My Time In D.C. and New York: Last Day In D.C.

So, we are coming to the last day in D.C. My bus arrived in D.C. at Washington Union Station from New York at 10:30 p.m.; then, I took Lyft back to my hotel. I just remembered that I had to share with you about the Washington Union Station. It is the best station that I have ever seen. It was significant for the train and bus. I returned to the hotel, but inside me, I still missed New York. The image of that city is still inside my head even after I returned to California. It was the moment that I decided to move to New York one day and spend the rest of my life there. New York is the one for me, and I will make it possible. After 4 hours of sitting on the bus, I was exhausted. I wanted to take a hot shower, but I could not. So, after brushing my teeth, I removed my clothes and jumped on the bed. Even though I was tired, I could not sleep immediately. I tried too, but useless. I watched the TV. So bored! Since I knew I could not sleep, I got out of bed, put on my clothes, and walked. The street at night was so quiet. Unlike California, with a cold breeze at night, D.C. has a cool temperature that makes me feel so relaxed. I looked at each building which is an apartment for rent. It is such a quiet neighborhood. I saw the last bus drop off the passengers who returned home late. I saw some stores open late, and some store is closing up. My last night in D.C. I ended with a walk to nowhere. I just walked until I got back to the hotel.

I woke up at 6:30 in the morning. I turned on the TV, and Morning Joe on MSNBC was on. I haven’t watched an entire show before. I only listened to podcasts or watched short videos on YouTube. I admire him so much because his show is not daily morning news. He will choose a specific topic on that day and discuss it with his guests. I took a hot shower while listening to what they said on TV. During the week I was in D.C. and New York, the biggest story was the Trump indictment, which I made a series talking about it. After that, I collected my things and put them inside my luggage. It was 8 a.m., which meant only 3 hours left until I checked out. I went down to the hotel lobby and got myself a cup of coffee and two donuts they serve guests every morning for free. I returned to my room and enjoyed my breakfast. At 9 a.m., I checked out. According to my plan, I only had one thing to do. Visiting Voice of America headquarter. I booked a Lyft to Voice of America. I had contacted my editors at VOA that I would come. As soon as I arrived, I saw them there. It was a coincidence. They took me around to visit the headquarter.

The building is like United Nations. I must say, since the government funds it, I got all the best types of equipment and resources to serve the journalists. Voice of America is not only about radio. It is also about television, news, podcast, and blog. Its slogan is “Free Press Matter,” which focuses firmly on the freedom of the press in America and worldwide. Voice of America has many languages from different countries. Vietnamese is one of them. During the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese division played an important part when they covered the situation in Vietnam. And after the war, the Vietnamese division continued to cover stories in Vietnam, the Vietnamese diaspora, and the world in the Vietnamese language. I am honored to be a part of Voice of America. I came on Friday. My editor said that the journalists worked remotely on Friday, so I could see the room was empty. They showed me where they record for radio, produce podcasts, and do TV production. Everything is so professional.

We went to lunch. We talked about all kinds of things. At 2p.m, I said goodbye to them to get to BWI airport. It took almost one hour to get there. Even though my flight was at 6:30 p.m., I wanted to avoid traffic and get something to eat before getting on the plane. My editor said that if I wanted to work for them after I graduated, I would be welcome. That is good news for me. Waiting at the airport, I looked through every photo I took in New York and D.C. I felt so lucky to be here this summer. Traveling there is a way for me to recover from what happened last month. I needed to get my mind out of it. Somehow, it worked. Not entirely 100% recovery, but I felt happy. I got on the plane and looked out the window. The time went by so fast. Five days was such a short time to spend in both cities. But it brought me so many great experiences and good memories. I only hope that I can come back soon. In tomorrow’s post, I will share what I did last week in an extraordinary place. Shhh!