Learning @ GW – Page 13 – Postcards from GW

The Sunshine of Our Day

AdminMarch 7, 2016

Universities are like clocks: they don't budge an inch unless the smallest of cogs is in perfect place. Behind the scenes at the George Washington University there exists an army of hardworking individuals that help keep the 'show on the road'. Often, the stories of these people go untold:

Since I have been studying in the basement of Gelman I have come to notice that at regular intervals a trash trolley will pass me by. The lady who pushes the trolley is kind looking. Calm and consistent, day after day, goes the trolley. Apart from the whirl of the trolley wheels as it passes by, you would never know she was there. Gloria is her name. Gloria is just one of several housekeepers responsible for ensuring that students have a healthy, happy and clean environment that will nurture aspiration and academic potential.

Gloria, not wanting to promote herself, introduced me to Veronica Franklin, a bubbly, motherly lady who is the head housekeeper of Gelman Library. Veronica very kindly shared her story with me and I discovered that working in a silent environment, such as a library, can have its challenges. Often students, in their pursuit of obtaining academic excellence, pass housekeepers by without acknowledging them. So...

"...so, you know, I like to break it up a little. Every holiday, and they will tell you, 'Veronica is going to come in here dressed as something representing the holiday'. Two weeks before Christmas I have stuff on every day and..." she pauses for effect, grinning like a Cheshire cat, "for the finale... they are just waiting, not sure what I'm going to come in as!" Once, for Halloween, Veronica came to work dressed as a cat. Whiskers and all."Im told quite often by the people that work here: you are The Sunshine of our Day".

Whether it be the carpet, spills, trash, the bathrooms, picking up year-lost books, housekeepers are kept busy from dawn till dusk.

"And I'll tell you another thing", Veronica asserts, "just because somebody is a housekeeper doesn't mean they're not smart. I could work in an office at a computer as a secretary but it would drive me crazy. I've got to be able to move around. I love what I do. And I love the people that I do it for. I dont care that sometimes we don't get acknowledged at a higher level as we should... "

And then our conversation turned to a topic that I had not expected to discuss.

"Under President Obama's administration I have seen a lot of change. I've seen people being able to...", she breaks to gesture to the two of us, sitting together in the basement of Gelman,"...this, you know what I'm talking about? This exchange, it changed under Obama. The dynamics of it changed, and for the better. I think it's wonderful."

Then I brought up the hottest topic of all: TRUMP.

"Oh! I am so frightened of the mere thought of that happening. How can we go from Obama to Trump? How can we do that? That is unspeakable." The Sunshine of our Day pauses again, this time contemplating life under an arrogant billionaire. "Chaos. That's what it would be like. There is absolutely, positively nothing good that could come of that. I feel like I'd like to go to another country. It's that bad."

Veronica may not stay on as a housekeeper forever. She has already been here for twelve years. Others, like Gloria, have been housekeepers at GW for more than twenty years. Veronica concludes,"I'd love to do social work. Anything where I'm helping people. That's what I do...I love to help people".

Outside the Library, the Japanese cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom. Few are aware that one of nature's little miracles is transpiring in Kogan Square. Life is like that. If we look closely, flowers are always blooming in the background. It's about knowing the right places to look. Back in the basement, silence is broken. It is the whirl of wheels. And the flower passes on by.

Engine Company 23

AdminMarch 1, 2016

By jarrodgrabham12

In the dead of the night the siren wails. A tricolor of pulsing flashes filter through the blinds. Somehow, somewhere in D.C. a smoldering fire has erupted in bright brilliant flames. The siren is answering the call of a concerned grandpa or a watchful mother. Among the fire trucks tearing down the highway is Engine Company 23. It joins weary eyed ambulance and policemen and women; the trinity of emergency services is complete. These service providers are the backbone of any community. There is no hierarchy, each needs the other to function fully.

Every day for the past two months I have sauntered past a historic fire station in Foggy Bottom. The very architecture of the building breathes history. The first week of term I was aware of the fire stations presence on campus. The second week I began to see familiar faces around the station, washing the 'mother of the station', firetruck 23. After eight weeks of walking past its walls, I felt I had to dig deeper.

Today I entered the station.

"Can I help you?" a friendly voice asked. He would later introduce himself as Fireman Shaun Weiner. Fireman Weiner, perhaps in his mid 30s, with piercing blue eyes, kindly offered to show me around the station. I was fascinated by what he shared with me.

"Engine Company 23 was established in 1910. This was the original fire station from then until now. Come over here..." Weiner beckons.

"Do you see that blue paint?"

Yeah...

"Look closely, what do you see?"

I see grooves, like marks.

"What you're looking at is the kicks of horses hooves from a hundred years ago."

And in my ignorance- "what were horses doing in a fire station?"

"Horses used to pull the steam pumper, a cart with a boiler attached to it. By feeding wood into the boiler, steam would be produced and this would create pressure that would pump the water."

Well, I thought, mum and dad were right when they used to say that the old days were tough - back then they used fire to fight fire!

"A lot of stations have spiral staircases... do you know why?"

No Sir I don't...

"Well, in the days when they had horses if you didn't have spiral staircases then the horses would run right up them!"

In my mind I envisaged cheeky chestnut Clydesdales nibbling on carrots after a hard night out.

Weimer introduced me to Lieutenant Lancaster, the head of the fire station. He invited me into his office and shared some moments from his career.

"My great grand daddy took the fireman exam three times. They never let him in. Afterwards it was a tradition in my family to join, and I had several relations who did".

Lieutenant Lancaster wants to retire in good health. After thirty years dedicated to keeping DC safe 24/7 it is a well deserved dream.

Engine Company 23 has been part of several historic fire fights, including participating in the efforts to contain the fire caused by the terrorist attack on the Pentagon on 9/11.

Concluding my tour with Fireman Weiner I asked one final question in regards to the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

Those piercing blue eyes veered off into the distance in deep reflection and then looked back to the inquisitive Australian standing before him.

"This job makes and takes friends"

And that's all he had to say about that.

We shared a little more about our two respective cultures, shook hands and bid each other good day.

As I walk out of the fire station's gates I turn around. I have gained a deeper respect for the gallant men and at one time, horses, who have inhabited the walls of Engine Company 23 for the past one hundred and six years. They have made a difference every day. Today has been a personal meeting with every day heroes. My eyes are caste high above to the watchtower. At some point some able fireman had the task of climbing the five stories of stairs to chart the quickest route to reach engulfing flames. Beneath the watchtower on the Italianate limestone frontispiece I see Old Glory flutter nobly in the wind. I hear the neighing of the countless teams of horses that served to save. I think about Fireman Weiner's parting words. For firemen and women their job is more then an occupation, it is family. It is a duty. Suddenly the spectacle is broken: somewhere in the distance a siren begins to wail.

National Harbor at Maryland

AdminFebruary 29, 2016

By kyuyoun0702

What I was surprised by the most in United States is the overwhelming power of nature. Seoul is an iridescent place with skyscrapers and buildings, and the only remnants of nature I could see were the trees along the pathway. However, United States is a country that doesn’t predate over nature; it coexist with it, as huge as their territory is. This is where I realized that earth is not only for humans to live, but also for other elements in the earth to reside in harmony with the humans.

Another epiphany struck me when I went to the National Harbor at Maryland today.

Look at the sky! The sun had just disappeared down the horizon and only the slightest lights remain. It gets fainter as its farther from the sun, and sky is mostly filled with different colors of blue.

Even though the sunshine almost penetrated my sunglass to the extent that my eyes itched, I still couldn’t take my eyes off of the beautiful sunset.

Surrounding the National Harbor are the streets filled with people and shops. As it is around the harbor, there were a lot of seafood restaurants as well as chain restaurants such as Chipotle, Ben and Jerry’s and Potbelly. Since it had been raining for few days this week, I guess people were excited about the amazing weather today. There were families, couples and group of friends who came to enjoy this wonderful amalgam of city and nature.

My parents were excited as well. My dad just came back from South Carolina for his business trip, and it had been a while since we went out as a family (except my brother who was exhausted from his basketball game). They went ahead of us to have a little chit chat, and the whole picture was so beautiful that I couldn’t resist taking photo of it.

Tah-dah! What an amazing day! except that I have another midterm exam on Tuesday….! I really don’t like how midterms are so dispersed. I am taking three midterm examination and one midterm essay within the course of three weeks, which is frustrating me so much!

The 2016 D.C. Travel and Adventure Show

AdminFebruary 23, 2016

By jarrodgrabham12

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. "

-Mark Twain

Last weekend the National Convention center in D.C. housed the Travel and Adventure show. This enormous roll out of literally hundreds of little stores promotes everything from world cruises to how best to hit up individual cities. As an amateur traveler with a passion for going to off the beat 'n track destinations, I felt like the time bugs bunny got abandoned on Carrot Island. I went nuts. Armenia, Jamaica, Bolivia, Grand Cayman. Grand Cayman? Is that on Mars or Jupiter? I don't know, but why not. Are you interested in going to Iran, Sir? You bet. In goes another pile of pamphlets. There were live performances of exotic cultural dances that enlivened the senses and awoke curiosity from its slumber. The burritos were muy delicioso.What I enjoyed most was the fact that not one travel store pressured you to sign up to its offers. What's more, to enter the convention you only had to pay the miserly fee of $11.00. However, small as it is, the payment is necessary for it restricts the exhibitors from being overly zealous in pressuring you to go north to Alaska, or wherever.

I met the author of "1,000 Places to Visit Before You Die", Patricia Schultz. Schultz' book is one of the best selling travel books of all time, probably due to the highly persuasive style she adopts. I bet you can't read a single chapter of her book without contemplating, even momentarily, to drop everything and make your way to the nearest airport. She makes us ordinary folk aware that there are so many exotic tourist destinations just waiting to be explored. A meet and greet moment with Schultz was a highlight of my time at the Travel and Adventure Show. She is a heroine of 21st century travel and gives her patrons a warm fuzzy feeling inside; she makes you feel completely at ease. Whether it be books, calendars, audio or giving live presentations, Schultz's mark is very stylish and recognizable. Thanks for the opportunity, Patricia.

As I made my way through the labyrinth of travel stores I stumbled across a man standing between a BMW GS motorbike and a van. It sparked my curiosity instantly. "Hi, I'm Alan Karl" he said confidently. I'd never heard of him. He told me some of his story and I was hooked. Alan travelled the world for 3 years on his BMW, visiting 65 countries. He collected recipes, stories and took marvelous pictures along the way. Upon his return he wrote a best seller Forks: A Quest for Culture, Cuisine, and Connection. Three Years. Five Continents. One Motorcycle. It is one of those books you reach for when a big storm is coming, the lights go out and your snuggled down in bed listening to the crackle of a wood fire. His story transports you onto the road with him. To the crystal clear salt flats of beautiful Bolivia. To the torrid swamps of Africa. I was not leaving the Convention Centre without a copy of Forks. Where I'm going to store it in my luggage when I hit the road though is another thing...

No Bake Nutella Cheesecake

AdminFebruary 23, 2016

By kyuyoun0702

I honestly can’t believe its already midterms. My friends at Yonsei aren’t even done with their vacation, and here I am, studying so hard (not really) for my mid-terms. Heavy workload and my intrinsic laziness combined has resulted in this synergic outcome called ’screwed-for-exam’ phenomenon. Even though I am less pressured than the GWU students are to receive amazing grades, I’ve been too much stress from studying.

During the weekend, I attended a forum hosted by Center for Strategic International Studies on North Korean human rights issue, and on my way home, I went to the mall with my dad to do some grocery shopping.

Everything except studying for the exam was intriguing to me, so I scrutinized the mall as carefully as I can, and I noticed that there’s a whole section on the ingredients for homemade cookies, tarts, bars, cupcakes and breads!

I’ve been living by myself during my entire college life, but I have never cooked nor baked for myself due to lack of cooking utensils and again, my innate tendency to be lazy. I thought this was a great opportunity for me to learn how to make food in the future, and also considered it to be a great stress reliever for my exam as well. So, why not get the ingredients?

I decided to try making a no bake nutella cheesecake. The ingredients are nutella, butter, whip cream, oreo and cream cheese. Due to my lack of experience, I was a bit afraid to try making food that required usage of oven that could literally burn me.

First, I tried to make a crust with the oreos. I took out 24 oreos from a big pack which was on sale, but…how do you crush it? I put it in a glass bowl but I had no idea how to start crushing it. What if I crush the bowl as well? So I put them in a ziplock, hit them as hard as I could, and put them back on the bowl as if nothing had happened. Then, I mixed these crusts with a 1/3 bar of melted butter in order to prevent the crust from falling apart.

Next, I mixed nutella with creamcheese and whipped cream that failed to whip itself. However, whipping the cream was inevitable for me because the cheesecake had to have a whipped cream on its top. So, I tried again, and fortunately, I was able to plaster the whipped cream on nutella base.

On the top, I put five oreos that represented each member of our family (mom, dad, younger sister, younger brother and me :)) It’s not that they were the only remaining oreos! (they were)

I was supposed to refrigerate the cake for four hours, but I misread the instruction and froze it. Stupid me!

But I guess it turned out to be a success because my family thought it was pretty good even though no one finished the entire piece. It was symbolic enough though that it was the first cooking attempt I have done in about 2 years.

Thanks to this cheesecake, I was able to get rid of the stress I’ve been receiving, at least for that moment:) I hope midterm ends soon so that I can take a break from studying during the spring break!

New York, New York

AdminFebruary 17, 2016

By jarrodgrabham12

The emboldening Statue of Liberty, the majestic Empire State Building and some lucky lady delighting in the age old tradition of eating strawberry cheese cake amidst a sea of yellow cabs: this is what so many of us perceive New York to be. This past weekend I set off with two of my friends from Bolivia, Carla and Alison Saavedra, to discover if this were true.

We fulfilled a large amount of the items on our bucket list. Here is a sample of some of them:

See a broad way show: TICK (We saw the Phantom of the Opera, it was spectacular! Tip: look on line if you want to get the best deals. We got fairly good seats for like US$47.00! Normally they are $120.00).

Selfie in times square: TICK (Tip: watch for pickpockets as your eyes are distracted by the flashy lights).

Cucumber sandwiches with Donald Trump in Trump Tower: AVOIDED (Can you blame us? Besides, the old geezer was out of town anyway).

A photo with the Statue of Liberty: TICK (Well, kind of. You see if you take the Staten Island ferry its free, but the downside is that the ferry passes by Liberty Island from quite a distance).

A photo with the 'Wall Street Bull' by sculptor Arturo Di Modica: TICK. (This very realistic sculpture is said to represent the testosterone of the American economists and stock brokers. Considering the American economy is 19 trillion dollars in debt I wonder whether a large "I O U" sculpture would be more appropriate?)

Try a New York street vendor's hot dog: TICK. (Tried it?! After 2 paracetamol, a litre of water and a 30 minute rest in the nearby MET museum, its probably more appropriate to say that I survived the experience... I think the sausage wasn't cooked properly? Frank Sinatra sang in his famous song New York, New York that, "If you can make it there you can make it anywhere". I wonder if the same applies in a culinary sense?)

Hit up some of New York's famous art/museums: TICK, TICK and TICK again. ( We visited the Guggenheim Art Gallery; housing the legendary Thannhauser Collection, the Museum of Natural History; where the movie 'Night at the Museum' was set, and the Metropolitan Museum. The Guggenheim art gallery prides itself in displaying art with meaning so hidden that even Alan Turing and the experts who decoded the enigma machine during WWII would fail to decipher even the simplest abstract work exhibited. The New York Metropolitan Museum, otherwise known as the MET, was my favorite by far. In one afternoon we were able to peer upon the mystical face of an Egyptian Pharaoh's death mask and then admire the works of the classical artists Renoir, van Gogh and Monet, among others. All this, just for a small donation!)

Have afternoon tea with Big Bird: FAIL. (We couldn't find it! But can you tell me how? Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street? Actually, come to think of it, I did see a big bird, hanging upside down in a front window down New York's famous Canal Street, Chinatown).

OK. So, I managed to accomplish the majority of the things on the to do list. But does that mean that I have really experienced the city? No. Not at all. Taking a photo with the Statue of Liberty or eating cheese cake in Time's Square doesn't make one anymore acquainted with New York than does thinking you know the intricacies of a 1000 page book's plot by scanning its back blurb. To know a city one has to live there. One has to interact with the people. After all, it is the people that are the soul of a city and not the empty edifices of its surrounds. The highlights of my time in New York were none of the above. The real highlights were the brief and momentary interactions I shared with everyday, metro riding New Yorker's. A glance. A smirk. A G'day. A simple time of small talk with a hotel clerk about the poor weather. Sharing a joke with a homeless man who was singing desperately outside the Guggenheim, as the fluffy white snow drifted carelessly down his neck, a neck that probably hadn't laid on a soft pillow since Ronald Reagan was President. Having the hairs of my neck stand on end upon hearing how Justin our hostel attendant's father just happened not to make it to his office the morning of 9/11.

Shouted lunch by a kind family of Bolivian first generation Americans in an Ecuadorian restaurant in Queens whilst listening to how the father, Lucho, slowly made his way to the top. Attending a non-denominational church service in central Brooklyn with a room full of strangers that felt like long lost family. This was New York for me.

I'll have to go back another time to read the other 900 pages...

Back to Japan? The best Donburi place!

AdminFebruary 16, 2016

By kyuyoun0702

Even though I am a Korean by nationality, I've spent a huge portion of my life in Japan. Therefore, I've always missed Japan, its atmosphere, its people and ... its FOOD. That's the reason that I was desperate looking for good donburi places when attending college in Korea, and even though some places were decent enough, they weren't fully satisfactory. Since Korea is renowned for its food culture and its ability to mimic foods of diverse countries, I thought they were the best Japanese food I could have in a foreign country.

But, I was wrong.

Right before I went to bed on Wednesday, my friend texted me and asked me whether I like Japanese food. I answered yes, and she told me she knew a great donburi place in D.C.. Despite the fact that she has lived in D.C. for more than 7 years, I was a bit suspicious because I've never tried any sort of Japanese food since my arrival here.

We met after class on Thursday in front of Gelman Library, and caught an Uber. We got off near Alex Morgan, where the streets looked so marvelous and Beverly Hills-like (where I've never been but I'm just guessing). The donburi place was pretty small, and the seats were full of people. However, we luckily got to get a seat within less than 10 minutes.

The restaurant was unique in that we paid for it beforehand. I picked Salmon Donburi without any hesitation.

I was astonished by their swiftness in processing orders! The donburi was in front of me within 3 minutes after my order.

Starving since 10AM in the morning, I couldn't wait to enjoy the meal. My trembling chopsticks carefully took a hold of a piece of fresh salmon. Right before it went into my mouth, my friend stopped me and told me that I should comply to the 'real way' of eating donburi. According to her, I was supposed to plaster a bit of wasabi on the salmon piece, dip it into soy sauce for a second and then take a bite of it. She was right. The donburi tasted so good I can't find a word to describe it.

Not only was the donburi incomparable to those I had in Korea, but it was also actually better than the ones I had in Japan. I really didn't want to admit it, but it was just the way it was. The salmon was so fresh I couldn't feel any greasiness (the phenomenon that often happens when eating too much salmon), and the sauce on the donburi matched both he salmon and the rice well.

It was surely the best meal I had in D.C. so far. So glad I took another step to mastering Washington D.C. attractions !

My visit to Georgetown

AdminFebruary 9, 2016

By kyuyoun0702

I have remarked earlier that my next destination would be Georgetown cupcakes, and I got to have this accomplished in a relatively short period of time. An upperclassman of mine from Yonsei University also came to Washington D.C. for an exchange student, and we decided to meet up and have a good lunch together. I was wandering around Georgetown while I was waiting for her to come, and found Georgetown cupcakes. There weren’t much people because it was pretty early, and I thought this was a chance for me to get some cupcakes.

It was an arduous task to pick what cupcakes to buy since every one of them looked so marvelous. Having trust in my sixth sense, I just randomly picked what came to my sight when I was ordering. I only got to try Red Velvet and I thought it was pretty awesome. What distinguished this from other red velvet cupcakes I have tried was the cream on it. It was not too cream-like but not too artificially solid, and I could feel the scent of cheese at the top of my tongue. it I heard later on that it is one of the signature menus of Georgetown Cupcakes (yeay to my sixth sense again!!).

At about 12pm, we met together in front of Georgetown cupcakes. It was surely bizarre to see her in the U.S. but I guess we both got used to living here. We were touring Georgetown with ease.

The first place we visited was Luke’s Lobster. I forgot to take a picture, but it was pretty good. The lobster was fresh and it went along well with the bread. The mexican beer and the chips that came along with the roll were decent as well. However, the price was more than merely surprising - it was $41 for two roll set. I know that lbsters are good, and I know that Luke’s Lobster is renowned for its lobster roll, but it was way too expensive for college students to have for a meal.

Next, we went searching for a good place for dessert. That’s where we found a hidden crepe and bubble tea house with a cute fox character on its door (I forgot the name). We were trying to go to Baked and Wired, which we later realized that was right next door, but we gave up and went inside any dessert shop we could find. However, it turned out to be amazing! The crepe was really good, and the Chai bubble tea was the best bubble tea I had in a while.

Unnie (which is a Korean term for an upperclassman) offered me a ride back to school. I thought it was a great great day until I opened the cupcake box and realized that I was a very stupid person.

Even though my mother told me it was still good, I was so stupid I didn’t realize that cupcakes are fragile. One lesson learned; carry your cupcake box as if you’re carrying a baby.

Bokamoso, an inspiring African Youth Choir

AdminFebruary 8, 2016

By jarrodgrabham12

Last Friday evening the George Washington University's Marvin Centre theatre became the location of a cultural crossroads. On one side of the highway of life was the audience from the Western world. We brought to the table first world problems such as, "what color should my new BMW be?" and "why is Apple taking so long to release iPhone 10?" Facing us on the other side of the civilization juncture was the Bokamoso Youth choir from Winterweldt, South Africa. "Ubuntu"-meaning the interconnectedness at the heart of our humanity- is the word the organization uses to summarize itself. It is a very apt description.

It was a sobering experience for the Western world contingent. We observed the spectacle before our eyes with great curiosity. Narratives illustrating the challenges facing Africa's youth today prompted the realization that our first world problems are insignificant. The effectiveness of the message was exacerbated by skillful dance and harmonious song. We were made aware of some of the prevalent issues facing African youth today. Topics explored included the treatment of immigrants, poverty, gender inequality, high unemployment and the complex balancing of traditional rites of passage with modern life.

The US creative team behind the music composition, screenplay and dance choreography are to be highly, highly commended. The delicate interplay between humor and tragedy, perceived realities and cold fact, had the audience at times in fits of laughter, at times in quiet reflection. Such artistic mastery can rarely be experienced for an entrance cost of just US $10.00.

I particularly enjoyed the performance because I had briefly interacted with some Bokamoso members when they came to a GWU University Singers' rehearsal earlier that week. They taught us the African spiritual 'The music of the LORD'. Our voices in collective harmony spoke of the power of unity. We left the bleak confine of the Phillips rehearsal studio basement with an avid aspiration to save humanity from itself by spreading the power of unity through song. Ubuntu!

You can learn more about this excellent organization here: http://www.bokamosoyouth.org/

Trip to Baltimore

AdminFebruary 2, 2016

By kyuyoun0702

I still cannot forget what SAT had brought me - disappointment, destruction of relationships, low self-esteem and anger. Unlike APs that actually test you how much knowledge you have in that area, SAT was just like an IQ test for me. No matter how many SAT words I memorized (which I barely use in my life), and no matter how many practice tests I solved, my score just wasn’t going to show even the smallest sign of improvement. That’s where I decided to attend an SAT prep classes, where I got to meet a precious friend of mine, Brian.

Brian was an unique student in the prep class. What I noticed about him was that he wasn’t like typical high schoolers who were forcefully put into the class by their parents. He had a set worldview, gentleman-like manners and a dream. Even though he left shortly for an internship opportunity, we became close friends, and kept in touch for three years.

When I told him that I was accepted to an exchange program in GWU, Brian was so happy I would be nearby. We were only able to meet once a year because he decided to attend Johns Hopkins University while I decided to stay in Korea. Few weeks after my arrival, he invited me over to Baltimore and I pleasantly took the offer. Ye Tteul, my fellow exchange student from Yonsei University came with me to Baltimore, and we had such an amazing time together.

Our first destination was a restaurant. As soon as we arrived, Brian immediately took us to a restaurant saying “My girlfriend gets aggressive when she is hungry, and I hope you guys are not like that.” (But we unfortunately were…) The restaurant was called Philips, and it was renowned for crab cakes and seafoods. Saying that he was happy to have us as a guest, he didn’t hesitate to pay for the entire meal.

We ordered three signature menus in total. The first one is composed of scallops, crabs and mashed sweet potato. Scallops were so fresh and the sauce was creamy but a little spicy, which made it much more abundant in flavor. I also never knew that crab went along with mashed sweet potato so well. The second one is crab mac and cheese. I didn’t expect much from this menu because I thought the flavor of cheese would dominate over the food, but it didn’t Even though I could taste the cheese and macaroni, the scent and flavor of the crab permeated over the entire dish. The third one was the crab cake. Even though it didn’t quite look as what I expected (I was expecting a legit cake), it tasted fine except it was a little salty. However, it went along very well with the homemade sour cream that came with it.

Next, we visited IT’SUGAR, a shop full of rare sweets. I was so surprised how sweets could get this big! Look at the Nerds, oh not us. The candy!

Our next destination was Johns Hopkins University. While we were on the bus, Brian told us that the street we were passing by was a ‘danger zone.’ I looked outside, shocked, and I noticed some bizarre atmosphere surrounding the town. Brian told us that the campus was safe enough, but it was still scary. (GWU is the best! Hurraaayy)

It was a pleasant weekend and I had so much fun in Baltimore. I hope Brian visits D.C. sometimes soon, and I will be happy to tour him our campus and show him around the beautiful city of Washington.

Oh by the way, my SAT score didn't improve a bit, so attending the prep class was a zero-sum game (because I met Brian!) 🙂