We've been busy

Final class of digital journalism was today. We worked on our map, ate pizza, reflected on our blogs, cried a little on the inside that the class was over... haha, only half-serious about that last part. Okay, mostly I am serious.

Well, anyway, here is all we have to show for our semester of hard work: We hit the pavement, exploring the school, the park, and the city til our feet blistered; we snapped pictures til our eyes hurt; we blogged our fingers to the bone; and finally, we sat down and mapped it all.

Click on a pin. See what happens. Explore USF, Golden Gate Park, and the city of San Francisco all from your computer screen. Enjoy!

CommunityWalk Map - USF, the Park, and San Francisco

What I've been up to...

It's been a busy semester in my digital journalism class.

First we started blogging the campus of USF, and created a campus map.

Then we started blogging our nearby Golden Gate Park, and put that on a map too.

Finally we decided to jump in and start blogging the city of San Francisco.

Our final task in these last few days before summer (!) is to compile all of our blog posts and flickr sets and youtube videos into a glorious San Francisco/Golden Gate Park/USF map. Stay tuned for that...










Valentines Day Pillow Fight
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/02/pillowpalooza.html










Freshman Female Farmers
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/03/freshmen-female-farmers.html










Tai Chi in the de Young Plaza
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/04/have-you-ever-tried-throwing-every-bone.html


Japanese Tea Garden
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/04/serene-garden-with-sordid-past.html










Ocean Beach
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/04/mare-pacificum-peaceful-sea.html










Thrift Town
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/04/thrift-town.html










Heart of the City Farmers Market
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/04/heart-of-city.html










The San Francisco Chronicle
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/04/san-francisco-chronicle.html










The Rickshaw Stop
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/05/night-at-rickshaw-stop.html


Flickr Sets:









Knitting for Neighbors
http://flickr.com/photos/lauraplantholt/sets/72157603859577042/










The Cafeteria at USF
http://flickr.com/photos/lauraplantholt/sets/72157604105328282/

Mare pacificum: the Peaceful Sea

The largest body of water in Golden Gate Park also happens to be the largest body of water in the world. Spanning from the north to the south pole, washing onto the Eastern shores of Asia and Australia and the western shores of the Americas, the Pacific Ocean covers about 32% of the Earth's total surface area.



San Francisco is so infrequently thought of as a "beach town" -- it is much more often associated with its famous Bay -- and yet, on a sunny day, Ocean Beach is absolutely, positively the place to be. I enjoyed the 80 degree temperatures here on Saturday, bicycling through the park to get here. I seldom appreciate that I live only three miles from the beach.

At Ocean Beach, you can see surfers, sailors, kite fliers, dog walkers, sand castlers and sea shell collectors. It is a place where it would be difficult to feel unhappy.

Ocean Beach is the frosting on the cake of Golden Gate Park.

Serene garden with a sordid past

A serene space, a taste of Japan, a moment of calmness and clarity -- it is hard to believe that the Japanese Tea Garden is located in one of the most densely populated cities in America.



The history of the Japanese Tea Garden, the first public Japanese garden in the United States nestled comfortably in Golden Gate Park, started out innocently enough. The garden was constructed for the 1894 Midwinter International Exposition, conceptualized by landscape designer Makoto Hagiwara. It was originally built as a "Japanese Village," meant to give Americans a taste of Japanese culture. In this time, the Japanese were a very small minority in this country, their culture largely unknown. The garden was an honor to their country.

The Japanese Village in 1894

After the fair passed, in was renovated as a garden, which was occupied and maintained by the Hagiwara family. They lived in a small house within the garden's property for many years.

Mr. Hagiwara and his daughter in their home, 1924

In 1942, all that changed.

America was in the midst of World War II, and Japanese Americans were under federal order to be evicted from their homes and sent to internment camps, often separated from their families. This ugly chapter in America's history did not fail to impact the Hagiwara family, despite their public service to the San Francisco community and an agreement with John McClaren that the family would tend to the garden for a century.

The family was sent to internment camps. Rubbing salt in the wound, the garden was renamed the Oriental Tea Garden, and Chinese women in Chinese costumes replaced the Japanese ones who served tea in the garden. The garden is said to have fallen into disrepair without the intricate care Mr. Hagiwara provided.

By 1952, the war had ended, and the garden was once again named the Japanese Tea Garden. The family home was destroyed during their years of absence, and the city of San Francisco refused to allow the family to return, despite McClaren's promise.

It is said that since the Hagiwara family left, the garden has never been the same, though it has improved in recent years, more rare plants being replanted each year. It is now a favorite spot for tourists in the park, the bridge a delight for children to climb, and the large, 3,000 pound Buddha statue an impressive, spiritual addition.

Erik Sumiharu Hagiwara-Nagata, Makoto Hagiwara's great-great-grandson, continues the family tradition of gardening, running his well respected plant nursery in Penngrove, California.