GW – Page 17 – Postcards from GW

Touring GWU

AdminApril 6, 2015

As I mentioned at the end of my last blog, this week I was expecting a visitor My mum flew in from Australia on Monday night which was really exciting! I decided that this week’s blog would be a written guide of the tour I gave to her so that you can have a bit of a sense of what you are arriving into – a ‘know before you go’ in a sense from a fellow exchange student.

On Tuesday morning we did a lap of campus as I was eager to show her as much as possible – so I’m going to try and describe my walking tour and give you as much information on campus as I can. You will be taken on a campus tour during Orientation Week but it’s a lot to take in in one hit and for Spring Semester students, you will be walking through the snow most likely so if you are anything like me, concentrating and freezing are not two activities you will be able to do simultaneously.

We entered campus from Georgetown so our town begins up near City Hall – this is one of the on-campus accommodation blocks that you may be placed in to live. Whilst all dorms are different, I believe city hall has a number of 2 person share rooms and each have a living room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen (or at least the apartments that I’ve seen do). City Hall is definitely in a good position – it’s the closest building to Georgetown and is just behind the metro station and Wholefoods area – but it is a bit older than the other buildings.

Moving on to Wholefoods and the surrounding restaurants – this is a well-frequented area for all students as it’s the spot for groceries and take away food. GW doesn’t have a dining hall or meal plan (there is a dining hall area but really only freshmen go there from what I understand – its called J-Street and it’s in the Marvin Centre – we will get to that in a minute). So, I think I speak for a lot of GW students when I say that Wholefoods essentially replaces a dining hall and becomes a very handy source of food when you cannot be bothered to cook.

I could be wrong but I don’t think that any of the international students are in an apartment without a kitchen so there is definitely always the option to cook and prepare food – this will definitely be the most budget friendly option! However, for those times you don’t want to cook – around Wholefoods you will find:
- Devon and Blakely – Soup and sandwiches
- Circa – Nice restaurant with pretty good food
- Roti – Mediterranean style food
- Sweet green – Salads
- Beefsteak – Salads/Vegetarian food
- Wholefoods – Groceries, ready-to-go food, sushi, pizza, etc
Around the back of the block with all of this on it is also a burger place in case that tickles your fancy more.

Continuing on from that area – to your right you will see the beginnings of the major classroom buildings. To give an idea of where each of the buildings is in writing is not going to be an interesting read so I’m going to leave the topic of classrooms by saying, they’re easy to find and everyone is friendly so will happily point you in the right direction. The only thing that can be a bit tricky is that what looks like one building has multiple names depending on the entrance – again, just ask – someone will help you undoubtably. Majority of the classrooms are within the main blocks of campus too so it’s not too challenging. The K street rooms are a bit beyond the square that GW fits within, as is the G street block. I have a class in G Street and I think that it would be a good piece of advice to suggest that if possible, if you are taking a class in this building, try and leave yourself time between classes to get there – I have 10 mintues to get from Phillips (which is opposite Wholefoods) to G street and even though its only a few blocks, my first class rarely lets out exactly on time making the walk a very quick one! Just something to be mindful of if you can. Also, when they say on the schedule that you need to leave half an hour between classes on main campus and on the Vern, they are not exaggerating. You will need to take the free shuttle bus (known on campus as the VEX) and it is a fair distance – this is important to note as otherwise you will miss the beginning of every class!

Okay, back on my walking tour…so from Wholefoods, when you turn right and head down past the Phillips building, and then left again, you will find yourself across the road from Gelman Starbucks – rumor has it that this Starbucks is the second most frequented in America. Whether or not this is true, I’m not too sure, but there is always a long line in there irrespective of the time of day.

Some tips:

1. The line moves pretty quickly so if you have the time, you will make it to the front eventually .

2. NEVER try go to Starbucks on the hour or half hour that a class ends – try and go at obscure times – this is a good rule for most food places on campus. By going 15 minutes earlier, you will save yourself HEAPS of time in lines!

3. The food court in the Marvin Centre has some coffee shops – one even sells starbucks blend coffee so if you can’t wait at Gelman Starbucks, cross the road and head in there.

4. There is another Starbucks on E Street next to the E street dorms and near the Elliott School – there is often a line there too but it’s a lot more reasonable than the one at Gelman!

Who would have thought getting your morning coffee could be such an art!

So, as I mentioned across the road and up a little bit is the Marvin Centre. This is a building you will get to know well during Orientation so I wont go into too much detail, but basically, all the resources, etc that you need are in this one building. Amongst a bunch of other things some of things you can do at the Marvin Centre (beyond getting food and coffee) are:   - Go to the doctor  - Get your GWorld card  - Put money on your GWorld card (you can do this at multiple places on campus though) - Pay outstanding fees  - Buy all your GW merchandise  - Visit the Study Abroad office  - Find the ballrooms (there are often events held here like careers expos, club showcases, etc)

And more. Basically the only things that you need as an international student that aren’t in this building are:
- The key depot
- The post/mail centre
- The ISO which is the International Office where you need to check in (visa requirement – don’t worry, you will do this in Orientation Week) and where you need to get your visa signed if you want to travel out of America (this includes Canada and Mexico – cant tell you how many times I have heard that question asked!) suggestion: take this to be signed by the ISO in Week 1 of your time at GW – you will thank yourself later when you have forgotten all about it and have to rush to get it done – they take 10 days to do it so leave yourself time or you will have to cancel your trip.

Okay – so the Marvin Centre is a great resource and is in a really important area of campus. Across the road you will find CVS which is backed by the Village Shopping Centre – a small centre with some food venues, clothes shops, the UPS store, etc. CVS will be your go to store – most things that you need can be purchased at CVS.

We are back tracking here, past some great sculptures – for example Martha (the hippo) – I’m going to leave the hippo stories at that and challenge you to try and work out the significance of the hippo for yourself – and many many heads of George Washington sporadically found around campus. So, as we walk back past the side of the Marvin Centre, back towards Starbucks, you will find one of the entrances into Kogan Plaza which is just an open area that has the back of the Lisner Auditorium, the entrance to Gelman (the library), a nice courtyard and the creepiest statue of George Washington known to man. There is a life-like sculpture on a bench that, when you leave the library in the dark late at night, will undoubtedly give you a heart attack every single time. The Gelman library is obviously another good resource – it has plenty of study space when your dorm is too noisy, printers, computers, books, etc – everything you expect to find in a library. The staff are really friendly and are always more than happy to help if you cant find something – which you likely wont be able to because the books are everywhere! Not in a chaotic sense, just in the sheer volume of them!

Behind the library is Duques – one of the big classroom buildings, which is backed onto by Funger – the business school. I am mentioning this school in particular because the VEX goes from out the front of Fungar so if you have classes or accommodation on the Mount Vernon campus, this will be an important stop to you. Opposite from there is the GW Deli which has delicious bagels but also often has an insanely long line – again, don’t go just as classes let out unless you really enjoy standing in lines.

At the end of the street where the Deli is, is Tonic – a restaurant that is popular amongst students because of their tater tots (potato gems). They have Happy Hour (which seems to be nearly as popular as brunch in DC – everyone goes out for Brunch or Happy Hour) where they have $4 tots – this seems to attract a lot of people and substantial lines. They are delicious though.

As we continue our walk towards E Street (which will be our final destination), you will pass the mail centre (one block down and to the left from Tonic) which is where all your packages will come in, and on top of that is the key depot – which is where you will get your keys (not if you live in E Street as your GWorld card is your key) and your mail box codes as your letters will still arrive to your building. Next door is Carvings which has burgers, fries, mozerella sticks, sandwiches, breakfast, etc – it’s open late at night making it a popular stop for lots of students!

Finally, as you turn right at the end of the street and walk back the old main building (where the ISO is), subway and then the Starbucks on the corner, you have reached E Street! This is another dorm that has many exchange students in it this semester – it’s where I live – and despite being a little further down from the rest, is a much newer and in my opinion nicer building. We are next door to the Elliott School too for students taking international relations, etc. I skipped talking about the other two buildings that you will mainly find exchange students in because we didn’t take that road – But Shenkmen (formerly Ivory – just so that you don’t get confused when people still call it Ivory) and Amsterdam are also nice and are in good locations. Near Shenkmen is also the sport centre where you will go to watch basketball games, etc. And the HellWell (Health and Wellness Centre is up in that area too).

Final note – up 20th Street – the street that E Street dorms corner, if you walk up toward to the Village shops (where CVS is on the other side) you will find Founding Farmers – personal favorite for brunch and lunch – so delicious! But I will do another blog about DC recommendations for when you get here .

I hope that this has been in some way helpful in giving you a bit of a blue print on what to expect when you get here and where to find particular things. As I mentioned, everyone is very friendly and will happily point you in the right direction. The nice thing about the GW campus is that it is very easy to get to know – you may feel lost for the first week but you will definitely get the hang of it after that!

I wanted to take some more photos but I am currently in Vegas for the weekend with my mum and so whilst there are some photos here for you, I will definitely try and post some more later on.

And so, as always, until next time…

Why is this week different from any other week?

AdminApril 6, 2015

By ilakes2015

The first weekend of April reunites families and communities all over the world. Doesn’t matter if you celebrate Eastern or Pesach, last weekend most of us shared a nice meal with our families.

Back home, an almost in every country, the first two nights of Passover are the ones we tend to get together with family and friends to celebrate the freedom of our people. Our traditions and costumes remain in almost every home I know but some differences are easily distinguished. This was the first time I spent Passover without my parents or first cousins, and of course not in Argentina, but I must say it had it’s own charming characteristics.

On Friday evening, my brother and I decided to attend the Seder of the Hillel community that was taking place in Marvin Center. After a last minute call, and if adding two persons to a dinner were too easy, they openly accepted our request of joining them for the first night of Passover. When we finally arrived, some faces were too familiar and people that I share classes with received me with a warm Jag Sameaj (Happy Holiday) Before the seder began, we sat in a table with 5 different people that lately that night were going to became our friends. The Rabbi made the whole Seder an interesting and not boring celebration. Trying to analyze some topics that were also related to modern times plus the melodies sang or recited by each table (we were almost 100 people) made the ceremony absolutely pleasant. After some laughs, good food and religious traditions, my first day without flour made me go to sleep with a huge smile in my face.

The next day my brother and I travelled to my relative’s house near Gaithersburg. This second dinner was not only special because I was with family but also because I got the chance to spend it with the Patriarch of my family, the one that would not hesitate in explaining to me the history and complicated family tree that I have. As if everything happened yesterday, he can totally remember every dialog, trip and connection that started with his grandmother and my great great-grandfather. After listening to him and having just the idea of every problem that my ancestors had to overcome, makes me realize how lucky we are of having the power of communication on our side.

Apart from that, another wonderful thing made me happy that night; my aunt, who is an artist, did a painting of me and gave it to me as a present. I was not the youngest one and I didn’t look for the Afikoman (another tradition we have) but I was at that point the kid that received a gift. I couldn’t be happier, it was a fantastic surprise and I can’t wait to have the fantastic painting in my room.

The food that my cousin prepared was also fantastic and I was finally eating this typical Jewish homemade food that made me feel at home. We did the brajot, sang some of our traditional songs and read the interpretation of each of those. Even if we were a modern family that read the Hagada from an Ipad, we remembered the most important question/answer of this special festivity: Why is this night different from any other night? Freedom, that is what we celebrate this week. Freedom.

The night ended with a nice talk about each other’s near future and recent changes in our lives, with the dog’s ability to lock herself inside a room and the invitation to meet again the following week.

Last Saturday I also went to Spring Fling with my friends. Free tickets for a show, The Mechanic Shark, Sno-Kones, stickers and shiny tattoos were some of the attractions of that day. This festival organized by members of the University was not only an afternoon full of games and prizes but also full of music, famous DJ’s and food; perfect to celebrate with friends. The U Yard was surrounded of students playing the roulette or even uploading selfies to win special gifts. In my case, implied a Domino’s large pizza that I’ll happily eat to break my no-flour week. Also, Saturday was a really warm day that reminded us the main reason why we where there: Spring. I believe most people was not as happy to receive the flowers, the green grass or the allergies as much as they were of saying goodbye to the snow, the storm and the freezing cold weather. If you think it that way, then yes, celebrate the change of seasons with your friends has never been better.

This huge event ended with a beautiful sunset and the feeling and desire to repeat that day one more time.

Home Sweet Home

AdminMarch 16, 2015

By ilakes2015

I arrived Miami Florida on Sunday morning and my friend David was waiting for me at the airport. I hadn’t seen him for 7months so we planned last week to spend time together and catch up a little. That week we did a few things like having lunch in one of my favorite places: “The Cheesecake Factory”, walked by Lincoln Road at night which is one of the most beautiful streets and we also found time to walk in the beach. It was really nice to see him again and I’m glad that the physical distance didn’t break our 12 years of friendship.

On Monday night I hung out with some of my friends from GW and we went to a bar near my place called Blue Martini. An Australian, two Germans, an Austrian and an Argentinian in Miami, what else do I have to say? My 4 sexy boys made all the women in that bar envied me! And I definitely don’t regret 🙂 The bar was a really cool place with latin music and a great view so we had a fantastic time together. We laugh, we talked about the World cup, we compared our cultures and we ended the night talking about food. I couldn’t see them again but we will definitely hang out here in DC once everyone is back from their amazing Spring Breaks.

There is nothing like the feeling of being at home. Of being welcome wherever you are. Last week I had the pleasure of staying in warm Miami with two fantastic people that I consider part of my family. From the beginning of this trip until the last minute I felt relaxed and comfortable spending time with Gabi and Joli. Even though they are friends of my parents, they treated me like their own daughter and I had the best week of my year so far.

For most students Spring Break represents the moment of the semester where the underage travel outside the country to drink as much as possible while for the overage represents the same but just doesn’t matter where they go. For me was the moment to go back home. I didn’t plan it this way but was exactly what I needed. Not because I missed home but I did miss being “mimada” and was also being in a Spanish environment, where in some places was even weird to find someone speaking in English, what made me feel in my natural habitat. home

It was not my first time in Miami but after this trip I can really say that I’ve been there. I spent most of my other trips doing shopping rather than knowing Miami but this time I did both.

Every day I spent with them had something special, something particularly different and beautiful and that’s why I cannot define which one was my favorite day. The amazing view I had from my room, the five different types of cuisines that I tried and meeting the beautiful 5months years old Dylan where some of the highlights of the trip. I enjoyed everything I did or visited: the Wynwood Walls, 8 Street (the Cuban neighborhood), the night that I had my traditional Argentinian food: Asado and Dulce de leche pancakes for dessert and even the days that I relaxed on the pool. My week was a perfect balance between family, friends, fun, cultural learning, sun and study moments. And now a chaotic week is approaching but I couldn’t be more happy for what I just lived. Coming back to my beautiful E street, to my roomates, my friends and also my study is not too bad. As my father reminded me, “Live the present, you are exactly were you wanted to be. Don’t loose the focus of your experience, relax and enjoy. Tomorrow would be too late” And this is exactly what I’m doing. I couldn’t be more thankful about the fantastic experience, the amazing life, this 2015 is giving me.

Sunshine at Last – A Trip to Mexico

AdminMarch 16, 2015

By carlyfisher4

After nearly three months in sub-freezing temperatures and constant jacket wearing, it was finally time to trade in the snow boots for swimsuits and head to Cancun, Mexico for a week soaking up the sun and the sand. Spring Break seemingly calls on the mass exodus of a campus worth of college students as they head for some sun, some time at home, some volunteering experiences or some time to tour new destinations. And so, in keeping with tradition, I, alongside three of the other Australian exchange students, boarded a flight to Mexico early Monday morning.

Cancun for Spring Break definitely implies some element of craziness and real ‘Spring Break’ activity/behaviour. To be honest, and I’m sure this is the case with any Spring Break destination, it really is what you make of it. We decided that we didn’t want to have a ‘crazy intense’ Spring Break just because that was what was expected of Spring Breakers. Instead, the week was filled predominately with lounging by the pool, hanging out on the beach, enjoying the sun and taking in the tropical climate we were all craving so!

One of the main reasons for my wanting to go to Cancun in particular was the mixture of beach time fun and history. I have been interested in seeing the ruins in Mexico for some time now so to be that close to one of the wonders of the world, an incredible Mayan ruin called Chichen Itza, was definitely a major draw card. Accordingly, one of the first things we did once arriving at our resort for the week was go ahead and book a tour to take in some of the ancient wonders of Mexico. Three of us decided to go and the tour – which I will talk about in just a moment – was amazing and totally up our alley (which makes sense when you consider that we had two history students – one whose focus is ancient worlds – and an architecture student visiting an incredible ruin that really proves how the ancient world defied often even modern building capabilities).

The morning of the tour was a little rough as it meant another very early morning in a row (we had to be on the shuttle to Dulles at 4am just the day before the tour!), however, once on the bus we began the journey with our tour guide and group to a little town called Valladolid – a city that boasted architecture from three different eras and conquerors – it was very cool! The main town square definitely proved the Spanish influence on the area as there was a clear European influence both in the layout of the square, as well as in the religion of the area evidenced by the large church that stands opposite the small park in the centre. We had a look at the church, took in the bright colours of everything that filled the square and the surrounding streets and enjoyed the smiling locals that filled that park before we had to continue on in order to make it to the next stop on the tour.

Next we went to a Cenote which is essentially a water hole and the particular one that we went to was so deep that they are yet to discover exactly how deep it is. These cenotes – or sinkholes – are sporadically seen around the area and all still join together to supply much of the areas water. Set within a cave, the water, though freezing, was incredibly refreshing and really beautiful as whilst swimming you look up through the open gap in the cave’s roof to see only the sun light imposing in. I would highly recommend a visit to a cenote during a visit to Cancun!

We had lunch nearby to the cenote and were entertained by traditional dancers performing their way through the tables. We were also encouraged to try a really spicy sauce that is apparently a staple item of any Mexican’s daily food intake but I passed on that. I’m all about indulging in a culture and trying anything but I have my limits and my limit is chilli!

Our next stop before continuing on away from the cenote was the so-called ‘tequila museum’ next to the sinkhole. I say ‘so-called’ because museum is really just a glorified way of saying tasting – we went to a tequila tasting where they offered us our choice of fourteen different flavours of tequila to try. After tasting a couple - chocolate and mango definitely being the winners in my opinion – we continued on in pursuit of the day’s main attraction – Chichen Itza. chichenitza

Upon arriving at the site, our group split into English speakers and Spanish speakers and we went on our way – our first stop in the enormous area filed with ruins and buildings representing the traditional Maya way of life, had to of course be the star of the area, Chichen Itza. It really is a beautiful site and the symbolism of each and every detail is amazing. Our tour guide was incredibly dynamic and brought the traditions, sacrifices and way of living to life in each story and detail that he told about both the main temple and the surrounding ruins too. It was interesting too to learn about the ways in which they controlled the people, the sports that they took pleasure in (even if it did result with the winner having his head cut off as a sacrifice to the gods), their abilities in astrology, science and mathematics, and the ways in which they sacrificed their subjects (however gross and graphic the description was).

After an amazing day we began the drive back to Cancun where we all met up again and continued enjoying resort life. We picked to stay at an all-inclusive resort which I would definitely recommend to Spring Breakers – it’s a great way to firstly keep track of your budget, secondly to make decisions easier, like to where to eat, for example – it’s in everyone’s price range because its included, and it was good to know what we had already spent so that we could decide how much or how little more we were each comfortable spending. We found it to be very worth-while and good value for what we had paid and had an absolutely fantastic time!

On our last day we decided to finish off with some jet-ski riding which was so much fun! We all loved it! It was very sad to leave the gorgeous sunshine and crystal blue waters of Cancun but I will definitely be back! And so now, with a full-on week ahead, we are back in DC and ready to resume!

Until next time…

The Weather Changes

AdminMarch 12, 2015

By ilakes2015

The week before Spring break is generally the most chaotic one. Most students have their midterms so a mix between stress, happiness and desire of leaving the city consumes them. This particular week also represents the middle of the exchange program and it turned to be the shortest one as well. Already more than two months in this country, who would have said that?

As the weather has been crazy, last Thursday was declared as a snow day, the second one since I got here. Is the global warning trying to tell us something or what? While on Wednesday everyone was freaking out, praying and checking the news to know if they had to stopped studying for their exams or not, I was checking my email praying to not receive a “flight cancelled” message. I did not have exams because I’m going to have them the week AFTER Spring break, what means that instead of being full relaxed, my mind eventually would be thinking about the million things I have to study. Anyway, I stayed up writing until 4am when I assumed that GW was not going to cancelled classes and I went to sleep. The light of the sun woke me up the next day. My roommate had turned off my alarm clock when she read the most expected email. At that time my flight was still not cancelled so my friends and I decided to go outside and build a snowman together before I had to leave. This time instead of going on Spring Break together, as we wanted in the first place, we ended up going to 5 different places and I was the one that was leaving first. After lunch we met in front of E Street and Dion and I started building the snowman. I must say, build a snowman is more complicated than it looks like. It was still snowing so the snow did not compact so after 4 different tries and 40 minutes later we kind of found the best way to create our little cute monster. After that, we decided to walk to the Lincoln Memorial and spend some time there. On our way we took the long walk so we saw the frozen river and the ducks lying on top. We approached a little and the ducks started walking through us so we got scared and continue walking to the memorial. When we finally made it we realized that the Washington Monument had “disappear” in the middle of the mist. Everything around us was white and everything looked nice so we ended up playing like little boys with the snow. After the snowman, the walk and the snow war, we ended up all wet and cold so we run to my place for some tea and a warm shower before I had to leave to the airport. When all of these happy things were happening I forgot the reason why I had an extra day: the snowstorm. My happiness didn’t last much. When I was saying bye to my friends and leaving my apartment, an American Airlines call destroyed the smile in my face. I had to return to my place, call the airline to change my flight to the first one available, call my family and friends waiting for me in Miami and re organize my whole week. After almost two hours and 3 different calls I finally changed my flight to Sunday morning. That meant that instead of being the first one leaving, I was now the last one. That also meant that instead of having the following week to study, I had to organize almost all my writings in two days.

On Thursday night I had dinner with my friends and we watched a movie together. I was supposed to be travelling but instead I had Spaghettis, homemade brownies and “The Italian job”. Actually, a really good replacement.

Last week I also used my time to cook. I’m not a really good chef because I never practiced but living alone makes you learn new things either you like it or not. Fortunately for me, I really enjoy cooking. The past week I decided to eat some of the things that I had on my fridge and never cooked before. Homemade hamburgers, spicy rice, tortilla de papa, calabaza rellena, chicken wok and croissants were some of the dishes I prepared. For being my first time, I must say I did a really good job. Not that someone else tasted it but for me those looked and taste really good.

The weekend was also not as bad as I expected. It was my roommate’s birthday so I surprised her with a delicious cake and 22 candles. We spent the day studying but at night we went out to celebrate. Also, my friend Vicky and me decided to go to swim at the gym so we spent almost two hours doing some exercise. I also called my parents and my best friends with Skype and I stayed up studying until 4 am on Sunday when I had to leave to take my flight. At the airport I did the security and check in things in less than an hour so I had plenty of time to have breakfast and look into the duty free stores. At 7am I was ready to leave and I must say there was nothing as beautiful as looking the sunrise from my window. A whole week was reaching its end, a new day was starting, A city stayed behind while two hours from that moment the beautiful warm Miami was waiting for me. Spring Break is about to start and too many new adventures are waiting for me. So let’s close my eyes, sleep and wait for it..

DC Living!

AdminMarch 2, 2015

By carlyfisher4

DC Living

Some advice for those on their way and applying

Having now lived in DC for almost two months, I thought I would use this blog to write about some of my experiences to give those who are reading this blog wondering what to expect if they apply/have been accepted to GW a better idea of what life here is like. Before I begin though, if you are reading this trying to decide if you should apply here – DO! It’s such a fantastic school in an awesome city with lovely people. And if you have just been accepted, congratulations! Get ready for some of the best months of your life thus far!

As well as this week marking my two months here, it is also the week before midterms which means stress levels are a little bit higher. This has definitely meant that the amount of time studying has increased (although somehow the amount of Netflix watching time has not decreased…), the trips to the library are more frequent (apparently it’s the most productive place to work although I have found it to be the most social place to study) and the line at the Gelman Starbucks definitely seems even longer. In saying all of this, although there is a fair amount of work assigned, it is definitely manageable!

Perhaps the most difficult part of living here is the conflict you face when you know you need to get your work done but also really want to go and explore the city. I think that many of us are aware that our time here is really going to continue flying by, as it has been, and therefore are mindful of how much DC as a city has to offer, whilst still not wanting to leave ourselves with too many late night cramming sessions either. It is definitely tough sometimes trying to find the right balance between getting the work done, seeing the city and just socializing with friends.

So – to those on their way – if you are rolling your eyes or laughing at this thinking ‘as if, I’m never going to even see the inside of that library – I’m going to have fun’ – don’t worry! I totally understand because I said the same thing! But I think that a more realistic view of what to expect would be this – I get the work done (often last minute but still…) and still have plenty of time to socialize and travel on the weekends. The truth is that once you are surrounded by others who are working, you will too. Furthermore, no matter how much or how little your grades count when you go back home, there is no one that I’ve met here - from any school – that doesn’t at least require you to pass and therefore you have to make some time for the work.

I think people will also be surprised by the dorms. To be totally honest, when I found out that I was going to have to share a room I was nervous! I am an only child so the idea of having no space of my own was a strange concept to try and wrap my head around. Yet somehow it just seems to work so naturally – which I definitely think is aided by the fact that all my roommates are lovely and so we all get along really well. So, if you are nervous about that – don’t be! Just cross your fingers for a really nice group of roommates – and don’t be afraid to reach out to them before you get here – I did and it made the meeting process that much smoother.

But now to the things that you really care about – the fun parts! DC life is awesome! You get all the benefits of being at college – like friends and social activities – whilst being in a fantastic city that has so much on offer! If you are into museums – this is the city for you, if you like cool bars and nice restaurants – this is the city for you, if you are interested in history – this is the city for you, if you like city living but don’t want to be overcrowded - this is the city for you – basically if you want to have a good time living on a city campus – this is the city for you!

I think something else that most people on their way here want to know about is the ability to travel. Can you leave the city and explore on the weekends? Absolutely! DC is really conveniently positioned and with a couple of airports and a big train/bus station, which makes getting in and out of the city is really easy. There are so many places to go and see in America and if you are anything like my friends and I here, you will definitely want to go and see as much as you can! Most of us are lucky and we have Fridays off - which definitely helps – but irrespective of this, picking places that are not too far from here still leaves you with enumerate options and awesome places to go and see. We are all currently planning more weekend and after exam trips so there are definitely plenty of opportunities to go exploring and traveling with the friends that you meet.

On that note – I think that it is important to mention that if you are interested in this aspect of the exchange experience, it is important to make friends with the other exchange students. This is not to suggest that your exchange group should stop you from making American friends too – it definitely shouldn’t! However, the other exchange students are the ones who will also want to see DC and travel around on the weekends too. Having made an amazing group of exchange friends as well, it is definitely nice knowing that I always have people to do things with!

For those coming in the Spring semester like we are in now, you will be here for Spring Break – which is not next week (exams, remember) but the week after. Deciding on where to go and who else was going to go, was tricky. If I have any advice on that process I would definitely recommend finding a little group first and picking a place and price together. Then, if you want to travel with a larger group, have a big meeting altogether but go in with a place and some research already done. We started off trying to go away together in a large group of 14 people, however, we quickly realized it wasn’t going to work and so we split off into smaller groups. I think that this is the most realistic situation of what will happen but that doesn’t discredit how excited we all are for Spring Break and for the adventures we each chose. My group is off to sit by the pool in Cancun for the week and I couldn’t be more excited!

That’s another piece of advice for Spring Semester students – It’s cold –like really cold! Bring lots of warm clothing because it’s now nearly March and we are still getting snow and freezing temperatures. We had a lot of snow the other day so Wilson, a Singaporian exchange student, and I tried to build a snow man - it was a bit of a fail but we tried :). So, my advice – bring a coat…or three!

There is so much about your upcoming experience to tell you but if I shared it all now I would have nothing for a final blog later this semester. I hope this has helped you decide whether or not this experience is for you! I can only recommend it with the highest regard – I absolutely love it here and its only been two months so far!

George Washington's Birthday Celebration band!

So, until next time…

American People, Culture, Music and All That JAZZ

AdminMarch 2, 2015

By train1110

Music preference reveals quite a lot about a person’s character. How people create music, how others like and enjoy that music, how people think about and develop that music reflect how people like to enjoy, as amusement-seeking and emotional beings, their leisure time or express their feelings. The type of music a certain group of people commonly make and enjoy reveals the cultural characteristics and identity of that group. To extend this logic a little further, a real American music can reflect the true cultural essence and identity of America. And one of this ‘real American music’, according to my GW jazz piano professor at least, is jazz.

Here in GW they offer quite decent music classes or programs even to non-music major students or exchange students too (For GW students some music courses require extra fee to take that course, but since exchange students pay tuition fees to their home university we exchange students are free to take any music course we like 🙂 ) I take a jazz piano course, once every week, a 1:1 tutoring from the professor (as mostly are instrument-learning courses) Anyway, the professor who teaches me jazz piano is just great, very friendly to students, with a clear philosophy and love for jazz music. Following is what he told me once during the class, although it may not be that accurate as it is based on my memory;

“Jazz reflects the true cultural identity of America. Other things that Americans say they are may not accurately be American. Values, ideals, even the US Constitution – What Americans say they are and what they actually are are two different things. The reality is always far away from American ideals. But Jazz is different. Jazz is a mixture of African, Latin American, and European music, but jazz itself is uniquely American. If you came to America and wish to experience and learn something that is truly American, listen to jazz. Jazz is the truly ‘American’ music.”

While learning jazz piano, what really came to my mind was that jazz is the type of music that gives the most freedom to the player. Since playing piano as a hobby, for nearly 14 years I’ve been playing classical music, playing exactly as written, and in the aspect of freedom, only able to practice some variations or learning a few techniques. Jazz seems to make the ground totally open to the interpretation, imagination and style of the player, with no set way to play, not many strict rules. For this reason one can more easily establish his/her own style in jazz, and communicate, express and exchange feelings with others with people responding to his/her style of playing. That was what attracted me to jazz; the liberty of breaking rules and creating something completely new and unique.

There are obviously a lot of places in DC where you can listen to jazz music, but among the very few places I’ve visited during my past 2 months stay in DC, ‘Georgetown Piano Bar’ was the place that I personally liked. Also in GW, you can visit a jazz jam session in Phillips Hall B120 every Friday, from 12-2pm. Apart from this, there’s a lot of big or small events or concerts held, and you can easily find out about them through the posters or notices on the walls especially in the Phillips Hall Music Department.

A one time event

AdminFebruary 26, 2015

By ilakes2015

Since I got back from New York the weather started changing and getting colder. Those days snowed a lot and the roads and access to the city started being more complicated so Tuesday was declared as a snow day what means that people does not have to go to work. After this, GW also cancelled classes. I had arrived DC at 2am in the morning so I got really happy knowing that I could sleep longer. On the afternoon I went to my weekly course of the “Maimonides Leaders Fellowship program” where speakers come to talk about certain topics and in that particular class we prepared Jala (Is like a special bread). That night I went to the cinema and my brother came to my house to have dinner so I baked the Jala and he prepared a delicious meal for both of us.

On Friday Night I had an “Emoji party” what meant that each person had to dress up like one of the emoji icons that you use when texting. In my case, I had a lot of different ideas but I finally decided to go as the cat emoji, which was the easiest one. Animals, ballet dancers, smiley faces and even the Japanese twins where some of the customs that people had chosen. One of my friends borrowed my hat so he could be the Russian guy and one of my favorites was my friend Wilson who decided to go like the 3 monkeys: blind, deaf and mute. The party was really good, I caught up with people I haven’t seen in weeks and the best thing was that the party was in my building so I didn’t have to get cold on my way back home.

The last weekend was an interesting weekend. My friend Dion invited me to the Opera on the opening night of Dialogues of the Carmelites and because of the horrible weather we got the chance to sit in the middle of the theatre in 300 dollars seats for free! This powerful Opera about an order of Carmelite nuns who refuse to renounce their beliefs during the French Revolution, turned to be the most remarkable event of my week. Not only because of the interesting topic but also because I ended up feeling the most naïve and lucky girl of the room. The Opera was 3 hours long and there was an intermission of 20 minutes so my friend and I drank something and went to the bathroom. When I tried to go back inside, the play had already started so I sat in a different seat until the change of scenes. The women there didn’t seem pleased when she moved her purse but 5 minutes later I returned to my original place next to my friend after I made stand up all the people there. The end of the play was kind of shocking but it received a standing ovation from the crowd. When the Director took the stage, I realized she was the woman that moved her purse to let me sit next to her! (Yes, now we understand her angry face). Apart from that, and before going to the Opera house backstage, I realized that one of the people that I gently asked to stand up 50 minutes before was with the secret service. When I asked, we found out that the important person seating next to me was the famous Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg!! Of course at that time I didn’t know but I felt really happy and ashamed at the same time (In my favor I’ll say that everyone there looked important and famous) So we can say that I touched the most important two people in the audience that night even though I was not conscious about it and the funny part is that was my unawareness what made it happen. I believe ignorance sometimes let you do things you would never do if you knew. Ignorance sometimes frees you from judgment, your judgment. No fear, no shame, no thoughts of other people opinion. In this case, ignorance gave me the opportunity to look into the eyes of one of the most important persons of the country. As we say in Spanish: "Si lo hacia a propositio, no me salia tan bien"

Another New Year’s Day!!

AdminFebruary 24, 2015

By train1110

I’m writing this blog posting with deep gratitude to Wilson Koh, who organized the event, prepared and hosted the lunar New Year’s Day party in his dorm last week, on the 16^th of February. (You’re awesome Wilson!! 🙂 )

In Asia the use of lunar calendar had been dominant in the history, before modernization and adopting the Western solar calendar. For this reason, a lot of major national holidays are based on lunar calendar dates. New Year’s Day is one of those holidays, so nowadays Asians tend to celebrate New Year’s Day twice during the year, one on January 1^st on solar calendar, the other on lunar calendar – of which the date is not on a set time in solar calendar. This year, the actual date for Lunar New Year’s Day was February 19^th, but because it was the President’s day on 16^th of February and everyone got a break from school that day, we decided to celebrate the Lunar New Year’s Day a little earlier than its actual date.

On Lunar New Year’s Day, families including relatives all gather around, enjoy the time together, say New Year’s greetings to each other, eat and do customary, traditional things for the New Year’s Day. Such customs and traditions differ from country to country in Asia, though the idea of families coming together and spend time with each other seems to be basically the same. In Korea, on the New Year’s Day, we say greetings to each other, bow (in a traditional style) to our parents, wear traditional clothings called ‘hanbok’, eat New Year’s Day food (which is represented by ‘Ddeok-guk’, a rice cake soup carrying the meaning of getting a year older) and play some traditional games together. Love of family is the most important virtue on the Lunar New Year’s Day.

Here in DC, close friends are like our families, for as exchange students most of us came here alone, with families or relatives staying in our home country. Having a Lunar New Year’s Day party together meant a lot to us, not only in terms of sharing different cultures but most importantly, being thankful for each other’s presence as family-like friends, to whom we could rely upon and share feelings together in a foreign country.

Wilson (who is from Singapore) was the host of this Lunar New Year’s Day dinner event, and asked me and my friends to join the cooking. He himself cooked a lot of dishes and the rest of us usually cooked and brought one or two dishes. All put on one table, the dinner was the congregation of Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Singaporian dishes. After the dinner, Wilson introduced a Singaporian custom of the New Year’s Day which is called yusheng (or lohei). Yusheng is the food Singaporians eat on the New Year’s Day with their family, and the ingredients they put in the food each has different meanings, such as luck, wealth, success, youth, happiness and so on. Every participant for this yusheng says out loud the words that signifies all such good remarks and blessings and together, mixes all the ingredients like salad using chopsticks. We shared the food afterwards. It was a fun and memorable event, and above all another new and energetic, friendly start of 2015!

The Kennedy Centre and the Carolinas

AdminFebruary 20, 2015

By carlyfisher4

When I left off from my last blog, we had just had a fantastic weekend in New York, and after we got back to DC on the bus (after some horrible traffic), we pulled out from Union Station and looked to our left to find the glistening Capitol Building seemingly welcoming us back. Although the Capitol is under construction/repair at the moment and is therefore covered in scaffolding, there is something that is still so beautiful about it at night – it looks to me like a croquembouche decorated in spun sugar. Actually, that’s what I have been calling it since we first went on the tour inside it – the croquembouche building.

After a theatre-filled weekend in New York it seems that I was just not ready to have it stop as I headed back to the Kennedy Centre for another Tuesday night at the theatre. This time I went to see ‘Gigi’ with Nicola, another Australian exchange student, and Elif, an exchange student from Turkey. As this was the show’s preview before hitting Broadway, I was curious to see how it was – as much as I have seen at the theatre, this was my first time seeing an out-of-town preview, so that was pretty exciting, at least to me. I was also really eager to see ‘Gigi’ having seen the movie before and knowing that it is one of my grandma’s all time favorites.

The production was filled with seasoned Broadway veterans, some who I had seen before in other shows, as well as having Vanessa Hudgens as their celebrity name. On a whole the show was really well cast and, on a separate note, the set-design was great. I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed the show and how well it translated from screen to stage. I hope it is as well-received by Broadway audiences as it seemed to be in DC!

After only a few short days (in which I crammed in four assessments!), Mads (Australian exchange student/my best friend from home) and I were off again for the weekend, keen to take advantage of it being a long weekend. We went down to South Carolina where one of my really close friends lives to visit and explore two states of the US I had never been to before. After flying into Charlotte, North Carolina we met up with our friend, Marissa, and drove down to Columbia, South Carolina.

Whilst Columbia isn’t known for being the tourist hub of America, we definitely enjoyed seeing the sights it had to offer on the Friday that we were there. The state capitol building was definitely an impressive structure surrounded by a variety of sculptures each symbolizing an important event or individual. We also saw the Supreme Court building as well as a couple really pretty churches. Next we went in search of a little district known for its boutique shops and once finished there we made our way to Finlay Park. Although too chilly to enjoy the park in its entirety, we saw some really lovely water features and enjoyed ourselves on the three person swing that sits above the park’s main water fountain.

The next day we continued our exploration of the historically significant Carolinas but heading down to Charleston, South Carolina. We began our morning there by taking a carriage tour (with our driver Baba, and our two horses, Butter and Grits) from which we were able to get a lay of the land as well as a great introduction to the history and myths of Charlotte from our very knowledgeable driver. From the carriage we saw some lovely churches, gorgeous cobblestone streets, amazing mansions, the harbor, other historical structures and the much-anticipated Rainbow-Row.

Having only ridden through the historic district, at the conclusion of our carriage ride we embarked on foot to see the rest of the town, as well as to revisit some spots that we wanted to investigate further.

We started with the slavery museum, which is housed in an old slave auction house, adding to the significance and horror of the information presented in the displays. Comprehending the information within that environment really enhances its reality as a horrific mistreatment of innocent people and a total violation of human rights. As we learnt, more than 40% of the African Americans brought to America as part of the slave trade went through Charleston’s port – that’s approximately 200,000 enslaved people going through the one, relatively tiny, town. The statistics meant a lot more to me standing within Charleston and especially within the museum than they have ever meant to me before.

From the slave museum we walked up in pursuit of the Dock Street Theatre – the first theatre ever built in America. As a total theatre nerd, this excited me greatly and I was desperate to see the birthplace of American theatre! It is a beautiful theatre from the outside and if I find myself in Charleston again, I definitely want to go on a night that they are performing a show!

We had a look around the beautiful mansions, as well as the harbor and the houses along rainbow row. We explored a nice market and had some lunch there and then later, at dinner, I tried she-crab soup and grits and therefore now consider myself a true Southerner- if only I’d had something monogrammed whilst there! All-in-all, Charleston is a really cute little town and a great day-trip if you are somewhere nearby – I would definitely suggest seeing it, although I don’t think that your stay there needs to be too long.

We spent the next morning in Columbia before driving back to Charlotte (perhaps with a slight detour to a couple malls on the way) to spend our last night and day there. Charlotte definitely came across as more of a business hub than anything else. Unfortunately, as we were there on the public holiday, the city seemed rather empty and the cold disrupted our plans of seeing the parks that Charlotte has to offer.

And so ends another wonderful week in DC! I can definitely feel that the cold is about to kick in even stronger which I can’t say I’m looking forward to! I just hope it passes soon – so ready for spring and sunshine - I am Australian after all!

Until next time…