Shopping in Union Station

The place I'll go shopping might be f.y.e. they sell different kinds of music and movies and they sell them CHEAP!! And the place I would like to try out for lunch is the Center Cafe Restaurant, for a vegetarian like me there always a problem when I go out and eat. But at Center Cafe Restaurant they have lots of different kinds of food, from food for grass eaters to food for meat eaters.

Getting to the End of the Trip

It's almost the end of the Washington D.C. trip and some questions were to be answered. 

The first question were asked was "Be prepared for lots of walking and dress comfortably. Make sure you do not wear a belt or shoes with large buckles. Do not pack a lunch for the day. Why?" Well, in D.C. places are next to each other but there are tons of places to visit, walking might be the best choice. And because some places has security check, wearing belt of shoes with large buckles will make yourself not convenient. Not packing lunch because...... come on, your in D.C. enjoy the tasty food there!! 

The next question was "Who are the senators for your state? Who is the representative for your district? If you were to meet them where would you find them and how would you set up that appointment? What types of security will you need to be prepared for? Why?" The senators for my state is Dianne Feinstein and Barbra Boxer, the representative for my district is Jim Beall and if I were to meet them probably sending them an e-mail and meet in their office. The types of security I have to be prepared for is the metal detector, because lots of places in D.C. have to go through the detector when enter.

And the last but not least "What question would you ask your senator or representative? Why?" Maybe I'll ask them why they choose to do this job and what's the feeling about it.

The Capitol Building

23 relief portraits are over the gallery doors of the House Chamber, those were the people who work in establishing the principles that underlie American law. One of them grabbed my eye, well it's the first one I saw, it was the portrait of Tomas Jefferson. The first thing I connected to was a nickel...... the only difference were the portrait was facing the opposite way and didn't have the "In God We Trust" on the side the rest looked the same. 

There are actually a lot of art and architecture that shows democracy in or on the capitol building, for example the Progress of Civilization on the East front Senate entrance with a figure of America in the middle and to the right was the early days of America then on the left were more civilized people. Another one was the Apotheosis of Democracy on the East front of the House entrance, a figure representing peace in the center and industry on the left agriculture on the right.

Monuments

There are a lot of beautiful monuments in Washington D.C. and my top three is the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and the Arlington National Cemetery.

Making the Washington Monument the first place is because when thinking of monuments that's the first one that pops into my head and it's ...... classy. The Washington Monument is in the National Mall and of course it was built to commemorate our first president George Washington. It was finished in 1884 and it was the world's tallest structure until 1889.

The second place is the Lincoln Memorial, same as the Washington Monument, it's in the West end of National Mall and was built to honor our 16th president Abraham Lincoln. The Memorial had a Greek Doric temple feel and the most famous, I believe, of this memorial is the large Abraham Lincoln seated statue in the building.

And the last but not least, the Arlington National Cemetery. 624 acres cemetery that have been laid casualties and deceased veterans from every our nation wars. A place for us to pay our respect to the people that fought and died for us and our country.

The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the highest federal court in the United States, it has unlimited appellate jurisdiction over all federal courts and state courts cases that involved issues with federal law plus an original jurisdiction over a small range of cases. 

The Supreme Court building was built in 1935 and was designated a National Historic Landmark. The building was designed to keep the importance and dignity of the court, and as the symbol of "the national ideal of justice in the highest sphere of activity."

Some of the architecture and arts of the Supreme Court shows the law and justice, for example while standing in front of the building, the man on the right - Authority of Law and the woman on the left - Contemplation of Justice.  The Authority of Law is a marble figure of a man holding a tablet of law and a sheathed sword to his right side and the Contemplation of Justice same is a marble figure but a woman holding a book of laws in her left hand and a figure of guardian of Justice in her right hand. The portico frieze of the building has words on there too, at the front of the building below the pediment there is "Equal Justice Under Law" and on the other side of the building there is "Justice the Guardian of Liberty".

The National Archives

The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution is housed in the National Archives. The Declaration of Independence is basically a statement adopted by the congress in 1776 telling Britain we are independent states and no longer part of them.The Constitution is the supreme law of the United States, originally there were 7 Articles but as it got adopted the Constitution was amended 27 times. Articles 1-3 was talking about the separation of powers; Articles 4 and 6 frame the doctrine of federalism and relationships between State and State; Article 5 provides the procedure for amending the constitution and Article 7 provides the procedure for ratifying the Constitution.

Business Letter to My Congressmen

December 12, 2013

Jeffrey Yen

3143 Moncontour ct.

San Jose, CA 95135

Dear Congressmen:

I'm a student from Evergreen Valley High School and I'm interested in visiting the White House. I wrote this letter because of post 9/11 security concerns; I must make a reservation via my representative to visit the White House at least 30 days in advance.

I hope that by visiting the White House I can understand more about this famous place, which my friends in Taiwan was asking about and asking if I been there before.

I would like to understand why this place is that famous and I think it's a shame that people from other countries went to see the White House but as being an American I never went there before.

Sincerely,

White House

1600 Pennsylvania ave

NW, Washington, DC 20500

Washington DC

Washington D.C. is located in the contiguous United States and in relation to the U.S. states of Maryland and Virginia. D.C. is the capitol city of the United States and doesn't belong to any U.S. states. Because it's run by the federal government the economic in this city is a lot more stable and decent compare to other states in America. In the past, because the North and the South wanted the capitol to be more near them and cannot made a decision about where the capitol will be. Soon they came to an agreement that they will build the capitol in between which is called the Washington D.C. today. 

For this Virtual trip to D.C. I would like to visit the big land marks such as the white house, the national mall, the Lincoln memorial, the Vietnam war memorial etc.