May 3, 20

Last Day when I really don’t want to go back home.

Gosh I got up so late this morning, I needed to get up by at least 6:30 for taking a shower, but I got up about 7 A.M. So I took shower and changed my clothes real quick! One of my friends brought some muffins and something like pie, and I ate those on the bus.  First we went to the state capital building, and actually I confused it with White House, but soon our tourist guide named Mia, said that this was not a White Building. Then we took such nice pictures in front of it. After that we went to the real “White House” which is my favorite place in the U.S.A! In fact, I never thought that White House can be my favorite place here, but after I saw it, it became my favorite building ever! I think I want to be a wife of the president of the U.S.A. haha I’m just kidding.

 Anyway we had lunch at the Union Station, where is similar station with Grand Central Station in the NY. I got a subway sandwich. We wanted to shop there but it was so crowded and actually it doesn’t have good shopping place for me. After having lunch, we went to the Smithsonian museum which was so huge. My friend told me if I want to see whole of the museum, I need a month, I’m not sure it is true or not, but when I got there I could believe that. I met the bones of the dinosaur in the movie ‘Night at the museum’! J Then we went to the Georgetown to have dinner with an hour free time for shopping. They have nice places for cupcakes, called Georgetown cupcake. I spoiled my appetite by eating a  Dark Chocolate cupcake, but it was so good and it is my favorite cupcake ever!

We had sandwichs and Mac&Cheese for my last dinner on this trip at the ‘Old Glory’. I just got to the Hotel, and checked my flight. I had such a nice trip with the nicest people in the world ever, and it will be in my memory forever. I will miss my friends who I met on this trip, and Tici, Diana, and Jacob, when I go back to the home. I love NY, Philadelphia,and Washington D.C.! Thank y’all for making such a nice trip ever guys! J

Dohee Han from South Korea

Welcome to the Capital of the United States of America!

May 2nd, 2013

We were very excited to see the capital of United States of America for the first time. On the way to see all of historical landmarks, Tici told us what we were going to see today. We’ve learned and heard about them in our history class. This time we were actually able to see and feel how awesome they are.

At first, we went to the Lincoln memorial, honoring the President who let the slaves free. We saw the statue in movies and on the penny, but It was more magnificent than we imagined. We were so frustrated that pictures we took were not as great as what we saw through our eyes. There was also a big lake between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln memorial. Don’t the lake and the Lincoln memorial sound harmonious?

After that, we walked through the wall which was filled with all of names who attended Vietnam War. It was really impressive that little kids put some flowers and flags in front of their name. We also went to the Korean War memorial. Since we are South Korean, this memorial was especially more special than anything. We feel thankful for everything they have done for our country. Then we went to the Thomas Jefferson monument which has really pretty with a big lake in front of it. We could take our group pictures in front of that lake and I think it turned out really good! J

One of the favorite things we did before lunch was the memorial of the president Roosevelt. There was a quote, “Freedom of speech, Freedom of worship, Freedom from want, Freedom from fear.” That made us so impressed.

We couldn’t wait for lunch, because Tici told that we would go to the mall. On the way there, we took a rest before our wonderful lunch time. We had some chicken  for lunch, and it was amazing. We had such a hard time to deciding what we wanted to eat. After we had lunch, we went to some stores for shopping. We wished that we had more time for shopping, but we were also excited for our next plan!

I would say, the best moment for today was visiting George Washington’s Mount Vernon which includes estate, museum and gardens. We had a great time in there and learned a lot about how George Washington had lived his life. We watched a video for 20 minutes to learn who he is, how he was, and what he did! After that, we had free time to look around that huge Mount Vernon. Even if it was huge for us to see everywhere, we had such a great time!

Today has been such a long day but we learned a lot from today. Guess what? We are already ready to go to hot tub. :D bye guys and see you tomorrow!

Written by Ellen(Hee yeon) Bae, Gloria(Ji su) Cha from South Korea

Departure to Philly, Washington- Saying Goodbye

May 1st

When we woke up this day, we knew this was going to be very emotional for everyone in our group because for 20 of us the adventure ended at this point.

At 9 our group was leaving for Philadelphia and we needed to say goodbye or rather see you again. There were also some tears flooding because this trip was so amazing!

We had an awesome time in New York and we already miss the city that never sleeps and the great friendships we made in the last days L

While we were driving our great friends recorded a video of them singing. This didn’t only cause happiness but bleeding ears. Thank you for that ;)

After two hours we finally made it to Philadelphia which already looked really pretty from the far. The weather was really nice that day and we could already feel the air getting cleaner and the grass getting greener.

We first stopped at the Food Market in Philadelphia. We had some free time to explore the whole market which was filled with all kinds of food and some of us got really excited about seeing food from our home country J

After that we drove to the Constitution Center  which was surprisingly good. We watched a theater play about how America became independent and could then explore the galleries and actually swear in as a president while we could see ourselves on a big screen.

Later on this day we met our tour guide who showed us a really pretty church that was over 300 years old and which was visited by very important people such as George Washington.  After that we went to the Liberty Bell which should show us that independence isn’t always perfect because the bell has a crack but it still represents independence and freedom.

He also showed us really nice corners of Philly and the grave of Benjamin Franklin and his wife and also the oldest post office in the United States.

The end, which is almost our favorite part of the whole day: DINNER! We had a traditional Philly Cheese steak which was very delicious. We had a great time at the restaurant and also found out that “how are you?”  in Czech sounds like Is your butt itching? In German ;) We also had an arm wrestling competition before the bus came and then it was time to say bye Philly, Hello Washington!

Copyright: Elvan and Melina J