In place of turkey, I walked the city

by jonathanlimes

The past three days in New York City were a much-needed breath of fresh air (though literally, not quite) away from the Charlottesville suburbs. I took a one-day trip to the city last year in December, and it was too painfully short to the point that I couldn’t explore past the main tourist areas. This time, my Thanksgiving trip took me around the more quaint areas of Manhattan.

I like cities. People always say that cities are dirty, grimy and its citizens are packed in so tightly that the overcrowding desensitizes them and makes them all numb to the sights and senses of life. But I don’t think so. There’s something special about the hectic rush that begins even before you awake in murky bouts of initial consciousness as you slowly drift awake from sleep. A couple of my friends are college students in the city, and I’m trying to imagine the life of a finance/business student studying in the depths of Manhattan. It probably feels awesome to be studying in your dorm with the window propped open, such that you can hear the sounds of cars and random slices of street life; it probably feels that you’re this close to the life you want to live, in this city of ambition, and the education before you right now is the key to that life. When you’re that close to something such that you live in its reality, it must feel pretty exciting.

On the other hand, the vast suburbs and greenery are perfect for a philosophy and political science student like me. Although sometimes this sleepy little town gets a little stifling from its unchanging beauty and quiet peacefulness, I can’t quite imagine reading a thick philosophical text by a city street. The physical environment of a living place suits certain kinds of endeavors and fields of study, I guess.

Will let the photos do the talking from here:

I stumbled upon a little art display by the corner of a street. Thousands of paper cups hung on lines of string, decorated with merely simple ink markers but producing such an exciting collage of city life. I should start something like this in my dorm room!

 

Inside the New York Grand Central station, where so many movie scenes are filmed. It somehow feels odd to be finally standing in a place that initially, only existed onscreen for a big part of your childhood life.

At the edge of Central Park in midtown Manhattan. The water is so still, it makes a really good snapshot.

Nothing like a typical American breakfast to pump us up after an intense bout of Black Friday shopping. I got up wearily at four in the morning, and hit the stores by five. We shopped away to our hearts’ content in a gigantic consumerist frenzy until fatigue and hunger at 10:30AM brought us to Andrew’s Coffee Shop in the middle of Herald’s Square, somewhere along 34th Street. 

As November speeds to an end, and the December days lurk round the corner, the final exam season now makes its swinging entrance. It’ll be three weeks of good academic fun before the next travel adventure comes round! Now that I’ve finished my cup of hot chocolate it’s time to stop writing.

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