First trip across the pond

Arrival

Before landing I had to fill in the blue card (whether I was bringing any diseases, manure, too much money, and why I was travelling there at all). A breeze compared to the painful wait in the queue to reach an immigration officer. We spent at least an hour in line (I counted over 50 booths, of which only about 7 were available to us). After the officer asked where I was from, whether I knew my colleague, and when we were returning, he took my fingerprints (all fingers on both hands) and stamped my passport for a 90-day stay.

Food

Breakfast at the hotel was magnificent — sweet, savoury, eggs, pancakes, waffles, pastries, and fruit. I mustn't forget the choice of coffees, juices, and teas. The only thing occasionally hard to find was plain sugar — honey apparently is the only option. Lunch is always "lighter," so a sandwich, a small burger, or something similar from a café does the trick. Dinners are enormous. I had the honour of spending one of them at The Capital Grille. Any steak I eat from now on will be compared to that one. Words can't describe the taste. For dessert I chose cheesecake with forest berries — a royal choice.

Sights

Even though our only free day was rainy, I saw the "main" sights: the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Gallery, the WW2 Memorial, the Korean Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the US Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial). I also made it to Arlington, the Pentagon, FBI HQ, and on the way to the airport I spotted the road leading to CIA HQ.

Patriotism

Just about every building has an American flag. When you talk to Americans, you can tell they're proud of their country.

American behaviour

I can't complain — they immediately notice you're not from around here. They ask where you're from (they still have no idea where the Czech Republic is — as evidenced by the shop assistant in the museum asking whether we're close to Ukraine) and whether we're enjoying the USA. They're also friendly towards each other, which you don't see much on Czech streets.