Hello my
beautiful friends! (That sounded
very hopeful).
I hope you’ll be patient with me true this trip.
Sometimes it can get a bit exhaustingJ. Well, let’s move on…I’m
going to write a little about the USA in general, which is smart, because I’ll
have to know a little about this country before I go there. The USA is only a
short word for The United States of America. The US consists of The United
States, Alaska and Hawaii. In America, there are 50 states. Some huge and some
a little bit smaller. As long as I can remember, I have thought that Washington
D.C was in the top left corner of USA, but then suddenly, I realize that there
are two Washington’s! One up in the top, (Washington) and one right next to New
York (Washington DC). (I realize now
that I’m really stupid…) However, Washington D.C is the capital though. So
prepare for some simple facts before I head out to reach my airplaneJ. Hope it’s not
too long.
The capital in The United States is Washington D.C, as
I mentioned. It was founded on July 16th in 1990. Not too long ago
though. Washington D.C is neither a city or a state, but a federal district.
This district is a separate nation. I do not know why, but I’ll somehow figure
it out when I’m in the USA. It has something to do with Virginia. Okay, I’ll
have to do some research later I guess. Well, here is something I know: The
population of Washington D.C were in 2013, 646.449, the 23rd most populated
city in the US. That’s awesome, right? Here’s another fact bomb. There are 123
public schools in Washington D.C! That’s a lot! I’m I overreacting now? Well,
well. Shit happensJ.
In the last post, I had a picture that showed a flag.
That was the American flag, with stars, stripes and all. There are 50 stars on
the flag that represents on star each state. USA is a huge continent that
consist of 50
 |
| USA, the 50 states |
states, both big and small. One of the 50 states are Florida,
another one is Texas, and there is also Montana…And so on. So many states to
remember! Well…If I want to. (To go fully into details about the flag), the
flag consists of thirteen equal lines (or stripes if you’d like), that goes
horizontal over the surface.
The stripes are in red and white. The square up in
the left corner is covered in blue, and there is lots of lots of white stars. I
have already told you how many there are J The stripes stands for all
of the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom Of
Great Britain, and who became the first state in the country. So … this flag is
really good looking and nice based on what I’ve seen. You know, there haven’t always
been 50 stars on the flag? There was actually thirteen stars and thirteen
stripes before. This flag came first in 1777, 14th of June, and it
is Betsy Ross’s variant. The thirteen stars symbolized the first thirteen
states formed by the Republic. The current flag (the one they have today)
didn’t come until 1960, 4th of July. Now I know so much more than I
did before! Did not think so at all… We’ll move on.
The new US government started in 2009 with Barack Obama
as president, and Joe Biden as vice president. Barack Obama is in leading as
the president, and the government consist of The White house’s office, the vice
president and also fifteen departments that were created by the congress by
law. In addition to the 15 ministers and the vice president, five other
ministries have cabinet status in the government, which the president can give
to public figures. There you have it, the government of the United States of
America. Not so much to say there…but enough.
4th of July! Hurray, hurray! Yeh, I’ll stop
with that. The Independence day, or 4th of July, is the national day
for the US. They celebrate their declaration of independence, which happened 4
th
of July, 1776, when they declared their independence with Great Britain (which
is a part of the United Kingdom), and the day when the Declaration of
Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress. Which means that it was a
convention of delegates from the colonies in 1775. Pho! Many numbers and dates
to take care of.
On this day, the Americans celebrate with (often) fireworks, parades,
carnivals, barbecues, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family
reunions, and so on. The list is long, I get it. Nevertheless, to me, this sounds
very
funny, so maybe I’ll travel during July next time I’m going to America.
J Well. It’s not
just concerts and festivals on this day, but huge political speeches too. In
addition to celebrate for all Americans, they celebrate different American
traditions. Which includes celebrating of the government and some old history, (I
can clearly see a story time clip in my head right now. Lot’s of kids gathering
around to hear me reading from an old history book. Big name standing in the
front: History time!). Tee-hee, this would only be funny to those who can
understand itJ. That is what
the Americans do at least. (4th of July I mean). Someday, I want to
experience this, I hope.
What consists of hard materials, and are often very
high? Famous buildings of course! The Empire State Building is very well known,
and the skyscraper has a total of 102 floors! Just think about how amazingly
huge that is! The construction of the building started in 1929, and the
architect’s name is William F. Lamb. I once knew someone named William … But
that is totally out of the road, if I can name it like that. Back to the
buildings. The Empire State Building, standing with pride legs in New York, the
largest city in the US.
Three words: WOW. Just had to say that
J. You’re
certainly wondering right now what kind of building it is? Is it a training
center for old people, a mosque in the middle of New York, maybe a palace? No,
of course not. This gigantic skyscraper is an office, made by tower block. And
it is now located as the fourth tallest skyscraper in the United States, and
the 23rd tallest in the world. The Empire State building is also
thought of as an American cultural icon. It means that it is fully recognizable
to other people in other cultures. Having enough with this building? Moving
forward to the next oneJ.
Have anyone heard of The White House? Raise your hand if you have! *Raising my
hand multiple times*.
Prepare for a fact bomb … The White House is the official
workplace of the president of the United States, in Washington D.C. True times,
it have been many presidents in this building. The construction started in
1792, and just the building have four floors! The floor space is at 5,100m²!
That’s huge! The architect of this fantastic building is James Hoban. The White
House is also in several American movies, nether it is in war or peace. “Done with the buildings yet?” Yes, I’m
done now. No more hard materials and solid walls. No more big architects
drawing you’re attention from this blog … Wait! There is a little bit more.
Just hold on faithful friend! I still want to write a little about the space
needle. This long and high building is in Seattle. Probably one of the most
known landmarks in the city, and it is a symbol of Seattle. The Space Needle is
a six-floored building that is a lookout tower. The lookout tower is exactly
184 meters high, and it opened on 21th of April, in 1962. On the top, there is
SkyCity restaurant, an observation deck and a gift shop. In
addition, one can
see very far. So if you’re going to Seattle next time, make sure you’re
visiting the Space
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| The space needle (to the left) |
needle! You can see downtown Seattle, the Olympic, Cascade
Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliot Bay and also surrounding islands.
Oh, I forgot to mention the architects! You see, it’s a thing now: The
architects for the Space Needle is Edward Carlson, Victor Steinbrueck and John
Graham Jr. There, some famous building in the US. I’m done nowJ.
One more thing that’s smart to know before I head out
to my airplane! If I’m going to buy something (which I probably will) I must
use American dollar. The currency right now is 6.60 NOK (Norwegian crones) for
one American dollar. So that means that 1 US dollar equals 6.60 NOK. Very easy
(because I knew this from before. Tee-hee) I will probably be able to take out
any necessary cash in USA when I get there.
That was all I had for this timeJ Next time I
write, I’ll be in the USA! Can’t wait! Orlando, Florida next! Must reach my airplane, it leaves in 10
minutes! Good bye my fellow friends, we writes next time.
Lots
of hugs from Ingrid Kristine <3 J
Sources:
How are you? Good? Well that’s great! I’m good, thanks
for asking you kind human beingJ So here we are
again. I’m writing on my lovely blog and you’re reading it. Isn’t it nice?
Well, I think it is nice. I’m on this historical museum again. It is so nice
and adventurous over here! Old history about the Native Americans, immigrants, arts
and slavery. That’s what I’m going to talk about now. Slavery I mean. Isn’t it
usual to talk about what you think about in a blog? As you’ve probably noticed,
I talk a lot about my thoughts and words in this blog. What can I say? It makes
me want to write even better than I would have done in a pure text about facts.
Well, here it goes. My thoughts. (Moreover, just so you now, I’ll write about
what slavery is later in this post). I have always thought that slavery was awful
and terrible. I mean…It is pure torture! Grown up men walking around pretending
to be much better than everyone else by yelling and punishing! It is terrible!
In this post I’ll be talking about this. Not just because it is exciting with
old history, but also because I need to get out a little frustration. So here
we go.
