NYC

Really loud, busy, and exciting! Crazy drivers and traffic. I couldn't imagine trying to drive in the streets, even riding is scary. XD

The first day we went, we walked around and went to the Museum Of Chinese in America, a must-see for any chinese people in New York City. It reminded me a lot of the tenacity and hardship my Chinese ancestors went through here. Where I live, there are more Asians than anybody else, and there are a lot of stereotypes of Asians being more smart or privileged, so it's hard to believe there was a time when it wasn't normal or cool to be Chinese. I think Chinese have assimilated into American culture to an unusual degree, so it was heartbreaking to read about the backbreaking manual labor in laundries or restaurants just so they could live in a place so they could live in America. It broke my heart to see and hear the primary source recordings and documents of the degrading hardship yet untainted pride of my ancestors. One of the people mentioned was actually my grandmother's great grandfather.

We spent lots of time walking around and went to a Chinese bakery and got awesome pastries. We walked to the Winter Garden and a park over the harbor, as well as the 9/11 memorial. We walked past the New York State supreme court. For dinner we went to a ridiculously overpriced and fancy Japanese fusion restaurant. The dessert($10!!) was really good but really small, it was a tempura mochi with kind of green tea coffee ice cream on it.

In New York there are endless opportunities to people-watch and tons of things to see and buy and hear. There are street performers dancing, singing, drumming, or making bubbles on every street corner. There are also quite a few homeless people and beggars.

Day 2 we tried to go to Governer's Island, but it was closed, so we took the Staten Island ferry both ways instead. The day was really beautiful and sunny and it was great to be on the harbor. We walked to the seaport and past Wall Street and the NYSE building. Outside there were news people filming, which was cool to watch. The seaport itself was okay, there was a trapeze school right outside and really cool tall ships. We took the subway to a little bit of Central Park and got some food from Whole Foods. Everywhere is extremely crowded. Whole Foods was like Anime Expo level crowded except with like food instead of merchandise. Finally, we went to Columbia University, which, despite being in the middle of the city, is incredibly gorgeous. It's like an entire different world once you step inside the gate. I got to meet one of my friends who is starting there this fall, and we walked around the campus(which is beautiful at night) and talked.

In all, although NYC is crowded and noisy and sometimes smelly and always crazy and a lot of walking, it's a good experience. I think I could get used to the city even though I don't think I'd like to live there forever.