Whirlwind

It has been quite a few days so far... in short, I moved in on Sunday around noon- and it's all been pretty much a blur since then.

So, Sunday morning I got up at 6:30 am to shower and finish packing. Molly spent the weekend, so she drove me to the airport at 8 o'clock. We got to the airport a little before 9, and checked in- Molly escorted us to the security gate to catch our flight.

The airport and the actual flight were pretty much uneventful. We landed at LaGuardia at about 11:40. When my mom and I were waiting for our luggage, a girl, Hannah Trager, came up to us and asked if I was from Albion. It turned out she was also doing the New York Arts Program, so we shared a cab to the house.

After a short cab ride, we arrived at "305". I marched up the four(!) flights of stairs to my closet... i mean... room(?). It's rather small and designed for two people- which would be absolutely awful. But since I have the room for myself, it worked out perfectly. 

After I got settled, my mom and I walked to Rockafeller Center (where I'll be working) and had lunch in the cafe at the water fountain.

When my mom left, I met up with Julie Kocsis (she is doing the same internship as me) and some girls from her hall to go grocery shopping. Julie and I then went for a walk to familiarize ourselves with the area and ended up walking to Times Square, where we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

My first full day in New York City was Monday. Julie and I had planned to go see more of the city today. In the morning she had some errands to run, so I set out to find the Chelsea Market near "305".

I started venturing north waiting to get to 16th Street.... it took me about 5 blocks to realize that I was going in the completely wrong direction! So I had to turn around and head back... about 15 blocks only to find that the market was closed on Labor Day.

So, Julie and I met up and took the subway to 86th and explored Uptown and Central park for a few hours. She then returned to the house and I took a subway to Times Square- I had a few errands to run.... My room is quite lackluster and I was hoping to lien it up with a few posters. So I went to Virgin Records-  but to my disappointment, they had none that pleased me. 

So I took the red line downtown to get back to our building... It turns out that I got on the express train, which took me about four stops too far... so, therefore I had to switch trains and backtrack to 28th street to get back home.

Monday night we had our first house meeting. It was the basic rules of the house- what we are and are not allowed to do, what our chores are, yadda, yadda, yadda.... This was the first time I got to see everyone living in the house. There are about 25-ish of us living here this fall..... less than half of Fall '07. 

After our meeting, I went for a walk with Christoffer, a guy from Sweden/Denison who lives in my hall. We walked East and got some better bearings for the neighborhoods we are living in.

Tuesday morning, today, we had our orientation for NYAP. We all gathered at The People's Improv Theatre, where all the advisors for NYAP talked to us about what to expect from our internships and the city. Two NYPD detectives (who, I swear, stepped out of Law & Order to talk to us) gave us safety tips for walking and living in the city. They had the stereotypical color-coordinated suits, and talked out of the sides of their mouths.

After a quick bite to eat, the NYAP group met at the Circle Line pier and took a 2-hour cruise of Manhattan. I took plenty of photos... so they should be on facebook soon!

After our tour, we had dinner catered at the house.... I was absolutely exhausted so I took a nap.. then I explored a bit more and found a three story KMart at Penn Station- haha, thought that was kinda funny. So I did a bit of shopping... and now here I am sitting in our lounge typing this blog!

It still hasn't hit me that I am living in New York. It's still kind of surreal. I'm sure once I start working regularly it will sink in... so, we'll see!

Stay tuned for more!