Today is labour day here in the States, which means we got an extra long weekend. I have taken it extremely easy - a bit of sunbathing (it is still scorching hot here, every day), a bit of the usual monument spotting, a bit of going out, a bit of cleaning, a bit of laundry, a tiny bit of shopping, and more. At least I managed to soak up some culture by visiting the National Museum of American History. It is owned by the Smithsonian Institution which runs a large number of museums here in DC, all free. I plan to visit at least one per week, let's see how it goes.
I got to the huge History Museum 1½ hours before closing (I should have learned by now that leaving home without a map never is a good idea) so I only had time to check out the entertainment and American flag section (we all have our priorities in life). Among other things I saw the original red shoes from the Wizard of Oz, a very familiar Disneyland Dumbo (got a bit nostalgic but didn't miss that Fantasyland music), and above all the original star-spangled banner which inspired the USA's national hymn.
It was raised in Baltimore in 1814 when the Americans defeated the Brits, and it's big enough to cover a whole living room (photos were not allowed). The exhibition also features a televised number of photographs depicting the importance and various uses of the flag as an American symbol (including ku klux klan), all accompanied by "hymn-sounding" music. After endless Euroculture (the MA I'm doing, in case you didn't know) lectures and discussions about how the EU tries and fails to create European symbols such as the EU flag, it is especially interesting to see how particular Americans seem to be about theirs. I obviously knew before I came here that I was going to visit a generally very patriotic country, but I didn't realise the extent to which people are actually flying the flag - it is everywhere.
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