NEW YORK, NEW YORK

To be fair, we did stay at a hotel which was in New Jersey, but still. Most of our time spent at the Soft landing camp was in New York.

How do I even begin to describe New York? It was amazing, I loved it. It didn't quite become my favorite place in the world, but still, pretty neat. I learned some pretty cool stuff from our super cool tourguide of eight hours total. Our orientation classes weren't for waste either. Did you know that if you have ten dollars in your pocket and no debts, you're wealthier than 25% of Americans? Yeah, pretty rough, huh. It broke my heart to see so many homeless people in the streets.

Anyways, the day we got there was still the 13th, and it was  h o t. We were all pretty tired of traveling for over twelve hours, and when we finally got out of the Newark airport, we got a full clothed sauna experience in the humidity and heat of the East Coast. Luckily, the air conditioning in our bus saved us from melting.  Our hotel was neat, we got a lil information what we were going to do, and our staff ordered us food. Me, trying to be healthy and ethical chose to get the vegan salad, but unfortunately it was disgusting, so I barely ate any. That much for the ethicality. Also, may I add that our group was probably the biggest of all groups of exchange students that year or any year of Explorius, with 156 students from all over Europe.

The second day started with a slightly healthier version of American breakfast and a lesson of Adapting to American culture. Next stop was Downtown New York. Bare in mind that this was my first time going there, so I was hyped, to say the least. We had lunch in Grand Central Terminal, you know, the place where Marty sneaks out in Madagascar and Melman sticks his head in the cool clock. Yeah, that. Riding a tour bus through Manhattan, we stopped at one specific flower pot to take an optimal picture of the Empire State Building and in another place the same with a landscape of Manhattan. We could also see the tiny Statue of Liberty from there. The rest of the day was spent wandering in Downtown, Chinatown, various stores and Chipotle. An actual mention that we visited the World Trade Center memorial as well. 15 years have went by, but the topic is still sensitive for Americans. May the victims rest in peace and their loved ones live smiling.

The beginning of the third day was pretty much identical to the second one, so after eating lunch we headed to Broadway, Times Square, Rockefeller center, and all that cool stuff. We even got to see the Friends house, so that's pretty cool. I think my pictures here speak better than me, so just check them out. It was awesome.

The last day was basically just about Central Park and Jersey Garden's mall. We got our picnic lunch from Whole Foods, and I immediately fell in love with that annoyingly pricey store. Bought myself a backbag for school and a lotion from VS, and they were freakishly cheap, even for an outlet mall. But, the day went by quickly, as they tend to do, and back at the hotel I had to pack everything ready for an early leave the next morning. Utah's calling, bébé!

Nyt on New York koettu, Vapaudenpatsas, Empire State Building, Central Park ja Times Square nähty. Oli kyl ihan mahtava kokemus. Ei olis haitannu jos oltais oltu muutama päivä pidempään. Olisin halunnut päästä Rockefeller centerin huipulle napsimaan esteettisiä kuvia, mut jonottaminen sinne olis vienyt vähintään puolet meidän vapaa-ajasta + kaikki mun käteisvarat, joten päätettiin skipata se kokemus.

Noin kaiken kaikkiaan New York on mulle vähän sellanen epäilyttävä ja hieman epämielyttävä paikka sen suuruudessaan ja ihmispaljoudessaan. En haluu kuulostaa sellaselta ihmiseltä joka ottaa kaikesta vaan negatiiviset puolet esille ja valivali, koska sitä en oo. Sanonpahan vaan, että jos menet New Yorkiin ja oletat postikorttimaisemia ja pilvenpiirtäjiä, niin niitä saat, mutta saat myös kämäsiä katuja, roskapusseja ja kodittomia ihmisiä joka kulmassa, ja puolialastomia ihmisiä jotka huutaa sulle ja sun kavereille jostain tuntemattomasta syystä. Mikään tästä ei kuitenkaan tarkota, etteikö sulle tulis ikimuistoisia ja sydäntä lämmittäviä muistoja, upeita kokemuksia ja kuvia tulevaisuudelle. Ja kuten sanottu, olis siellä voinu olla pidempäänkin, enkä valittais jos pitäis sinne uudestaan mennä. Vaikka paikka ei ihan ollut satarosenttinen, niin kyllä se kokemus oli.

p.s. Tänään on kulunut tasan 15 vuotta WTC-iskusta, ja halusin saada tän julkaistua tänään, ihan vaan sen vuoks, että siellä muistomerkeillä käytiin ja musta oli kaunista miten jokasen siellä henkensä menettäneen syntymäpäivänä heidän nimelle asetetaan valkoinen ruusu.