This wasn’t helped by a driving instructor I hired to explain to me why no one stops at roundabouts or pedestrian crossings. While we were driving around and talking, someone sharply cut in front of me without using their indicator (a very frequent occurrence in D.C and one I still haven’t gotten used to). I asked the instructor what would an American do in such a situation. He replied with “Well, you could always drive up to them and cuss but what if they get out of their car and shove a gun in your face?”

Right. Thanks mate.

It’s been almost 11 months into my stay in the States. I’m not paralysed by the fear of getting shot by a pissed off American but I’m still aware that it could happen. Like any country, there are crazy people, just these ones have the opportunity to be better equipped.

Recently, I went to a D.C high school to photograph an event and the school had metal detectors, my bag had to get x-rayed, it was the works. To a naive Australian like myself, that’s the stuff of American movies, not an everyday occurance.

I know I have some American readers. I’d like to know what it was like to grow up in this country. I can imagine it would have been the accepted norm but was there any scary moments in your life?

David Bowie and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails do an excellent job of describing how I felt when I first moved here. Watch the video, it’s pretty spot on.

Next aim in my life is to be as cool as David Bowie.

Las Vegas and Grand Canyon fun-ness from Tash Jayasinghe on Vimeo.

I used a Mino HD, it’s so small and compact that my hand shook easily and I didn’t realise this until I was reviewing. Give me something heavy and cumbersome any day. In fact, the video camera was so small that it got stolen in San Francisco, after I had taken some lovely footage of the city’s dangerous hills and humourous people. We’re waiting until there’s a new, better version of the Mino before buying another one so there might be a bit of a delay until my next video.

I’m using vimeo. I’d love to know what you use for video and if it works or not.