Jazz in the Garden

On Friday I, along with what felt like half of the city, attended "Jazz in the Garden." This event is help every Friday, starting in May, in the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden. The music and festivities run from 5 until 8:30, with this weeks featured band being Nattybeaux, a jump swing band. There is beer and sangria sold, but I learned that most people just bring their own refreshments.

My plan was to meet my friend there, but I was in charge of finding a spot to lay out our blanket. This was no easy feat, so I walked around the garden to do a little people watching. Most of the crowd were young professionals who were just getting off work, but there were also a few older couples and families. I witnessed one older couple next to the band dancing and swinging each other around... one of the highlights of the evening. After finding a spot across from the Archive building, my friend came with snacks and wine. We tried to listen to the band, but the chatter was so loud we were unable to hear.


By the end of the evening it had cooled off and people were having a good time. So much of a good time that some decided it would be a good idea to dance around in the pond located in the middle of the garden. We referred to this as "controlled chaos."

All in all, it was an awesome evening. I am finding a lot of free things to do in the city, and this is definitely something I want to do again and recommend to people of all ages.

LS

Indians!!

This morning the S[ean/hawn]s decided to visit the Museum of the American Indian. In addition to a reprieve from the 103 degree weather, the museum offered an intriguing glimpse into the Native American cultures that covered the American continent for thousands of years preceding European contact.

One of the exhibits that we both found to be most interesting was one which explored the history of the conquests of the Spanish Conquistadors during the mid-late 15th century. Seeking wealth and to convert the unsaved to Christianity, the Conquistadors were ruthless in their dealings with the Native Americans and it is estimated that millions died as a result of their pursuits. Going through the exhibit, what I really struck me was not only what was essentially a European invasion an assault on their wealth and way of life, but an assault on their basic culture. The Conquistadors either destroyed or impacted the main tenants of Native American life, such as language and cosmological beliefs. Today much of what once was of these civilizations is preserved in oral tradition by the decedents of past tribes or in museums like this. At the end of the day it really is a tragic story but is one that I think is important to tell.

On a lighter note, the buildings architecture is also quite remarkable (see the picture). According to the museum brochure it is a building in which "nature's rough beauty and architecture's creative elegance come together in perfect harmony." Check it out!!

-Shawn/Sean

An Inquiry into For-Profit Colleges

This past Thursday I attended a hearing for the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee looking into for-profit colleges. Currently, for-profit colleges educate about 10% of our nation's students while they receive about 23% of our nation's financial aid. These colleges have gained popularity because they allow students to attend class in nontraditional settings (such as online) and at convenient times (including evening or weekend classes). Therefore, these colleges often appeal to adults who need to work while taking classes.
One of the programs coming to light with these colleges is that some of the programs being offered are not accredited. One of the panelists for this hearing was a student who completed her degree in a program that she did not know was unaccredited. Thus, she found out after accumulating a large amount of debt that her degree was not going to be enough for her to get a job. Now she has over $20,000 in debt and no way to pay it back.
I found this hearing particularly interesting because I have been following the government's inquiry into for-profit colleges for a while now. With the current economic state of our country, these programs are likely to become increasingly popular. However, they will be nothing more than a drain on our economy if students are accumulating debt without receiving a usable degree. I look forward to continuing to follow this investigation! - Kelly F.

Our Nation's Presidents

On Sunday we decided to have lunch in Chinatown and then go see Toy Story 3. We had extra time between the two events, so we stopped at the National Portrait Gallery. We spent some time wondering around the first floor and eventually found the Presidents' exhibit.

My favorite presidential portrait was of John F. Kennedy. I loved the use of color and the way that it was not the traditional portrait. The unique use of color reminds me of a true painting and gives Kennedy a modern flair. I also learned that Elaine de Kooning, who painted Kennedy, originally planned only to do a single portrait but enjoyed working with Kennedy's features so much that she ended up doing a series instead.

My favorite exhibit in the National Portrait Gallery was the Times' Presidential Exhibit. I learned that all incumbent presidents but Herbert Hoover have had the pleasure of being on the cover of the Times since Warren Harding. Currently, Richard Nixon is leading the total with 56 appearances. I like this cover of President Obama, which is supposed to emulate one of FDR after he won his election. It was definitely among my favorite in the entire museum. - Kelly F.

Our Visit to Chinatown

Today we(Mallory, Kelly F and Meredith) walked around Chinatown and got lunch. At the entrance of the area is a huge decorated arch, this is called the Friendship Archway. This archway looks like a traditional Chinese gate, and was actually built to honor of the friendship between D.C. and Beijing.
We were very excited to find a good place to eat, but we first stopped in a Chinese gift shop. Unlike Kelly's experience in Chicago with Chinatown, this gift shop didn't leave her with fish guts on her face. We looked around and especially noticed there were many sculptures of cats in particular.
After the gift shop, we explored our restaurant options and noticed that each menu and sign was written in both Chinese and English. It was later discovered, that this is in fact a local law to preserve the character and tradition of the area. We found ourselves at the Full Kee, where we enjoyed some traditional Chinese food, and tea. All in all, it was a beautiful day for exploring a new part of the city.

-Mallory, Kelly F., Meredith

Eastern Market Group 3

Yesterday morning we visited the Eastern Market, which is an outdoor farmers' market. With a little bit of everything, the Eastern Market was the perfect place to buy something for our dinner, our home, or even us! We saw many stands selling fresh fruit, vegetables, and flowers in a variety of bright colors. A few of the stands displayed art work, ranging from paintings of flowers to pictures of DC. Lastly, we saw many jewelry stands and even found a stand that only sold headbands!

Kelly Finzer: My favorite part of the Eastern Market was the sea of color created by the fruit, vegetable, and flower stands. It was the perfect background for a group picture! In addition, I really enjoyed the stand that sold only headbands. We found a few that would be perfect for the Fourth of July!

Mallory Treleaven: I liked all of the creative jewelry that they had. It came in an amazing variety of colors, and it was not too expensive. I will definitely be going back again to do some shopping!

World War II Memorial

A group of us went to see the World War II Memorial among others on Saturday night. It was quite a sight to see completely lit up at night. I enjoyed walking around looking at the pillars each representing a different state and watching other tourists take picutres by their respective states.
What struck me most was a wall of stars, each star represented 100 soldiers who had lost their lives in WWII. At first we had started to count how many were in a row or two to see if each represented maybe 10 soldiers, but after looking it up to find that each star represented 100 soldiers it was shocking to see. Outside of this area was a memorial wreath and a letter left from a son to his father thanking him for serving our country.
There's also a fountain in the center of the memorial, this was an exciting part because tourists had taken their shoes off and stuck their feet in the water. Naturally, we wanted to be apart of this so we decided to sit for a while with our feet in just looking around at all the tourists and the Washington Monument which was lit up directly in front of us. It was an amazing time to just take in everything that this memorial stood for.

-M.T.

What is American?

During the last couple of hours at my internship this week we decided as an office to venture out to visit the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival out on the National Mall. As Kelly has previously mentioned, the festival celebrates the cultural traditions of places inside and outside the United States and other topics of cultural interest. This year’s themes include Mexico, Asian Pacific Americans, and the Smithsonian Inside Out.

Since my internship at International Student Conferences specifically deals with Asian American culture and education, the section on Asian Americans helped to provide reinforcement to what I’ve been working on in the office.

In the ‘Talk Stories’ tent, a panel of three Asian Americans discussed discrimination and how having an Asian background does not make them exclusively Asian. They were born in America. Speak fluent English. They are equally as American as anyone else. Yet their distinct facial features somehow have categorically made them separate from the term American.



Which made me think. What does it mean to be American? In a nation considered as the worlds ‘melting pot,’ are we still stuck in a time of categorizing people by appearance? We’ve all done it before. Categorizing people by what they physically look like. But if you take a closer look, looks can most often be deceiving, especially in today’s world where immigration has changed the face of what is American. If there was one thing I took away from the festival’s discussion it is that we are all distinct culturally and physically. There are many things that separate us as a nation, but ultimately we can find at least one thing in common—we’re all American.

M.A.

The Summer House

So Shawn and I went exploring a bit on their way to the Smithsonian Museum this morning and stumbled across The Summer House. No sign marks it or its purpose, it just sits their on the western grounds of the Capitol on the Senate side. The building is an open air red brick structure that has a pretty awesome water fountain with built in benches. So after searching around the Architect of the Capitols website, I finally discovered its true nature.

The Summer House was built in the late 1800s by Frederick Law Olmsted when he was charged with organizing the Capitol's grounds. It was built to be a resting place for those who were visiting the Capitol. Olmsted did his best to make it semi secluded but als o public ensuring that it was visible to passerbys but shrouded in the trees, bushes, and flowers on the ground. Originally, it was supposed to have chimes that would be moved by the fountain but these were never installed. Olmsted intended for a second Summer House to be built on the House side, but Congress objected and it was never built.

If you get the chance check it out its probably a nice place to kick back and do some of our reading as long as it isn't 103 degrees like it was today!

-Sean F

Panda Bears!

Today, Lindsey, Zach, Andy and Haley decided to take a trip to the National Zoo, even in the high temperatures. It was one of the most anticipated landmarks that these four Fellows wished to see while in D.C. Andy and Zach were invited to be the photographers. The Zoo has been a part of Washington, D.C. since 1889 and is a free and popular destination for tourists and locals. The Zoo was created by an Act of Congress and has been part of the Smithsonian Institutes since 1890. We found it really interesting how concerned the Zoo is with sustainability, animal care, and the conservation of endangered species. We also took advantage of the cool sprinklers that were provided along the pathways.

The Smithsonian National Zoo had a wider variety of animals than we expected in a downtown zoo. Gorillas, zebras, elephants, golden lion tamarins were some of the animals that we saw. Andy requested we skip the Reptile House. However, our favorite and most anticipated animal to see was the giant panda. The Zoo has been home to giant pandas for almost 40 years. In 2005, the Zoo was home to the birth of an endangered giant panda, Taishan. We went on a hot day so the pandas were relaxing inside in the cool air. The giant pandas are on loan from the China Wildlife Conservation Association and are in the Zoo for 10 years at a time. They were not available for hugging, but we were told that they have very soft fur.


- Haley, Lindsey, Andy S., Zach

Visiting Lincoln at Night

We see the Washington Monument everyday as we walk around the city. We decided it was time for a change up so we went to see the monuments at night. We started off at the Washington Monument, stopped by the WWII memorial, and ended our night at the Lincoln Memorial.
Dedicated on May 30, 1922, the Lincoln Memorial commemorates the life of Abraham Lincoln. Housed in a building that resembles an ancient Greek temple is a nineteen-foot statue of Lincoln sculpted by Henry Bacon. If he were standing, Lincoln would be twenty-eight feet tall. The building has thirty-six columns, one for each of the states that were part of the Union when Lincoln died. The names of the states and the dates of their entry into the Union are inscribed above the columns. The walls to the left and right of Lincoln are inscribed with the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address. Seeing the Gettysburg Address reminded me of high school English, when my entire class had to recite it individually.


I really enjoyed seeing the Lincoln Memorial at night because I think it seemed simpler than during the day. There were still plenty of tourists visiting, but it was not packed. I think that is how Lincoln would like his memorial best as well. - K.F.

Lost at Sea

For a Saturday afternoon adventure we decided to visit the Folger Shakespeare Library. I was excited to have the opportunity to learn more about this fantastic playwright. However, upon entering the library, I thought that I had come to the wrong place. After walking into the Folger Great Hall, all I could see were maps and sea tools.
Currently the Folger Shakespeare Library has an exhibit open to the public called "Lost at Sea: The Ocean in the English Imagination, 1550-1750." It is about the various maps made and used by adventurers from England during the 1550-1750 time frame. The first thing that caught my eye in the exhibit was a special globe. Made by cartographers, the Celestial globe displays all of the constellations of the night sky with their Latin names. It was used for navigation by the night sky and was also an example of a maritime passion.
Another part of the exhibit that I found to be interesting was entitled "The Ocean According to Daniel Defoe." While Defoe is most memorable for his novels and their characters (like Robinson Crusoe), Defoe actually began his career as a pamphleteer and political writer. He also invested in a variety of unsuccessful businesses including a brick factory. Ironically, he did not travel much by sea, but his interest in England's globe expansion provided him with enough knowledge to write his books. I was very surprised to learn all of this at the Shakespeare Library, but it was a great adventure! - K.F.

The Andrews and Seans go to the market or How I learned to stop worrying and spend lots of money on yummy looking stuff.

Sorry for the double post but we wanted to add a few things to Helene's post. Also, seriously the Eastern Market deserves at least two blog posts.

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If by some miracle we weren't yet convinced that we aren't in Ohio, Eastern Market changed that. Eastern Market changed a lot of things…

Seeing the diversity of food, people, culture, and artistic talent was simply awe inspiring. Stands of art, produce, music, and random trinkets are virtually inaccessible in Ohio outside of faraway fairgrounds, parades and/or markets. The absolute best things about Eastern Market are that it is so close, so accessible and that it is ours for the next 8 weeks.

Eastern Market taught us several other things:

• Puffer Fish looks freaking scary

• Bring your own bags!
• You'll always spend WAY more than you meant to
• No matter what you plan on getting you'll wind up either buying or wanting something completely random

• You will always see a hair or fashion style that you have NEVER seen/believed existed
• The world cup penetrates even the air conditioned confines of the Eastern Market (THANK GOD!)

Oh yeah- all that meat and food looks, smells and tastes absolutely delicious on our grill.

你好 and 再见 to our random Chinese commentators.

-Drew, Andy, Sean and Shawn

One Mile on Embassy Row

So, on Monday evening, Sean, Shawn, and Andy went walking about DC and ended up in Dupont Circle named for Samuel Francis duPont, as a side note… DuPont with a capital D indicates the entire DuPont family while duPont with a lowercase d indicates a single member of the family…

Anywho, we ended walking down Embassy Row (Mass Ave). We had a grand ole time! As we walked, we took note of all the different embassies. The smaller with their smaller embassies we would guess by the flag out front and confirm by zooming in on the plaques either physically or with Sean's camera. Some of the smaller embassies we walked by were Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Malta, and a whole lot more. Some of the larger embassies we walked by included India, Japan, Greece, Turkey, South Korea, Spain, Ireland, Poland, and surprisingly Cote d'Ivoire.

Embassy Row was one of the most prominent areas of the city during he 19th and early 20th century and so many mansions were built in the area, leading to the monicker Millionaire's Row. The first embassy built on the Row was the British Embassy in 1929. During the Depression, the area fell into decline, until after Word War II when the worlds nations decided to buy mansions in the superpower, leading to the new name of Embassy Row.

Fun story, at the residence of the Turkish Ambassador (which is gargantuan), Shawn decided to go read the plaque by the door. The security guard did not appreciate it and started yelling at Sean and Andy to get our friend off of the property. He started honking a horn and finally Shawn got down and we got the hell out of dodge.

-Sean F, Shawn O, and Andy S

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The 2010 Smithsonian Folklife Festival is currently open (until July 5), and I (Kelly S.) am working at it for my internship. I'm working for the Asian Pacific American Program, which is the first part of the festival on the mall as you travel west. In this program, we have four main tents: Asian Fusions (the dance and music tent), the Tea House (a Foodways/cooking tent), Family Activities (where local artists and crafts people present their work and allow others to participate), and Talk Stories (where there are panel discussions of various issues in Asian American life). You can learn more about it here.

The festival also includes a Mexico Program, which has similar tents. This program differs, however, in that the participants were flown in from Mexico specifically for this festival. Here, one is able to see the crafts, musical traditions, food traditions, entertainment, and culture of some Mexican ethnic groups. One of the main attractions is the Palo Volanti'n, from which performers twirl in the air, suspended by their feet. There is also a Smithsonian "Inside Out" Program, a series of panel of Smithsonian Employees discussing their experiences.

The festival is open from 11-5:30 (with evening concerts from 6-8:30).

WWII Memorial

I went to the World War II Memorial because I agree with Tom Brokaw’s description of the generation who grew up in the United States during the deprivation of the Great Depression, and then went on to fight and support a nation at the home-front in World War II. My Memaws were a part of the “Greatest Generation;” they and other members have my appreciation and respect.

In 1987, World War II veteran Roger Durbin approached Representative Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat from Ohio, to ask if a World War II memorial could be constructed. Kaptur had to reintroduce legislation in the House four times until he introduced HR 682 on January 27, 1993, one day after Senator Strom Thurmond introduced companion Senate legislation. On March 17, 1993, the Senate approved the act, and the House approved an amended version of the bill on May 4. On May 12, the Senate also approved the amended bill, and the World War II Memorial Act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on May 25 of that year, becoming Public Law 103-32. A nationwide design competition brought Friedrich St. Florian's design in 1997.

The U.S. National World War II Memorial is dedicated to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II. The architectural design includes 56 granite pillars with a name on the 48 U.S. of 1945 as well as the District of Columbia, the Alaska Territory and Territory of Hawaii, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. There are two arches are at the memorial, the northern arch is inscribed with "Atlantic" the southern one "Pacific." As I saw veterans of World War II and other wars observing the memorial I renewed my appreciation for the sacrifices they had made. The beauty of their strength and courage is symbolized in the sleek granite of the memorial.

-Helene

Saturday Morning at Eastern Market

For my first Saturday morning in DC I thought I would visit Eastern Market and the weekend farmer’s market. I normally visit farmer’s markets in Columbus and Cincinnati, OH; so I already have an appreciation for the fresh produce and local art markets have to offer. Apparently, public fresh-food markets were included in L'Enfant's original plans for the City of Washington. The Eastern Market was completed in 1873 and is one of the few public markets left in Washington, DC. Also, Eastern Market is the only one retaining its original public market function.

When I walked inside the Eastern Market I initially noticed a long line for a breakfast food booth. I firmly believe a good indicator for good quality food is to look for a long line. If people are willing to wait in line for breakfast food it must be good. I need to visit that booth on another Saturday to find out why people are willing to wait in a long line. The weekend farmer’s market had a variety of in-season fruits and vegetables. Across the street from the farmer’s market was a flea market that had booths for local artist.
-Helene

the "noblest of Washington buildings"

Tuesday, I ventured on my own the the National Portrait Gallery. Not knowing what to expect, I signed myself up for the 11:45am highlights tour and to my surprise, was one of two people. However, I was very fortunate to meet a 65-year-old nurse from Arizona and a tour guide that reminded me of my grandmother. The small group allowed us to have a very personalized experience, one that I would recommend even to those not interested in art.

Walt Whitman praised the building as the "noblest of Washington buildings," and it is gorgeous. The construction of the building began in 1836 and was completed in 1868. One of the first public buildings constructed in Washington, today it serves as one of the nation's finest examples of Greek Revival architecture.

My tour focused on two exhibits: American Origins and America's Presidents. The President's exhibit is notable because it is one of the only places where portraits of all our presidents are gathered in one place. After my guided tour I explored the Portraiture Now exhibit (unfortunately pictures were not allowed) and the exhibit for 20th-Century Americans.

However, the architecture of the building remained the biggest surprise and my favorite part of the tour. From the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard to the design of the 3rd floor Great Hall, I might just go again before my stay is finished in D.C.

-LT

National Postal Museum

Whenever one of my friends or myself travels, we love to send each other postcards. Thus, I thought it would be appropriate to visit the National Postal Museum, near Union Station. The first thing that I saw upon walking into the museum was a display of some of the vehicles that have been used to deliver the mail throughout U.S. history. A life-sized coach from the 1800's was on display along with a plane and numerous versions of the cars that have been used to deliver mail. Did you know that the U.S. Postal service had the first largest collection of cars used by a company in the 1920's? In addition, many of the postal cars were painted green after WWI because the army donated their leftover green paint from the war.

Visitors to the museum are encouraged to have a hands-on experience. All guests are offered the opportunity to begin their own stamp collection with stamps from around the world. I started my own collection!

Finally, I learned that our postal system has an unofficial mascot: a dog named Owney. He was discovered in 1888 outside of a New York Post Office and ended up touring the world. Postal masters gave Owney a medal for each place he visited. When he reached old age, Owney bit a mail carrier on the hand, starting the dog-post master enemy legend that continues today. However, Owney is still loved by the postal system and his stuff body is currently on display in the postal museum. - K.F.

Take a look at what Senator Glenn has to say about the importance of the American space program.

Folger Shakespeare Library

Only a block away from our apartment is the Folger Shakespeare Library. With an interest in Shakespeare and theater, the Library is a great, unexpected feature that is so close to home. Although Shakespeare does not really relate to anything we have study thus far, the history and legacy behind the founders and the stories helped supplement the information we have compiled about the founding of Washington, D.C. I found out that, although the inside of the Library is totally Elizabethan or Jacobian architecture, the outside was meant to match the Library of Congress and the Capitol Building by being completely art-deco. The original architects would not build an Elizabethan building, but compromised with the Folgers by building the outside to match the surrounding buildings, but the inside like an old-fashioned mansion. Although the outside is beautiful, as are all the surrounding buildings, the inside was unexpected and beautiful in an historical, scholarly way. Scholars and historians are able to visit the library and study ancient books that would normally not be available to the general public. We were also told that the historians are not allowed to use hand lotion anytime they are using the book. Which led to the hilarious joke, "You can always tell a Folger Scholar because they have dry cuticles". (haha)

We had a wonderful, well-informed tour guide (as pictured). He told our group many insider stories that we would have never known, such as what some of the paintings meant and how the theatre was built. I look forward to visiting the library many more times this summer and I hope to learn a little more each time I go.

National Archives

Since we have been discussing the ratification of the Constitution and Madison’s the Federalist No. 10, I thought it was appropriate to go and visit the National Archives and view some of the documents we have been discussing. Although the Archive is home to many interesting exhibits, I was most deeply impacted by the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom, which houses a number of original documents such as the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, the Louisiana Purchase, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Hart-Cellar Act. The Magna Carta is also in a nearby hall. The architecture and art of the Rotunda is impressive and beautiful, and the preservation techniques are fascinating; the documents are kept in climate controlled cases and lit by special lights. Since the lighting in the rooms is minimal, the end result is that the documents appear to glow gold. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside the building.

Also in the Rotunda was one of the drafts of the Articles of the Confederation. Interestingly, this draft contains handwritten notes, one of which suggests an article asserting the sovereignty and independence of the individual states. This relates directly back to the Federalist No. 10, in which Madison argues for the ratification of the Constitution by suggesting that individual states do not have the same ability to quell factions and promote the good of the public as a unified central government would.

It was also interesting to see the Hart-Cellar Act, without which the cultural diversity of this country would not be what it is today, and Linsey and I would not have been able to visit Chinatown the day before (see earlier blog post).
-K.S.

Chinatown

After attending our orientation and visiting the National Building Museum, we (Linsey S. and Kelly S.) decided to visit the nearby Chinatown. We had been discussing the history of Washington D.C. that day, and thought it appropriate to begin to explore the city. In Chinatown, we saw the Friendship Arch, a beautiful Chinese style arch towering over H Street. We also got a chance to explore some of the local shops such as one which sold a Asian imports, including unique food items like dried fish and Chinese ceramics. There were restaurants offering many types of Asian cuisine, including Thai, Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian.

We can see the diversity of this city every time we step foot outside of our town house. From people we pass on the street to those who assist us at Target. While we walked around Chinatown we noticed how even this small area of the city, which was supposed to be specifically for a certain group of people, is also diverse. We saw Indian and Italian restaurants, and a Hooters, showing that even ethnically specific areas are as diverse as the dominant areas.

It was interesting to see a bit of the city in its contemporary form, after learning the history of its origins and evolution. Luckily for us, the area was easy to navigate, thanks to L’Enfant’s city planning.

-KS & LS

Climate Rally

On April 25, a group of us attended the Climate Rally on the National Mall. The rally celebrated the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and urged Congress to enact climate and clean energy legislation in 2010. Guest speakers at the event included James Cameron and Reverend Jesse Jackson, and the musical lineup featured Sting, The Roots, Aretha Franklin, and more.

In class, we had learned about climate change policy in an academic capacity, so it was fascinating to see the advocacy aspect come to life. I heard that over 150,000 people showed up throughout the day! Check out the pictures below.

- Kristen