I feel like a contestant on Strictly as only there have I heard the word 'journey' mentioned more than here today! My 'journey' in the literal sense was a long one. Delays at Heathrow, lightning storms meant a detour into Dulles (they also meant turbulence which had me squeaking and trying not to grab the person next to me so nervous fliers would have been opting for the parachute option!) and then resulted in us sitting on the tarmac for ages once we'd landed. Then we had a British style transport mishap in that the train to the baggage terminal broke down (the first time in 20 years apparently) but hey, every cloud has a silver lining - the queues at immigration weren't too long! We eventually made it to the hotel (on American school bus style buses but sadly black not yellow) at midnight and then had to decide which bed to sleep in - an amazing room with 2 double beds. Perhaps I'll try the other one tonight.
This morning I went down to breakfast feeling nervous and that quickly disappeared as Sallie leapt up to greet me. I don't think we stopped talking for 12 hours. It has been great! It's just sad that she will be going to Bliss and won't be staying with me!
After some funny discussions about cultures this morning, we were taken on a bus tour of Washington. It was fab but I now need to be really geeky and swot up on the American presisents and the political system. I have no idea! First stop was 'the hill' with the house of representatives and the senate. I'm still not clear on the difference - can anyone give me an idiot's guide? Then on to the war memorials. The Korean memorial is speactacularly moving - 18 life size statues of soldiers in the field looking completely worn out. So too is the Vietnam memorial. It is covered in names but people also visit and leave items related to the dead under their names such as dog tags, letters, army boots and even wedding rings and ashes. Last stop was the White House but sadly Obama didn't come out and invite me in for tea. Maybe tomorrow...
 |
| The Korean conflict memorial |
 |
The Vietnam memorial - Designed so you can see yourself alongside those who sacrificed their lives. There are 59,000 names on the wall.
|
 |
| The White House!!!! |
As I am a girly swot I can give you a very basic guide to house and senate. The 2 chambers date back to declaration of independence and are designed as a a system of checks and balances. Unlike our houses of parliament and lords both house and senate are voted in by populous. Voting for house takes place in small geographic area and hence are seen as being more 'representatives' of the people. Senators are voted in by whole states. Both chambers have to agree to have laws passed but house of reps tends to do things slightly quicker than senate who can take days to vote on stuff! Hope that quick explanation is of some help (and vaguely accurate!). sounds like you're having fun so far x
ReplyDelete