Gardening, Gun Debates, and the City that Never Sleeps

Having been here 5 weeks now I feel pretty settled, almost like I was used to whatever the United States could throw at me. Then again, this is the U.S, and it was saddening but honestly not surprising to see another mass shooting in America story on the news. Although with it taking place in the Navy Yard in Washington D.C., this was a bit closer to home. What was surprising to me was the seemingly overwhelming opinion of common sense in both the television shows and talking to American students on campus. Everyone seems to know the absurdity of the lax gun laws and the need for further restrictions. Its extraordinary to me that in 2013, 10 months after Sandy Hook this is even still an issue.

Fortunately, on campus things are going well, even if the hard work has started in force. As part of our Global Crossings course we got involved on campus by helping out on the campus garden. The early start on Saturday morning wasn't appreciated, but I did enjoy the outdoor work. I'd never done it before, but it was quite satisfying breaking up the soil and planting some vegetables. Marwan and Sam's improvised blues songs helped get us through it as well! As for the classes, a pattern is emerging of hugely interesting content being held back by huge amounts of reading. For example, in my Sport class we had 2 weeks to read an entire 300 page book and write a paper on it, in addition to our standard reading each week. In Presidents, we are covering 4-5 Presidents each week and its difficult to keep up with the teaching when class ends at 10pm. The interest varies greatly; for every Lincoln or Washington, there's a Taylor or Fillmore that learning is a real struggle. I'm having no such issues with History of the Media, which is a great balance of history, political science and philosophy. The discussions mean its closest to the seminar-style of studying at Leicester, and the first exam went pretty well (even if I'm doing exams before most people in England have gone back to uni!).


Maybe the most interesting class at the moment, even if its the most difficult, is Art Now. After skimming through art history and moving onto abstract expressionism, I'm really gaining a new perspective and understanding on modern art. The assessments coming up may be terrifying but its worth it to study this in depth. Part of the appeal of doing American Studies when you can pick your own classes is studying things you never would at home. And seeing the art over here is brilliant- from Rothko to Monet through Kandinsky and best of all Van Gogh. Seeing their work up close and with the new understanding from my art class has been a fantastic experience.

Most of those paintings I saw at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a great part of a great day. Because last Saturday I finally visited the most iconic city in America for the first time, and to paraphrase Woody Allen, I adored New York City. While D.C. feels like an entire monument itself, full of history and clean but not lived in, NYC is the opposite. The skyscrapers really are that tall, Times Square really is that busy, the subway really is that grim (not a patch on the tube). But otherwise it reminded me a lot of London- huge buildings of concrete and glass next to old churches and apartments. In Central Park you could almost forget that you were in the middle of Manhattan. We only spent 7 hours there so didn't see much- although somehow found time to visit the giant Toys R Us! It was a fantastic day though, and I'll definitely make time for a longer visit later in the year.

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Washington D.C. A Tale of Two (or Four) Memorials

Despite having been on its doorstep for almost 3 weeks, I still hadn't visited the nation's capital for one reason or another. We began to make up for this last monday when a few of us visited the National Zoo, which was a little way outside the main centre of the city. As with all the Smithsonian Institutions it was absolutely free, and was pretty good. We saw plenty of different animals but the main enjoyment came from seeing a panda for the first time up close, which was pretty special. It had given birth only a week or two previously, so I might have to head back in a while to try and see a baby panda. Overall it was a good trip, but I was still waiting for a proper visit into D.C.

I didn't have to wait too long, as at the weekend we went on the metro to the surprisingly quiet city. As soon as we stepped out the Washington Monument was in sight, although sadly still under scaffolding as repairs continue following an earthquake in 2011. It doesn't spoil the sight of it though, nor of the National Mall which is a great view. On our way there a motorcade of black cars lined the road in front of us and stopped, with a cameraman sticking out of the roof of one. When Georgia asked what was happening, he said "Obama" and the cars drove away... It probably wasn't, but it makes a better story just to believe that we were a few feet away from the President!

Afterwards we walked down the Mall and saw a few of the memorials. The Korean one was probably my favourite, as it's quite peaceful and understated. The figures marching through the grass toward the U.S flag and the ghostly faces on the wall next to it really make you realise the human cost of such a conflict. On the opposite end of the scale is the Lincoln memorial, which is pretty impressive. With his speeches either side, Lincoln is given the stature he arguably deserves as the definitve American President (or at least, the one America would like to be defined by as the President who ended slavery). I was actually more impressed by the view looking out from the memorial, as it reminds of the iconic shots of Martin Luther King Jr delivering his "I Have A Dream" speech. To stand where these famous figures stood was the moment it really hit me that I was in America, and I know that sounds crazy having been here for 3 weeks already. But there's something about being at the places you'd seen and studied for years that makes being there in person pretty special.

Having said all that, the landmarks that surprised me most were the memorials for World War 2 and the Vietnam Veterans, and the differences between them. The WW2 one is only a recent addition in the last decade, and is a grand circle around a fountain with pillars for each State and inscriptions throughout, with structures either side representing the Pacific and Atlantic fronts of the conflict. It's a very ornate and patriotic design, occupying a prime spot between the Monument and Lincoln and proudly praising those who fought in the War, rightfully so. What shocked me is walking not that further along the Mall to the area remembering Vietnam, which is a bit of out of sight and to be honest, is a hole in the ground. There are two bronze statues for the Women and Soldiers, and a wall that cuts into the earth that you walk along and see thousands of names marking those killed. Its a sombre place but not one that felt entirely respectful to me. Despite the war's controversial legacy as something America would rather forget, these soldiers still gave their lives for their country and are remembered with far less ceremony than WW2. I appreciate that one was a victory and the other a failure, but that shouldn't impact how the victims are rembered and it left a bad taste in my mouth.

The rest of our day saw a trip to the Hard Rock Cafe, just down the road from Ford's Theatre where Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth. Opposite was the House where he died, marked by a plaque, and next door was "Lincoln's Waffles", an unbelievable cash-in! The meal was great and there was some cool stuff inside like Elvis' jacket and Dylan's set list. We also took a quick trip to the Museum of American History and saw the original Star-Spangled Banner, but it was the end of the day an it closed pretty quickly. Overall I had a fantastic day in D.C., and was surprised how different it is to London. There's plenty of wide open spaces and monuments everywhere you turn, and it almost feels like walking through a history lesson. I'm looking forward to comparing it with other American cities, as in a few weeks time we'll be taking a day trip to New York.

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Back to Class

So far, if I'm honest my time here had felt a bit like a holiday. The sun was shining, events were going on.. and there was a lot of sitting around trying to watch British television (Top Gear and the football). Last Monday that came crashing to a halt, as classes began in earnest. My Leicester term normally wouldn't start until the end of September or even the start of October, so its a bit of a shock to be in the high 20s/low 30s in August and be sitting in a classroom. Also, whoever said American classes would be easier clearly didn't take Art History!

And when that Art History class comes on Monday, 9AM, its pretty intimidating! Art Now is the study of American art since 1945, and focusses more on ideas and debating how art has been categorised, what is contemporary and what is modern, and other conceptual issues. I have studied art history before during my degree and a little at A-Level, but never to this level. Part of the problem is the level of classes we are required to take. The classs here are broken into levels of 100, 200, 300, 400, and so on. Level 100 courses are generally foundation classes that are equivalent to A-Level (hence '101'), and 200 matches the first year of uni. So we take level 300 and 400 classes to match 2nd and 3rd year level of difficulty. This means that I'm essentially walking into the 3rd year of an Art history degree, so I have a fair bit of catching up to do.

My 2nd class is the History of Sport in the United States, which is another area I need to catch up in. While we will be covering some pretty interesting areas; Cassius Clay, the Moscow 1980 boycott and more, a lot of our studies will be around baseball and basketball, sports I have little to no fundamental grounding in. It should be really interesting, and our lecturer is quite funny- he's a former basketball player and loves to chat about his travels. I'm on a bit more comfortable ground with History of the Media, which will trace the history of media and communication from its European development to modern reporting in the United States. Our first lecture was about the Gutenberg Printing Press, so  English Language A-Level might come in handy now. Plus, our lecturer is an Australian who recognised our British accents and wondered if we were members of the 'Colonial Overlords', so  I think this class will go well.

More so than U.S Presidency at least, which is going to be a long slog. First things first, its an evening class which throws me off already. Second, its from 7:20-10:00pm, 2 Hours and 40 minutes! The longest back home is an hour, so this is way too long. And our lecturer, despite being a very intelligent academic who has written books on the subject, simply can't teach well. With no notes, powerpoint, or assistance (other than a dodgy video on John Adams), he literally stands and talks about Presidents for 2 hours and 40 minutes as if he was reading from a book. And often going off-topic, to talk about trivia or what they were wearing. Its incredibly hard to maintain interest and pick out relevant information, so I know for certain that this is going to be the hardest class this semester.

Thankfully there's also an extra class I have to do which seems like fun, the Global Leadership course that ties into my status as a Global Crossings student. I'm living on the international floor with fellow exchange students from 14 different countries, and each week we have an informal class that I'm not really sure of the purpose, but its pretty cool. And its great to meet lots of international students from across the world, which is definitely the best part of this experience so far.

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