A summery of my trip to the USA

This whole trip has been amazing. I do not think I could describe it in another way. I have experienced a lot, and I would absolutely travel back some day. I am so happy that I have written so much about what I have done. Than I could go into my blog at home end memorize. Thank you all for following me at my trip, I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

Hugs and kisses Hannah

 

Elvis Presley

I have listened to Elvis my whole life so I thought it was a perfect opportunity to write a little bit about him. I do not think I know anyone else who is as good as he is on rock and roll.

Elvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. He was born January 8, 1935 and died August 16, 1977. Elvis is the son of Vernon Elvis Presley and Gladys Love Presley. Presley and his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, when he was 13 years old. The family attended an Assembly of God church, where he found his initial musical inspiration. Presley's only child, Lisa Marie, was born on February 1, 1968, during a period when he had grown deeply unhappy with his career.

Elvis is often referred to as "the King of Rock and Roll", or simply, "the King". He was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. His music career began there in 1954, when he started to work with Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records.

Presley's first RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel", released in January 1956, was a number-one hit in the US. He became the leading figure of rock and roll after a series of network television appearances and chart-topping records. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines that coincided with the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, made him enormously popular and controversial.

On March 24, Presley was inducted into the U.S. Army as a private at Fort Chaffee, near Fort Smith, Arkansas. His arrival was a major media event. Hundreds of people descended on Presley as he stepped from the bus, photographers then accompanied him into the fort. Presley announced that he was looking forward to his military stint, saying he did not want to be treated any differently from anyone else: "The Army can do anything it wants with me”.

 Hugs and kisses Hannah

 

An historical event

9/11- Twin Towers

When I was in New York I of course heard a lot about the twin towers that were fled into. I am getting sick just to think about it, how horrible. But even if it was horrible, it is an interesting theme, and I am going to tell you guys a little bit about it.

In 2001 on September 11, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Often referred to as 9/11, the attacks resulted in extensive death and destruction, triggering major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defining the presidency of George W. Bush. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., including more than 400 police officers and firefighters.

The attackers were Islamic terrorists from Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations. Reportedly financed by Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist organization, they were allegedly acting in retaliation for America’s support of Israel, its involvement in the Persian Gulf War and its continued military presence in the Middle East. Some of the terrorists had lived in the United States for more than a year and had taken flying lessons at American commercial flight schools. Others had slipped into the country in the months before September 11 and acted as the “muscle” in the operation. The 19 terrorists easily smuggled box-cutters and knives through security at three East Coast airports and boarded four flights bound for California, chosen because the planes were loaded with fuel for the long transcontinental journey. Soon after takeoff, the terrorists commandeered the four planes and took the controls, transforming ordinary commuter jets into guided missiles.

The destruction of the Twin Towers and other properties caused serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan and had a significant effect on global markets, closing Wall Street until September 17 and the civilian airspace in the U.S. and Canada until September 13. Many closings, evacuations, and cancellations followed the attack, either out of fear of further attacks or respect for the tragedy. Cleanup of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002, and the Pentagon was repaired within a year. Numerous memorials have been constructed, including the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York, the Pentagon Memorial, and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.

Hugs and kisses Hannah

Immigration

Hi again everybody.

Since last time when I talked to you, I have experienced a lot. One thing I have thought of a lot was when I visited a school in New York. I was watching when they had class, and then they were talking about Immigration. I thought that was a very interesting theme, so I want to tell you a little bit about it.

 

When people move into another country or a region they are called Immigrants. Immigrants are motivated to leave their countries for a variety of reasons, including a desire for economic prosperity, political issues, family re-unification, escaping conflict or natural disaster, or simply the wish to change one's surroundings.1825 is recognized as the start of Norwegian emigration, when the ship Restauration set sail to the U.S. with 53 Norwegians aboard.

 

However, it was not until 1865, the end of the Civil War, that a large Norwegian immigration occurred, a mass immigration that lasted for eight years. During this time period, 110,000 Norwegians entered the United States. A second and larger wave of mass immigration took place from 1880 to 1893. Prior to 1880, the majority of immigrants migrated with their families, and in 1880 that changed. Immigrants were younger, educated, and moving without their family.

During the Viking Age, almost all Norwegian kings sought their wives from foreign countries, thus seeking allies in other royal houses. Social and economic innovation has frequently been connected to immigration: the Hanseatic League introduced large scale trade in Bergen and Northern Norway. Mining in Kongsberg, Røros and other places was made possible by immigrants from nearby countries, and from c. 1500 until the first university was established in Christiania (Oslo) in 1811, almost all civil servants were immigrants. During the 19th century the evolution of dairies and the industrial exploitation of waterfalls depended on immigrants.The immigrant population in Norway is approximately 759,000 people and the five largest immigrant groups in Norway are in turn Polish, Swedish, Somali, Lithuanian and Pakistani.

Ellis Island is in Upper New York Bay and was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States as the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with land reclamation between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the site of Fort Gibson and later a naval magazine. The island was made part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, and has hosted a museum of immigration since 1990.

 

Hugs and kisses Hannah

 

Two well-known cities in USA

Hi everyone! So nice to talk to you guys again. I thought you should learn a little bit about two places I have visited, New York and San Francisco. Those two cities are two amazing places, and I had a really great time there.                                                                                    

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York metropolitan area, the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York is referred as New York City and was settled in 1924. 

Winters are cold and damp, and prevailing wind patterns that blow offshore minimize the moderating effects of the Atlantic Ocean, yet the Atlantic and the partial shielding from colder air by the Appalachians keep the city warmer in the winter than inland North American cities at similar or lesser latitudes such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis. The daily mean temperature in January, the area's coldest month, is 0.3 °C, however, temperatures usually drop to −12 °C several times per winter, and reach 10 °C several days each winter month. Spring and autumn are unpredictable and can range from chilly to warm, although they are usually mild with low humidity. Summers are typically warm to hot and humid, with July daily mean temperature of 24.7 °C.

I thought it was really hard to find population in New York but I found something on a website that may be correct. “According to Census Bureau population estimates, New York City’s population increased from 8,175,133¹ in April of 2010 to 8,405,837 in July of 2013”.                                                                         

When I was in New York I experienced a lot of tourist attractions. Some of them are Times Square, The statue of liberty, Central park and Brooklyn Bridge. I just have to say that, to see all of that, oh my gosh, it was amazing!

San Francisco, is the cultural center and a leading financial hub of the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California.

San Francisco is The only consolidated city-county in California and it encompasses a land area of about 46.9 square miles on the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula.

San Francisco is a popular tourist destination, known for its cool summers, fog, steep rolling hills, eclectic mix of architecture, and landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, the former prison on Alcatraz Island, and its Chinatown district. San Francisco is also the headquarters of five major banking institutions and various other companies such as the Gap Inc., Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Yelp, Pinterest, Twitter, Uber, Mozilla and Craigslist.

San Francisco's driest month is June and it gets the least sun, with lots of fog that keep things chilly. San Francisco is at its best in spring and fall, when skies are clearer and rain less likely. The weather in San Francisco is almost always cool in the evening, especially near the ocean.

When I was in San Francisco I only visited San Francisco Zoo. It was so fun to see all the animals and the big Zoo.

The USA in general

Hi everbody.

I am going to tell you a little bit about the USA Flag. The Flag has thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the corner with fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows of five stars.

The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states of the United States of America and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain and became the first states in the Union

The Flag has nicknames as ”Stars and Stripes”, ”Old glory” and ”The Star-Spangled Banner”. 

 

The government of the United States of America is the federal government of the republic of fifty states that constitute the United States, as well as one capital district, and several other territories. USA has a president named Barack Obama and he lives in the white house in Washington D.C. The mayor is Vincent C. Gray and the D.C. Council is Phil Mendelson. The federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S.: Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, respectively. The powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts of Congress, including the creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court.

The Capital of The USA is Washington D.C  and that has been the capital since 1800. Washington, D.C., had an estimated population of 646,449 in 2013, the 23^rd most populous city in the United States.

The United States dollar sign is $ and has the code USD. This is the official currency of the United States and its overseas territories. It is a Federal Reserve Note and consists of 100 smaller cent units.

The U.S. dollar is fiat money. It is the currency most used in international transactions and is the world's most dominant reserve currency. Several countries use it as their official currency and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is also used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories: the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos islands.

1 dollar = 6.82 nok.

The national day in Usa is the Fourth of July, and it’s a federal holiday.  Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States.

The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in the middle of New York Harbor, in Manhattan, New York City. The statue is designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, and dedicated on October 28, 1886. It was a gift to the United States from the people of France. The statue is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States: a welcoming signal to immigrants arriving from abroad.

The Empire State Building is a 103-story skyscraper located in Midtown Manhattan. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet (380 m), and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 feet (443 m) high. Its name is derived from the nickname for New York, the Empire State. It stood as the world's tallest building for nearly 40 years, from its completion in early 1931 until the topping out of the original World Trade Center's North Tower in late 1970. Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Empire State Building was again the tallest building in New York, until One World Trade Center reached a greater height on April 30, 2012. The Empire State Building is currently the fourth-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States, and the 23rd-tallest in the world. It is also the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the Americas.

I will talk to you later!

Hugs and kisses Hannah