New York: Day ??? (part 2)

Typing away once more in the cooling room. Brittany Hall now banned dragging mattresses along, putting up more cots instead. 

They also said "the cooling room opens at 8 PM". 8PM my ass. When I brought my bedding at 7:45 PM the lounge was already 2/3 full.

Anyway, more mass entries!

Day 36 (July 1): French Wine Party

Elsa found out about a French Wine party where you can taste wine and eat food for free. Obviously, all of us said yes. I don’t know how Elsa keeps on finding stuff like great alcohol deals and celebrity residences. It’s like a superpower.

Elsa worried whether we were going to arrive on time for the food, saying, “The French don’t leave food laying on the table for long.” Luckily we arrived before they served food, but I found out Elsa’s words were true.

Grab and go, grab and go, grab and go!

White truffle butter (left) and black truffle butter (right). Tastiest butter ever.

Wine. I didn't keep track of what wine it was, sadly.

Okay, so it wasn't much of a party rather than a... tasting event.

 Day 37 (July 2): Interview at New Jersey

Interviewed Congressman Bill Pascrell in New Jersey. Mr. Yoo told me to be at the car rental parking lot at 9:50 by the dot, but he had trouble renting a car that we left at 10:50. Sigh. Miraculously, we arrived in NJ and was only 10 minutes late. Interview went smoothly, and we had lunch at a Korean soybean place at 7th Avenue and 35th Street.

Yup.

Day 38 (July 3): Interview at Buffalo

We had an Interview with Philip Kotler at Buffalo, NY. I woke up at 4:30, showered, dressed, left dorm at 5:45 and made a long trip to JFK Airport. The trip took 1 hour and 40 minutes. The plane ride to JFK took roughly the same amount of time. I slept the entire way.

NYC at 6AM.

Penn Station to take a train...

...that takes you to the AirTrain that takes you to JFK. Here is JFK.

 

This time, Mr. Yoo could not find his licence, so we could not rent a car, and had to take a taxi to Mr. Kotler's place, which was more than an hour away. Oh god the cost, ouch.

Mr. Kotler lived in a very nice summer house, and was very accommodating in the interview. We both brought books that he wrote, and he autographed them. The interview went well; I wish I can say the same about the taxi ride back... 

Here, have a pic of peaceful rural Buffalo. Because what happened next isn't pretty.

 

Initially, Mr. Yoo asked for a discount for the taxi fare, and the driver agreed. But after arriving at the airport again, they had an argument about the fare because Mr. Yoo didn't want to pay tip. It escalated into the two of them shouting at each other. The driver threatened, "I'm going to call the police!" Mr. Yoo retorted, "Oh, yeah? Go ahead, then!" I stood in the middle, petrified.

Perhaps I should have said something, but sadly, I was too afraid. I was having my plane ticket and meal being paid for; what if I spoke up, and he decides to ditch me in the airport in a fit of irrational anger? I have nowhere enough money to go back myself. After the driver (somehow) left, Mr. Yoo went on an angry tirade about how "Indian people always rip you off". Cringe cringe. Not to mention racist.

I got back fine.

Day 39 (July 4): Fail fireworks 

Fourth of July!

I don't have much to write here; I was having the blahs again. And then I dragged myself to see the fireworks. But I didn't get a good view because I didn't leave early enough.

Happy

Fourth

of July... *cries*

 

Somehow, missing the fireworks made my stressful week and feelings of inadequacy and resignation blow up all at once. I went on a temper tantrum (to Robert, via text) in the middle of the street. Sigh. I got better, after a few hours.

Day 41 (July 6): Lexington Avenue

Not much  to write about. Only having a month left in NYC, I made a list of places I wanted to go. I decided to cross off Lexington Avenue and Gramercy Park from the list today.

Before heading to Lexington Ave., I saw the NYU hawk ripping a pigeon apart. It was quite graphic. Every day is National Geographic Day with the NYU hawk!

Like a boss.

Gramercy Park, only private access most of the year. I took pictures from between the railings.

28th street is full of Indian restaurants. I should go to one of these sometime.

Grand Central Station market.

Now we're back on track! I should start being productive again.

New York: Day ??? (part 1)

I don't know what day it is anymore.

I basically missed a week and a half's worth of blogging.

(I have been in NYC for over a month now, though! Time flies so quickly!)

I blame two things: the intense heat and the week-long blah I've been having.

It's been around 32~35 degrees Celsius (86~95 F) most of the day, and Brittany Hall has NO AIR CONDITIONING. When I wake up in the morning, I end up drenched in my own sweat, like someone pushed me in a swimming pool. Also, did I mention our windows barely open and we have very poor ventilation?

It's gotten so bad that I've taken my stuff to sleep in the Brittany Hall "cooling stations", a.k.a the only parts of the building that ever has AC. And let me tell you, it's a freaking refugee camp every night. It's a first-come-first-serve, so people start making their beds early. There aren't enough cots, so people drag their mattresses along. Some (like me right now) sleep on sofas. Other poor saps sleep on the FLOOR. IT'S WAR!!!

And about the week-long blah... I had some stuff happen that stressed me out and the pressure caused me not to do anything. It's a bad habit, I know. I still haven't figured out how to deal with stressful situations properly.

While it would be nice to update everything that I missed, I know that 1) No one cares THAT much, 2) It takes too long and I'd be tired of it. So I'll try to do a short (ish) summary of each.

Day 31 (June 26):

Had an interview with BNP Paribas Economists Julia Coronado and Tim Bitzberger at the NY branch of the Korean Bank. It was a lunchtime seminar-type interview, so there was plenty of cold-cut subs, fruits, and drinks.

After the interview, all the journalists stayed and devoured the food. Mr. Yoo even took some subs to eat at home, and also gave me some, saying "There's no one else to look after you when you live alone. You need to look after yourself". I learned that no matter how old you are, you will make the most out of free food, even at the cost of your dignity.

(And apparently, the economists' opinions were not that great, because when I showed Robert the interview transcript he provided a college-essay level rant about why their arguments were wrong, and ended it with an angry 'Fuck you'. Twice.)



Day 33 (June 28): Central Park, Part 2 and cupcakes.

Made a short trip to the northern end of Central Park. It was still too hot, so the trip was very short.

After the park trip, I decided to walk into a Bloomingdale's, which I looked around since I've never been there. Brand-tastic. I almost felt self-conscious walking around in shabby civilian clothes. I also went to the Magnolia Bakery, where I got a nice cupcake.

Magnolia Bakery.

Coffee and cupcake. Note the glitter on the icing. The cupcake tasted good.

Fancypants store.

Day 35 (June 30): Lower Manhattan and Miscellaneous


Walked around lower Manhattan with the plan to go to Brooklyn Bridge and walk there, but...

It was still too hot. So fuck that plan. I just stuck to touring while staying in the shades as much as possible.

Next time, Bridge, next time...

OWS information booth... of sorts.

Aaaand Wall Street.

Part 2 coming up!

New York, Day 28 and 29

In this week's episode of "The Roommates":

-Clair complains that she is too tired to do anything after her work is over in the evening.
"I come back, eat, work out, read a book, and sleep! I feel like such a loser!"
... but, but, that's what I do on a daily basis. Except, you know, work out (I prefer walking long distances instead).

-Clair got a copy of Fifty Shades of Gray. For serious reading, not as a joke. Yes, that Twilight-fanfiction-turned-into-shitty-erotica. She said she bought it because she heard it was "girl porn". So yeah.


-Clair buys clothes and shoes every week, and announces every time that "this will be my last, I swear!" It never is.

-"Everyone is so trendy in New York! I feel so frumpy!" Both Isabel and Clair complained, while wearing trendy clothes, jewelry, and carefully made-up faces. I just kind of sat there, wearing T-shirt and jean shorts, glasses and ponytail, no makeup.

-Isabel said she is starting to like her job. Yes, the shoved-in-the-closet fashion job. She insists that the person who shoved the interns in the closet is a higher-up, and that her direct bosses are nice to her. And that is all I have to say about this matter.

-If it seems that I only talk about Clair and Isabel, it's because Elsa is too busy studying for the bar most of the time. That shit is tough.


Day 28: Meeting with Nancy


Nancy was in NYC for her job training!

So we agreed to meet while she was here.

After a few fumbles in communication (i.e. I forgot to ask her number and got it from Heidi, Nancy and her cousin were stuck in a ramen place much longer than expected, I went out of the house very late because I could not find my belongings and searched for them forever), we finally met up at FAO Schwarz, the big toy store in New York.

Nancy was the same as ever; hair just below her ears, wearing a comfy T-shirt and shorts. The only thing that was remotely different was that she wasn't wearing her toe-shoes (you know, the running shoes that has space for your toes).

"I heard that they sold chocolate frogs from Harry Potter, so I wanted to get some!" Nancy exclaimed.

FAO Schwarz was enormous. And their candy section was also enormous.

Inside.

Candy section.

And they also had huge candies.

We eventually found the chocolate frogs. Sadly, they weren't in those fancy boxes.

They were, however, just under $5 for a single tiny frog. Holy shit.

The price did not deter Nancy, but I put it back down because I was short on cash at the moment and didn't feel justified to pay for it, even by card. Perhaps next time when I feel splurge-y.

We also looked around the store, which was pretty fun. Nancy squee-ed whenever she saw Harry Potter merchandise.

Ooh big piano.

We saw Iron Man!

After that fun little adventure, we met up with another friend of Nancy's (...whose name I now forgot. Yes, I am horrible with names. Shame on me), and we all went to Jamba Juice for some smoothies.

During the walk:

Nancy (in the middle): Where are we going again?

Friend (at Nancy's left): Jamba Juice.

Nancy: A what juice?

Friend: Jamba Juice!

Nancy: What?

Friend: Oh my god, you are deaf, I swear!

Me (at Nancy's right): Jamba Juice.

Friend: SEE?! She heard it and she's further away from you!!

She hasn't changed indeed.

After the smoothie break, we went shopping, where Nancy's friend went to buy shoes and we just occupied ourselves in a chair and caught up with each other's lives in more detail. And then Nancy caught sight of a pair of tennis shoes she really liked but was hesitant to buy. Her friend and I persuaded, and eventually succeeded in convincing her to buy them. I didn't know persuading someone to purchase would be so rewarding!

Twas nice seeing Nancy again.

(So aside from Robert, so far I met up with an elementary school friend and a University friend. If anyone else is planning to come to NY. PLEASE COME. I MISS EVERYONE.)


Day 29: Gay Pride Parade

So apparently June 24th was the Pride Parade. I was excited to find that I was in New York when it occured and that I could see the oft-mentioned Pride Parade with my own two eyes. It was surreal.

All the roommates in our room were planning to go together, but Elsa had to attend a friend's birthday party in Brooklyn and Isabel had to tend to her suddenly sick friend at the last minute. So it was just Clair and me.

The parade had already begun when we walked out of the dorm. And the streets were transformed; not just because of the people, but there was a long barricade on 5th Avenue for the parade to pass through, while endless streams of people cheered outside of both ends of the barricade.

When we managed to squeeze in and take a glimpse, it was full of rainbows. And it was fabulous, and I mean it in all seriousness. SENSORY OVERLOAD.

The two of us kept moving down and down to follow the procession.

I have seen a few gay couples (that I could tell were couples) in New York so far. But it seemed like everyone decided to rush out into the streets and be loud and proud about it on Parade day. Never have I seen so many happy looking same-sex couples holding hands, hugging, and kissing.

At the expense of sounding cheesy and cliched, I felt rather happy that so many people were out and celebrating who they were. I'm not gay or trans or any of the LGBTQ category, so I can't even pretend to know what they go through in terms of coming out, perceived prejudice and the limited ability to marry, and just... everything.

But I do have a number of LGBTQ friends. And they're all awesome, wonderful people, not any bit different from non-LGBTQ people except for the people they're attracted to. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Everyone in the Pride Parade looked happy and were clearly enjoying themselves. It just left warm fuzzy feelings watching the whole thing.

Also, I may have admired that in the US, you can at least have a Pride Parade where you can be all crazy about yourself. There was something akin to a gay parade in Korea a while back, but people had a mask on or forbid photos because they did not want their lives, careers, personal relationships and such jeopardized by exposing themselves in public.

Not to mention the rampant, stupid-ass justifications for homophobia among ordinary folks. To the point I sometimes wonder "Where should we even begin to enlighten these fucking idiots? Is it even possible?"

I do not mean to start up a sort of Oppression Olympics; my point is that despite its many issues and a long, painful process, it feels like the United States is, at the very least, is approaching something of a significant milestone in LGBTQ history. I know it's nowhere near universal same-sex marriage, anti-bullying laws, and a better understanding of LGBTQ folks, but for now, things seem to be heading towards the better, and for that I feel happy and envious at the same time. I can only wish that things were better in all the other places that I've called home. Hell, just... everywhere, really.