It is an incredibly sunny afternoon. In the dead of what is supposed to be winter, we have somehow hit temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius (close to the 70s in Fahrenheit). This positively balmy weather calls for a leisurely walk around the neighborhood, and many ISH residents have heeded the call. But on this day I curl up by the front desk, writing thank you cards for the people who’ve been a part of my Washington journey. Upstairs, some ISH residents are watching the NFL playoffs between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans, and we can hear their shouts of despair and excitement, alternatingly, from my perch at the lobby.

My phone beside my displays the score. This, if anything, is a sign that ISH has made its mark on me. Not only do I know who is playing in a sports game, I am even slightly invested in the outcome, because of a fellow ISH Resident who is a major Chiefs fan. Occasionally, I look up from my writing to distract my friend at the front desk with random bits of conversation.

Later, I manage to coax a fellow ISH resident away from interminable readings for a walk around the city. We wander past the Masonic Temple, admiring its remarkably symmetrical architecture, discussing the political situations in our countries. Somehow the walk takes us all the way past the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and we start to compare notes on what we both know of these institutions. Arriving back at ISH, we plop down in the dining hall and are joined by a couple of other ISH residents. The conversation quickly turns into a discussion of the benefits and disadvantages of current approaches to international development.

***

This is how I passed my last Sunday at ISH. It is an ISH tradition that at your last Sunday dinner, you stand up and say your goodbyes. But when the announcement came asking if it was anyone’s last Sunday, with the eyes of half of the room on me, I didn’t think I could do it.

So this is my thank you instead. My final Sunday represented what I liked the most about ISH – the quiet, steady feeling of everyone going about their day, but still very much together.

Because even as a US strike kills an Iranian General, even as tragic bush fires rage on in Australia, even as passenger planes are shot down from the sky, even as the globe is threatened by a new epidemic, so many of us from all around the world still find a way to come together, coexist, and thrive. Hours after dinner, you can still witness conversations between residents on the effects of colonization in Africa or the best way of getting involved in international development. You may not know anything about sports, but somehow still get sucked into watching the Superbowl. (As I suspect many ISH residents will be this weekend- there will be a watch party in the Great Hall complete with Pizza, and from what I have seen of the poster it looks like it will be a lot of fun). If you’re too bogged down with work or school, there will always be someone to drag you out of your head in order to explore yet another museum, or art exhibit, or performance.

It is strange to be leaving behind my identity as an ISH resident, but I am already fully embracing being a part of the ISH Alumni, which I am sure will involve many visits to and from other ISH Alumni. This process has already begun– I recently visited a couple of former ISH Residents in Mexico City, and there are plans for more to visit me in Singapore.

So in the meantime, all that is left is a very big thank you to all of the ISH staff, board members, and residents who help to create and preserve the very special melting pot that is ISH.

A huge Christmas tree is still up in the Great Hall, there are still Christmas wreathes everywhere, and the entryway of ISH is still draped with Christmas lights. We’re almost at the end of those drowsy days between Christmas and the New Year, a time for quiet self-reflection and contemplation. This pensiveness, I believe, is about 65% due to the proliferation of year-round-up listicles in all forms of media. Jumping on this bandwagon, I’ve rounded some of my favorite moments at ISH.

The Halloween Party
 This was the first time I dressed up for Halloween! My costume was a last minute cobbled together attempt at something resembling a unicorn, but my housemates had far more elaborate interpretations. My favorites included a pretty convincing Bob Ross, a very ingenious Don Lockwood from Singin’ in the Rain, and a wonderfully creative interpretation of “When Life Gives You Lemons”. (Katie wore a name tag that said “Life”, and actually gave out lemons from a basket that she carried around).  All around just a fun night with friends.

Anytime the kitchen serves meatballs. Or lasagna. Or double chocolate chip cookies.
I haven’t written much about food, but it was definitely one of the things I worried about going in. If you’ve never visited ISH before, we have a dining hall where we eat our meals. For dinner, there are usually a variety of hot options, some form of dessert (cakes, cookies, or puddings), and a salad bar. (We also have Fish Fridays and Meatless Mondays, for different reasons, but that’s a whole other article.) It’s always nice not to have to worry about cooking dinner after a whole day at work, but I like meatballs and lasagna because they’re very reliable options.

Quiz time at Africa Night
 I might have written about this before, but the Africa Night organizing committee went high tech and created an interactive quiz for us to test our knowledge about Africa, that we could access on our phones. Specifically, I remember when, in a moment of utter stupidity, I got the capital of South Africa wrong. Because my friend Tebogo (who is from South Africa) scoffed very loudly from second-hand embarrassment and said that we couldn’t be friends anymore. (South Africa actually has three capitals, Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Cape Town. I had managed to pick the only wrong answer). She was joking, and we are still friends. I like to think about that moment because I think learned a lot about that night.

The second snow day of 2019
 Before I moved into ISH I actually spent a short time living in an apartment nearby. It was fine, but I always hated it when the office closed because I’d be stuck at home with nothing to do. Snow days at ISH were different- and there were many, as I was surprised to find, because DC shuts down with the slightest snow fall. The second snow day of the year was actually my favorite, because most of us found out before hand that we wouldn’t have work/ school the next day. What followed was a very late night playing Pictionary, charades, and even with some play dough that we found around the house. The next day some of us studied together in the Great Hall, interspersed with short breaks to venture outside for lunch and snowball fights. We ended the night with a jam session in the hall. A boring, ordinary snow day, doing fairly normal things, but somehow my mind goes back to that day a lot.

And these are all just moments that happened in ISH. I have many other amazing memories that happened because of ISH. This includes meeting all the people I met through other ISH residents that I otherwise would never have met otherwise. (Shout out here to the very friendly students of the Asan Academy.)

Here’s to another exciting year!

Fall has officially arrived in DC- cue the streets lined with fallen leaves, an abundance of pumpkin-spice-everything in all the stores, and the words “crisp”, “autumn”, and “cozy” being liberally tossed into all text and marketing. This is also my favorite season for exploring DC, because it’s cool enough to walk around without sweating, but warm enough so you aren’t constantly shivering.

In order to take advantage of the fall foliage, a few ISH residents bundled into an Uber XL to make our way to the National Arboretum. We arrived first at the very extensive bonsai collection, which was divided into regions of origins of the plants. My favorites were the whimsical show ones- there was a tree that had been trained into the shape of a trumpet. A couple of people also enjoyed listening to a guide explaining about the history of one of the trees.

After whittling half of the afternoon away amidst the bonsai collection, we saw the National Capitol Columns. An interesting fun fact- the National Capitol Columns are so named because they were part of the former United States Capitol, and were only moved to the National Arboretum in the 1980s. It was the perfect spot to take photos; there were several other professional photoshoots going on besides our very casual ones. Finally, we attempted to see the lake in the Arboretum, past the Chinese Gardens. “Attempted” because we got distracted along the way and ended up sitting by the roadside and enjoying the setting sun.

The other highlight of my month has been trying out different kinds of cuisine. This began one weeknight when, having forgotten to order late dinner, I sat down with my microwaved siew mai (a kind of dumpling) and was soon joined by fellow residents Kaori (from Japan) and Meong (from the Philippines). After a very involved conversation on different food cultures, we made plans to go to a place called Purple Patch to try Filipino food.

So one bright weekend morning, the three of us, joined by our friend Stefan, walked half an hour north to Purple Patch, which turned out to be a very trendy kind of restaurant serving classic Filipino dishes and American comfort food. After Meong explained all the dishes, I ended up having the Sizzling Sisig. The dish included pork belly that was indeed sizzling, served on a hot plate, with a side of garlic fried rice and a very sweet vinegar. Meong also ordered a side of lumpia for us to try. I think Filipino food in general is pretty much in the same ballpark as Singaporean food, being from the same region, so the flavors weren’t completely alien to me. But the combination of everything was very novel (especially the vinegar, which I loved), and I would definitely go back for more if I could.

Our food explorations continued this week, as we headed to Sakana for some Japanese food. Located on P Street, Sakana is just a stone throw away from ISH, and has some good reasonably priced Japanese food. I chose the Sukiyaki, which consisted of beef and vegetables stewed in a clear, sweet broth, on yet another hot place, with a side of white rice. I would also recommend it to anyone looking to try some Japanese food that isn’t sushi.

As a diverse and international city, DC is a great place to try new cuisines, especially if you do some research on where to go. (But sporadically of course, because DC prices aren’t very student friendly and besides, ISH has a great dining hall of its own.) We’ve already picked out the next food exploration: Ramen, which we all happen to love. It will be perfect for transitioning into Winter, which I can already feel is coming.

Also this month at the House, some residents put together a Diwali celebration, which saw the lobby and entrance way bedecked in glittering fairy lights. With snacks set up on either side and a projection screen playing Bollywood dance clips and music videos, residents had fun learning more about the Festival of Lights.

All in all, I’m giving thanks for another season of discovery at ISH.

So one bright weekend morning, the three of us, joined by our friend Stefan, walked half an hour north to Purple Patch, which turned out to be a very trendy kind of restaurant serving classic Filipino dishes and American comfort food. After Meong explained all the dishes, I ended up having the Sizzling Sisig. The dish included pork belly that was indeed sizzling, served on a hot plate, with a side of garlic fried rice and a very sweet vinegar. Meong also ordered a side of lumpia for us to try. I think Filipino food in general is pretty much in the same ballpark as Singaporean food, being from the same region, so the flavors weren’t completely alien to me. But the combination of everything was very novel (especially the vinegar, which I loved), and I would definitely go back for more if I could.

Our food explorations continued this week, as we headed to Sakana for some Japanese food. Located on P Street, Sakana is just a stone throw away from ISH, and has some good reasonably priced Japanese food. I chose the Sukiyaki, which consisted of beef and vegetables stewed in a clear, sweet broth, on yet another hot place, with a side of white rice. I would also recommend it to anyone looking to try some Japanese food that isn’t sushi.

As a diverse and international city, DC is a great place to try new cuisines, especially if you do some research on where to go. (But sporadically of course, because DC prices aren’t very student friendly and besides, ISH has a great dining hall of its own.) We’ve already picked out the next food exploration: Ramen, which we all happen to love. It will be perfect for transitioning into Winter, which I can already feel is coming.

Also this month at the House, some residents put together a Diwali celebration, which saw the lobby and entrance way bedecked in glittering fairy lights. With snacks set up on either side and a projection screen playing Bollywood dance clips and music videos, residents had fun learning more about the Festival of Lights.

All in all, I’m giving thanks for another season of discovery at ISH.

The Washington Nationals won the World Series. In case this means nothing to you- it’s baseball, and it’s a big thing, and it’s all anyone has talked to me about for a fortnight. Sports are great for bringing people together, and if you’re a sports fan, ISH apparently has a football team [soccer], and people are always playing tennis, basketball, and other sports. But what if, like me, you have no hand-eye coordination whatsoever, and just have no interest in sports at all? This is where music comes in.

This came about when I was wondering what to write about for this month’s blog (because, really, besides the museum visits, random weeknight Target runs for Halloween costumes, weekly movie nights, sporadic dinner conversations, GLAD Dinner, etc., what else is there really?). When I voiced this at dinner one night, my friend Sibel pointed out: “Oh, you should write about the music group!”

The Author’s first “music group” experience at ISH! With fellow residents Anna and Filip.

Actually, music at ISH is nothing new. There has already been another blog post by a previous resident detailing the many musical opportunities provided by ISH. (Take a look at “This house is full of music!” by Dorothée Stieber- although I would note that of the two guitars only one remains). But I suppose this is why writing about this is a good idea – because, like sports, music is a mainstay and has become almost a tradition at ISH. In fact, at some point over the summer, my friend Neil, a really gifted pianist, actually unearthed an old program from a music recital that some residents had put on years ago. He put it in one of the plastic stands and displayed it on top of the grand piano. It remains actual, physical evidence of this longstanding tradition.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that probably about 65% of the friends I make at ISH I made because of playing music. All the way back in January when I was a mere newbie, I can recall sitting in the hall tinkering with the strings on the guitar when someone asked me what I was doing. That someone was Filip, and he became key to my first introduction to music in the house. Somewhere in the course of our almost nightly jam sessions Anna joined in, with her perfect voice and harmonies. We also met Taka, who was basically a concert pianist, and Yukiko, who could play almost any song on the piano after having just heard it. Like sports, you don’t need to really know someone to join in, and so many residents have drifted in and out of all kinds of jam sessions- musical theatre, improvised lyrics, weepy ballad nights and song battles.

Music continues to bring residents together. This fall, ingenious residents in ISH actually started a WhatsApp group for “ISH Music Performers”! I unfortunately missed the inaugural meeting. But from the growing shared Spotify list that was shared on the group afterwards, it looks like it was a fruitful one. I’ve also joined in one or two impromptu sessions this season, and they’ve all been amazing. Maybe there will once again be a music recital at ISH in the future?

Just like sports, music brings with it a real camaraderie that really transcends cultures. Because you don’t really need to know a song to play the chords in it, and you can always learn. The variations in residents’ music taste has also been enlightening for me. I can proudly say that my initial repertoire of largely Taylor Swift songs has now grown to encompass a much wider variety of interesting and eclectic artistes (Radiohead, Elliot Smith, H.E.R, Amy Winehouse, Daniel Caesar- and those are all still on the mainstream side).

When the initial call for people to join the new music group came out, one of the most common responses was: “I play ____. But I didn’t bring my instrument.” So to all the prospective ISH residents who are music lovers our there, please bring your instruments when you move in!

Dupont Circle to me, is slipping and tripping in deep snow as we picked our way to the nearby Subway for lunch on a day when the cold winter had shut down the entire city. Sometimes when we were feeling more indulgent: braving the cold for a brownie from Firehook Bakery, to be brought back to ISH and shared with friends.
Or carefree weekend afternoons, spent browsing through the collection of books at Kramers. Alternatively, whiled away when we had the money and time to spare at Art Jamz Dupont Studio, where you can paint whatever you want with their extensive supplies, or challenging teamwork and friendships at the Great Escape Rooms. (Because as J.K. Rowling notes, there are some things in life you can’t experience together without ending up as friends, and I firmly believe trying to escape a locked room together is one of them.) I am also reminded of that one time, out of sheer boredom, I spent an hour browsing through the wonderful and cozy yarn collection at Looped, and went away with a newfound interest in knitting. But also makes me think of that time a group of us sat at the outside seating area of Mission eating nachos for an entire afternoon.

Which also reminds me of Sunday mornings, browsing through the Farmer’s Market that occurs, rain or shine by the Dupont Circle Metro North entrance. The ISH dining hall makes shopping for groceries quite redundant, but you can still indulge in the best creamline milk from Clear Spring Creamery’s stall (which is really just non-homogenized milk, that I swear tastes far better than normal milk) or the freshest, sweetest honeycrisp apples from the many fruit vendors there. An alternative haunt for meeting friends for me is also Teaism, which, besides a ridiculously wide array of tea, is also a very quaint spot for fusion food and long conversations. Also, I believe everyone needs a thinking-outside-of-the-house café, a place to go when you need to concentrate and escape or just be, and on many weekend mornings, Teaism was mine.

But Dupont also brings to mind late-night escapes to Dolcezza for their excellent Gelato, whenever one or many of us had an unbearable night of work ahead. That one time we had cheesecake at Kramer’s Café (yes, there is a café in the bookstore) and very real conversation. When time permitted, heading in big groups over to The Board Room, a bar where you can rent board games for $2 a game (and, if you’re like me and can’t handle alcohol, you don’t have to drink, but you can.) And, let’s face it, you can play board games at ISH too, but you can never replicate the buzzing atmosphere of the Board Room. (At least, that is the justification my friend gave me when he went there with his friend to play chess, of all games.) And when, at 1am in the morning, you’re starving after your night out, walk just across the circle to Halal Guys for the most satisfying gyros, or down to DC Café on P Street.

Which really also reminds me of watching social dance happenings around the actual Dupont Circle on sunny summer evenings. But this also makes me think of the one time, when it was still cold, and we went down to Café Citron for a friend’s farewell drinks and had an impromptu and free Bachata class.

 Safe to say, one of my favorite parts of living at ISH is the fact that we get to live more or less in the heart of Dupont Circle. With this new semester, there are also many new residents; and I’m sure that they will be writing their own Dupont Circle love affairs.