Anyway, when my son was there for his first year, he was fascinated by the landscape during the winter...dont forget, he grew up in Washington state, where in the winter everything, including the lawns is so green, the evergreen trees which are all over remained green in the winter, almost no snow, and lots of rain...but the landscape in New York was snowy, icy, barren trees, no grass in the lawns...It just looked so different to him, and he kept mentioning this....
Finally one of his friends said, Geez, Andy, Washington D.C. cant be that different from New York in the winter...My son said, uh, pardon me, when I said I was from Washington, I meant Washington State, not Washington D.C..
Of course, we here in Washington State, sometimes refer to ourselves as the other Washington...When you simply say you from Washington, to someone back east, they automatically assume you are from Washington D.C....but out here, when someone says they are form Washington, we just assume its Washington state...
Its all a matter of perspective....so now my son, since he travels so much, always makes sure that he says he is from Washington "State"