Sunday, July 29, 2012

Transportation Frustration, and Concert Memories


My time in Washington DC this summer has helped me realized some of the major differences between living in a big political city and Minnesota. My first couple weeks were incredibly eye-opening as I began to adapt to living with public transportation. If starting a new job and meeting a whole new set of roommates isn't hard enough, add on the difficulty of trying to grocery shop or hit up target without a car. I have never quite realized how heavy groceries are, or how annoying a transfer stop on the metro can be-- both the added time and physical effort of carrying groceries in the heat had me completely wiped out by the end of my first weekend in DC.

Luckily our housing location is ideal for many of the fantastic events that happen right outside of the Capitol. On the Fourth of July, we were lucky enough to have Adam Ironside to save us fantastic seats so that we only needed to start walking to the Fourth of July Concert at the Capitol a half hour before it started. Both the Fourth of July and Memorial day Concert, were highlights of my time in DC. There was something magical about sitting on the Capitol steps a midst throngs of decorated people waving flags. The people watching was fantastic simply because every type of person imaginable was in attendance-- citizen's, visitors, hippies, hicks, the rich, the poor, and uniforms from every branch of the government.

The Memorial Day Concert was a patriotic and emotional event that focused largely on highlighting the pain families feel when they lose a loved one to the service. My location during this concert was ill suited for viewing the screen and speakers on stage, but the emotional effect was not lost on me. Hearing an emotional voice ringing out over the crowds of people is perhaps more deeply impacting than seeing talking and seeing them one on one.

On a happier note, the Fourth of July Concert was a wonderful variety show that reminded me of my times performing oldies tunes in my high school's annual variety concert. The performers were absolutely amazing vocalists, and I enjoyed hearing the duets and oldies tunes. Most of the songs were upbeat and were American classics or had a patriotic theme to them. I particularly appreciated that they had John Williams- the composer of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and many other songs-- conducting the National Symphony Orchestra.

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