Week 5, part two, suburbia in Maryland

The street was like that of any other American "movie". I guess I've never really thought about it, but to Americans that must mean that most streets in films are designed to be quite similar to their own. The mini-post boxes on the street, the white pathways, the coloured rooftops and white painted wooden-looking exteriors with multiple cars per house...

 Earlier this week I took up my friend's invitation to stay at her house, in the state of Maryland (which borders D.C) and experience a typical, home-cooked American meal, as well as seeing around her "neighborhood". I use the American word neighborhood because it is entirely different to a British neighbourhood. Instead of local councils, communities, based on geographic proximity, seem to interact and depend on each other here.

The neighborhood was announced by a polished metal and wooden sign, marking the beginning of one area and end of the previous one. It reminded me of accomodation sections on holiday or camping sites abroad.

I was lucky enough that the day I stayed was a "neighborhood social", meaning that people from the surrounding streets gathered in a park with kid's activities and free pizza and ice cream. What with the music and everything it was like a large family party, only the people were connected by their housing. According to my friend, these events (and ones similar to it) are organised by the resident's association, which every household pays a fee to be a part of each year.

So, the "back yard" was about the size of half my street...although apparently a lot of the land technically belongs to everyone in that area. The house also backed onto some kind of woods, which is atypical for most English housing estates.

The house itself is bigger than practically any other family home I've seen in England. It may not surprise people that the house had 4 bedrooms, at least 2 bathrooms, a basement (converted into a space with a tv and sofas) a double garage (with automatic doors!) and two living room areas. To me the house felt stereotypically American, but I think that this was due to the size of the fridge and the numerous American high school sports team photos of my friend and her brother through the years. The so called "wall of fame", in which the childrens' achievements are proudly displayed in the family home, with photos and sports trophies, is not a myth!

In all honesty, everything from the family dog (a golden retriever named Chad) to the dinner (pork chops, French fries, green beans, grape soda) satisfied my imagined ideal of an American home. Obviously, some things, like the exchanges between siblings, the meal time duties and family rituals, are universal.

If anyone's wondering, after dinner (which was delicious! I've never had pork chops before, especially not with that kind of seasoning) and the "neighborhood social", we watched tv (So You Think You Can Dance by Fox) just to complete the cliché. Thank you Jess!

Vocabulary taught;

"Estate" - when I said "the estate I live on" I think Jess' family thought I was referring to something like Sandringham. I soon pointed out that neither me nor my family own anywhere near as much land as the Queen, and that I meant my neighbourhood/ housing estate (not "neighborhood", in the way I described above).

"Hench" - ok so this is just an example of my embarrassing subconscious use of English slang. I use the word "hench" to mean "massive" or "big" or very solid. I can't remember the context in which I used it, but I justified it by saying that "hench" was like "henchmen" which are supposed to be big and beefy, so it made sense.

Week 5, part one, New York City/ The Big Apple itself

Central Park zoo. We managed to get a view of the sea lion enclosure (during feeding time) without actually having to pay to go into the zoo itself. Success.

 Last weekend I made the 4 1/2 hour trip to New York City, New York, to meet a friend who is currently undertaking an internship in Boston. Conveniently, NYC is actually an almost equal distance from D.C and Boston. The thing that surprised me the most about the coach journey was that the coach had no seatbelts, seriously, I think that's illegal under EU law.

Central Park, lower Manhattan. It's bigger than you think. Big, as in two adults can walk for about 45 minutes in roughly a straight line and only end up 1/2 way along its length!

 My main memory of arriving in NYC is that it was raining, but still fairly hot, and that I had never seen so many people in my life. Whilst me and my friend struggled to locate Times Square (it's harder than you think when you're hemmed in by people, dodging yellow cabs, and surrounded by buildings and hige moving ads on all sides) I kept skywards, as the buildings practically blocked out the sun.

The landmark skyscrapers. Since 9/11, the skyline of NYC has been changed forever, but what seems to get missed in films/ TV, or at least, certainly in my own mind, is the number of moderately high buildings that are in downtown New York. The skyscrapers are world-famous (and are seen from a good distance if you enter the city from the south) but there are loads of buildings which in any other city would seem ridiculously high, but are dwarfed in comparison with their taller companions.

 We managed to cram so much into 3 days, that in retrospect it seems like some kind of insanity. In total we;

• Visited the 9/11 memorial.

The main memorial consists of two pools of falling water, with the names of those who died carved around the edges. It's simple, stone, metal and water. It's also effective. The falling water is channelled into the middle of each pool in a way that reveals the metal structure behind it. It's also impossible not to note just how many names are recorded, especially when walking around what feels like a relatively small geographical area. I like the fact that the stationary (metallic/ stone structures) is combined with the living and things in motion (the water, trees). Life goes on, but the names cannot be erased.

• Visited the Metropolitan museum of Art

Highlights included Monet's The Water-lily pond, Van Gogh's Cypress Trees, some Jackson Pollock, and a ballet dancer by Degas. I impressed myself by identifying The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David. There was also an amazing roof garden, which we were informed of, but was otherwise (deliberately?) not clearly advertised (we asked a guy at the bottom of an elevator if we could go up). The view was outstanding and it was a lot less effort and money than getting to either the top of the Rockefeller, or probably the top of the Empire State building.

• Saw the Trump building/ Rockefeller plaza/ Apple store (why not)

They're shiny.

• Visited the Statue of Liberty (on its own island)

Got on a (less crowded) ferry and walked around the statue like true tourists, listening to an audio tour. Also passed the Governor's Island, and Ellis island, currently closed due to Hurricane Sandy.

• Got on a ferry to Statten island (one of the five boroughs of NYC, I think?)

Interestingly, the ferry is part of the subway system, as some people live there permanently and commute into the city everyday, therefore the trip was free and provided great views of the cityscape!

• Went to some kind of Tiffany's outlet on Wall Street / saw the New York Stock Exchange

There were no prices on anything in Tiffany's. It was weird.

• Went to the Smithsonian's museum of the American Indian

I felt so much better informed than at the start of the summer. I even identified the location of the tribe of an American Indian girl who I've met in D.C.

• Went to the International House of Pancakes! (twice, their breakfast menu was incredible)

I had chocolate pancakes one day (with different flavoured syrups!) and French toast with glazed strawberries the next morning. I've never been so happy to be up and out at around 8am.

• Walked around Central Park

Like I said, it's pretty big. It has a zoo and a reservoir in it.

• Found Times Square (?)

Well, I think we were in it, for at least some of the time...it was very crowded, and I was more concerned about getting completely lost.

• Visited Grand Central Station

Had to be done! The ceiling contains constellation-like artwork, then there's the iconic gold clock, and an infinite number of tracks and train departures...not to mention shops and restaurants. It was like Union station (where I caught the bus from in D.C) but on a much grander scale.

I also managed to spot the Woolworth building and obviously, the Empire State building, which is exciting just because of its cliche status!

Interesting facts; firstly, the statue is hollow, and was originally a shiny bronze colour, like a new penny (before the copper oxidised). Secondly, despite the fact that Liberty is portrayed as a woman, women were not allowed at the unveiling ceremony for the statue. Boats of women circled "liberty island" in protest.

 On the book she's holding is inscribed in Latin the date of American Independence. She's dressed in Roman style, with her robe and sandals, facing the "old world", i.e., Europe.

Things I liked about NYC; the mixture of 1920s and pre-1920s architecture (Chrysler building, Federal building, and the building which houses the Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian) with the sleek, glass look of modern times. I also liked the contrast between all of the buildings and the surprising amount of greenery amount. Battery park, Central Park, and numerous other little gardens (e.g., around the Metropolitan museum of Art) make NYC a true "concrete jungle".

 There were some really interesting memorials in Battery park too. In particular we spent some time trying to identify flags on the Korean War memorial, as it's one of those conflicts I know little about. The numbers of the "missing" are astounding.

The city that never sleeps...it's amazing that moderately shabby looking buildings during the day are much improved by darkness and the display of midtown/ downtown's multi-coloured lights.

I would conclude that although D.C is the political capital of the U.S, I think that NYC is the cultural and financial capital. It's strange, because London in England seems to serve as both, the "City" is the financial heart of the UK, yet Westminster is the political centre, and the Mall/ Buckingham palace is the historic focal point. Culturally too, London is diverse, e.g. from the East End, Camden market, Fleet Street, the West End. Had we had more time in New York, I would have liked to have seen Greenwich and the East Village, or maybe Chinatown (supposedly the best in the U.S).

Needless to say though, 3 days of sightseeing were physically exhausting, after miles of walking everyday and hours on the subway (Metro) which was dirtier and busier than the D.C system. Also, the New York subway was far bumpier and industrial looking, the inside of the underground stations was black and plain, the carriages had a shiny metallic finish. On the plus side, it ran all night.

I don't think I could live in NYC. It's put D.C in perspective, and I think even London might be less hectic. As a point of interest, we stayed in a YMCA hostel, out of the centre of the city, in Harlem.

Forget what you've read, I think we'd both agree that staying in the Harlem YMCA was a great experience, and has made us consider travelling around in hostels again. Harlem isn't the most touristy area of NYC, but it has a character of its own. Whilst staying at the hostel we met everyone, from a Dutch guy travelling around Europe, to two German brothers going along the East coast of the U.S (one simply shook his head frequently whenever we joked about going into the Bronx area of the city, and the other was interested to know what English people thought of Germans).

Additionally, we met a 29 year old accountant, working in Mid-town, who laughed at our age and incongruity (he demanded to know why two Oxford students were in the Harlem YMCA...) and explained that he was living in the hostel temporarily whilst he brought a new apartment after divorcing his Turkish ex-wife, who is a lawyer. His stories and advice to us were hilarious, and he constantly stressed that although he'd gone to an "average" US school, achieved a 3.0 GPA, and came from a modest Southern background, he earned more from his NYC accounting job (and spells of Wall Street trading) than my family lives on a year. I'm sure he'll soon be back in a penthouse on the upper East-side, or Queens, as he's willing to compromise...

Week 4, part three - the Supreme Court, the Capitol, and Banana bread!

I have no photos of the Supreme Court, because it is currently undergoing major restoration and surrounded by scaffolding. It's a beautiful neo-classical building covered in engravings and references to ancient culture. It was actually constructed in the 1930s, as for a long time the Supreme Court was without a building of its own. The East side of the buildings has a design which reflects the eastern law-giving tradition, with figures including Moses, Confucius and Solon. I really liked that. Other significant features include allegorical presentations of Justice (a blind-folded woman holding a set of scales) America (as a young woman), Commerce, Law and Wisdom.

The Supreme Court is the Judicial branch of the U.S government. It interprets all laws, tries cases affecting entire states, and foreign representatives. It also reviews the decisions and procedures of lower courts.

Other facts learnt today;

•  Princeton was founded in 1746 and known as the "College of New Jersey". I know this through looking at the college in which all of the old judges went to.
• The phrase "Equal Justice under the Law" was made up by the architects of the Supreme Court building because the letters fitted the space allocated! It doesn't have any great historical/ Biblical precedence.
• The first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court was Sandra Day O'Connor, who came originally from rural Texas, in a house that had neither indoor plumbing nor electricity. She says that this taught her the value of hard work. I think the exhibit on her life was one of the most intriguing parts of the Supreme Court.

Close-up of the Rotunda in the Capitol Building. 13 dancing women (representing the original colonies) and George Washington (seated, with a lavender robe) ascent to Heaven.

Our tour of the Captiol took us all around the Legalislative branch of the U.S government. The Capitol is responsible for making law, approving Presidential appointments, treaties made by the Whitehouse (the Executive branch of the government) and raising public money. The Capitol also overseas the expenditure of public money, trials Federal officers, and declares war.

In the Rotunda (the dome structure) I got to see John Gadsby Chapman's painting The baptism of Pocahontas (1840)*. However, there were so many people, and our tour group moved through so quickly, that I only got a very blurry photo. I'm still happy I saw it though, I saw in on Wikipedia (Googling "Pocahontas" after visiting the National Museum of the American Indian) a few days ago and was intrigued.

*Link to picture; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Baptism_of_Pocahontas.jpg

Close-up of painting (although it looks like an engraving!) around the rim of the Rotunda

 Just on a side note, before we could enter the Capitol for our tour, there was a security incident of some sort, and everyone got moved from outside the Visitor's centre to the plaza in front of the Capitol building, whilst police, firefighters and men with dogs closed in. In the end, it was just someone's luggage which had been left, probably accidently. It's a reminder of the security risk that is a constant presence here. Our tour guide, who was an older woman, told us (at the end of the tour) about her day at work on the 11th of September, 2001.

She told us about how much more comprehensive the original tours of the Capitol were (e.g. visitors used to be allowed along the underground tunnels). She then told us about running for her life out of the East door of the Capitol with 7 members of the British parliament behind her. Her expression as she recounted turning around for what she thought was "one last look at the United States Capitol", and seeing the emotions of the rest of our tour group, it reminded me of how much 9/11 really has changed the mindset of the U.S forever.

Banana bread = success!

On a lighter note, my Banana bread did not fail despite use of "baking powder" (whatever that is) instead of Baking Soda. Nor did the fact that I used Balsamic vinegar instead of, I don't know, Malt vinegar, or whatever the normal type of vinegar is. Or, the fact that I was using a recipe which used "cups" as a valid unit of measurement. I switched between the BBC's recipe (not a stereotypical "Britain abroad" thing at all...) and some stuff I found on the back of the flour packet which was in the cupboard.

The loaf tin that I discovered in Safeway worked well! In short, the fact that anything I bake turned out edible is little short of a miracle. Hence the bananabread deserved a mention in a post alongside the US Capitol & Supreme Court.

Vocabulary learnt;

"s'mores" - a traditional nighttime campire treat, made up of a roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sanwiched between two pieces of a cracker. My American workmates could not believe that I hadn't had one before, until I reminded them that in England, people don't usually have the opportunity to sit out on their driveways at night, toasting marshmallows.

President [Card game]. The aim of the game is to become "President", by getting rid of your hand of cards before the other players. To get rid of cards, you can put down pairs, and cards that are the same suit or number as the previous card laid down by another player. When someone puts down a "double" (two cards of the same number) the next person has to miss their turn. You have to put down a number higher than the previous card on the table. Hence, lower cards are a nuisance and are usually played first. Being left with two 2's is bad, I can't remember why. The best part of this game is the fact that the winner becomes "President", the next person to finish is "Vice President", after them is the "First Lady" and then "Constituent". The person who comes last has to give their two best cards to the President in the next round!

When asked if we had this card game in England, I replied that the answer was obviously no, as we don't have a President, and casually enquired whether the Americans in the room knew how to play the card game "Kings". They did not.

Week 4, part two - Mount Vernon and a watermelon

 

Big butterfly, I'm certain that this is the same type of butterfly that was on the island which we kayaked to.

 Quite a few of us had wanted to see the country estate and farm that the first President of the United States, George Washington, had lived in and retired to. Washington built up his estate his entire life, extending the "mansion" and overseeing all of the arrangements to the land himself. Despite his military and political achievements, he considered himself first and foremostly a farmer. He reminds me of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (Roman statesman, Consul and Dictator, 519-430BC) in that way. We travelled by Metro to Huntingdon and then by bus, past Alexandria and into Fairfax County. This was relatively easy to do, coming from D.C the transport links are ideal for day trips out of town.

The bus journey was long because we didn't get on a direct bus, but instead spent 45 minutes touring through residential estates, and seemingly picking up elderly people and their shopping at every stop...we learnt our lesson for the return journey!

Casual tropical flower...oh and the other day at Arlington, I saw a chipmunk. Forgot to mention that, but it was great, for some reason I forgot that they had them here!

To be honest, I found the whole experience completely commercialised, and it annoyed me that they used an inventory of Martha Washington's possessions to show that she "was an enthusiastic shopper" and therefore to justify selling George Washington themed Christmas decorations, even in July. Only in America.

 

We all found the introductory "orientation" film to be ridiculous too. It contained barely any factual knowledge and instead focused on the "love story" between Martha and George Washington, regardless of the fact that in reality, most 18th c. marriages, especially 2nd marriages (Martha had been married before) were pursued for financial stability. 

Gardens! I saw a humming bird! (Far too fast to photograph)

 Regardless, seeing the way that the grounds had been preserved, and inside the house itself (the dining room was pained an extremely bright, emerald green colour, apparently historically reconstructed - Washington thought that it was the colour least likely to fade). The key to the Bastille was hanging in the passageway, sent by the Marquis de Lafayette, as a gift, for he considered Washington as like a father to him.

View of the Potomac from the back porch...

 This is pretty much the same view as George and his wife Martha Washington would have seen when they sat on their back porch in 1799...

Something that did affect me was the memorial to all of the slaves and free African-Americans who worked and died on the estate. In unmarked graves, and with a stone which was only erected in the 1980s, the lives of over a hundred people are quietly acknowledged. Since the physical location of their bodies is unknown, never precisely marked, and only recorded by chance by a 19th century visitor, there is a tangible sense of "loss". These people are still missing. Worse, was the lack of people who bothered to look around this site, compared to the tomb of Washington, where a wreath is laid daily, and which was crowded with visitors. Saying that, I'm not massively keen on the idea of people photographing people's caskets either. Maybe it's just me.

The "Mansion". 80% of the exterior is original, it's actually made of wood, "rusticated" to look like stone and brickwork, but it's hollow to knock.

 

A chance meeting. Whilst I was in my apartment (on the 2nd floor) I noticed that it had began to rain, heavily. Having been caught in several similar showers recently I looked out of the window and saw two people trying to shelter under a flimsy tree on the sidewalk. Remembering that the house I'm staying in has quite a large porch area, I ran downstairs, opened the front door and called the two women up. They were Chinese, and I soon realised that the older of the two didn't understand English, and this was sooner confirmed by the younger of the two, who revealed herself to be the other one's daughter. During a 5 minute conversation, under the porch (whilst one of my flatmates walked past, confused) I find out that;

 

a) they had been to see the most recent Nats game (baseball)

b) the daughter had moved to the U.S from China after highschool, to study, and had since worked in New York City as an exhibition designer. She is in D.C to work with the Smithsonians

c) She now lives just a few streets from here, but prefers NYC*

 

*She didn't actually say this, but this is the impression I got, especially as she mentioned about how exciting NYC is, and didn't say much about D.C. She's trying to find a job so that she can move back to NYC.

 

The GIANT 1/2 watermelon I found at Eastern Market. I'm going to miss the local fruit & vegetables. Some of the stalls at the market are run by the Amish community.

That piece of watermelon was only $3. Bargain. I also got a nutella & banana crepe...

 

Vocabulary learnt;

 

"called out", to be "called out" - to be caught out, or deliberately made an example of. For example, if someone isn't paying attention during a lesson, and the teacher chooses them to answer a question. Or, if something lies/ exaggerates something, and is found out.

 

"go-to" - this can refer to any item or object which is the most commonly used or which someone uses without having to think about it, such as a food, bag, facial expression, etc. Your 'go-to x' is the 'x' that you will resort to most commonly when you don't have the inclination/time to come up with something more original, or else that you will just go to automatically. pretty much any situation.   e.g., If you're in a rush, you grab your go-to bag.

 

Vocabulary taught to Americans;

 

"blag" - they have the word "bluff", meaning a similar thing, but hadn't heard of our word before!

Week 4, part one, outdoor movies and bright yellow schoolbuses

The "Screen on the Green"

Earlier in the week me and two other interns went to the National Mall, in order to watch an outdoor screening of E.T. This was a completely new, yet great experience. There's just so much atmosphere with outdoor performances, you can hear people talking, sirens, and all of the usual activity of the Capitol. You can have the cinema-sized screen without the cramped seats. The right temperature, without the noise of air conditioning or heating. The best thing was that during particularly dramatic/happy/sad moments people would cheer and clap together. At one point, during the credits, people from the back began spontaneously dancing, and this spread in a Mexican-wave type movement until everyone was up & moving!

I finally got a picture of one! (Georgia!) This is the culmination of every American highschool film that I have ever seen. Even in the summer, most kids seem to attend some kind of summer school or camp, to either catch up or get ahead.

Today, there was a power cut at work, and we got to leave after lunch! I should add that I do actually really enjoy my work, at the moment I'm just doing the initial reading to create a homeschool curriculum based on the WW2 Homefront. However, having a power cut meant that we got to eat cake, make shadow puppets with our hands and torches, and then head to the pub (where I had a coke, on account of being 19...) to say goodbye to one of the interns who has been at the museum for months now. I think it's fair to say that we're all going to miss his renditions of Disney songs and epic movie conversations in the lunchroom!

We've been very spoilt at work recently, considering our supervisor brought in Dunkin' Donuts the day the Royal baby was born, and on thursday there was a 21st birthday in our department, so, courtesy of the girl's "mom", we had a "birthday buffet"! It's been a good week!

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 3, part six, the National Museum of Natural History

The saddest-looking stuffed animal I have ever seen...

I've finally visited the National museum of Natural History! I have to say, one of the things that impressed me the most was that I left my sun cream and insect spray on a pillar outside the building (to comply with security regulations) and came back to get them 2 1/2 hours later, and they were still there! Ok, I had found a pretty stealthy place for them, but even so, that made me happy. I did enjoy the museum too, by the way.

However, a couple of things were noticeable;

1. Some adults with children were unable to recognise even (what I'd always thought) some of the world's most well-known animals. For example, I watched a woman tell her children that a ring-tailed lemur was "a big squirrel"
2. Some people, of all ages, but especially young people, simply took photos of things on display, without even reading any of the surrounding information. They then went on to photograph other things. That made me sad.
3. The most popular exhibit was a gallery of diamonds and gemstones, "all that glistens..." (saying that, I did get to see some of Marie Antoinette's earring, though it's the Diamond Necklace Affair that really went down in history)
4. The way to avoid crowds was to take the stairs. There were no Americans on the stairs, only non-English speaking tourists. So that was stereotypical.

From the 2nd floor balcony...reminds me of the film "Night at the Museum"!

As well as the objects on display, there was also a wildlife photography exhibition. The winning photo was of a gorilla with her baby, reading a book with a photo of a gorilla in it. Meta. I think the reason it may have won may be that to us as humans, the gorilla "reading" and appreciating its own image, with its baby by its side, just seems so human and therefore familiar.

Smithsonian castle building from the National Mall

Most interesting facts learnt;

• distinctive earbones are what set mammals apart from other animal kingdoms, as well as being covered in fur, giving birth to live young, and being fed by a mother that produces milk
• (especially for my sister's interest, this is for you Georgia!) - the most common species of wild rabbit was introduced into Australia, from Europe, in 1858
• 50 million years ago, the Artic was not cold, but forestland. Admittedly, 50 million years is a long time, but I guess I've never really thought about either of the polar regions just not being cold...
• Corundum (a crystalline form of Aluminium Oxide) forms gems, which are known as rubies if they are red in colour - but all other colours are known as sapphires!
• Polar bears evolved from brown bears who became stranded on a glacier off the coast of Alaska. Their fur had to change to match their new surroundings.
• After a meteorite slammed into Earth and killed the dinosaurs, 70% of all animal species died. Mammals now had the advantage as they were smaller, and had primarily lived underground. Being warm blooded, mammals could survive the fluctuations in climate which occurred immediately after the meteor and subsequent dusty darkness. Gradually mammals evolved to become bigger, and more dominant.