The Sunshine State
Sunshine and Beaches, of course also the heat and humidity welcome me to the State of Florida!
My journey from the Empire State to the Sunshine State had just finished: with my suitcase is still on its way to Tampa...
I already started to experience the driving life here on my first day of arrival; I basically explore around the Northern Tampa, Clearwater and part of St. Petersborough areas - well, including getting around, or lost if you would call :)
Currently I am living in a temporary hotel for a night before I check in my apartment here tomorrow. I am excited to see the new living space in about 12 hours! After that, I planned to do some more sight-seeing/driving around and get myself familiar with our neighborhood. I cannot believe it still, I am here and starting a new chapter of my traineeship here - amazing!
Hi, American Mid-West
Welcoming my first time to Chicago and of course the Midwest of the United States, with our 3-hour delay on the American Airlines. Aparrently there was something wrong with the air traffic control and the air traffic last night. At one point, we were told by the airline staff that our flight was directed to JFK airport in which we were at La Guardia (one of the 3 airports in NY/NJ area). Then it came the captain's announcement that we had to wait besides the runway for our clearance; and that wait lasted for 1.5 hours.
Well, finally I got to Chicago O'Hare International Airport at 12:05am eastern time. (which is 11:05pm central time) The compensation was I got to check in the Marriott Hotel with room upgrade and complimentary continental breakfast. That was kind of a reward. More importantly, the kindness of local people here I met so far, the absolutely fresh air and wonderful weather just make me feel relaxed and pleasant! On my way from the airport to the hotel, I actually passed the office that I am going to work in next year, with my rotation here in Illinois.
Time seems to get short these few days: just like in such a short while, I am already moved out from my place in Chelsea and then now to Illinois and heading back to New York will mean I have 2 more days to settle my lugguage and then fly off to Florida. Though I always like flying and I do travel quite frequent (not very); but this is the first time for me having 3 flights in a 6-day interval. Alright in my mind now is all about my Marriott rewards and air miles which all tranlated into Asia Miles for me ^___^
Good Bye NYC
So the day has come finally...
I am checking out my Chelsea apartment here in Manhattan tomorrow - though it is not a place belongs to me, I like this place very much, in terms of the design, warmth, the location, the personal space and my 1st "home"living abroad. It is sad to say "bye" to it.
Having spent the past Saturday for packing, I realized that I am actually getting more stuff which is somehow a problem. My task in Florida is to "keep fit"!!! Hopefully, I would be able to being something back in my X'mas trip home. (Well, I am still on waiting list for my flight!)
This might be my last blog msg wrote in NYC - a city I found fascinating, energetic, attractive and warm (given the previous fact about my home, friendship made here and the trip that Cinde and I made together!). Looking forward to a new life in Florida!
P.S.
I am flying off to Illinois for a 3-day training then coming back to the City and really depart here on Sunday.
New Rotation in Florida
Finally, I had a chance to talk to my new project manager Mike from our Florida office.
As expected, I will be working in a completely new business area - somehow my anxiety builds up these days...it was not about confidence or comfortability, but it is more like feeling unsure what and how I could contribute to the department, as well as continue my learning path in the company. With the conference call and some prior materials sent by the managers, I realized more about my role and responsibilities there - I will be working with more IT staff and systems related operations and processes. Of course I know that I will not be writing programs or handling the mainframes that we have; I am still nervous about the technical stuff :P
Nonetheless, I really feel it should be a good match for me. I had been working on marketing area with different local markets in the US; and now I will be working in the national side and more on the production scope. I am sure it will be a good development process for me. So, it is more like a mixture of feeling for the time-being...I guess again, this is life - always challenges and opportunities!
Yale University
With only 2 weekends left in New York City, I decided to leave the last weekend (next one) for final packing, and today for more sight-seeing. A friend of mine told me before that she thought Yale University has the most beautiful campus in the US that she had seen; so I decided to give it a try - here I went New Haven of Connecticut, a 2-hour train ride from NYC's Grand Central Station.
I took my first Metro-North ride and first train ride from New York City (indeed, also just my 3rd in the US, last two were between Washington DC and Baltimore). The weather was not too nice for traveling nor sight-seeing. It was cloudy but one good thing was that it was not hot at all because of that. I was lucky not to meet the rain for the whole day when I was out until I got on the platform for the train returning to New York.
About the Yale campus: it was full of Gothic, European buildings, courtyard, greens and open spaces. I joined a guided tour. Our tour leader Dave had just finished his freshman year at the School of Music. As he told us, Yale certainly enjoys a lot of privilege and firsts, and wonderful campus life. To name a few of the Yale firsts - First Ph.D. awarded in the US, first Chinese graduate from the US universities, its Indoor Sports Complex is still world's number one, Yale had the nation's first spy (who apparently being executed by the Britons in his first mission! What a failure...); and the honors - five US presidents, including 4 in the last four (Bush Sr. & Jr., Clinton and Ford)...and the old campus of Yale is just absolutely gorgeous!
I am really glad that I made this trip to Yale before I depart for the South!
Interesting Facts about NYC (Episode III)
16 days more, I will be leaving New York City...it has been a great experience. I am going to miss the city for sure! Before it is too late, here comes my possibly last observations in the Big Apple:
1)
Cellphones- Walking on the street here, you might suddenly heard of a "doo" sound. When you turn around, you will see someone talking to his handset which is like a Walki Talkie! Actually it is very common here - thanks to Motorola. Many people, in particular for those who do our deliveries, they use it a lot when they're biking!
2)
Busi-ness of NYC- Given the privilege to live in the city, of course I do suffer from its "prosperity". When my air-conditioner was broken once before, I found that it was actually very noisy on the 7th Avenue, even I am not quite close to places like Grand Central or Times Square or night clubs. The cabs are running all night here, I do mean it, it is all night, even 3 or 4 am! And then certainly the famous AMBULANCES! Sometimes it drives you crazy, esp. when you do not fall asleep easily (unlike me ^_^)
3)
Underground Train...STATIONS!- A lot of people know that this is the 101st year of NYC subway (MTA), however not only the subway trains are run underground here. But even the inter-city/interstate trains! Unlike other cities, when you get to Grand Central Station or Penn Station midtown, you will not see tracks on the ground because they are all underground! Think about that, Grand Central has tens of tracks?!
4)
Discounted Stores- Attention ladies and whoever loves shopping, the Century 21 and Loehmann's and other discounted in town will be your paradise to get "cheap" (US standard) branded items from cosmetics to clothings, shoes to decorations and accessories...For people who like regular shopping experience, of course you are welcome to visit Macy's, Old Navy, etc...
5)
US Flags- Not sure if it is a decorative thing or a nation building effort, you will see a lot of American flags everywhere: on each subway car, fire engines, outside walls of most of the building, rental cars; you name it. (Before coming to the US, I would think China probably does more on that, however it is actually easier to see and buy a national flag here than in China!)
6)
Dressing Code in NYC- If you think of NYC as a financial hub, so business guys must be with their suits and ties, office ladies with all the nice outfits. I tell you this is called perception but not true at all. Indeed, in midtown, Wall Street, Downtown commericial areas, business casual have been a norm in the city. Meaning that males will wear shirt and pants without tie, and some companies even allow Polo Shirts, etc...
7)
Regular Coffee please!- Except from the fact that NYC has so many Starbucks (probably not as much as its origin Seattle), ordering coffee is an art somehow. When you hear people say "regular coffee", it means coffee with milk and sugar.
"Lao Xiang"
Obviously this is a Chinese term, referring to "people from hometown".
It is a great day today. The highlight was an email I got from Wei Xing, a Chaozhou native, my "lao xiang"! Aparrently, he tried google "chaozhou, USA" (Chaozhou is a coastal city in Guangdong Province where I was born in). Then he found my blog and sent an email to me. I felt we are so connected, and we actually shared things about our study backgrounds, hometown and what are we doing in the US, and of course in our hometown dialect! I think it should be a great experience for Wei Xing to find a "lao xiang" here, in the same State, too, as he told me he is the only Chaozhou native in Syracuse, NY. I hope our life will cross somehow and meet each...
Besides, I had a great afternoon at work, too. A Chinese colleague of ours treated us fried dumplings which were delicious; then we had an ice-cream party in the company. The Cold Stone ice-cream was great! I had a big scoop - my favorite strawberries plus coffee, with oreo and fresh strawberries mixed in it...yummy!
Two Wonderful Weeks
I have not put up anything in the last 2 weeks or so, not because I am sick of blogging nor I was lazy. I was just traveling and having a great time with Cinde.
The "unexpected" reunion in the US was a great great bonus for us and I enjoyed it very much; though, it is really a tough time to say bye today at the airport. We went out of NYC for three times in a row - Boston, Niagara Falls an then Washington DC and Baltimore. Between meeting old friends and seeing new places, it was a great experience for us to learn much about the countryside, the different parts of the East Coast, and people's life in America, believe it or not, lastly also a new perspective for NYC.
Really still not quite sure about where will I end up living in my life (I believe and I strive for HK and Beijing), the trips opened our eyes on how life could be in other parts of the world even though we still feel very strongly tied to our motherland. In terms of the places we visited, I liked Niagara Falls the most, it was fabulous!
I think, now, I have another challenge, too - adapting back to my daily life, back to work. Not that I do not want to go back, but just generally hard to adjust the mood and high level of emotions. The "lucky" thing is I am going to have a relatively packed schedule in the coming weeks - trainings and trainings in the company, and then will be my relocation to Tampa, Florida: another new life experience is ahead...
