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saw giant pandas and long-necked giraffes. Others walked around the tidal basin beneath the
blooming cherry trees where we watched dancers from Japan performing traditional Japanese
dance and Samurai swordsmanship. These performances were part of the annual Cherry Blos
som Festival designed to celebrate the gift of 3000 cherry tress from Tokyo to the people of the
U.S. in 1912. After viewing some of the dancing, we walked through the Jefferson Monument and
around the tidal basin to view the recently completed Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. We
then hiked around one half of the Washington Mall to view the Korean War Veterans Memorial,
the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It was a wonderful day to yisit the
Mall and experience the history of America in person.
On day three of our trip we managed to fit in one more excursion before the bus had to leave
Washington. We made a visit to the National Cathedral where we were able to join a service and
tour the massive edifice. Josh Jordan said, "The National Cathedral -- It was a totally new experi
ence overall - to partake of the communion and actually be inside this huge building which was
very beautiful.” While we were there, it began to snow, and the sight of this grand sanctuary in
the drifting snow was breathtaking. After the cathedral, we checked out of our nice hotel and set
tled onto the bus for our ride back through the Virginia mountains to home.
Would you like to visit Washington, DC? WCC will be going back to our nation's capitol Wednes
day, March 24, to Sunday, March 28, 2004. Students must be enrolled in a class taught by
Belinda Smithey, Jeff Hatley, or Nolan Belk during the 2003-2004 academic year in order to be
eligible to attend. Thirty spots are available on a first-come-first-serve basis beginning January 8,
2004. Please see one of the above instructors for a sign-up sheet.