Memories

After the semester I spent one week each in New York and Washington DC. Travel slowly and explore the city slowly. I deliberately stayed away from the "city center" like Times Square because I am so tired of it. Waterfront and parks are must-go places whenever I traveled to a new city and I am delighted when I see the sunset by coincidence.

 

In Washington DC I lived in residential area called Logan Circle. DC is like Boston, but in a much bigger scale. Days were sunny and so refreshing but windy.

Brownstones here are as nice as those in Boston

Love the sky. People always say don't look back and keep forward. But I say you may find something pleasant if you are willing to turn around or stop for a second.

Washington Monument in the evening.

 

This is the first ever time I could catch this moment. I have seen so many squirrels in Boston but I could never take photos of any of them. But sorry I have no food.

The nicest part about traveling alone is you can go anywhere you wish without compromising. I would say I am more like a local than a tourist. I want to treasure my little holiday before my tough tough tough intern starts. Waking up at noon every day and I spent at least two hours in a nice neighborhood cafe reading my books and look out of the window see people walking. I love the life free from anxiety. I will never forget the delicious egg salad sandwiches and strawberry lemon ginger pops I had in Pleasant Pops cafe and Chai Latte.  

After eating bread or pastries for three days I decided to treat myself with nice, really nice food. I walked 45 minutes in 6 degrees just for that little restaurant and of course I was so satisfied. The spinach is awesome! Sometimes I really wanted to know where my courage comes from hahah.

Another really nice part of DC is Eastern Market. I love hanging around the little paintings and handicrafts by local artists. I bought a little seafood salad sandwiches for lunch but having it outdoor was not a good idea. uhaha The rubbish bin reminds me it is in Capitol Hill. Again it is a place where locals drop in and buy something for dinner. I went to the Washington DC Holiday Market also. It was fantastic.

There's a lot to say. Let's stop here...today:p

Reflection from visit to Tenement Museum NYC

I went to this museum in the very first day in New York City and I took a train in the opposite direction that I am supposed to take. Well this is not uncommon for a person who has no sense of direction. This tenement housed over 7000 immigrants in a decade, according to my memory of the interpretation. The guide was great and she embedded a few words in my mind: community, identity and chaotic. There are altogether 4 apartments on each floor and each was occupied by a six-people household. There are a total of 20 apartments in this single tenement. Conclusion: it is overcrowded.

The tenement was first occupied by German immigrants and then Jewish immigrants. This neighborhood was occupied by Jewish immigrants during late 1850s to early 1900s. Few days ago I visited United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and I roughly remember the Holocaust and suppression of Jewish happened in the same period as the immigration. The first thing popped up in my mind about Jewish immigration in United States is that despite the desperate situation faced by Jewish at that time, United States was unable to raise immigrant quota for Jewish. I am not taking any stance but I'd like to find out the relationship between Nazi suppression and Jewish immigration during 1900s.

Well here comes to the main point of this entry, finally. Earlier this year I was supposed to teach high school kids in Boston about "Identity". It is a very simple, but also complicated concept and the guide's interpretation brought me back to this matter. How did the Jewish immigrants protect their own identity when they are in a totally unfamiliar country? What kind of conflict did they encounter and how did they resolve this? The guide introduced us several photographs of that time and we saw different expressions of identity in the same community. When I was trying to convey the message, we used clothing, food and language as examples. Some of the Jewish immigrants stick to their traditions and speak Irish only, while some others tried their best to integrate into American culture or became "Americanized". Change in expression of identity could be seen across the generation as we saw some young American clothing and novels in immigrants' homes.

It was a really good experience and not surprisingly I could hardly see any Asian or Chinese visitors in the site.