work somewhere else besides working there as full-time employee of Nepal government.
My joke aside, I don't blame you for cursing them for having to go through that shit. I spent an extra amount of dollars not to have to have that shit you had every time you went there... I got my job done in time. I renewed my passport by mail.

When I renewed my passport by personally going there about 6 years ago, I told the subba that there should have been the Jangi seal on my passport but the subba said no it was not necessary. I went to Nepal, and at the airport there they asked me why there was no seal. Only after showing my original cancelled passport did they let me in.
The second time, about a year ago, I used the postal service and the new passport could not have been more accurate.

PS Did you understand my first posting in this thread? What was it, RSVP?

Ok, i claim myself SLOW hehe...i had no idea! lol :S

test, your first post was :
"And lived in DC for 10 years and still call the Capitol Hill the White House (it 's me)"

and i think i do understand what you're sayin. we all get confused with white house and capitol hill! :D

I didn't know you were being sarcastic! :p

Redstone,
Good that I made myself clear this time.
One time, about 9 years ago, I was going on I-495 towards Virginia after paying homeage to Shiva Vishnu Temple. But I started seeing signs for mileage towards NY. I had to take a U-turn. Later I came to know what went wrong, and what it means to drive on a beltway... if you begin going North, you eventually will be going South at one point, so on your way back you should take an exit to North again to get on track.

Yes i agree its hard to drive in DC. But if u keep few simple things in mind it will help u. Since DC is divided in 4 quarters, u may find the same road at 4 different places. The Beltway encircles DC, so if u keep going on in the same direction, u will eventually see the beltway. If u want to get to maryland, its on the North of DC, so u just take a road NORTH..... well if u cant drive, then use the subway!!!!!!!