By Jennifer Pineda

Walking around the Tidal Basin was a fun experience with my classmates and visiting educators from Japan. Although it was hard to speak only Japanese, it was a great way to learn while having fun. I enjoyed looking at the different sites such as the Japanese Lantern, and Japanese Pagoda, and taking photos with everyone. One thing that really stood out to me while we were walking around was the Japanese Pagoda. It’s funny to imagine the amount of confusion when trying to put together the 3,800 pounds of granite. As an American, most of the time, these things seem normal and we don’t really look into the history of those things, but when being told that they had relations to Japan, it gave those sites a deeper meaning. It shows the connection between America and Japan, realizing that there are pieces of Japan even in your own area and you might not even know.