Best Day Ever!

Today was our cohorts’ trip to Manhattan, New York and a visit to Columbia University.  The day was off to an early start with an eight o'clock train ride.  As always, there was an issue with purchasing our train tickets, but thankfully the delay was short lived.  It’s beginning to turn into a fun game trying to guess what sort of problems we'll run into at the train station.  But it shows to be a good example as to why to show up early to something to allow for any technical difficulties.  

We had the privilege to take a private tour with our chaperone Mr. Hillyer’s aunt Dr.  Grace Hillyer.  However, Dr. Hillyer worked at a different part of the Columbia campus and didn't have access to a majority of the buildings. But in the end we were able to find alternate means of getting into the buildings and even a few service areas without any ID, whether we were allowed or not is a different story.  Unfortunately though, I do not think that Columbia is the right choice for me.  Each freshman is required to learn the Classics of education, meaning mostly the ancient Greeks and philosophers.  This is perhaps my most hated category of learning, so sorry Columbia but you’re not for me.  On the positive side though, our day was not wasted, as we got an extensive hands on experience in Manhattan.

While in Manhattan, we walked through Central Park with Mr. Hillyer’s aunt and uncle.  After that we sat down at a Jewish kosher deli in uptown Manhattan.  This was the first time that I had ever been to a kosher deli and it was an interesting experience.  Although, I must say that I miss having my Swiss cheese on my roast beef sandwich.  There were also a lot of side dishes like pickles and coleslaw which I thought was revolting.  Mr. Hillyer, however, forced me to at least try the New York style of the dishes, but that did not go over well.  I know it is his job to make us try new things and get the full experience, but anything pickled or any type of vegetable dish does not agree with my stomach. 

After lunch, we headed downtown to see Grand Central Station and Times Square.  Audrey and I were more acclimated to the New York style of walking than everyone else in the group though.  While everyone else was slowly lagging behind, Audrey and I were pulling out in front fighting through the crowd like real New Yorkers.   I overall enjoyed New York; however, it was not nearly as large or crowded as everyone made it out to be.  I actually felt that Manhattan was small in a way. Times Square was also different than expected.  It was a lot more compact than the pictures make it out to be.   There didn't seem to be the big culture shock value either.  The differences in personalities between New Yorkers and everyone else was very subtle.   The only thing that seemed intimidating was ordering food.  It went: shout your order, pay the money, and get the heck out of the way.  

The last big event in Manhattan was the 9/11 Memorial.  It was a strange feeling walking down the street towards the memorial.  I instantly recognized the street from videos and newscasts from the day of the attacks.  I was imagining that street filled with nothing but fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars, all with sirens blaring like they were on that memorable day.  As we drew closer and the new Freedom Tower became larger and larger, the anticipation began to grow.  Then the whole street became very ominous and eerie as a jet airliner flew in the sky over the new World Trade Center. 

It took almost half an hour to actually get into the memorial due to the extensive security.  Every one hundred feet or so there would be security guards checking for tickets.  This seemed to be a peculiar amount of ticket checking for a free memorial.  Then there was a TSA like security checkpoint with metal detectors and the works.  It was a lot of hassle just to get into the actual memorial area.  Once inside, there seemed to be an alarming amount of people who were just there to have a good time.  The majority of the people that I saw were less concerned with admiring the memorial and what it represents and more concerned with their Facebook status.  I had done some extensive research on the World Trade Center and 9/11 during school after we seemed to just skip over the whole event as if it had never happened.  It was difficult to imagine the area with the Twin Towers still there and hard to accept the fact that my mother had been at the top of the North Tower in late August of 2001.  I enjoyed the visit to the memorial the most out of everything else.  It was good to have some closure after so many months of research.

When we were done with the memorial, we could't help but to get some authentic New York style pizza.  We found a local place and sat down.  Once again Jun proved that he could eat anything and everything on this trip and he ended up eating the most out of everyone, even after we had just stopped to eat just before that.  I enjoyed the consistency of New York pizza very much and plan on getting some more when we go back to Manhattan later this month.  Overall, today was a very fun and exciting day with a wide variety of new people and experiences.  If only the city was cleaner, I might actually consider living there.