Holocaust Memorial Museum

Last weekend, I was in Washington, D.C. for a hockey tournament over Presidents Day weekend. In the little free time I had, me and my parents visited many of the historic sites of Washington D.C. I want to focus on one the museums that we visited. My dad and I were very interested in seeing  the Holocaust museum so we stopped in just before it closed and only had time for two exhibits. We first saw the Propaganda exhibit which talked a lot about how the Nazi Party used modern techniques as well as technologies and carefully crafted messages to sway millions with its vision for a new Germany. This was very interesting to me and I enjoyed looking at the different propaganda posters that were displayed in the exhibit. We then went on and went into the Remember the Children: Daniel's Story exhibit which was a very emotion exhibit. It was the story about a boy named Daniel and his family during the Holocaust. Since Daniel's family were Jewish, the Nazi's hated them and drove his family out of the Germany in 1938 when he was 11. Jewish kids were not allowed to go to public schools anymore, they wouldn't let anyone shop and his families store, the synagog was burnt down and the Nazi's made all jews wear yellow stars on their shirts that had the word "Jew" printed on them in big, black letters. The Nazi's took them far away to a ghetto which was very crowded and dirty and there was no way to escape. His family went from living in a nice house to living in a tiny room for all of them. The Nazi's then send them to a concentration camp where Daniel and his father were separated from his mother and sister who were taken away and murdered. Daniel did everything to survive and he did. He was one of very few. Over one million children under the age of 16 died during the Holocaust and Daniel survived. This was a very emotion exhibit for me and it is something I will never forget. 

Has anyone ever been to this museum? 

Superstitions

Last week, we talked about superstitions in class. Superstition is an irrational belief that an object, action or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome. Many people are superstitious. Some more than others. I believe that being superstitious is a natural thing because if you do something once and you do it right, why shouldn't you do it again? I am an athlete and I am very superstitious. For example, I play hockey and before every single game, I tape my stick no matter if it needs to be taped or not. I am afraid that if I do not tape my stick we are going to lose. It is something I do and something I will not change. Praying every night before bed could be another superstition for others. Many people are very superstitious about the number 13. It just so happenes that number 13 is is my favorite and lucky number to me. Throughout history the number 13 has been looked down upon and known as an unlucky number. There are many ways that people can be superstitious. I remember talking about the difference between superstitions and myths and discovered that they originated and different times and places. What are some other ways that someone could be superstitious? What is your opinion on superstitions.? Do you believe in them? 

Biking 3,900 Miles

I came across a very interesting article earlier today and it was about a 22 year-old guy who biked 3,900 miles from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. to see Obama's inauguration. This guys loved to ride his bike all over and loves Obama just as much so he decided to make this long journey. He called his bike trip, "Biking for Obama." Ryan Bowen started his journey from L.A. the night of December 2, 2008. This seems like something that someone would only do if they truly loved to ride their bike and if they loved Obama that much. This goes to show that people do whatever it takes so see history. It is simply amazing. Not only did he bike across the country, but he encouraged others to ride their bikes to Obama's inauguration as well. 

What do you think? Is this man crazy? 

Birds and Planes

The other day I was watching the news and the news reporters were reporting about a Plane that made a crash landing into the Hudson river near Manhattan. Directly after take off, a U.S. Airways plane flew right through a flock of birds and took out both engines of the plane. Just 90 seconds after take off the plane was going down. The captain of the flight acted quickly and landed the plane in the Hudson river. No one on the flight was seriously injured and it is a miracle that that river was there because many people could have been seriously injured or killed. In just a matter of minutes, everyone evacuated from the plan and was rush to shore. A few days later, the plane was taken out of the river. This is really a miracle and it is amazing that birds are able to cause such great damage to a plane. 

 

2009 Winter Classic

A few days ago, my family and I went to the 2009 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field on New Years Day. For those that don't know what the Winter Classic is, it is an NHL hockey game that was outdoors at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Both the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Redwing, the team the Blackhawks were hosting, were wearing classic Jerseys that the teams wore many many years ago. Last year, I remember watching the 2008 Winter Classic on television that took place in Buffalo, New York. I kept saying how cool this would be to have in Chicago and sure enough, it was. I was so thrilled when my dad told me that I was going to the Winter Classic. So many people were trying so hard to get tickets but the tickets were very expensive and extremely hard to get since the event took place in Wrigley Field. The winter classic that was in New York, took place in the NFL Stadium which holds much more people. People were so desperate to go to this game that they were even buying tickets on apartment roof tops just to say that they were at this game. The game was a blast and it is something that I will never forget as long as I live, even thought the Blackhawks lost. 

Now, the question is, where will this event be held next year? It will have to be in a cold climate or else it wouldn't be considered a Winter Classic. Will it be in a bigger stadium than Wrigley Field? Why wasn't this event held at Soldier Field where the Bears play? 

50 Degree Weather in December?

Just last week, it was below zero degree temperature in Chicago. Now it is in the 50s. This is absolutely crazy. It it pretty hard to believe that it is currently 54 degrees outside in Wilmette according to weather.com, in late December. I love winter and snow but if it is 50 degrees outside there will be no snow and instead, there will be rain. Winter is suppose to be cold and snowy. Although we have had a ton of snow lately, I love it when the ground is white because that is what winter is all about in my mind. 

Many people have a different opinion on winter. Some people absolutely hate the snow, but I couldn't imagine Christmas with no snow. 

First Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, my cousins fiancé from Italy's mother, aunt, and twin brother came into town from Italy to meet a new part of their family and to have Thanksgiving in the States for the first time. As I walked into the door of my aunts house, all i could remember was how excited they were to meet me and how thrilled they were to be with our Italian side of the family for Thanksgiving. They spoke very little English so it was extremely hard to understand what they were saying. They continuously said "Happy Thanksgiving" because they were so overjoyed with excitement. They could not believe all the food that we eat for Thanksgiving. They ate a ton of it anyways! It was by far on of their most exciting experiences because they were so thankful that they could be there and they cannot wait to come back to the States for the wedding in March!

Has anyone ever been to a different country, celebrating a holiday that we don't celebrate here?