This week, we had one of the biggest events of our exchange program: our week-long trip to Washington, D.C. We visited many tourist attractions and historical sites, and it was really exciting to see the monuments that we had learned about or heard about in our college classes. Overall, it was a wonderful experience.
One thing I noticed was how seriously security is taken at museums and other public places here in the United States. Every time we needed to enter a building, whether it was the Library of Congress or another monument, we had to have our belongings checked and go through security ourselves, including metal detectors and things like that. And it happened everywhere.
In Japan, I’ve never had to go through such strict security checks, not even when visiting an art museum. So, that was quite a big culture shock for me. For those of us who are used to Japan, which is generally safer than the United States, it was kind of like, “Ugh, what a hassle.”
However, considering the history of terrorism and the possibility of people bringing weapons or bombs into public establishments, I think it makes a lot of sense for them to take all these precautions to protect their visitors and their exhibits.
