10 Things They Don't Tell You About Washington, DC

I lived in Washington, DC for well over three years. And while I left to see more of the world, a big part of me still thinks of this city as home.

Even if you're not planning to make the move (maybe you should!), there are a lot of things that make DC special, weird, and wonderful. Here's a list of just ten of those things.

The embassies are actually a scene.

Ever heard of the Passport DC Embassy Tours? You will if you move to DC. Every spring, the embassies along Dupont Circle open to the public to showcase the special foods, music, and art from their respective countries. It's understandably a popular event -- just be prepared for lines.

Not your scene? The embassies also host ticketed galas, and are popular for adult trick or treating on Halloween as well.

DC is known for good food -- partly because of its suburbs.

DC has plenty of Michelin-starred restaurants. However, the best restaurants are often, arguably, in the suburbs. Want good Vietnamese food? Visit the Eden Center in Virginia. Chinese food? Rockville, Maryland is the place to be. As for Ethiopian, it's not hard to find good restaurants in DC -- it has the largest population of Ethiopian folks outside Ethiopia. But -- hot take -- you'll surely be even more impressed by the options in Silver Spring and even Arlington.

The city-state has a sense of humor.

In many ways, the people of DC are just as serious as you'd imagine them to be. Even if you just met someone, expect them to chew your ear off about how important their job is and their prestigious degrees. Often, the best response to some of these -- frankly arrogant -- points is to poke fun at the person making them. I don't recommend doing this with your boss or at an important business meeting. But just saying something like, "this is the most DC conversation to ever happen" will often elicit some laughs. DC folks are self aware, it's just that sometimes the self awareness gets buried under their many degrees. Oh, and if you want to immerse yourself in one big DC inside joke, check out Overheard in DC.

Congress people work very long hours. We know this because the lobbiests do, too.

True fact: At one point, the average congress person clocked nearly 70 hours of work per week. That number goes up even more during campaign season. Talk to any lobbiest, and they'll tell you they're on call at all hours, because that's when the politicians work. You can also watch C-SPAN and see politicians burning the midnight oil. This is an important point, because many people assume that politicians are lazy. The truth is that they're some of the hardest-working folks out there.

Corrupt? Yeah, probably. Lazy? Nope nope nope...

In the summer, a lot of us go out to West Virginia for tubing, Virginia for wineries, and Delaware for beaches.

DC is a swamp. As soon as the temperature goes past T-shirt weather, people want to get out. Some of my favorite memories of living in the area are of hanging out at Bethany Beach and tubing down the Shenandoah River. As for wineries, I haven't made it out there yet but many people claim that the ones in Virginia are excellent.

Find good West Virginia/Western Virginia tubing here.

You don't need a car. But you kind of need a car. Don't crash.

Baltimore, Alexandria, and DC often take top spots in annual car crash rankings. Why? Because the drivers are nuts. This is an indisputable fact. Luckily for the most part, you don't need to drive and can just take public transit. However, if you have any interest in exploring outside the DC bubble, you either need a car or a friend who has one. Otherwise, there's no way you're getting to the tubing, wineries, or beaches I mentioned above.

At one point, you could (kind of) tell political affiliation by whether people wore bright colors or black to work.

This is more of a "fun" point than an actual fact. When I first moved to DC, someone told me that you could tell a person's political affiliation by what colors they wore. Black and beige? You've got yourself a democrat. Fuchsia, sapphire, and anything almost neon? Republican. I actually saw this stereotype play out during my (brief) time working on Capitol Hill. I'm so glad that democrats eventually came to their fashion senses.

A lot of people have pools.

Another thing I was told when I first moved to the area was that I needed to befriend people with pools because all the cool kids went to pool parties during the summer. A lot of residential buildings in Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland have pools. I had multiple friends with pools, though I rarely used them... because my pool was the nicest and everyone came to mine.

Pretty much everyone has at least a college degree.

A long-time DC resident once told me there were statistically zero white men living in DC who didn't possess at least a college degree. Most of the people who live in DC are extremely (academically) smart. They have to be, as they're the ones running international NGOs, high-profile marketing campaigns, national security agencies, and the Federal Government. Honestly, for anyone who doesn't fit in where they are because they're too cerebral, DC is the perfect place to live. Just be aware: One of the first questions people will ask upon meeting you is whether you plan to get another degree. It's acceptable to answer no, but it's a common social quirk in the area.

Washingtonians are extremely nice. Really.

The DC area is transient, meaning that most people moved there as adults and don't have childhood acquaintances nearby. This is good news for anyone trying to make new friends. In fact, in less than two months I was able to host a Passover Seder with ten people. We had to bring in the balcony table and every chair in the apartment.

But the bigger point I need to stress is that you will form quality friendships. I met people with whom I visited West Virginia, the Smoky Mountains, and even Mexico. I found people who were willing to take me in when I struggled to find my first apartment, and then again when I needed a place to crash for a month between the end of my lease and my move to Israel. I found many people who supported me through every crisis -- and who made my time there an absolute blast. Would I recommend visiting DC? Yes. Would I recommend moving there? Abso-friggin-lutely. But beware, it's expensive...

What are some other DC secrets that people generally don't know?