New York, New York! Part 1
Ok, so this is two months late. Whatever, it's my journal. :p
Beneath the cut I record the adventures of an English (not very good) film student in the Big Apple, in which she fulfills her dream of seeing Times Square at night, buys more hoodies than should be legal and acquires a stalker (albeit a sweet one).
So, first things first; I have never flown before in my life.
No, really.
Arriving at Heathrow, I felt like a small child in an icecream factory. I kept pointing at landing/taking off aeroplanes. Come to that I was pointing at grounded planes, too. It was, quite simply amazing.
After the fun of customs (in which my friend and room buddy was nearly arrested because she accidentally left nail scissors in her bag) I had the experience of Sitting Around In Duty Free, Obsessively Checking The Flight Boards. It is perhaps testament to the newness of all this to me that I actually enjoyed this.
The best part of the day though (did I mention it was my birthday? Well it was, hehe.) was the flight. Oh wow. Taking off and the feeling of being raised into the air, and the surprisingly nice food in the sweet little pots and glasses and of course the free stuff. I loved it. I got to watch PotC: AWE again, and the first four episodes of House season 3, which I missed on TV. Bliss, quite frankly. Though landing at JFK was somewhat painful (I swear I chewed so many sweets and my left ear still hurt) and it took me two hours stood at immigration to get my hearing back, on the whole it was a good experience. With a bit of drama, such as losing someone in the airport, we made it to hotel in time to leave to visit the Empire State, at about eleven pm.
Now, I don't know about anyone else, but releasing 40 odd english teenagers onto the streets of New York on their first night in the city, with jet lag threatening and not one of us with a map.... well, does it sound like a good plan? Our trip to the Empire State consisted of four of us at the back screaming directions half heard from our teachers before they mysteriously disappeared (kidnapped, perhaps?) and the rest yelling back and wandering off to buy food. (No food since 3pm, NY time). How we got there is still a mystery, but we did with half the trip missing and all gagging for a drink. We hit the shop drinks fridge like a pack of rabid dogs, with barely enough moisture in our mouths to answer the poor shop assistant's obligatory question of: "So, where are you from?"
But oh my God. Is that a great building to be up at midnight? New York at night is beautiful, and that is it. QED. It looks like Christmas but far less tacky. It's an amazing human creation to look at. Ok, carbon emissions etc etc, but seriously just look at it. Sadly, it was hilariously windy up on the 109th floor or whatever it was, so most of my pictures consist of four, out of focus Chrysler buildings in one shot, or me and my mates with bags under our eyes and windswept hair doing 'MySpace' shots. (For the lolz.)
After this I vaguley remember getting my first taxi with my mates, being fleeced (unknowingly) for the fare and then falling into bed. Day One: My birthday. F*cking amazing.
Beneath the cut I record the adventures of an English (not very good) film student in the Big Apple, in which she fulfills her dream of seeing Times Square at night, buys more hoodies than should be legal and acquires a stalker (albeit a sweet one).
So, first things first; I have never flown before in my life.
No, really.
Arriving at Heathrow, I felt like a small child in an icecream factory. I kept pointing at landing/taking off aeroplanes. Come to that I was pointing at grounded planes, too. It was, quite simply amazing.
After the fun of customs (in which my friend and room buddy was nearly arrested because she accidentally left nail scissors in her bag) I had the experience of Sitting Around In Duty Free, Obsessively Checking The Flight Boards. It is perhaps testament to the newness of all this to me that I actually enjoyed this.
The best part of the day though (did I mention it was my birthday? Well it was, hehe.) was the flight. Oh wow. Taking off and the feeling of being raised into the air, and the surprisingly nice food in the sweet little pots and glasses and of course the free stuff. I loved it. I got to watch PotC: AWE again, and the first four episodes of House season 3, which I missed on TV. Bliss, quite frankly. Though landing at JFK was somewhat painful (I swear I chewed so many sweets and my left ear still hurt) and it took me two hours stood at immigration to get my hearing back, on the whole it was a good experience. With a bit of drama, such as losing someone in the airport, we made it to hotel in time to leave to visit the Empire State, at about eleven pm.
Now, I don't know about anyone else, but releasing 40 odd english teenagers onto the streets of New York on their first night in the city, with jet lag threatening and not one of us with a map.... well, does it sound like a good plan? Our trip to the Empire State consisted of four of us at the back screaming directions half heard from our teachers before they mysteriously disappeared (kidnapped, perhaps?) and the rest yelling back and wandering off to buy food. (No food since 3pm, NY time). How we got there is still a mystery, but we did with half the trip missing and all gagging for a drink. We hit the shop drinks fridge like a pack of rabid dogs, with barely enough moisture in our mouths to answer the poor shop assistant's obligatory question of: "So, where are you from?"
But oh my God. Is that a great building to be up at midnight? New York at night is beautiful, and that is it. QED. It looks like Christmas but far less tacky. It's an amazing human creation to look at. Ok, carbon emissions etc etc, but seriously just look at it. Sadly, it was hilariously windy up on the 109th floor or whatever it was, so most of my pictures consist of four, out of focus Chrysler buildings in one shot, or me and my mates with bags under our eyes and windswept hair doing 'MySpace' shots. (For the lolz.)
After this I vaguley remember getting my first taxi with my mates, being fleeced (unknowingly) for the fare and then falling into bed. Day One: My birthday. F*cking amazing.