Day 1--The Big Apple

Thursday-- I set out with my mom. We arrive at the SLC airport 3 hours before take-off. Sitting and not waiting very patiently to board, the Olympics seemed to be the only thing that could catch our attention. Looking out at the other people in the airport, I notice a familiar face... He sits down next to us, only to discover that we are on the same red-eye flight to JFK. Interesting.
Soon enough our flight boards, and 20 minutes later I found myself playing some trivia game with 5 other players on the plane, and my mother nagging me to go to sleep because tomorrow's gonna be a looong day. I couldn't really sleep though, I found myself in the stage where I was dreaming, but not fully asleep, and I woke up every time the fasten seat belt sign would light up. Four hours later, we landed in New York City. My mother and I got our luggage, got some coffee, and picked up a shuttle to our hotel.
I told the driver thanks as he loaded my bag into the back of his van, but he grabbed it harshly and didn't even crack a smile. Trying to drink our coffee and eat our muffins, the driver made it quite impossible. I think I have every right to say that he was the worst driver in the world. He drove so fast and honked at every single car and person in his way, even way they had the right away. He took turns very fast and slammed on his brakes a lot. We were jammed in the van with eight other people; two very petite Argentinian women, an Asian man, and another white family who was actually on the same flight as us. One of the Argentinian girls kept complaining about how cold she was, but the driver absolutely refused to turn down the AC, and at one point, he threatened to kick the women out of the van on the side of the highway.
Two long hours later, we arrived at our hotel: The New York Palace, and yes, it is as nice as the name makes it sound! Unfortunately, our room wasn't ready yet, so my mom and I set out towards 5th Ave. to waste some time. We walked 5th down to Central Park, where we hopped on a double-decker tour bus. After making our way to the top level, we finally got a chance to relax and enjoy a nice peaceful ride. I know the double-decker bus sounds very touristy, but it was very enjoyable. The tour guide was friendly and absolutely hilarious! He told us very useful information about the city, and then again, a lot of useless information. We drove down Broadway, saw the place where John Lennon was shot, and took a tour of Harlem. After the tour, my mother and I came back to our very nice hotel room, took a nap, a shower, and then hit the town again.
Luckily, our hotel is in a very ideal part of town. We're one block away from Rockefeller Center, and just two blocks from 5th Ave. Walking down 5th Ave, we took a random turn, ended up by the library, and soon we were on Times Square. We went in the MTV store, picked up a little something something for my little brother, and when we walked out the weather had taken a turn for the bad, leaving everybody in Times Squares absolutely panicked and most without umbrellas. Of course my mother and I were panicked. We walked in a few different stores before getting the smart idea of actually buying an umbrella. We went back in the MTV store, picked up an umbrella, and decided to find a restaurant because we were absolutely starving!! We walked about five blocks in the pouring rain before we stopped at a cute little French restaurant called "Maison." The food was absolutely wonderful!


Blah-- I'm tired of writing, I'll pick up where I left off later.... Some old guy just invited me to the bar--- sick... He asked me where my boyfriend was.. I said "Korea...", he smiled and said "come to the bar... ", I replied with, "We'll see!"
But I'm off to my room... and I'm not even old enough to go to the bar... lol


Peace

I used to have this bracelet that a Balinese woman gave me. I never took it off, and one day, it was just gone. Disappeared. It meant a lot to me--reminded me of the simple life in Indonesia. Everyone was dirt poor and didn't have anything, but they were the happiest people I'd ever seen in my life. That's the life I wanna live.

Late Night. Can't Sleep.

Sometimes I wish I could mend every single problem with a flick of a switch... just zap away all my worries, my troubles, my bad thoughts, wrong-doings, and live one amazing carefree lifestyle. One where I wouldn't have to worry about how much money is in my bank account, or who's judging or grading me, or how anybody could just die at any moment.

Tonight I found myself lying in bed, playing games on my phone, trying to get comfortable and fall asleep, but my mind wasn't allowing such a thing. Things such as my bank account, school, friends, travel, this society, love, and fear fluttered my mind. Funny how my intentions in life can change in a couple months. I've gone from wanting to fit in in this society--go to school, get amazing grades, get my PHd, and start a family. I find it somewhat ridiculous that if you wanna be somebody in today's society you need to attend an ivy league school and be gorgeous. In some sense, I still do want that, but I know it won't make me happy.

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I've always been told that the best way to learn something is to experience it first hand. I live through a lot of life changing events in my life. They've shaped me into the person I am now. I just wanna get out of this place, move on to a different part of the world. I wanna start my career, my passions: photography and travel. I'm tired of sitting in a classroom learning about God knows what. I want to experience first hand, that's how I want to learn. I'm tired of being told and listening to lectures about subjects that my professors haven't even experienced first hand... they're just passing on the information that people have told them--brainwashed them to believe.

For me, my passions makes me happy.