Sugarplum: Silver gate, Inauguration, Feel bad for being the tiny one

The Capitol

Can you read it?

I supposed to post this long time ago. But, you know, am the laziest person in the world. I wrote this for my school newspaper *yeah, since my teacher told me so*, Tosa West Side. Let's check this out!

Goes to the Inauguration

The inauguration of the president elect Barrack Obama was held just about 2 weeks ago. People were excited to see the new better life. The spirit of the change was so strong. I saw the historical moment all over the city. I was so glad to be in the US seeing this important moment in US history; the campaign and election day that leading up to it. I would never have imagined to be part in the Inauguration too. One day after the election, my mom requested an Inauguration ticket from the our representative. One month later the House of Representatives sent us a letter that said we were going to the Inauguration. So, here we go!

Friday, Jan 16th 2009

We left for Mitchell at 4 am, since the plane that we were supposed to fly on yesterday afternoon was cancelled. My host mom and I weren’t talking about the Inaugration or wearing anything that would give anyone a clue that was where we were headed. Yet, when we got on to the plane heading from Milwaukee to Detroit, I was sitting next to a woman who said that I must surely be going to D.C for the Inauguration. It also happened on the second plane from Detroit to Reagan; an old lady with a cane and a wheelchair said that she was going to the Inauguration and I must be doing the same thing as her. She was so excited telling me how happy she was to get the ticket to the Inauguration. Unlike us, she ordered the ticket even before election day. It was so amazing to me to see how people still want to go to see the inauguration even they aren't in a good condition.

We arrived at Reagan Airport just after 10 that morning and took the Metro to Vienna, a city in Virginia where we stayed during our trip. After having lunch, we spent the rest of the day at Holocaust Museum and walked around the National Mall. The Museum was a really cool museum where we could see exactly how the Holocaust, the worst act of discrimination, happened. The Museum is organized so well that we didn’t miss any part of the history of the Holocaust. I am so grateful that now that there is less discrimination now than in the period of human history that I saw in this museum. In most parts of this world, everyone has the same right for justice, everyone is treated fairly, everyone can be whatever they want. In 4 days, I will see an event showing that everyone can be the president.

Saturday, Jan 17th 2009

We spent our day at the National Art Gallery and then the Smithsonian Museum of American History. On the Metro, as usual, the Inauguration was the topic the majority of people were talking about — by both grown ups and teenagers. At the metro stop, people were selling T-shirts, hats, jackets, scarves and bags that had either Obama himself or Obama with his entire family on it.

At the Smithsonian, historical interpreters acted out the roles of important historical figures. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Luther King Jr gave speechs with intonation and gestures as if they were the real men, very professional. People were listening to them one by one, very seriously, as if they were the real presidents. That was so cool.

On our way back to the Metro stop, there were many cars in which people were selling Inauguration and Obama souvenirs. There were even earrings with Obamas face on them! Sellers offered the stuffs, people were passing out free magazines about the Inauguration, and a bunch of people were out on the sidewalks, buying mementos at the car, just walking to enjoy the beautiful afternoon, or even dancing together enjoy the music from a guy who was playing drum set that made of kitchen utensils. It was if D.C. was having a sidewalk party. The road was full of friendly people with happy faces.

Sunday, Jan 18 2009

We went to one of the oldest city in Virginia, named Fredericksburg. It was a small -beautiful - old city. The buildings are in 1700’s style. It was a city where George Washington spent his childhood. No wonder there are some historical buildings of him such as Mary Washington’s (President George Washington’s mother) house, and George Washington’s Ferry Farmer, and also Rising Sun Tavern (a tavern built by Charles Washington-George Washington’s brother). There is also the Hugh Mercer Apothecary, a clinic where Dr. Mercer served the citizen in Fredericksburg with medicines and treatments of the time. Leeches, lancets, snakeroot, and crab claws made up just some of the remedies. Mary Washington was also his patient. Today (Jan 18) there was an exhibition that people may come in to this tiny old apothecary for free since it was Dr. Mercer’s birthday. The people who worked here dressed up in 1800’s style and explain about the medical treatments, surgery methods, and other stuff about medicine that was used at that time. It’s a cool city that showed me how amazing the history of this country is, bringing me to see the life of the oldest president of the US before I saw the newest one in about one and a half days. What a beautiful day!

On our way back home, the road was so crowded because of the concert that was held at the Lincoln Memorial in the afternoon.

Monday, Jan 19 2009

The House of Representatives Office of James Sensenbrenner was open from 9 am until 4 pm for us to pick up our tickets to the Inauguration. We left home at 9 am. We went there by car and caught by traffic jam on the way near the office. After walking for about 10 minutes, we got at in front of the building and the line was about a half mile long in front of us. People stood in line, moved pretty fast. A family from New York stood in front of us with a little girl in the stroller, a couple from Indiana stood behind us holding their suitcases and a coat: they had just flew this morning and were going to a ball that evening; a couple from California stood near by us with thick coats, scarves and mittens, although for me it wasn’t cold, it was only 30F.

It was kind of cool to see people from all over the states come here and get together for one mission, one intention. After about 30 minutes in line, we got in to the office after the security check, of course. We walked to the 2^nd floor to find the room where people from our district in Wisconsin picked up their tickets. The officer checked our IDs and then gave us our tickets. The Inauguration was at 11:30 am, but they said it would be better to leave home at 6ish in the morning. That’s reasonable enough considering there must be a very long line to get through the gate, I thought. When I got the ticket to the Inauguration, I almost couldn’t believe it.

We spent the rest of the day at Alexandria, a small town in Virginia. It’s not like Fredericksburg, which was far enough away that it didn’t seem wrapped up in the Inauguration. In Alexandria, many stores sold inauguration and Obama souvenirs. We went to a building called Torpedo Factory. It was a building where people made weapon during WWII but now it is an art center. I was thankful that when I went to this building, I saw artists were making art stuffs such as painting, crafts, and etc. . . not people making guns and rifles.

Tuesday, Jan 20^th 2009

It was still dark and pretty cold when we left home at 6 am but the line to get in to the Metro was really long already. I was wondering what time did they get here. A bunch of people was already there, but I didn’t see any sleepy face. They even bring their little kids. Some people looked busy with either camera or handycam on their hand recording this important day in history. And as usual, some people were selling Inauguration stuff, newspapers, or handing out free magazines. After waiting for more than 30 minutes, we got into the Metro. For today, all of the Metro trains were going to the Capitol. No wonder people who worked in D.C or north Virginia didn’t have to go to work!

The Metro was full of groups of students who were also going to the Inauguration. It took about 30 minutes before we got out of the Metro. I started to see tons of people who were walking fast on the road in every different direction. The stores were closed except for coffee shops. There was no traffic coming in or out of the city, so people took over the freeway in order to get to the gate. We walked in a hurry for about 25 blocks, and I never knew I could be that strong to walk that far. It was like a unity walk, with millions of participants. There is nothing else I could see but people. We got to the line to get through the Silver Gate at 9.30, and the line was about one block in front of us. We were in line for about one hour but we didn’t move. Many people just gave up and left the line. They said the police wouldn’t let us in because it was past 9 o’clock. I kept standing in line and wouldn’t go until I heard it by myself. Finally at 11:20 they opened the gate and let all of us in, without checking our tickets or even passing us through a security checkpoint. We were just walking through the gate and tried to get closer. I couldn’t see anything but the backs of the people ahead of me, so we walked to find things that we could step up on to. We found an electronic map and stood on it; I could see people on the Capitol balcony but it wasn’t clear at all. There was also a huge screen near us showing what’s going on over there. The song My Country tis of thee, awoke the nationalism of everybody who was listening. People were over excited, cheering and clapping while President Obama was giving his speech. Cheering people cried: “Yes We Can!” over and over. The spirit of change was so strong, many people cried. It touched my heart even though I’m not an American. No wonder millions of people from all over the states, even those who weren’t in good condition, came here so early, and even camped near this Capitol…. only to be a part of this very historical moment. We make the change!