Phinally in Philly

Today was a very full and productive day. At 6 A.M. we hopped out of bed, packed our luggage up, and met downstairs in our hotel lobby at 6:15. It was pretty early, and we were in a hurry to get moving, so I didn’t eat at the hotel lobby, but decided to wait until later. We took a taxi that was waiting for us, and we all enjoyed the sights of Washington, D.C. one more time. Soon, we arrived at the large D.C. train station, and once again I was struck by the gorgeous architecture of the massive building. We walked under one of the three enormous U.S. flags, and quickly found our train’s departure gate. Inside, I enjoyed seeing how many people were using the train system. I think that it’s unfortunate that we don’t have a lot more public transportation in California, because riding the train here was a convenient and pleasant experience. As soon as we pulled away from the D.C. station, I enjoyed staring out the windows at the expansive forests and occasional swamps. After a while, I got tired of staring out the window so I dug through my backpack for some sort of entertainment. First, I ate the bagel and drank the orange juice that I had purchased at the train station, and then I started reading a book that I brought with me. The book I read some of on the train was “Fast Food Nation”, a muck-racking novel about the fast food industry that I was assigned to read over the summer for an AP Language class that I will be taking this coming year. I found the writing to be quite graphic, and equally persuasive at scaring me away from fast-food which I already refuse to eat. Soon enough, we arrived in Philadelphia, and we took a taxi to our nearby hotel. It was clear from the start that Philadelphia is a college town, because I saw lots of UPENN flags on the short ride to the hotel. Soon enough, we ventured out into the streets of Philadelphia, and the heart of the UPENN campus was only a few blocks from our hotel. Once we were on campus, I was excited to see several parts of the campus that I recognized, such as the multiple Ben Franklin statues that are scattered around campus.

Soon, we discovered a beautiful botany garden on campus that contained a large pond with dozens of turtles, several ducklings, huge koi fish, and a pretty waterfall. While UPENN is a very urban campus, this pond was a very nicely designed haven from the bustling city of Pennsylvania. We walked around a bit more, and then we found a nice restaurant on campus. The restaurant had a very modern design, a friendly staff, and a killer pepperoni pizza that I thoroughly enjoyed. After lunch, we had a bit of free time back at the hotel. While we have spent a large amount of the past few days on our feet, I’m used to bike riding several times a week to burn off energy at home, so I decided to check out our hotel’s fitness center. Besides the large outdoor pool that I plan to visit tomorrow, the fitness center has a spacious cardio and weight room. I spent about an hour running on a treadmill enjoying the view of the Philadelphia skyline. After that, we headed downtown to a restaurant called Butcher and Singer. The interior was beautifully lit, and we sat down at a table near the entrance. Only a minute or two later, we were joined by June Chu and Margaret Wang. Margaret is a current UPENN student from Guam who was very enthusiastic to talk with us about anything we were interested in. June, a pre-major advisor, was also very willing to tell us tons about UPENN. The most important thing that I took back from the evening was a taste of UPENN’s culture. I learned about the local restaurants, the huge number of student clubs, and that Margaret really enjoys her fellow students at the UPENN campus. With our stroll through the gorgeous Penn campus, and enthusiastic comments about Penn by Margaret, I am even more excited about learning at this beautiful Ivy League School.

Enough Said.



Inhabitants of the Botanical Park

Our First Glimpse of the Place We Will Call Home

My day began at 6:00 this morning. Brian and I were able to finish packing our things before 6:15, the time that we had designated to leave our hotel in Georgetown, and head for the train station. We arrived at Union Station with plenty of time to spare so we grabbed a quick breakfast from the Starbucks, which for me consisted of a bagel and hot chocolate, in the station. After a brief period of waiting to board the train, we were off to Philadelphia.

The train ride was only about an hour and a half long. For about the first twenty minutes, Mr. Miranda and I discussed innovations in learning that have been developed in recent years. This led to a conversation about the age gap between his generation and my own in which we analyzed the benefits and trade-offs of having technology that fosters a constant desire for instant gratification. I enjoy talking to Mr. Miranda very much. He is extremely intelligent and seems like a bit of a renaissance man because he is so knowledgeable about so many different things. We are very fortunate to have him as our chaperone. It is kind of saddening to think that we will be departing his company (for the most part) in just a few days. After my conversations with Mr. Miranda, I began listening to music and gazing upon the beautiful countryside and occasional towns that we passed on our smooth train ride to Philadelphia. Before I knew it, we had arrived in the City of Brotherly Love.

We took taxis to our hotel for early check-in so we could drop off our bags before the information session at Penn. It turns out that our hotel is adjacent to the campus (if not actually within, we cannot quite discern Penn’s boundaries yet). Before today, I only had a vague sense of what it meant for a college to have an urban campus. I had never imagined that it would mean such complete integration into the city. You truly cannot tell where the campus boundaries end and the city streets of Philadelphia begin. I’m still deciding whether I find this appealing or not. After check-in, we took a taxi as close to College Hall (the Penn Admissions Building) as we could. We had to walk the rest of the way, but that certainly is not a complaint because Penn’s campus can be easily appreciated for its ascetics. Upon our arrival at College Hall, we discovered that every person in the Admissions Office left early for the Fourth of July weekend!

Since there were no Penn faculty members, there was neither an information session to attend nor a campus tour to be taken on. Although we were slightly discouraged at first, we decided to take our own campus tour around parts of the campus. Although we were not able to get any of the history of the school or detailed information about what each building housed, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves by taking in Penn’s beautiful architecture, wildlife, and serene inner campus. I think my favorite part about the campus thus far is the architecture. Most of the buildings are either made completely out of stone or bricks, and most are very ornate. Every building seemed to be unique in its own way and it made the campus feel like a living thing that was in no way uniform. After taking our own personal tour, I am very excited to learn more about Penn and am even more anxious to move in on Monday.

Following our self-guided tour, we made a brief stop into the Penn Student Store and then grabbed lunch at a restaurant called Cosi that specialized in dishes involving flatbread. I forgot to snap some pictures, but I enjoyed a flavorful pesto chicken sandwich and a small bowl of creamy, rich tomato basil soup. I will definitely eat at Cosi again at some point this month, after I experiment with the other restaurants Penn’s campus and the surrounding city have to offer of course.

We finally had our first opportunity to relax this afternoon. The past two days have been rather hectic and it was nice to be able to slow down for a moment. Since we planned to do our tour of Philadelphia tomorrow, we decided to take the afternoon off. From about 1:30 to 5:15 we reclined in our respective hotel rooms. Brian and I spent the first couple of hours just hanging out and having some laughs. Then he left to take a run in the fitness center of the hotel and I decided to pay back some more of my sleep debt by taking a short nap. After I awoke refreshed, I got dressed for our dinner at the Butcher and Singer Restaurant with Ms. June Chu and Ms. Margaret Wang.

We left the hotel around 6:00 and taxied to the restaurant. The ride took less time than we thought and we arrived a good thirty-five minutes early. We took the opportunity to walk down to the massive and ornate Philadelphia City Hall. This mammoth building was made almost completely of stone and had dozens of statues and other artistic carvings adorning its exterior. I will have to take pictures from a distance during tomorrow’s sight-seeing so that I can capture it in all of its glory. After a twenty-minute walk, we had returned to the restaurant and were soon seated.

Dinner was fantastic and I am proud of myself for organizing the occasion (thanks for your assistance and suggestions Mr. Ramsey!). Ms. Chu, a Pre-Major Advisor from Penn, and Ms. Wang were both excellent company and very thorough whenever we had questions about the school. It was evident that they both loved the school very much and were happy with their decisions to work and attend, respectively, this university. Over the course of dinner, Ms. Chu was able to inform us about how intertwined the lives of the faculty and the students are and also the numerous pros of attending Penn. Margaret was also able to give us all kinds of inside information like excellent places to eat, fun classes to take (if we apply and get into Penn), and why she decided to go to Penn. Not only did we have excellent company, but also amazing food. The entrees were rather large and the sides were served family style. I enjoyed a tender piece of veal that was charred to perfection. We all shared dishes of mashed potatoes, green beans, mushrooms and onions, stuffed hash browns, and creamed spinach. Each of these dishes brought something exciting to the meal and my plate was a wonderful medley of flavors. For desert I decided to partake in some delectable New York Cheesecake with blackberries and nice blackberry sauce. The contrast of the sweet and bitter made for an excellent dessert. Dinner left me very satisfied, both in terms of my curiosity regarding Penn and in terms of the meal.

Today was a fairly relaxed day, and a welcome one at that. I continue to cherish the time I spend with my cohort because they are all fun people and we’ve really become a tightly-knit family over the past few days. I look forward to sight-seeing tomorrow and spending my Independence Day with our Penn cohort. With that, I am signing off.

Our new hotel room.

A glorious Philadelphia horizon.

A gigantic Penn crest.

Penn wildlife.

Wooden hands are surprisingly comfortable to sit on...

The six of us at Butcher and Singer.

First Impression

It was another early start today; we arrived at Union Station at about 6:45AM. The sheer size of the building was enough to wake me up a little. Compared to the Amtrak stations in the Bay Area, Union Station was a marble palace. It's obvious that trains are a much more widely used form of transportation here on the east coast than back at home. I now wish we had such easily accessible and exquisitely furnished train stations, the trip to Philadelphia was very pleasant. The seats were comfortable and the view out the window of the Maryland and Delaware lakes and greenery were quite beautiful.

Within about two hours, we were checking into our hotel in the exquisite city of Philadelphia. Immediately, the first thing I noticed when I arrived (after the scorching heat) was how very friendly and chatty the people we met were. Compared to the suit-clad brief-case-carrying commuters of D.C., the people in Philly seemed very personable. The trend continued throughout the day.

Before lunch, we strolled to the University of Pennsylvania campus hoping to catch the 11:00 information session and tour. Unfortunately, all the buildings were closed and most of the faculty had gone home for the Fourth of July long weekend. So instead, we showed ourselves around campus. Armed with a map, we found our way around all the amazing arcatectre of the stone and brick buildings that towered high above our heads.

As we explored the campus, I got more and more excited for the start of classes on Tuesday. Not only were the buildings, landscape work and walkways all very pleasant, I also got the feeling that when the campus wasn't deserted, it would be even more impressive and very lively.

On our stroll, we stumbled across a small, tranquil park. Complete with a coy fish pond that housed a multitude of turtles and ducks, a waterfall, and a winding path that passed by many secluded benches. We spent a long time in the shade of the trees taking in the wildlife. We met a very nice couple there who told us a little bit about the pond and how the animals survive during the winter when it freezes over, pointed out the biggest and oldest coy fish, nicknamed "Big Red", and recommended a very good restaurant to eat lunch.

We took their advice and found that the food was, in fact, quite good. They served flat bread that they baked in a huge oven right in front of us, it was pretty amazing.

After lunch we returned to the hotel for a few hours of downtime (an Ivy League Connection first) before hitting the city streets for a short stroll around the town before dinner. We walked past the very impressive city hall, the giant clothes pin, and countless shops and restaurant that all seemed very exciting.

I found myself enjoying the wide sidewalks and sky-high buildings of Philly. The city is great for walking in, an the uniform street layout made it easy to get around. I look forward to exploring it with my fellow ILCers whenever I can this month.

When we sat down to eat dinner, I must admit I was a little nervous. Tonight was the night we were meeting with June Y. Chu, an academic counselor at UPenn and Margaret Wang, a current student. As soon as the two showed up, I was immediately put at ease. Both of them were extremely friendly and quite funny. Margaret shared some valuable information with us about what it's like being a science major at Penn. She also told us which restaurants in the area she thought were good; it was quite a long list. In fact, When Ms. Chu asked her which restaurants she didn't like, Margaret was at a loss.

Ms. Chu also had a wealth of knowledge about the university. It was interesting to hear from her about what she thought set Penn apart from other Ivy Leagues, specifically that Penn makes a point to empower students and be as flexible with their individual ideas as possible. It was an overall very valuable experience and she very generously offered to answer any follow up questions we had once our program started via e-mail.

After wandering the campus and speaking with Margaret and Ms. Chu, I feel very confidant that this program is something that will challenge me as a student and a person, but that if I feel at all lost or confused I have a number of resources that I can turn too thanks to the Ivy League Connection.

So Much To See, So Little Time

Today was another long day for the Penn Ivy League Connection group. It being our only full day in Washington, D.C. we set out to learn as much about the area as possible before our early departure for Pennsylvania tomorrow.

Our adventures started at Georgetown University where we met with Admissions Councilor Mr. Chamberlain. We talked with him about admissions and financial aid in general, as well as specifically pertaining to Georgetown. He also shared with us some interesting insight into what colleges look for in perspective students. He mentioned that many people automatically jump to the term "well rounded" when describing an ideal candidate, however the question he posed was, "Would you really want to go to a school full of well rounded people?" He admited that a diversity of experiences is helpful when applying to college, but assured us that specificity in focus was not something to shy away from. He was a very interesting speaker and it was an extremely valuable experince having a college admissions officer as a rescource to answer all the questions we had regarding the application process.

After our discussion with Mr. Chamberlain, we watched a very well delivered presentation on what Georgetown University has to offer. After that, we were guided on a campus tour by a very knowledgeable rising junior who attends the universtiy.

The impression I got from the college was that it fostered a very tightly knit community. The freshmen take their core classes together and are required to live on campus for their first two years, there is only one dining hall where everyone goes to eat and socialize. We heard about an amazing number of diverse clubs and groups. The average class size was also quite small, only about twenty-something. However, it seemed as though the college was more focused on social sciences, and of course being in D.C., politics and foreign affairs. As a science and math-oriented student, it was hard for me to imagine fitting in at Georgetown, however, learning about the campus was still an interesting and beneficial experience.

After Georgetown, we walked up to Wisconsin street past all the nifty shops and resturaunts in the college town. We stopped and ate and once again, had delicious food.

After lunch, we visited the Holocaust Museum. I was very greatful for the opportunity to see the exhibit. Coming from a Jewish family, I have been taught that being as educated as possible regarding past atrocities is the best way to honour those who suffered through them and to prevent them from happening again. In this way, the historical exhibits were very moving for me. Having enough information to begin to understand what life may have been like during the war was incredible. We were able to walk through an authentic train car used to transport prisoners to labor camps and get a glimpse of the terror they might have felt. It was a completely unique experience. I think it took us all some time to process because the taxi ride to our next destination was a little quieter than usual.

In an effort to see as much as possible of Washington, D.C., we decided to take an open-top bus tour as our final activity.

Apparently, these buses were not built (and the trees were not trimmed) with people as tall as brian in mind. In fact, some of the branches were so low we were all in danger of a branch to the face at one time or another. It really kept us on our toes.

From the bus, we were able to see all the major monuments: Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson as well as some very impressive government buildings such as the Capital Building, the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. These buildings were impressive not only in size but also as uniquely artistic architectual masterpieces.

We also passed the Federal Breau of Investigation which, despite its lack of artistic design, was very impressive in its own way.

Finally, with aching feet and rumbling tummies, we sat down to a lovely dinner. Although much less fancy than the previous night's, the people at the resturaunt we chose were very friendly and the food was still great. Plus, we got to sit outside and enjoy the hot weather that still hangs around even at 8:30 PM.

We walked home from dinner, managing to only take out our map once, marking the end of another very evenful day in our nation's capital.

July 1st, both Educational and Entertaining

Today I woke up feeling much less tired, and quite enthusiastic to start our day of touring Washington, D.C. I went downstairs with Alex, and we found Julia and Mr. Miranda already waiting for us at the hotel’s restaurant. We ate a quick breakfast, and then took a cab to Georgetown University. We were early for our appointment, so we decided to stroll around the campus for a bit. One thing that I’ve found about the east coast is that I love the architecture. In California, earthquakes happen all the time, so there are very few large brick buildings. Therefore, I was very impressed by the massive stone and brick buildings on the Georgetown campus.

Before long, it was time for our appointment with Georgetown’s Northern California admissions representative, Bruce Chamberlain. For approximately half an hour, we talked to Mr. Chamberlain, or Bruce as he told us to call him, about Georgetown. Bruce was very direct in pointing out Georgetown’s strengths (a long history, very strong political science programs, location only miles from our nation’s capitol, the fact that almost 90% of students serve in an internship during their time at Georgetown, and much more).

What I really appreciated however was that he seemed very interested that we each find what college we truly want to study at. Instead of emulating the role of a salesman and only presenting Georgetown’s strengths, Bruce was also very open about discussing colleges similar to Georgetown, and why they might be better or worse fits for each of us. Bruce also expressed that he feels that too many applicants blindly attempt to show that they are “well rounded” in their applications instead of displaying a strong passion for one area of learning, which he believes is very important. All in all, I found our conversation very refreshing and enlightening.

After this meeting, we went to the general admissions talk, where the presenter showed an extensive slide show about Georgetown. Something that caught my eye here was that over 50% of Georgetown students study abroad during their four years at Georgetown. I think that studying abroad sounds very interesting, so learning that the majority of Georgetown students study abroad was very appealing. In my opinion, all colleges should require that their students study abroad at some point during their college life so that students can both expose themselves to other cultures and learn to appreciate how privileged they are to live in the U.S.

Also on the theme of the importance of understanding other cultures, after lunch, we visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum. This most recent school year, I had the privilege of taking a World War II history class at my high school. The course is written and taught by Marsha Hebden, who has taught me and hundreds of other students about World War II and the Holocaust. Although I already have a strong knowledge of World War II history, there was tons to learn, and in particular the propaganda exhibit was very informative. In particular, a question posed at the end of the exhibit will stick with me for a long time. The question was, “What limits should there be on speech, and what are the costs of imposing them?” Of course there is no one answer, but I think it’s an important idea to think about.

After an emotional few hours at the Holocaust Museum, we decided on a change of pace, and we took a fun and touristy ride on a double-decker bus. The weather today was beautiful, and it was enjoyable to sit back and soak in all of the attractions in town.

A Fun Bus Ride (Photo thanks to Alex Elms)

Finally, we headed back to Georgetown (neighborhood, not the university), and after a few minutes of looking at various restaurants, we settled on a place called Mr. Smith’s. Once again, we each enjoyed a delicious meal. I had a large cheeseburger, and there was some killer chocolate cake for desert. Now, I’m all set for our train ride to Philadelphia early tomorrow morning.

A Delicious Dinner (Photo thanks to Alex Elms)

Being Lopsided is OK

I woke up at 6:30 this morning to a pleasant surprise: the alarm worked! One hour and forty-five minutes later I discovered something that was not so pleasant: the snooze button didn’t! Unfortunately Brian and I had overslept. This was ironic considering we had actually woken up when we had originally planned to… However, we were only a little bit late to breakfast and were not actually delaying our departure from the hotel. We left the hotel and hailed a cab around 8:45 and headed for Georgetown University.

The university was a lot closer than expected and we arrived an hour before we were supposed to meet Bruce Chamberlain, the Northern California Admissions Representative for Georgetown. We decided to take a quick stroll after finding the General Admissions Building, which was where we would be meeting Bruce (Mr. Chamberlain was kind enough to allow us to call him by his first name). I realized that I had forgotten a notebook so we walked to the student store, all the while taking in Georgetown’s beautiful campus. We were able to see the campus more extensively on our tour a couple of hours later. We walked back the General Admissions Building and it was about 9:55, five minutes before we were scheduled to meet with Bruce, so we decided to check in early. Thankfully he was willing to speak with us early!

Our meeting with Bruce was excellent. We didn’t get to ask very many questions, but he was so thorough that we didn’t even have to ask any! Bruce began by asking what we were academically interested in. Engineering and physics was the general consensus between the three of us so he told us what Georgetown had to offer in those fields. He told us that the university does not have an engineering college, but does offer excellent opportunities in physics and other math-applied sciences. He also told us about a way to compensate for the lack of an engineering college at Georgetown. There is a path that students can take called the 3-2 Plan. Anyone who decides to do this will spend three years at Georgetown and then two at Columbia University, in New York City. This would give students better access to resources and the opportunity to study at two of the best universities in America. This sounds like a pretty enticing deal and made me pay a little more attention to Georgetown as a possibility for school. However, Georgetown is still primarily a school for business and politics and that is still something that I have to take into consideration as well. Bruce also told us about Georgetown’s generous financial aid packages. The university will meet one-hundred percent of a family’s demonstrated financial need! He told us that a small portion of that will be composed of loans and work-study programs, but the majority is grant money (aka FREE). We concluded our discussion with different aspects of the admissions process. He told us that there are three main focuses when it comes to the application: a student’s coursework in high school, our letters of recommendation, and our application essays. Bruce was generous enough to talk with us for longer than the half an hour that we had agreed upon (as well as let us into and excuse our tardiness to the information session). Meeting with Bruce was certainly one of the highlights of my day.

The information session also had some excellent nuggets of information that piqued my interest. First was that Georgetown is home to one of the top five policy debate teams in the country. I hope to continue debating in college so this is definitely a plus for Georgetown. Georgetown also has a very good student-faculty ratio of 10:1 and ninety-nine percent of classes are taught by faculty, as opposed to TA’s. Fifty percent of Georgetown students get the opportunity to study abroad. Since I hope to study in Japan (THE leading country in green energy technology), this was an excellent factor. I also liked something that both Bruce and the information session covered. In both sessions it was mentioned that the school is not necessarily going to prefer a well-rounded student over someone who is maybe not as diverse. I enjoyed hearing this because I am not a part of many extracurricular activities, but I am deeply involved in the ones that I participate in. We also learned about the school’s mascot, Jack the bulldog, the primary academic strengths of Georgetown (business, politics, and medicine), and several things about how the undergraduates attending Georgetown live. Our first couple of hours spent at Georgetown were well spent and we were given a plethora of helpful information.

Our guided tour was very nice. Our student tour guide, Glenn, was very knowledgeable and masterfully led us around Georgetown’s gorgeous campus. The majority of the campus buildings were made of brick or stone and were very easy on the eyes. The buildings that weren’t had more modern architecture and were all very interesting to look at. However, more appealing than the architecture was the university’s lawns and quad areas. The campus is compact in a lot of areas and has a lot of paved roads and paths, but Georgetown also has excellent wide, open spaces. There are lush, green fields for sports and even areas with miniature forests. Wildlife is abundant and it makes the school feel much farther from Washington, D.C. than it actually is (only about a five to ten minute walk). This concluded our time at Georgetown and I was extremely satisfied with everything I had learned (and also the nice Georgetown hoodie I purchased).

After Georgetown we walked through downtown Washington, D.C. to find some lunch. We eventually stumbled upon a nice restaurant called Clyde’s. We enjoyed a nice lunch and we discussed our favorite parts of Georgetown. I feel like we all walked away more impressed than when we had gone in. And, since I know our readers love food details, we shared some sliders for appetizers and I enjoyed some excellent Tortellini Bolognese (pictures below!)

Following lunch, we decided to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Unfortunately they do not allow pictures inside the museum because I would have loved to take away some visual memories of all the history we soaked in. I did not really know too much about the Holocaust other than what I had learned in World History two years ago, but even that was not very much information. Today’s experience changed that. I was inundated with details of the lives of the Jewish people prior to and during the Holocaust. I never thought that I could be so moved by a museum. I knew before of the horrible things that were done to the Jewish population, but this put it into full perspective for me. We learned about German propaganda, the internment camps, and so many other terrible events that led up to the Holocaust. Every detail and exhibit was so captivating that it made me see things differently and realize how fortunate our lives are compared to others who have had so much pain and suffering throughout theirs. After we left, our cab ride was mostly quiet because we were still processing all that we had just seen.

We decided that the mood needed to be lightened after the Holocaust Museum so we did some sightseeing in Washington, D.C. We enjoyed an open top bus tour around the capitol and got to see some of the many sights that the city has to offer. Unfortunately the bus did not stop in the most convenient of locations for snapping photos so I was only able to walk away with a few good shots. The pictures below are the best I took.

In the middle of our tour we realized that we would not be able to make our original reservations at the 1789 Restaurant because our tour would take too long. We had to cancel, but we were still able to enjoy a nice, casual meal at a restaurant called Mr. Smith’s Saloon. It was a nice little pub with a dining patio in the back (this is where we were seated). Although this was not a gourmet restaurant, the food was still excellent! I enjoyed two tender and juicy pork chops as my entrée and finished off with a decadent, rich double Godiva chocolate cake. I have to say that Washington, D.C. has a ton of excellent dining options.

This concluded our evening and we returned to the hotel after dinner. It has been a long, but fun day and we are anxious to see Penn tomorrow. In order to fully appreciate our first view of the campus at which we will be spending a whole month, we’re going to need all the energy we can muster. So with that, I am signing off.

Off to the East

It’s been a long day, but I’m now on the east coast with Alex, Julia, and Mr. Miranda. Our month long trip officially began at 3:15 this morning when the four of us along with Don, Ms. Kronenberg , and our parents gathered in front of El Cerrito High School to wait for our shuttle. Don was kind enough to lend out any items he had that we had forgotten or didn’t own, so I borrowed several different cables to use with my laptop during my stay.

When the shuttle arrived at school, we were all surprised because it wasn’t a shuttle. Perhaps due to a shortage of shuttles, some sort of mix-up, or out of sympathy for us having to wake up so early in the morning, the shuttle company provided us with a limousine to ride to the airport. The trip to the airport was fast and I was very excited that we were finally on our way.

Julia in the airport looking very enthusiastic for how early it was

In the airport, everything went smoothly, and I soon fell asleep and woke to find myself in O’Hare airport 20 minutes ahead of schedule. We quickly transferred onto our flight for Washington, D.C., and after a short taxi ride with great views of the Washington Monument, the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial and more, we arrived at our hotel in Georgetown.

The Hotel's Lobby

After a bit of relaxing time, we took a stroll around Georgetown, and we walked by Vice President Joe Biden’s house. Because Vice President Biden was arriving home at that time, we were escorted back a ways down the sidewalk where we watched a large Secret Service escort and Vice President Biden’s car drive through the gates to his house. While I’ve been to Washington, D.C. before, I’ve always found it very exciting to actually see the people who are crafting, reviewing, and enforcing the laws that affect every U.S. citizen’s life.

After a quick stop back at our hotel, we took a taxi and visited the White House. I was particularly moved, although I don’t necessarily agree with their arguments, by the anti-nuclear power and weapons protesters who have continuously protested in front of the White House 24 hours a day since 1981. This form of protest is by far the most moving example of freedom of speech to me, that any citizen who has an issue with the government can openly protest in front of their highest government leaders without fear of any sort of retaliation.

A man protesting in front of the White House

After a few pictures in front of the White House, we walked a few hundred feet to a restaurant called The Lafayette. The service and the food were fantastic, and their steak was by far the best that I have ever had. I enjoyed talking with the others about the various topics that came up, which ranged from our favorite foods to green energy and politics. To top the evening off, I had a delicious piece of Nutella cake, which unfortunately disappeared long before I took a picture of it. After dinner, we took a cab back to our hotel where I’m blogging now, thankful for a smooth day of travelling, and looking forward to the fun and learning ahead.

An amazing meal to end a long day