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.

As a greeter at this year’s International Student House Global Leadership Awards Dinner (see, I was greeting guests with the ‘shortened’ version of the title!), I met every guest as they entered the Whittemore House in a flurry of handshakes, coats and warm smiles. I had been looking forward to the dinner since I arrived at the House and was excited to be the one to greet our guests at the door – this way I would be able to say I at least met every person attending.

This was the 10^th year of the dinner being hosted by ISH, and our first at the Whittemore House, in order to be able to accommodate the growing number of guests who wished to give to the House and meet the students. We had been assured that the guests were eager to meet us, and indeed they were. I received so many pleasant comments and encouragements from those who came through the door. A highlight included a lovely conversation with Congressman Mark Meadows, who jokingly said he had not seen me at the recent State Dinner at the White House honouring Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. I also found myself a little lost for words when I greeted a princess.
All too soon it was time for dinner, a delicious three course offering, interspersed with speeches. I was moved by the tone of the speeches by our honourees, Congressmen Rick Larson and Mark Meadows. From opposing parties, they light-heartedly acknowledged their differences, and the general partisan mood in America. However, not only did they count each other as friends, they agreed there was something that they could always work in harmony on: students. Both had been introduced to International Student House through their spouses, and had become champions of the message of the house: inclusion, diversity and scholarship. They called it ‘soft diplomacy’: if students from countries around the world could live under one roof, share meals and their lives, then those were lessons we could both share with America, and bring home with us.

I was very, very proud to be an ISH resident in that moment. It reminded me that even something as simple as us all going about our days in harmony with one another should be celebrated. We students walked out at the end of the night with our heads held high, having all met a wide range of incredible and interesting people who had been eager to share their stories and wisdom with us.

I hope I can one day return to the dinner as an alumna and share my stories with the next generation of ISH residents.

In early August, some fellow residents and I decided to take a day trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to explore the city and all that is has to offer! Philadelphia is about 2 ½ hours from International Student House if you are commuting by car, making it the perfect destination for a day trip.

It was lunch time when we arrived, so we decided to stop at the Reading Terminal Market for lunch. As you may know already, Philadelphia is very well known for Philly Cheesesteaks, however, I chose to break the tradition of getting a Philly Cheesesteak and instead opted to dine at another famous location within the market. Dinic’s Roast Pork has been serving up delicious sandwiches at the market since the early 1970’s and was recently awarded for having the “Best Sandwich in America”. This award was given to them by the Travel Channel. The sandwich they are well known for is the roasted pork sandwich with broccoli rabe and provolone cheese. Given the amount of excitement surrounding Dinic’s, I chose to give their sandwich a try. After my first bite, I was quite surprised at how good a roasted pork sandwich could taste. The cheese and the pork tasted outstanding together and the broccoli rabe just added a whole other element to the sandwich that I really enjoyed. Following our meal at Dinic’s, we went and had cookies at The Famous 4^th Street Cookie Company. The cookies were incredible, and I recommend their chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookies!

After our time at the Reading Terminal Market, we chose to explore city hall which is nearby and an excellent place to take pictures! Additionally, we saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall which were incredible sights to see. Take note however, that if you are traveling to Philadelphia you may want to make reservations in advance to see these sights. Getting reservations the day of your arrival can be rather tricky at times!

Finally, we completed our tour of Philadelphia by checking out Penn’s Landing which is a beautiful waterfront area on the east side of Philadelphia that contains multiple waterfront restaurants and bars, small boutiques and beautiful parks for relaxation. I hope that I am able to return to this city in the near future as there was so much I was unable to see while I was there!

A note to future ISH residents hoping to make the trip: If you are traveling to Philadelphia by car, make sure you have enough cash put aside for tolls (around $35 total) and parking for the day (another $35-$40 total). Additionally, be sure that you are going on a day/time that the Reading Terminal Market will be open. Sometimes they have rather odd hours and it would be a shame to travel to Philadelphia on a day that the market is closed! Finally, bring a great camera. There are so many places in Philadelphia to take beautiful pictures!

Not long after the weekend in Philadelphia, some friends from ISH and I chose to travel to New York City for a weekend trip. On the Friday of our arrival we had the opportunity to go on a boat cruise in the Hudson River and see incredible views on Manhattan. As I stood out on the boat I was completely mesmerized by the size of the city and the number of skyscrapers that reached beyond the eye could see. Additionally, while on the boat I was able to see the Statue of Liberty which was a gift to the United States from the people of France in 1886. Never before had I been so awestruck by such a gorgeous monument which represents freedom and has seen so much happen in the United States. 

Following our time on the boat cruise, we decided to spend our Saturday exploring Central Park and seeing the various sights of the city. In movies Central Park appears to be quite small in comparison to other parks throughout the country but the park is quite large and takes up quite a bit of land on Manhattan. The park contains multiple bike and walking trails and even has a zoo which was really fun to explore. While at the zoo I was able to see snow leopards, grizzly bears, as well as penguins, puffins and sea lions. On our last day in New York City (Sunday) we went to see the 9/11 memorial and the New York Botanical Garden which had a variety of lovely exhibits. My favorite exhibit in the botanical garden by far was the rock garden because of the many different alpine flowers fixated between the rocks in the garden and a lovely waterfall that is the centerpiece of the garden. The rock garden is one of the most peaceful and tranquil placed I have ever been, I highly recommend visiting here if you ever visit New York City.

This will be my third time living at ISH-DC, and I could not be more excited. My previous two stays at the house were while I was interning and later working at the IDB. This time I will experience DC and ISH differently since now I come as a student.

Living at ISH has been a fantastic experience - that is why when choosing a place to stay in DC without a doubt, I chose ISH.

What is great about living at the International Student House? Well, this all comes from my personal experience, but I believe every past resident will agree with one or more of these reasons:

A diverse community
Have you ever wondered what is currently happening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo? What do people in Japan do for fun? Where can you try a delicious Mexican dinner in DC? Of course, you can google all these questions or just ask Siri and Alexa. But it might be quite more interesting to find out from real people.

Living at ISH, you will have the chance to meet people literally from all over the world. During my last two stays, I have met people from Russia, Spain, Rwanda, Argentina, Mongolia, India, Japan, Mexico, China, Finland, France, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and I can go on but this post will be way too long.

It is not just about meeting them, but also an incredible opportunity to exchange your experiences, traditions, and world views with people that come from different places and have diverse backgrounds.

A lot of activities
There is always something going on at ISH. Maybe there is an event in the Great Hall, a fun cultural night, or a farewell party for a friend - yeah people leave at some point - that is the hard part.

Anyway, you can always find something to do at ISH and someone that will be more than happy to join you.

Here are some pictures from last year.

Latin Night

Peruvian Dinner

Christmas Night Out in DC

Afghan Dinner

Winter at the Lincoln Memorial

Hanging Out with Satomi

Long-lasting friendships 
I cannot close my first post without mentioning the amazing people I have met at ISH, some of them have become really close friends that I now treasure for life. To all of them reading this, I just want to say thank you for your friendship. 

The cool thing about having friends from around the world is that you can visit them. This is me and Xime in Mexico. Japan will be next … and more trips are coming.

Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City, Mexico

“I didn’t think Australians were interested in politics.”

So said my Customs Officer as I anxiously waited for her to process my arrival at Honolulu International Airport, en route to Washington, DC. She had asked me why I had chosen to attend Georgetown. Flustered, I gave a quick response: I said it was a because I had received a scholarship, and because I was interested in politics.

It was a true answer, and she was certainly mistaken that Australians were apathetic about politics.  However, later, as I landed bleary-eyed in DC after almost 20 hours of flying, even I was questioning my motivation: was ‘I’m interested in politics’ really a worthy justification for my decision to pack up my life and move to the other side of the world?

Luckily for me, I had chosen to live at International Student House, where an interest in politics was almost a condition of entry. Not only had many of my fellow residents also moved across the world to DC to chase a dream, they had no such qualms that being an Australian meant I would be disinterested in politics.

“Compulsory voting? Interesting. Do you think it works?”

“What do you think about that controversial woman – red head – Pauline Hanson?”

“Your most recent election was also won by the conservative party. Are there parallels between the political climate in Australia and America?”

Of course, in amongst questions on affairs of state, there was always going to be a general curiosity about Australian culture.

“Level with me, Vegemite, what exactly is it?” (In their defense, this was due to the fact on my very first day in the House I had worn a t-shirt with Vegemite on it.)

The already infamous Vegemite shirt (featuring a jar of Vegemite which I will bring to breakfast so fellow residents can try)

These questions were not at all unwelcome. In fact, I thought it was excellent that my fellow residents were so curious, as it showed that we all wanted to learn more about each other and the world we lived in.

I felt a similar energy when I attended my first day of orientation at Georgetown Law the next week. My fellow classmates were eager to learn, to be inspired, to better ourselves, and this was true even if we didn’t yet know the how, when, or why.

Georgetown Law Campus

Out and about during Orientation Week (note I am once again wearing the Vegemite shirt)

I am now approaching the end of my second week in DC, and whilst I feel settled and sure of myself and my choice to move here, I still don’t have the ‘right’ answer for why I have chosen Georgetown, and in part, Washington DC. I just know I’m exactly where I am supposed to be.