Washington – Page 13 – Postcards from GW

Visiting our Neighbours

AdminMarch 23, 2015

As we continue to get to know DC better and better, the exchange office decided it was about time that we got to know our neighbors. Ordinarily this may not seem like the most exciting idea, but when you go to GW and your neighbors live at THE WHITE HOUSE, yeah, the excitement builds!

This Saturday, as one of the activities organized for the exchange student group (of which there are a few scattered throughout the semester), we went on the tour inside the White House – something that has definitely been on my bucket list for a while and an event I was very excited about! Simply getting to go beyond the gates and take photos of the building was awesome!

Inside the tour is self-guided allowing you to move at your own pace throughout the corridors and rooms. Whilst only a small number of rooms are available for public viewing, the rooms do not disappoint as they are elegantly decorated in a timeless fashion with reminders in every corner of the importance of the house in which you are standing. From the details of the eagle on every chair in a room, to the larger-than-life portraits of American presidents through history, there is certainly no questioning the historical value and significance of each item within each room.

The rooms that you can walk through (as opposed to the ones you can only see from the doorways) are certainly highlights and as a history buff, I couldn’t help but imagine what, and who for that matter, these walls have seen. We went into the east room – the room where both Lincoln and Kennedy’s bodies lay following their assassinations – and which is decorated in gold with multiple elaborate chandeliers. The Green, Blue and Red rooms, all now, I believe, used to entertain guests, were also rooms that we got to go into and learn the history of – each one decorated by and used for a different purpose by each president.

At the conclusion of the tour we were able to take some photos before having to leave which was really cool! I have included some here:

Getting into the White House is certainly no easy task as it takes months often to get approved if you are an international student as you normally have to apply through your embassy, etc. It was awesome getting to go in and having it all organized by the exchange office here at GW – both because, I mean, we went into the White House – how cool is that! And also because it meant that we all got to go together which was an added bonus.

So meeting your neighbors at home may not be the most thrilling of tasks, but at GW…well, its something that I would highly recommend!

The day before our White House adventure, I continued my exploring of DC by visiting the Newseum with Katie – an English exchange student. The Newseum is unbelievable! From the beginning of the suggested path, immediately you are confronted with both pieces of history and an indication of the importance of the media and of journalism within history. ‘Pieces’ is actually a perfect word to explain this first exhibit as in the basement of the Newseum are parts of the Berlin Wall – literal pieces of history. Also on the basement level was an exhibit on Baby Boomers that we enjoyed, and an entire room devoted to the FBI which was really really interesting and probably my favorite individual exhibition we saw. I saw a number of people skipping that particular room so I have to say that my advice to anyone going to the Newseum is not to skip it!

As we ventured upstairs and ascended the levels gradually, stopping at each exhibit on the way, the enormity of what this museum has successfully achieved certainly weighed on us, especially as we are both interested in both history and journalism as potential future career paths. As we moved higher and higher through up the levels, we became more and more inspired. One quote in particular that I saw on the wall of the exhibit featuring original front page news clippings from some of the most important dates in history, really summed up the museum for me; “journalism is the first rough draft of history.”

As well as the FBI exhibition, some of the other exhibits that I particularly enjoyed included the Pulitzer Prize Photography exhibit, the modern technology exhibit – in particular, the large movie that they play that left the Australian and British audience members (ie. Katie and I) teary as we felt incredibly patriotic for a country that isn’t technically our own (awkward), and the 9/11 room which was my other favorite exhibit of the day.

This particular exhibit was so tastefully done, in my opinion, as the emotional value was in no way contrived but rather left you in a position where you both felt the unbelievable weight of sadness that I find accompanies all 9/11 exhibits and memorials, but simultaneously appreciated, celebrated even, the power of journalism and the wonderful people who risked their lives in order to bring news, images and hope to the world in a time of great sorrow. I learnt of one individual photographer who grabbed his cameras after seeing the plane hit the building and ran to the towers, approaching closer and closer snapping as many photos as possible. Unfortunately, this man perished after the tower collapsed, but a colleague and friend of his was able to retrieve his camera and the images he lost his life trying to share with the world. To see the pictures and an interview with his wife where she explains what it is like to see the last hour and a half of her husband’s life through his eyes was like, was a very powerful experience. There was a quote on the wall in this exhibition that really underpinned the amazing work of journalists to me; “there are three kinds of people who run toward disaster, not away: cops, firemen and reporters.”

Perhaps the most fun we had in the Newseum was in the interactive News Room where we tried our hand at reading from the teleprompters and presenting the news. We each tried two different scripts and had a lot of fun…and realized that we both need a little more practice! To future exchange students - although this is one of the few museums I know of that you pay to enter in DC, I would definitely tell all who visit DC that it is one not to be missed – it’s worth every cent!

As spring is finally beginning and the cold is dying down (YAY!), DC seems to be transforming completely. I cannot wait to continue exploring the city, but with a fresh look as even the monuments I have visited countless times look totally different in their new spring glow.

Until next time…

Time to Explore

AdminMarch 12, 2015

By carlyfisher4

After what felt like a long week of late night study sessions and multiple exams/assessments, Spring Break has finally arrived! With Thursday being called a snow day, Spring break began prematurely throwing off everyone’s countdowns. Nonetheless having spoken to many of my friends who are dispersing all around the country, there is no denying that the excitement for this week off is palpable!

I am heading off to Mexico for a week with 3 other Australian girls – more on that in my next blog once I have finished enjoying what I hope will be a week of sunshine and very warm temperatures!

I decided, however, before leaving for Spring Break I would spend the weekend here in DC and use it as an opportunity to go explore some of the sights I haven’t yet seen, and spend some more time with friends and roommates before we all split for the week. Thanks to this decision, yesterday I had time to go and visit the Smithsonian Museum of National History which archives American culture, politics and transformations. I’d been warned that the museum is big and even though they are currently renovating the entire West Wing, with just the East side to explore, you still needed to allocate hours to the museum – this advice was really true and I would definitely recommend leaving yourself a few hours if you are to visit this museum…which I would also recommend because it is a beautifully organized museum with tons of interaction, and also immerses you into the American culture as it changed throughout history.

After talking to the lovely lady at the information desk and asking her to give me a run down of what was where, I decided to begin my exploration through the museum on the second level where the original star spangled banner is on display. The enormous flag, which was sewn by Mary Pickersgill, a professional flag maker in Baltimore, with assistance from her daughter, nieces and staff, was raised at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry celebrating an important win over British forces in the 1812 war, flew high in September of 1814. The sight prompted Francis Scott Key to compose the lyrics to what is now the American National Anthem. There is something incredibly powerful about the exhibition, American or not, as you feel undeniably moved by the significance of the flag before you as you stand in a dark room with various renditions of the anthem playing in the background – the sounds, the excitement of others around at seeing the flag, etc epitomize, to me, the sounds of patriotism.

From that exhibition I continued on in search of the ‘American Stories’ exhibit which contains some of the most revolutionary and culture changing items, clothing and artifacts from American history. My journey in that direction was halted, however, by a bench with four stools at it that sat in the middle of what is essentially the hallway that lies between two different exhibits. The bench, I recognized quickly, was one at which the fight for the end of segregation was fought. In particular, this was a piece of the counter from the Greenboro Lunch Counter where, in 1960, four African-American students intentionally sat down at the ‘white’s only’ section of the counter in an act of protest. This sparked many ‘counter-top’ protests around the South especially as people fought for their basic civil rights. The enormity of seeing this particular piece on exhibit after the patriotism experienced in the room right next door, proves how well thought out this museum is!

Arriving at the ‘American Stories’ exhibit, I was very excited to find that there was no crowd around the particular item I wanted most to see, although the nice information lady had warned me that there always is. The original ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, lay before me and I got my own time to take photos with them as the museum was pleasantly quiet as it was a Friday. There were many other interesting items in that exhibition, however, the ruby red slippers were certainly a highlight for me!

As you head upstairs, the top of the escalator takes you to the entrance of the military exhibition where America’s involvement in battles are traced from as early as those led by George Washington, right through the Civil War, Wars of Expansion, World Wars, Vietnam, Korea, etc. As well as looking at the militaristic side, the exhibit notes the individuals worldwide responsible for playing large roles in each war, highlights the rise of the role of women as a result of wartime efforts and shows the cultural changes that occurred on the home front following each war. Emphasizing the role that wars played on even those not enlisted in armed forces, there is part of the exhibition devoted to those who served in other ways, for example, those who went to entertain, and those who entertained on the home front. To that end, the piano of legendary theatre maker Irving Berlin is placed on display, and whilst this may seem random and insignificant to many walking through this particular exhibition, I for one was very excited by this – being the theatre nerd that I am and all. The exhibition is meticulously put together and the combination of mediums by which the information is offered certainly makes it an exciting and informative way of tracing an incredibly long and involved military history!

As I ventured off to the president and first lady exhibitions around the bend, I was stopped along the way by a giant wooden ship, placed within its own room, called the Gunboat Philadelphia. It was a very impressive boat and interesting to see. Once at the front of the presidential exhibitions, I made the decision to first go through the section devoted to the first ladies where their crockery and many of their inauguration ball gowns are preserved and on display. As the woman at information had said, it really was a beautiful exhibition and certainly highlighted the fashion changes throughout the various terms of the forty-four presidents. I really loved seeing all the dresses in particular – wow some of them were stunning! In particular, Michelle Obama’s dress, which I remembered thinking was beautiful at the time that it’s picture was plastered all around the globe, I am now completely obsessed with and want very much to wear =)

Within the exhibition on the presidents, obviously a lot is covered! The exhibit is so well put together and showcases some really incredible pieces, for example, the top hat that Lincoln wore to the theatre the day he was assassinated. It also has a podium and screens from which to read off where you can pick one of the inauguration speeches and try to read them off the tele-prompter. There is a lovely section based on the lives of the white house children, and many items that are certainly exciting to see! On the way out of the exhibition I stopped to watch a History Channel documentary where they interviewed many of the past presidents asking them what they thought of the job and how they wanted to be remembered – it was very interesting.

Having finished the upper two levels, I headed for the base level where they currently have a Warner Brothers exhibition in the main lobby showing off some of the original costumes from movies, etc. After looking around at the items on display in the foyer, I went in to have a look at the current exhibition on food and on the ‘story of money’ where they have the 100,000 dollar note on display – needless to say, its no longer in print.

All in all, I really enjoyed my time at the museum and would highly recommend going to see it if you have not been yet – or even if you have, its large enough that I’m sure I could do it again and have a completely different experience!

Saturday morning and the sun was finally showing its face again! Eager to take advantage of the gorgeous weather (I'll point out here that it was still cold and the snow was ankle deep) I headed out for a walk to re-explore the monuments and enjoy the beautiful scenery. GW is in an awesome position - it's literally a 3 minute walk from my dorm building to the national mall! I took in the sights of a snow covered WWII memorial and the Washington monument. I walked around the frozen over lake and over to the Jefferson monument. From there I continued on to the Roosevelt (which I remembered as my favourite one from my visit to DC years ago) and to the MLK Jnr memorials. I walked back along the mall and decided to stop at the Art Museum of the Americas which was filled with modern artworks and interesting designs. I decided to walk up past the buildings surrounding the White House and only then back towards campus. All in all, it was a gorgeous day out!!

What an amazing city DC is!!

Until next time…

Superbowl Sunday

AdminFebruary 6, 2015

By carlyfisher4

This week introduced us to yet another American phenomenon as Sunday night marked the 2015 Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. Having never watched the game in its entirety (or, if I’m being honest, watching the football part at all), I was excited to experience it amongst those passionate for the teams and the sport in general. Wanting the ‘real’ American experience, we decided to head to a local sports bar to watch the game amongst hard-core fans, desperate for a Patriots win! We headed off to bar three hours before the game began as we were told we would need that amount of time, so we settled in, got comfy and enjoyed trying to figure out as much as we good about the game before kick off time thanks to our waiter’s knowledge and google. Whilst waiting for the game we also watched the Puppy Bowl – a definite highlight of the evening – it was so so cute!

Finally, the broadcast began with the pre-game interviews, spurring on the crowd within the bar and exciting them to begin their cheering. Every time any player or coach from the Patriots was so much as mentioned, the crowd went wild, leaving no question as to who the crowd favorite was. With the same enthusiasm the Seahawks were booed endlessly by the crowd, something I just couldn’t bring myself to participate in.

As a massive Idina Menzel fan, the real highlight of the event in my opinion was the national anthem – especially because she was absolutely amazing, as always! And then finally, after hours of anticipation, the game began following the coin toss and introduction of all team members. The crowd’s enthusiasm did not die down for even a second and it was really exciting seeing people so excited and proud of their team.

Wanting to experience the super bowl in a variety of ways, I left the others at the bar to head back to E street to meet up with my roommates and their friends for a pizza and Super Bowl watching evening. As well as the game, here I watched Katy Perry’s half time act (which, in my opinion, left a lot to be desired!) and enjoyed learning some of the rules of football from those in attendance.

For the final quarter of the game the exchange crew rejoined to watch the win together and celebrate the victory of the team we had only found out we were rooting for that morning. Despite having not known the Patriots before that day, the victory was still sweet and our excitement was palpable (mainly because we had real Patriots fans amongst us).

Whilst sport games are not really my thing, this particular evening of sport watching was a lot of fun and definitely gave me a taste of the enthusiasm, pride and dedication that people have towards their favorite football teams. Maybe Ill even watch the game again next year back at home in Australia…or maybe, I’ll go back to just sticking to the half time act 🙂 .

This week I also went to the Kennedy Centre to enjoy a dance performance by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company – a group that I have wanted to see for years since taking classes at their institution a few years back in New York and learning about their work and artistic beliefs. Having not been to the Kennedy Centre since around 2008, I was very excited to be back in the beautiful centre surrounded by history and a celebration of the arts. It really is a gorgeous theatre and I am already excited to go back to enjoy more performances there (for example Gigi which I am going to next week!).

The Company performed four different pieces, each artistically so different that the talent of both the choreographers and dancers was truly mesmerizing. The first piece was based on the Civil Rights movement and in particular, celebrated the achievements, the courage and the importance of Odetta Holmes – ‘the Queen of American folk music’ as declared by MLK Jnr. This piece was really beautiful and truly demonstrated the significance of her contribution both to the American music scene, and more importantly, to the American Civil Rights efforts. Following ‘Odetta’ was a beautiful ballet piece entitled ‘After the Rain’ which really highlighted the incredible discipline and strength of these dancers through challenging yet breathtaking choreography. The artistry demonstrated in the third piece ‘caught’ was mind-blowing as not only the dancer (who was phenomenal and easily one of the strongest male dancers I have ever seen) but also the lighting designer (what a genius!) created a piece unlike anything I have ever seen before. Finally, the crem-de-la-crem of Alvin Ailey’s works, ‘Revelations’ concluded the evening with a piece of theatre I have been waiting years to see and was not in the slightest bit disappointed by – the entire performance was sensational and it was an absolutely brilliant way to spend a Tuesday night. If the Alvin Ailey company is performing ever in a city that you are in, I would highly recommend snatching up the best ticket you can get and going to witness their incredible talents and grace on stage.

All in all, it’s been another wonderful week here only to be topped off by what I am sure will be a fantastic weekend as a few of the exchange students and I head up to New York City for the weekend. Broadway, I’m coming for you!

Until next time…

National Museum of National History

AdminFebruary 6, 2015

By train1110

I guess you tend to not visit as many must-see places in the city in a short period of time once you live in that city, compared to having visited that city only as a short trip. It is obvious that you usually postpone visiting such places due to even the most trivial factors as there are ample chances to visit later on.

Does this make my excuse to not having been to the famous, National Museum of Natural History during my whole month in DC, finally making my visit only yesterday, the first of February? Probably the most famous of the whole Smithsonian museums, the Natural History museum was as astonishing as expected. Such a shame that my friends and I arrived there quite late in afternoon, and with museum closing at 5:30pm, we were faced with the traditional dilemma of having too much to see yet with too little time.

We selected about 5 exhibition sections to see, which are the followings: Sant Ocean Hall, Human Origins, Mammal Hall, Gems and Minerals (including Hope Diamond) and Earth, Moon, Meteorites. The first thing you see upon entering the museum is a stuffed specimen of an African Bush elephant, standing in the middle of the Rotunda. There isn’t any set order of looking around the exhibition halls, so we headed straight to the second floor, where they displayed the beautiful Hope Diamond (or Blue Diamond), widely known to the world as the cursed gem of having legendary history of which the owners of this diamond each faced a tragic death (one of the owners being Marie Antoinette). The exhibition hall of Gems and Minerals was very impressive, full of a variety of magnificent, large gems and minerals. This hall was probably the most popular in all exhibition halls on the second floor.

Sant Ocean Hall is probably the most frequently visited in the first floor. The most famous displays in this hall are the specimen of Giant Squid, the aquarium displaying the marine environment of the Indian Ocean, and Phoenix, which is the name of the Right Whale from the Atlantic Ocean. The hall of Human Origins was also fascinating; there was also an electronic device with a screen that showed how you would look like if you were born as an Australopithecus or a Neanderthal, or other kind of human being in the evolutionary stage.

The National Museum of Natural History really came up to my expectations. Even for a person like me, majoring in Political Science and International Relations and practically knowing nothing much about (and uninterested, actually) natural history, got intrigued in the exhibitions of the Natural History Museum. I can say that it was truly worth visiting, and planning to have a second visit to this museum when the weather gets a little warmer.

American Patriotism

AdminFebruary 2, 2015

By train1110

The memory of 9/11. It was the deep crack and wound in the sky-reaching pride of Americans and the turning point of numerous changes in US politics, diplomacy, society and the civil perception of Americans. Last weekend I've been to New York, and our visit to the 9.11 memorial left a deep impression on me. More accurately speaking, I could not take my eyes apart from the sentence on the wall of the 9.11 memorial, "I love NY(or maybe it was US) more than ever".

What Americans seemed to focus on after the 9.11 or at least, when making the 9.11 memorial, was the aftermath of 9.11 rather than putting more emphasis on what went wrong on countering terrorism and what they could have done maybe to prevent or try to predict the catastrophic crisis. All such photos taken from the scene, video tapes that showed the details about 9.11, quotes and sayings, objects and analysis, explination tried to direct the visitor to see how US could reconstruct from the ashes of 9.11, find hopes from the sadness, to finally, seeking victory from the tragedy.

Still, in spite of all such efforts, 9.11 was the result of the shortcoming of national security and defense. Although the government was working on counter terrorism, and 9.11 was quite unpredictable, the innocent lives of the nearly 3,000 victims of the disaster attributes to the lack of security ensurance in the government. The reason Osama bin laden, islamic fundamentalist forces triggered such a crisis was to drive away american influence - political and economical, societal - from the islamic territory.

Overall, the impression I got from the memorial was that I could really feel and appreciate the positive effort of the US people trying together, to overcome the hardship the tragedy brought, through hope, love, comfort and patriotism. How people reacted in response to this catastrophe really showed the admirable attitude and mature citizenship of Americans, and I found a lot could be learned of the aftermath dealing of the US government too. Still, after reading the quote on the wall of the 9.11 memorial "I love NY more than ever", one of the small questions that arose in my mind was, how the government could actually try to 'ask of' US citizens to love New York or US more than ever. Although in respect to the achievement of social integration, could a state demand patriotism from its people?

Adding to this story is what I once heard about, the prejudice many europeans have about US. That Americans are full of pride and patriotism to their country. You can really detect this once you walk around the streets in the US - obviously including the DC - and see that a lot of US flags are hung on the shops or buildings, even when it is not a national holiday or anything related. The national image of US seems very much branded even through the daily life stuffs, such as through cups, hats, bags or shirts.

What does 'patriotism' mean to Americans? How much importance does the social integrity have and the most desirable way in which it could be achieved in America, the melting pot of various cultures? The essay I wrote today might have turned out to be quite serious and contentious, but I believe answering these questions might point out one of the routes to an in-depth understanding about American culture and society, and the Americans.

Ready, steady.. go?

AdminJanuary 28, 2015

By ilakes2015

Second week of classes. The week where you still feel like you are on holiday but need to studying at the same time. The week where you remember what getting up early feels like. My second week of classes started perfectly fine. I organized my schedule the best way possible until I realized I wasn’t registered in one of my mandatory courses. I had the professors’ signature, I had the time to take it, I had the email confirmation but I didn’t know the registration system at GW was so different from the one I have back home. I had to wait the whole week not knowing if I was going to be able to attend this particular class. Consumer Behavior. My favorite course so far and I wasn’t sure if I was going to get what I wanted. Worries, an email that never came, and bad sleep. After that week, on Monday at 8:39am I breathed again. I was the first in line and with some help of my advisors; I got the chance to register myself into the class. Now I have my 12 credits and what is more important, I'm register in 4 classes that I like. So we can say I also ended the week perfectly fine.

But the worries about my course did not stop me. This week I spent a lot of time enjoying the city and walking by new neighborhoods. One of my favorites days was Friday because I met my relatives for brunch in an amazing place call Farmers Fishers Bakers. The food was spectacular and the place was really nice too. I reunite with my family that I haven’t seen in 5 years and luckily we had a fantastic time, just like the first day we met. After brunch we walk next to the river and we ended up next to the bridge enjoying the beautiful warm sunset.

The next day was also a great day. In the morning my friends and I went to the brunch at GW. All of the different types of food that we tasted were fantastic: Tater tots, falafel, chicken, pork, donuts and muffins. Also the games we played made us spent a great time together sharing laughs and excitement. After a few hours of hearing good music and feeding ourselves, it was game time. The GW basketball team and the rivals. At this moment everyone was raising their voices and clapping their hands cheering for buff and blue colors, for our colors, for our team! The game, the team, the band, the cheerleaders and of course, George were fabulous! it’s always a pleasure to be part.

"You are gifted in many ways." That’s what was written in my fortune cookie. Looking back into my life and mostly the recent events, I can guarantee that it is true. After 3 weeks in the country I have made great friends, I have spent time with my relatives, and I achieved my short-term goals. Now I have so many reasons to smile. I’m gifted because I have people around me with whom I share my experiences, moments and all of my adventures. I’m gifted because I always try to keep the good part of the stories. I’m blessed because there are people here and back home that I can rely on. I’m blessed because life brought me to DC and I never want to go.

Pride and Prejudice in DC

AdminJanuary 12, 2015

By train1110

Just as any foreigner would have had, I also had my expectations and prejudices about Americans, American culture and society before I arrived to Washington D.C. Some of them were positive, some negative, yet most, unfounded. GWU’s 6 day-long orientation reestablished my perception and understanding of American culture and society, adjusting my prejudices to the reality. Looking back on my first week in D.C., I can undoubtedly say that my first impression of D.C. couldn’t be better. It broke most of all my negative prejudices and strengthened my positive expectations.

The strongest positive prejudice that I had was that Americans are usually very open-minded and generous. I had already received help from a generous lady who got me out of trouble when at airport, I was struggling to use a luggage cart but did not have any change to pay for its usage. She actually paid for my $5 cart when there was no way that I could pay her back. During the orientation week, the willingness and kindness, friendliness of the leaders surprised me. They surprised me again when I heard that they had just volunteered for the leader position, without getting paid for all the hard work. From the procedural, tiring things such as checking in, getting the GWorld card, opening a bank account, settling in the room to interesting, fun things such as going on a D.C. tour, Welcome BBQ, Movie Night and DC City Drop Off’s, the leaders never seemed to get tired or bored. Even with the weather being so freezing cold, snowy and windy, making every step of our orientation activities hard, their face were full of smile, always trying to tell us more about DC culture and needy information. Through them, I could really feel the generosity of these people who are so accustomed to giving and sharing their time, knowledge and happiness with others.

Yet still of course, I had some negative prejudices. That Americans are two-faced was the biggest among all. By two-faced and dualistic meaning that Americans act so willing to be engaging in your life, all nice and kind while actually in real mind they are not interested, not caring a bit about you. For instance on first meeting they would just say ‘you can call or ask me help whenever you need me’ yet those words could actually turn out to be passing-by remarks. I felt this might be true whenever I went to CVS or other shopping malls encountering and getting into conversation with the cashiers, or when I was greeted by from strangers I met on the street. Americans seemed to be used to this one-shot, superficial relationship to which I was so unaccustomed to. I saw this with criticism, thinking that Americans were so used to faking things, yet slowly I began to think, this is just the way they are. Still, it’s better to be greeted with a smiling face, than just passing by without even looking at each other. The relationship is superficial anyway, and everyone knows about the superficiality of such greetings and attitudes. If we regard this just as sort of a social custom of Americans, there’s frankly nothing to be so cynical about.

So basically, a week in DC told me that DC is a wonderful place. Obviously the things I have learned and felt about this city during my first week of orientation would be just a drop in a bucket of what I would feel or know about throughout the rest of my semester in GWU. I hope my positive first impression just gets to be better as the days pass.

Meant to be!

AdminJanuary 5, 2015

By ilakes2015

Hi readers! I’m ilanit, a student from University of Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina and I’ll be attending GWU in the spring semester of 2015. I'm currently getting a Bachelor of Business Economics and I’ll be starting my senior year in beautiful Washington, DC. I’ve had been dreaming of this opportunity since I visited the United States four years ago. I’m happy to share my experience with you so you can, somehow, become part of my dream.

By the time I expected to receive GW’s acceptance letter I began to worry and to feel that everything I wanted was slowly slipping through my fingers. This was actually my second time applying to GW; while I had been accepted the first time, personal issues had not allowed me to travel. As a result, this was my second and final chance to live my own version of the American dream, but all of a sudden, it looked unlikely. I have always believed that things happen for a reason, for better or for worse, and this belief gave me a general resignation for the capriciousness of life (a helpful philosophy, I would add, when coming from a country with a major financial crises every decade). But then, one day, the email arrived. The sensation I felt was indescribable: a mix of joy and fear while tears rolled down my cheeks. I wanted to scream and laugh and tell everyone the good news. This time I would not let the opportunity go.
But then I still had to convince GW. I had to send essays with the reasons I wanted to attend, but I didn’t really know where to start. I was of course drawn to the idea of living on campus, making new friends, sharing my own culture and learn from new ones. It was not only because I would explore the diversity of people and ideas that the world has to offer, but moreover, because I wanted to become part of this house, of this community, of this family: our own Buff and Blue House.

Learning in the museums, reliving the history of this nation in your memorials, and exploring America’s society in Georgetown (with a necessary stop for cupcakes) represent what I have been dreaming for so long. GW is my a reminder that second chances exist; that opportunities depend on how much you fight for something as much as how much you want it. Clearly 2015 will be a spectacular year: I can’t wait to walk the GW halls and call this place, home.

A Bit About Me…

AdminDecember 26, 2014

By carlyfisher4

Since receiving my acceptance letter, the common response I've had from all that I've told is 'wow, congratulations...are you nervous?' - in fact so many people have questioned my nerves that I'm starting to think that maybe it's weird that I'm not nervous at all. With all the excitement that has been building up surrounding this semester, who has had time for nerves?!

As this is my introductory blog, I'd like to welcome you to what I hope will be an amazing way for me to document my experiences whilst on exchange at GW. If you're reading this as a fellow exchange or GW student, I hope to meet you soon and that your experiences will too be chronicled in this blog. If you're a future student deciding whether or not to apply for your exchange semester here, or waiting excitedly to depart for the adventure that awaits (like I am now), I hope that this is in some way helpful to you. To my friends and family at home in Australia - I hope you read this so I don't have to repeat the same stories over and over again (but then make sure you still Skype me!!). Oh, and to my guaranteed audience...hi mum 🙂

I cannot wait for my introduction to GW and all that life in DC has to offer! But before that, let me introduce myself seeing as I was presumptuous enough to decide who you are.

Hi, my name is Carly 🙂 I'm 21, from Sydney, Australia and am obsessed with theatre and travelling. I love sightseeing and immersing myself in new cultures. I'm outgoing, really like meeting new people and love taking photos! I love hanging out with friends, performing arts, history and partaking in new activities and experiences.

There's way more to know about me but as this is a weekly blog I feel like I should save something 🙂

With the semester's beginning fast approaching, I've been thinking a lot about what to expect, what it will be like, etc. I'd love to entertain any American readers and say that my expectations of the American college experience come solely out of movies like Legally Blonde and the like but I do think I have, hopefully, a more realistic idea of what to expect...

- I expect to meet new people, make new friends, and find like minded individuals

- I expect to be challenged because I think we all achieve our best when we are

- I expect to have some learning curves but all of which will be plausible to overcome

- I expect to be late to class for a while - I'm still finding my way around my university campus in Sydney so I expect to
have similar hurdles!

- I expect to learn a lot from my professors, knowing that they are amongst the top in their field

- I expect to find it a bit strange to share a bedroom - only child alert!

- I expect to see parts of America I haven't yet seen despite my numerous trips there

- I expect to indulge in DC's theatre scene

- I expect to visit the Cheesecake Factory a number of times, buy lots of snapple and frequent Starbucks (it's the little things haha)

- I expect to miss my family back home - I always do whilst traveling - but I expect that this experience will be well worth
it even so.

- I expect to get involved in all that the college has to offer - that's the kind of personality I have and GW has amazing sounding student life.

Most of all I expect to have fun and make the most out of my time in DC

So, welcome to my blog - it'll be great getting to share this experience with you

Until next time...

MUSIC and VALOR

AdminNovember 17, 2014

As I slumped back in my chair, exhausted from the six hours already spent on the bus - complete with two-and-a-half hours stuck in traffic - and with at least another five ahead of me, I didn’t expect to find out, that in just over 48 hours I would be able to see some of the biggest names in world entertainment, for free just a 20 minute walk from my apartment. But that is when I found out about the Concert for Valor.

The concert, which featured Eminem, Dave Grohl, Rihanna, Bruce Springsteen, The Black Keys, Zac Brown Band, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood, Metallica, and Jessie J, and hosts included Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, and John Oliver. It was as bizarre as it was awesome.

A lot of my friends who now live in DC warned me about the potential madness of 800,000 people descending on the place but I thought about how unique an opportunity this was. It wouldn’t be unusual to have any of these acts play back in Edinburgh, the majority have but all of them in the one place at the same time was too much to miss.

The temperature has well and truly dropped here now, but we were given a day off from the blistering cold and it was comfortable enough to stand for those several hours in the elements. The event too was also remarkably well managed, with despite the amount of people, it was well sectioned off so it never got too crowded.

My cell died very early in the evening, but this is the Black Keys sound-check:

As I thought about writing the blog on the concert, I realized that I hadn’t really mentioned music here at all, which is shocking because the scene here is very good. I had expected the city to be lively and eagerly anticipated being able to attend major sports here in DC, but I hadn’t really thought about the potential to see so many world-class music acts.

Within a month of arriving, a host of my favorite bands were playing within stones-throwing of distance of my apartment. Grouplove, the Foo Fighters, Vance Joy - there’s been some fantastic performances which I really didn’t expect to get a chance to see during my time here.

Even the biggest Scottish names are playing closer to where I live here, than they’ve ever had back in Scotland. I just found out that two of my Dad’s former employees’ band is playing at 9:30 club this week. From the U Street Music hall, to the Verizon Center, there’s always something going on and for every taste.

The rest of the week was spent working out Thanksgiving plans, a study schedule and looking at plane tickets home for Christmas. I can’t believe that I’ll be home in a little over a month from now, it really feels like my time here has just begun… Luckily, I have another semester.