Another week down! This week was much busier than the past at work so I spent a lot of time in the office working on projects. However, I was able to leave on Tuesday to have lunch with the Canadian Embassy Trade Interns. It was a wonderful opportunity to compare political and social issues with someone from a different country that actually speaks English. What surprised me the most is how far behind the US is in social issues. For example, Canada approved gay marriage almost 20 years ago. The Canadian interns were also shocked over how political the gun debate is when they don't have that problem up north. They simply don't allow crazy people to buy assault weapons. I thoroughly enjoyed that conversation and I hope they didn't think we were the "stereotypical" US citizen.
Wednesday evening, Tayler and I took a stroll up to the Capitol Building to listen to the Marine Band play on the steps. Apparently each week the branches of the military have a band that plays throughout the city. Not only were they really good, but it was the perfect place to watch the sunset. During the performance, the band found out that Prince's drummer was in the crowd. To no surprise they asked her to come join them for a song and she said yes! Definitely not the type of thing that would happen in Iowa on a Wednesday night.
Saturday was the 66th Anniversary of the start of the Korean War. My grandpa fought in the Army during that war so I wanted to do something to commemorate that day. I walked to the Eastern Market, which is basically an overpriced farmers market, bought a bouquet of flowers, and made my way to the National Mall. I was pleasantly surprised to find there was an actual ceremony going on at the memorial in honor of the anniversary. Both Veterans from the Korean War and officials from South Korea were present reading the names of all those who lost their lives in the war. There were also wreaths surrounding the monument from Legions and other Veteran organizations from around the world. It was humbling knowing that people took the time and liberty to remember the "forgotten" war.
After spending a couple hours hours watching the ceremony, my roommate Tayler and I decided to go to the National BBQ Battle. The BBQ Battle is sponsored by Giant grocery stores and is one of the biggest BBQ contests in the US. If you have ever seen the show American Pitmasters that's the caliber of competition. Besides the cook-our a lot of food companies set up booths and pass out a bunch of samples of their new products. I would highly recommend the Barefoot Wine Spritzers, just saying. The National Pork Board also attends the BBQ Battle with the Iowa Pork Producers so of course we stopped by to try some pork tenderloin and catch up with the Iowa Pork Ambassadors. Two years ago I worked the BBQ battle as one of my Pork Princess duties so it was cool to be on the other side of things. Our night ended with a lot of amazing BBQ food and visits to the only two country bars in the DC area.
Wednesday evening, Tayler and I took a stroll up to the Capitol Building to listen to the Marine Band play on the steps. Apparently each week the branches of the military have a band that plays throughout the city. Not only were they really good, but it was the perfect place to watch the sunset. During the performance, the band found out that Prince's drummer was in the crowd. To no surprise they asked her to come join them for a song and she said yes! Definitely not the type of thing that would happen in Iowa on a Wednesday night.
Saturday was the 66th Anniversary of the start of the Korean War. My grandpa fought in the Army during that war so I wanted to do something to commemorate that day. I walked to the Eastern Market, which is basically an overpriced farmers market, bought a bouquet of flowers, and made my way to the National Mall. I was pleasantly surprised to find there was an actual ceremony going on at the memorial in honor of the anniversary. Both Veterans from the Korean War and officials from South Korea were present reading the names of all those who lost their lives in the war. There were also wreaths surrounding the monument from Legions and other Veteran organizations from around the world. It was humbling knowing that people took the time and liberty to remember the "forgotten" war.
After spending a couple hours hours watching the ceremony, my roommate Tayler and I decided to go to the National BBQ Battle. The BBQ Battle is sponsored by Giant grocery stores and is one of the biggest BBQ contests in the US. If you have ever seen the show American Pitmasters that's the caliber of competition. Besides the cook-our a lot of food companies set up booths and pass out a bunch of samples of their new products. I would highly recommend the Barefoot Wine Spritzers, just saying. The National Pork Board also attends the BBQ Battle with the Iowa Pork Producers so of course we stopped by to try some pork tenderloin and catch up with the Iowa Pork Ambassadors. Two years ago I worked the BBQ battle as one of my Pork Princess duties so it was cool to be on the other side of things. Our night ended with a lot of amazing BBQ food and visits to the only two country bars in the DC area.