Virginian Virgin: Of preparation for Halloween

One thing that I am eternally grateful for is the enormous amount of hospitality that I've received while here in the States. It makes me want to ensure that when I'm back in Singapore, I'm able to have my own place so that I can put up friends who visit in the region or in general, just be able to spare a place and spare time to bring people around.

There's Andrew, who brought us all the way to DC, and happily spent a weekend with us instead of his family, his girlfriend or whoever. He's been absolutely amazing, driving us around now and then, and since I know he reads this blog, I'd just like to say a big thank you, and also that we need to go grocery shopping soon, so please get those engines ready. :P.

There's John Paul, a fantastic guy and good friend of Andrew, who put up 3 of us Asians in his room (making him look like a dodgy trader of Asian labourers) and brought us around during the time we were in DC, despite him not exactly knowing us. That, btw, involved walking an hour up and down Georgetown (the Orchard Road of DC) in the blazing sun trying to figure out where we were.

The list probably goes on and on but the one group of people I'm particularly fond of and feel particularly indebted to would be the Carltons, Liying's host family. They have been amazing not just in terms of their hospitality, but in terms of just providing us with experiences that you would never ever be able to replicate, they have been absolutely wonderful.

Consider the experiences they've brought us to: visiting an apple orchard, a show-and-tell in an elementary school, pumpkin carving for Halloween. I can't imagine ever having those experiences here if not for them bringing us about, and I certainly can't imagine the amount of fun that we would actually have with such a warm and lovely family.

Let the pictures tell you more: