Philly - Thursday
This was the day I had been waiting for since september last year - going to Philadelphia and visit Kristin!!
I traveled with her parents, Lois and Dave. Else my host parents wouldn't have allowed me to go. But going with Dave and Lois was actually a good thing besides that... then I could do things while Kristin was working.
So yeah, we went up at like 5.15 in the morning. Reminded me of when I got up at 3.45 on the day I went here to the US. The plane for Philly left departed at 7.30 so it was about getting up early.
When we arrived in Philly it was nice to finally see a real train station at the airport. And to my surprise there actually were some pick-up trucks, though obviously not as many as in Houston.
We got a nice rental car and off we went to Dave and Lois' hotel in downtown Philadelphia. Even though we got to downtown before rush hour it was still just as crowded with cars and people as you see in New York.
Yeah the whole center of the city actually looked like a little brother version of New York... narrow one way streets, skyscrapers squeezed together, lots of taxis, and so on. Very different from what you see in Houston.
Of course the crowded one way streets made it almost impossible to get to the hotel, but it all worked out in the end (except that Dave drove around with the car cap open for too long time).
After Dave and Lois got settled at the hotel we rode the subway to University City (where Kristin lives). A have to admit that never have I seen such an ugly and poorly maintained subway system... both the trains and stations. But oh well, at least the trains could drive. And I don't think I've ever seen so many Afro Americans as I saw in Philly... that was kind of overwhelming. There must be a lot more blacks there than in Houston.
University City looked very peaceful and nice. We got off the train in the middle of the Drexel University campus, which is where Kristin studies. A short time after Kristin came, so we all went up to her dorm.
This was like THE maximum security dorm... we had to sign in, and they even took my passport!!
So yeah, we got up to Kristin's suite, and never before had I seen so much mess. OH MY GOD! And it smelled. Not even my host parents bedroom is that messy. Luckily Kristin's suite mates were the pigs. Her room was much cleaner, so that was at least a good thing.
I hope I'll remember the state of this suite when I go to college... this wasn't a sight I'd want to see again.
Next we went to a kind of student hang out place called Ross Commons. An old house that had been restored and made really nice looking. We ate early dinner there, and then Kristin gave us a tour around campus. It's funny how much American universities market themselves: there were Drexel posters and signs everywhere.
Kristin showed us an engineering lab where she works. I knew all the nice Mac G4's in the room, but the rest of the instruments I had no idea of how to use. But it was cool how various teacher assistants, like Kristin, had build models (kind of lego) of everything possible when they got bored... a tank, monster truck, helicopter, crane, bridge and so on. These weren't basic models, I think the tank even had a motor, so the TA's must have more than normally bored.
Then we walked through the campus of University of Pennsylvania. That was a lot bigger than Drexel. At last we ended up at a cinema, but Dave and Lois were too tired to watch Star Wars 3, so we hung out at a restaurant. After a while Dave and Lois rode the subway back to their hotel and Kristin and I walked to the dorm. Big sis (Kristin) made me watch the TV show family guy... but of course being so extremely tired as I was, Kristin had to explain all the jokes from the show to me. And despite that, I don't even think I understood more than half of them. Not surprising when I had been awake since 5.15 and slept on a tilting couch Wednesday night!
So yeah, the first day was very fun, but obviously very tiring. Now I really WAS in Philly!
I traveled with her parents, Lois and Dave. Else my host parents wouldn't have allowed me to go. But going with Dave and Lois was actually a good thing besides that... then I could do things while Kristin was working.
So yeah, we went up at like 5.15 in the morning. Reminded me of when I got up at 3.45 on the day I went here to the US. The plane for Philly left departed at 7.30 so it was about getting up early.
When we arrived in Philly it was nice to finally see a real train station at the airport. And to my surprise there actually were some pick-up trucks, though obviously not as many as in Houston.
We got a nice rental car and off we went to Dave and Lois' hotel in downtown Philadelphia. Even though we got to downtown before rush hour it was still just as crowded with cars and people as you see in New York.
Yeah the whole center of the city actually looked like a little brother version of New York... narrow one way streets, skyscrapers squeezed together, lots of taxis, and so on. Very different from what you see in Houston.
Of course the crowded one way streets made it almost impossible to get to the hotel, but it all worked out in the end (except that Dave drove around with the car cap open for too long time).
After Dave and Lois got settled at the hotel we rode the subway to University City (where Kristin lives). A have to admit that never have I seen such an ugly and poorly maintained subway system... both the trains and stations. But oh well, at least the trains could drive. And I don't think I've ever seen so many Afro Americans as I saw in Philly... that was kind of overwhelming. There must be a lot more blacks there than in Houston.
University City looked very peaceful and nice. We got off the train in the middle of the Drexel University campus, which is where Kristin studies. A short time after Kristin came, so we all went up to her dorm.
This was like THE maximum security dorm... we had to sign in, and they even took my passport!!
So yeah, we got up to Kristin's suite, and never before had I seen so much mess. OH MY GOD! And it smelled. Not even my host parents bedroom is that messy. Luckily Kristin's suite mates were the pigs. Her room was much cleaner, so that was at least a good thing.
I hope I'll remember the state of this suite when I go to college... this wasn't a sight I'd want to see again.
Next we went to a kind of student hang out place called Ross Commons. An old house that had been restored and made really nice looking. We ate early dinner there, and then Kristin gave us a tour around campus. It's funny how much American universities market themselves: there were Drexel posters and signs everywhere.
Kristin showed us an engineering lab where she works. I knew all the nice Mac G4's in the room, but the rest of the instruments I had no idea of how to use. But it was cool how various teacher assistants, like Kristin, had build models (kind of lego) of everything possible when they got bored... a tank, monster truck, helicopter, crane, bridge and so on. These weren't basic models, I think the tank even had a motor, so the TA's must have more than normally bored.
Then we walked through the campus of University of Pennsylvania. That was a lot bigger than Drexel. At last we ended up at a cinema, but Dave and Lois were too tired to watch Star Wars 3, so we hung out at a restaurant. After a while Dave and Lois rode the subway back to their hotel and Kristin and I walked to the dorm. Big sis (Kristin) made me watch the TV show family guy... but of course being so extremely tired as I was, Kristin had to explain all the jokes from the show to me. And despite that, I don't even think I understood more than half of them. Not surprising when I had been awake since 5.15 and slept on a tilting couch Wednesday night!
So yeah, the first day was very fun, but obviously very tiring. Now I really WAS in Philly!