All alone in this big city and it's fabulous
I made it! Honestly, as I was flying into the city and looking down at the lights, I kept wondering, How the heck did I get myself here? Luckily for me, the plane flights and connections all went smoothly. I didn’t sleep much but had some caffine and tons of adrenaline on my side. Getting a taxi at La Guardia was actually quite simple and a smooth ride, it just took forever to get TO my hotel once we were in the city. My hotel is in a fabulous location at 49th and Broadway, but traffic is awful. But I survived, and got to my hotel about 7 p.m.
But what would my trip be if nothing went wrong, right? I check in relatively easily and get a key to my room. Now I know this is a European hotel and it’s cheap, but I open the door and walk into the bed. There’s also no view, but I didn’t come to New York to watch from my window, so I get over it. I start to unpack and remember my mom warning me to check the water and faucets first. Weak water pressure, but the sink works. But the shower doesn’t. I call the front desk and they tell me, “press the button.” There is no button. So this burly but sweet (that seems like a stereotype, but he’s cool), security guy (because there are no bellhops) comes to my room to look and says, “Oh, there is no button.” He turns on the shower and it just dribbles. “That sucks, that really, really sucks.” No way, I didn’t notice! But he’s heads down stairs and talks to the guy at the front desk and gets me a new room. It’s one floor up and a few extra feet of room. Not too shabby. And the shower works.
I had to go out for a little bit at 8 p.m. and wandered to Fifth Avenue since I saw some crazy lights as we drove in. There’s a huge, I mean huge, sparkling lit up snow flake suspended between two buildings. Tons of the buildings have sparkling decorations, like next to Trump Towers there are little display cases lit up. Then I made my way around to Rockefeller Center, and bam! The tree. That huge tree that I remember seeing in Elf. It really is amazing. But there are also a million people crowded in there. You wouldn’t believe the lines to get in to the ice skating rink. Not worth it, I’ll go to Bryant Park (plus it’s way cheaper). After my sensory overload and this feeling of ‘I can’t believe I’m in New York and I’m alone for the week and it feels normal’ - I promptly head back to my hotel and pass out.
Today I got an early start and went about the city. It’s surprisingly warm here, mid 50s and the sun comes out. It’s better than when I left Oregon, and I was expecting such cold! I wandered the streets and scouted out my interview buildings. And basically everything the seemingly professional women are wearing. Just looking in those buildings makes me intimidated. I sucessfully found all three buildings. Two are only about 10 blocks away, but of course my earliest interview, at 9 a.m. happens to be all the way across to Third Avenue!!! Smart me, I chose that time. But after that, of course, I go shopping. H&M is probably my favorite trendy/inexpensive store ever. It used to be only on the East Coast, but now they have them in California, but I haven’t been. Anyway, I spend a good amount of time in the store and get some nice ‘interview appropriate’ and fashionable things to add to my prospects I brought. And that was my morning.
It’s about 1:30 p.m. and I feel kind of like I have a head cold, probably from not sleeping and lots of travel, so I’m going to go rest and pray for it to go away. Then it’s time to frantically prepare for my first interview tomorrow. Wish me luck!
But what would my trip be if nothing went wrong, right? I check in relatively easily and get a key to my room. Now I know this is a European hotel and it’s cheap, but I open the door and walk into the bed. There’s also no view, but I didn’t come to New York to watch from my window, so I get over it. I start to unpack and remember my mom warning me to check the water and faucets first. Weak water pressure, but the sink works. But the shower doesn’t. I call the front desk and they tell me, “press the button.” There is no button. So this burly but sweet (that seems like a stereotype, but he’s cool), security guy (because there are no bellhops) comes to my room to look and says, “Oh, there is no button.” He turns on the shower and it just dribbles. “That sucks, that really, really sucks.” No way, I didn’t notice! But he’s heads down stairs and talks to the guy at the front desk and gets me a new room. It’s one floor up and a few extra feet of room. Not too shabby. And the shower works.
I had to go out for a little bit at 8 p.m. and wandered to Fifth Avenue since I saw some crazy lights as we drove in. There’s a huge, I mean huge, sparkling lit up snow flake suspended between two buildings. Tons of the buildings have sparkling decorations, like next to Trump Towers there are little display cases lit up. Then I made my way around to Rockefeller Center, and bam! The tree. That huge tree that I remember seeing in Elf. It really is amazing. But there are also a million people crowded in there. You wouldn’t believe the lines to get in to the ice skating rink. Not worth it, I’ll go to Bryant Park (plus it’s way cheaper). After my sensory overload and this feeling of ‘I can’t believe I’m in New York and I’m alone for the week and it feels normal’ - I promptly head back to my hotel and pass out.
Today I got an early start and went about the city. It’s surprisingly warm here, mid 50s and the sun comes out. It’s better than when I left Oregon, and I was expecting such cold! I wandered the streets and scouted out my interview buildings. And basically everything the seemingly professional women are wearing. Just looking in those buildings makes me intimidated. I sucessfully found all three buildings. Two are only about 10 blocks away, but of course my earliest interview, at 9 a.m. happens to be all the way across to Third Avenue!!! Smart me, I chose that time. But after that, of course, I go shopping. H&M is probably my favorite trendy/inexpensive store ever. It used to be only on the East Coast, but now they have them in California, but I haven’t been. Anyway, I spend a good amount of time in the store and get some nice ‘interview appropriate’ and fashionable things to add to my prospects I brought. And that was my morning.
It’s about 1:30 p.m. and I feel kind of like I have a head cold, probably from not sleeping and lots of travel, so I’m going to go rest and pray for it to go away. Then it’s time to frantically prepare for my first interview tomorrow. Wish me luck!