The Cultural Monument (PB)

I do not believe that civilization will be wiped out in a war fought with the atomic bomb.

Albert Einstein

To most of us the Great Wall of China or St. Peter’s Basilica are untouchable monoliths, built hundreds of years before we can even imagine. They tower above the world, almost like they’re imaginary. This sense of the untouchable is what makes something special. Things that hold this innate power over our culture. It is these buildings that make our civilizations last forever.

If we didn’t have the pyramids of Giza, would any of us really care about the Ancient Egyptian society? How about the Greeks? The Acropolis sits high on a hill, gazing down for thousands of years at its subjects. Like a proud parent it stares down at the society it birthed and those that came after. Even more poignant and famous is the Coliseum in Rome. Then the iconic Tower Bridge, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace guards in Britain. Finally we make our way across the Atlantic to the U.S. Perhaps with the most famous and iconic representation of a single civilization—the Statue of Liberty.

When all of us are gone, our monuments will live on. Future generations will stand at the feet of our Statue of Liberty, just as we stand at the base of the Acropolis and the Great Wall. They will stare up into stony eyes and wonder what possessed people to put the statue of a woman in the middle of the ocean. It is from this wonder that our civilization will carry on forever. For every person that sees that statue there will be another 10 who have heard of it.

The next time you see a picture of a monument, or visit a monument itself, think about what that piece of stone represents. Think about how it defines our culture. Think about how it defines our civilization as we know it. It doesn’t even have to be a monument. For instance, every time I walk into a Chinese restaurant I think how weird it must be for people to think that less than a hundred years ago nearly no one in America had ever tasted Chinese food, now there’s a restaurant in nearly every city. Our civilization is built up of all different kinds of people from all different kinds of cultures. This is what truly sets our civilization apart from all the earlier great civilizations. That is what will define our civilization for all eternity, just like those monuments did for the Greeks and Romans.

My Thanksgiving in Disney (PB)

In the past week I have spent probably over 48 hours on a bus. Perhaps somewhere close to an hour of that time was spent standing, swaying back and forth while clinging for dear life to a safety strap on a bus moving at up to 50 miles an hour. On average I spent 13 hours on my feet per day. It never got above 75 degrees and for the first two days it rained. In case you didn’t know I went to Disney World this week. Instead of spending Thanksgiving with my family I spent it at Magic Kingdom. In order to fully understand what I have been through recently, I’ll take us back to the beginning.

Day 1: It’s Monday and I’m at school, big surprise. Instead of going to normal classes I’m taking an A.P. U.S. History test before I have to leave for Disney. At 10 we head out. Our entire day will be spent on the coach bus with a brief stop for dinner. We spend most of the day in West Virginia. Literally, most of the day. I think we spent something like 7 hours in West Virginia. My seatmate (Jenna Giordano) and I spent the day in various stages of self-amusement. It started off with insults such as “Your ____ is a gang symbol.” Somewhere around Erie I had to explain to Jenna that if you continue going past Erie you don’t end up in Buffalo. Then we moved on to other interests like our childhood mishaps such as opening the wrong doors. “It was like I opened the door to Narnia. They were looking at me like what power do you have to open the portal.” Somewhere around 7 we reverted to absolutely exhaustion and confusion, “I’ve seen the book and read the movie.” Around 8 it moved to deep, soul-searching realizations like “To an outsider it may look like we hate each other, but really we just get each other.” Finally, at 11 we fell into a very restless and uncomfortable sleep.

Day 2: We are awakened at 5 in the morning to get dressed. You may think I’m joking but I’m not. We stopped at a rest stop at 5 a.m. and were informed we had to get dressed. Eventually we made it to Florida and everyone got to experience sunrise in Jacksonville together. By 10 we were in Orlando and heading straight into a torrential downpour and tornado warnings. This is a picture of me and my friend Abbey during the day at Animal Kingdom. The rain eventually stopped for the most part and we were able to have some fun.

That night I got sick and after a few breakdowns (I won’t say exactly how many, but exhaustion was partly to blame) I stayed back at the hotel with my mom and another sick student. The rest of the group went on to Magic Kingdom where they got caught in torrential downpour and had to return early. Needless to say the three of us that stayed back were joyous to have missed that.

Day 3: Downtown Disney was not very exciting. There wasn’t much to do other than shop, but I got to meet a cousin of mine and his adorable three year old daughter. We also got to sit back and enjoy an amazing choral performance by our very own. The traditional Thanksgiving dinner at Planet Hollywood wrapped up our day with an amusing and impromptu dance party put on by the band, music provided complimentary with our dinner. The cameras and screens around the restaurant helped as well.

Day 4: Happy Thanksgiving! As a present we had to get up at 5 in the morning, once again. Sunrise over the water at Magic Kingdom was pretty spectacular and the castle was of course gorgeous. We had until 6:30 to explore the park at which time we had to meet up with the rest of the band to get ready to perform in the Electric Light Parade. We were the head of the parade and it was pretty incredible. There were three other bands—one of which I heard had over 1300 students in it. Backstage Disney is pretty cool, but a little scary as we were told we weren’t allowed to take any pictures or even have our phones out. Once we got back into the performers area we were allowed pictures, but it was still a little nerve wracking. After the parade we were bused back to our hotel through our own coach buses.

 

Day 5: Finally we get to sleep in, until 7. Epcot doesn’t open as early as the other parks thankfully. As the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) Epcot is relatively deserted when we first get there. Things pick up in the evening, but for a while it’s all calm. As the day wears on we make it back into the countries to explore.

We eat a great lunch in Germany and a steak dinner in America that’s miraculously included on our food tickets. When sun finally sets Spaceship Earth (the ball) lights up in an awesome show that barely scratches the surface of the amazing show that is Reflections. The closing ceremony at Epcot that occurs at 9:30 includes amazing fireworks and fire that you can feel from across the water. All in all Epcot remains my favorite of all the parks.

Day 6: Today we are coming home. As we make our way into the lobby from our area of the hotel my mom and I are treated to the view of hot air balloons soaring across the blue sky.

Today has been the only day really warm enough for shorts so we’re all rejoicing. The sun is finally shining and our group picture goes well. It’s at this moment that I am truly happy to be here. That I feel so glad to have the friends that I do. That feeling quickly leaves, but it was nice while it lasted.

We spent the day in Hollywood Studios and I got to go see the Beauty and the Beast show, which is absolutely awesome. At the end of the day we head back to the bus stop at 5 to catch a ride to our hotel. We depart completely at 6 and are back on the road.

Day 7: We stop in West Virginia for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel. We stop again outside Pittsburgh for lunch before finally getting home around 6. I have never been so happy to see the high school in my life.

That is my entire experience in Disney World and I am very happy to be home!