Laura goes to the US

new york, new york

this is going to be the next entry about this spectacular city and my past week. we had some beautiful days, crazy Americans´ parties, opera, an amazing sight over the city, a football game, an accidentally German movie, the first frozen feet, the opening of the Christmas season, the new year's trip planned and an international lunch at work. So be excited! :) but now I have to leave
take care,folks!


Monday:
don´t even ask me what I did, I have no idea. I was probably shocked that it was Monday again and that another weekend had passed by... oh, I remember: the most remarkable things at that day were that i broke my shoe and stayed in office late

Tuesday:
got some sushi at a japanese restaurant just down the road which jackie and me had for diner with candlelight and singing to music. then we went to kind of an alternative video shop to get a good movie. i was really impressed they had all the good european movies. we watched All About Martha (Bella Martha). shame on me I didn´t even know it is a german movie. well, i did after the first sentence... german with english subtitles!!! i would have never ever dreamt of that! it was very weird to hear german in a movie. the plot, the actors and the way of filming was so german and so sterile at the same time this turned out to be the first desillusion about my good old warm germany.

Wednesday:
(my first macdonald´s food in the us! i had a stomach ache the whole day long...)
the great day had arrived: get ready for the opera in carnegie hall! we met at the new yorker siemens office (7th ave!) and headed out for diner in the rain (wet, wet, wet). we still had some time so we went to Marriott´s hotel at times square to enjoy the view & take some pictures. very impressive! it´s been quite a while that i listened to a classical event without participating. strange feeling! also, I didn´t understand one single word because they didn´t translate the italian words which was actually good. the accoustics in carnegie hall are a masterpiece and i was so much into the music i didn´t even realize the end. no way to go home then! i found a very nice bar with live latin american music and jens, krisztina and me stayed there until they closed.

Janin, Jens & me at Marriott´s (das im-dunkeln-fotografieren müssen wir nochmal üben...:))














Thursday:
tired! but sleep?? no way!! life kept me busy :) after a long decision seeking i made Zwiebelkuchen for the international lunch. (of course i bring some dish!) around 9pm we then went to Altagracia´s landmine party. she´s a friend of bill and involved in some organisation that helps to destroy landmines in various countries and iniciates anti-landmine-contracts between several countries. so she showed a little video with following discussion. there was enough food and music to have a nice party. most of them left "early" and the seven of us left started the real party - crazy as we are.... ;) finally we remet the rest at gaslight and it got even earlier...

patriotoc peanuts!


bill playing air guitar and bryan and chris starting their drums and broomstick microphone show...:)





Friday:
international lunch. all kinds of different food! and one even stranger as the other... except of the Zwiebelkuchen ;) just kidding! but it (=the onion cake) got really good! not like the stoned chocolate mousse... the worst were the cakes. oh my gosh, i have never eaten cakes with so much buttercream-chocolate-enriched-something! (even the decoration carrot on carrot cakes are butter-sugar-cream!) to give you an idea: how does chocolate-brownie-(you know that chocolate-dough-feeling)-peanutbuttercups-and-cookie-cake sound like? rich! i also found out that columbian meat has to stay as long in the pan until it gets almost black and dry as paper. but it was interesting!
that night i wanted to go to bed early but of course i didn´t. Bill and me made a contest who can clean his room faster. I won but I have to admit that he was not too fond of this idea for his own reasons... :)
Silvester we will spend on a boat cruise on the Hudson river. the best view of manhatten, 5 dishes meal, open bar, chic and dressy and party. the alternative would have been to go to times square to see the ball explode: be there at 3pm, fences around, if you leave there is no way to get back in, no food, no beverages, no toilets... easy decision!

Saturday:
Kitchenette, 123th St, Broadway: a gorgious place to have breakfast! that's what we did. Then finally I had the chance to see a live football game. It was the final game of the Ivy League, Lions (Columbia University,NYC) vs. Bears. It was fun but I was disappointed of the seize knowing how football is like at Purdue. Also, it was the first freezing(!!) day - sunny and clear. We sat on the Lions' side and they sucked! the hot chocolate couldn't warm up either - because of its incredible taste it was not allowed to enter my body. But it was still fun! and finally, i understood the rules... knock your enemy down, touch-down is 6 points, the goal right after one. juhey!
after we showed our critical faces and went shopping to Chinatown. no dvd sale on the streets that night but nice and cheap bags. real leather 25$, showing the critical face 20 bucks - good deal! crowdy and that special atmosphere as in almost every chinatown. then getting off the subway and a total different surrounding: going back to times square to meet Marc and have some diner in a chinese restaurant on broadway. nyc unifies every diverse kind of atmosphere and appearance of a city: just go down the subway stairs and get out wherever you want to. the chinese restaurant was pretty exclusive for a reasonable price. 2 minutes to 7 we realised that there was happy hour till 7 so we all ordered cocktails in the last second. surprisingly, in chinese, daiquiry seems to be the same as a whole cocktail glass full of plain tequila. a fast change of dresses and we were ready to head out to Fredd´s after-opera-party (first come, last go:)). Fredd is the opera singer who had the baritone solo. The party was in his apt.´s building - beautifully situated just on the Hudson River with a view of the Empire and the city from the rooftop, swimming pool, in-door basketball field, fitness center, and restaurant and convenience store downstairs. nice people, free drinks, sushi and snacks - it got quite late... so we stayed in queens (another get out of the subway to a different world thing), accompanied by christmas carols singing strange/rs in the sub, and slept in.

Sunday:
another day in New York, New York. can´t get enough! a fast cheesecake and croissant breakfast for lunch and the first glance at NYC at Christmas time... from down and above! to be more precise: from the top of the rock. we could have stayed there forever!! at least we did a part of forever, over 2 hours, almost until sunset. 52648759 pictures, 4 times of circle walking, going up and down, and just sitting there and enjoying the view - time stood still. psst! the first glance at the rockefeller christmas tree (still wrapped) , central station, the luxurious Walldorf hotel, Macy´s in its christmas dress and within one tick the weekend is over...


next Tuesday:
found a very good wine store selling excellent pfälzer wine! rene and me watched a very freaky movie, it´s life as a schizophrenic person experiences it. 2,5 hours!!! krasse sache. packing my bag for texas, happy Thanksgiving!!

posted by Laura @ 8:46 PM