Week 1, part two

I took this photo because to me this house IS the stereotypical English idea of an "American" house. It has a porch with lights, trees in the "front yard" and of course, at least one American flag. Even the white pillars give a kind of colonial look that I associate with the U.S.

 

So the next few days were spent getting to know the local area, where the nearest 7-Eleven was (an American supermarket, which I am told is usually found at "gas stations").  Finding ordinary supermarkets in Washington D.C is surprisingly hard, I think it's like going to Mayfair or Westminster in London and looking for a corner shop.

On Wednesday I managed to accidentally miss my own field trip to the National Art Gallery, which was disappointing. I got sent an email telling me to go to a certain Metro stop at 10:30am, instead of gong to work. Sadly, I hadn't checked my email in the past 12 hours, and so here's the day I had at work instead;

I arrived at around 9am and walked into my department and the space that interns are given to work in. My supervisor didn't look suprised to see me, but the Head of Interns did, and said something about an art gallery. At the time I was reading something about the Cold War, and, having only vaguely heard what he said, presumed that he just liked art, and was advising me to go to the gallery at some point. (To be fair he does have some kind of art work by Jan Van Eyck on his desk, even though it was facing away from me and the captions were in German or Dutch, I recognised the painting as one in which I had quoted in my Prelims, for my Nature & Art in the Renaissance exam. I suppose this also indicates may have missed some vital information during my briefing)

Lesson learnt; if you don't hear someone properly, just say "excuse me?" It'll be awkward for a minute, but otherwise you could miss something important, like a trip to a National Art gallery.

Anyway, time passed and I remember thinking "I'm such a dedicated intern. No one else came in, but I did". I met some interesting people, including a brother and sister who live permanently in the Navy Yard in which the museum I'm working at is based. At lunch I ended up having a long conversation with the permanent staff in the lunchroom, which ranged from England and the royal family to baby names, names in general and history. We all gently correct one employee who thinks that the Great Fire of London happened in 1066.

In all honesty, I still don't regret going to work. I suppose this demonstrates the persistence of the Oxford mentality. I've spent the last few days at work shadowing tours of the museum, and helping six year olds make Cartesian divers. My knowledge of American history has probably increased 100% in the last three days.

 

It's not just the date of Gettysburg (1-3rd of July 1863) or the identifying of famous quotes (“the only  thing we have to fear is fear itself", from Franklin D. Roosevelt's inaugural address). It's finding new places in unfamiliar places and trying to understand contemporary American culture.

 

This song is popular with the young Americans I know here, can't tell if it's a recent trend or because of the Independence Day celebrations;

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gX1EP6mG-E

 

In addition, I've discovered that even animals with the same name can be different animals in different countries, I present;

 

A Red Robin (American)

 

 

 

 

and, what people in Britain would recognise as a Robin, clearly sparrow-sized and with a different coloured beak.

 

 

I was incredulous when people told me the birds I kept seeing here were robins, and only a fair amount of Google image searching could resolve this (completely friendly) dispute. Anyway, all's well end's well, because we were both right.