Week 3, part seven, National Archives

National Archives

On the weekend I was able to see the National Archives, with the U.S Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. In addition, they had a 1297 copy of the Magna Carta! Rooted in Anglo-Saxon law and written in Latin (though not the samw Latin studied today) Magna Carta means "Great Charter", for anyone (including David Cameron) who didn't know! It was originally signed in 1215 by King John, at Runnymede. It was designed to try and appease the King's Barons, and promises fairer rights for widows, inheritance, and most importantly, ensures trial by jury and justice regardless of status. This was the foundation for much of the later U.S documents, yet (after waiting by the deserted Magna Carta display for half an hour) I discovered something else of note; 75% of Americans had no idea what it was. Alternatively, I can't prove that more than 25% of British people would know what the Magna Carta is...

Best comment - "Ooh the Magna Carta, isn't that one of the amendments to the Constitution?"

I mean, it's not like British people know what the Declaration of Independence is, or the Constitution? Oh wait, we do. To be fair, there was one American father who insisted that his children saw the Magna Carta and read that display before getting in line to see the three U.S documents (the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights). The U.S documents were kept in a shrine-like area, surrounded by guards, marble and paintings. There was a strange, almost religious reverence surrounding these documents. The Magna Carta, by contrast, is in a side-area with no queues (not that Americans know what that means!) but has a great exhibition around it!

Interesting things;

1. Regarding the U.S Constitution - Benjamin Franklin has neater handwriting than George Washington. I couldn't make out much of the document, only the signatures and the capitalised words FREE and INDEPENDENT. Maybe they're all that's important.
2. The American founding fathers wrote in a handwriting known as "English roundhand" - ironic!

The Archives also have collections of Presidential correspondence, recordings and photos of the U.S Presidents when they were children! I think too many people, including Americans, overlook the Archives as a worthwhile attraction. It has rotating modern exhibits, including 1970s American photography, and if you're a U.S citizen you can look up your family history using their records. This is what my Indian American (known in Britain as "Native American") friend intends to do, to look into her tribe's past.

I left a message in the guestbook, saying that the Archives would always hold special interest for British as well as American visitors, and thanking them for doing such a good job on the Magna Carta display.

“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.”
― George Orwell, 1984

Week 2, part one

So I've been in the U.S for over a week now. I get the Circulator to work, I walk to the apartment building where other interns are staying, I show the new interns where the lunchroom is. I've started making a list of all of the things I want to do before I leave.

Alternatively, there are a few things that I'm still thrown off balance by;

a) the casual manner of people at work, e.g. using expressions such as "hey buddy", "knock yourself out" etc. During the Enlightenment, Voltaire stated that the defining characteristics of a people/ nation. The historian Edward Gibbon agreed. I don't get offended by the casual and conversational manner of some Americans, I'm just not used to it, and could never imagine the same atmosphere between myself and my tutors at university!

b) the size of portions everywhere. I can't finish a meal here in any restaurant, and everything just seems excessivly big. Leading onto my next point...

c) trying to find normal-sized food in a supermarket is a true mission. Everything is multi-pack, or sold in deals which makes you buy more, or just over-sized. What I thought was a multi-pack of crisps ("chips") turned out just to be a massive bag, with a suggested serving for one person! Even the bottles of tomato sauce are huge, as if they're meant for businesses or something.

d) American television. Need I say more. Reality tv programmes on every channel, the fact that there is constant repetition (snippets of a programme are shown in previews, then before an advert break, and then "re-capped" two mintues later when the programme begins again...) and even the news here seems very opinionated! I miss the BBC coverage which would never refer to the Duchess of Cambridge as "Kate" and convicted murderers as "killers" or children as "kids".

e) the fact that nothing is energy-efficient, and there is no proper recycling in this area! Seems extraordinary in the 21st century.

Yet, there are still unexpected things which remind me of home!

This is a display in the museum concerning Bletchley Park! Coming thousands of miles away from Milton Keynes this was great to see. Living so close to it I think I sometimes forget the significance of the place, even though I wrote my GCSE History coursework on it.

 

 

I suppose it really shouldn't suprise me that there was direct communication between Bletchley Park and Washington D.C during WW2, with the breaking of the Enigma code. Despite this, it's great to be in the middle of an unfamiliar place, and be able to point at a picture and think "I've been there! I know this!"

Vocabulary learnt;

- "catfish"/ "catfishing", when someone sets up a social networking profile, assuming a false identity, with the hope of deceiving someone else.
- "invested" - don't think this is necessarily American, but the saying is popular here in terms of expressing commitment and emotional attachment, e.g, "in the movie I felt like I wasn't really invested in that character, unlike in the book, I just didn't care what happened to them"

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.