I don't think we're in Delaware anymore Toto

So, the first couple of weeks in NYC have been a real eye-opener. There are things I have experienced in the first 2 weeks in NYC that one would not see in the great state of Delaware. Let's see...

1) On my 3rd day of work, NYC got hit with a huge storm, causing the first tornado in Brooklyn in like...110 years or something outrageous like that. It actually shut down about 90% of the subway system, and so a normal 30 minute commute to work turned into a 2.5 hour journey through NYC. First, the train station that is closest to me was completely shut down, with no trains running at all. Cool! So my roommate gives me a ride to the only line that was running through Queens that day (the 7 train). Of course, the 7 train is completely packed and the platforms were also insanely packed with people trying to get on. 4 trains pass by without a single person able to get on. After a 30 minute wait for a train, I decided to take the 7 train AWAY from Manhattan to the end of the line, hop off, and get back on the 7 train going TOWARDS Manhattan. 40 minutes later, I'm back to the same stop I was standing at, but on the train this time.
Anyways, I make it to Grand Central station (42nd St.) and was about to transfer to another train (the 6) but it turns out that the 6 line was down too. So I started walking. 16 blocks later, I'm 2 hours late for work and soaked in sweat. FUN TIMES!

2) I'm walking down Broadway in Queens with a friend of mine and from a distance we see a person in a bright pink dress. As we walk closer towards this person, we notice that it was actually a guy wearing a dress, and that he was walking down the street talking to a guy in a camouflage army uniform. As we get even closer, we notice that he has a live pigeon resting on top of his head. No joke. I thought it was a fake bird, until it started flapping its wings. The crazy thing was that NOBODY on the streets thought it was a weird thing. They acted normal, walking around like it he wasn't there. Meanwhile I'm trying to hold back my laugh and I'm looking around trying to see if anybody else saw this, but no!

3) There is this church, called "The Rock Church" that is about 2 blocks from my apt, which I think is one of the shadiest places around the apt. During the day, it seems like a normal church and everything, (I think it might be a southern baptist church with all the music and stuff, correct me if that is a wrong assumption), but at night time, there are raves and rock shows and crazy underage gangster kids smoking outside. Also during the day time, there is a crazy anti-Christian woman that sits outside the church and yells at anybody who goes in. I was walking home one day and there was a guy who just came out of the church and got in his car, and the crazy woman kept shouting at him saying "the Jesus lover was going to run [her] over". Finally, the guy replied "I'm not gonna run you over lady, but I am gonna choke you with that scarf around your neck if you don't get the fuck out of my way." That's not very Christian like...

4) I have [over]heard some of the craziest conversations on the subways and out in public. Despite having this stereotype for being hardasses, New Yorkers are actually pretty funny. My favorite conversation that I overheard went something like this:

Older brother: Yo, check out the Jetsons' hair.
Younger brother: Who are the Jetsons?
Older brother: You don't know the Jetsons? They dem' n***as from space!

Now, what's funny about this is that if you've ever watched the Jetsons, they are about as white as you can get.

Other conversations overheard

5) I was in Chinatown the other day, feeling pretty happy because I just bought a "Movado" watch for $15, when I was crossing a really busy intersection and saw 2 boys pissing right on the corner. Out in the open. Not even trying to hide the fact that they were pissing behind a fruit stand. In fact, I overheard the boys saying how he was gonna piss longer than the other one. Once again, there had to have been over 100 people who witnessed this "competition", but everybody acted like it was nothing!

So, in summary I have learned that anything considered "out of place" in Delaware actually occurs daily here in NYC and that I just something I will have to get used to....maybe. No, that's a lie. I will probably still laugh at them.

But seriously, I am loving NYC, it is definitely a different experience and something I needed to do while I'm still young. I'm exploring the city still, checking out all the places that you wouldn't see in Delaware (jazz clubs, ethnic restaurants, crazy bars/clubs, Times Square) and I've met some really cool people while getting to know other people a lot more. This is something I could get used to.

A Farewell to What I've Known

Hi. This will probably be the last blog post before I go through major changes in my life. It's kind of crazy, really. I think it finally hit me that I am not a college student anymore. I spent a lot of time on Main St. this summer; hanging out at all the "old" places I would be when I went to school like Shaggy's, Kate's, Grotto's, and it just didn't feel the same. Maybe it was because it was summer time and the bars were empty, but for some reason it didn't feel right.

I've been at home mostly for the past week and a half getting ready for my move to Queens and trying to hang out with everybody I can before I move. However, none of my friends can hang out during the day because they are all working, working somewhere in MD, PA, DE, or some other far away state. There was once a time where I could call up somebody, anybody, at 2pm for a beer a Grotto's and just hang out, but no longer.

(I feel like none of these paragraphs connect...whatever.)

Here's a random story. I was driving home from UD one night when I decided to call someone just to talk, which is pretty rare because I don't talk on the phone often, or for very long. UD is about 30-40 minutes from my house, and I made the call while on 95. I had a very good conversation with this person, but what freaked me out was I was completely engulfed in my conversation with this person, that I felt like I wasn't paying much attention to the road. In fact, about 5 minutes before I got to my house, I was stopped at a red light and I thought to myself "Wow, how did I get here?" I literally could not remember my drive from the time I made the call until I stopped at the red light. It was then I realized that I needed to get out of DE. Why? If I can subconsciously navigate my way through 30% of northern DE, I've been here too long.

And so starts a new book in the series of my life. I think the title of this book will be called "Alan Nguyen and the Hustling Metropolis". Doesn't have the same ring as "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," but I think it has potential to be one of the best books of the series.