The USA in general

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 16^th 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, 14^th 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, 4^th 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.

4^th of July! Hurray, hurray! Yeh, I’ll stop with that. The Independence day, or 4^th 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. (4^th 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 thatJ. 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 23^rd 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

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:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_States

http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAs_regjering

http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obamas_regjering

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Continental_Congress

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_icon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_State_Building

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Needle