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Impressions of America
Sunday July 9, 2006
There’s never a second chance to create a first impression, or so they say. So I am forcing myself to make the time to at least jot down some of my first impressions of the U.S. Mostly so that if I go again I can look back on this and remember my initial reaction to it all.
I went to New York then San Francisco and back to New York again which someone informed me isn’t really visiting the U.S. at all. I think what they were saying is that both cities are quite unique places and certainly I can’t argue with that claim.
The first thing that happened to me was actually getting into the U.S. This involved having my fingerprints taken and a picture of my ugly mug put on record, too. This wasn’t the most gracious welcome but this is America post 9/11 and the guy in charge of this quite invasive procedure was pleasant enough and wished me a pleasant stay.
The second thing that happened to me was a New York taxi from Kennedy International. Now, I have to say that they, whoever they are, have this bit totally and utterly sorted. An official greeted me and asked me where I was going and told me exactly how much it would cost. The taxi driver produced a slip which was given to me after the official had checked it over; this contained information about the taxi and numbers to call if I had a complaint. I have never felt quite so safe on arrival on foreign soil, it’s an idea they should adopt everywhere.
The taxi driver was very cool actually and thrilled that I was a passenger who not only was on his first visit to New York City but also a first time visitor to the U.S. he was happy to provide some local knowledge, but only if I asked. I arrived after dark so was treated to some classic views of Manhattan island; truly spectacular.
I stayed in the SoHo district, just off Broadway in a 10th floor apartment which I can only describe as jaw dropping. It basically was the 10th floor, all of it, and had huge arched windows which provided amazing views, including the Empire State Building. Stunning place.
I stayed in New York for one night before flying on to San Francisco for a week but returned to NYC in time for the weekend and stayed a further week.
I spent Saturday wandering down Broadway and the cross streets. I did stumble upon Ground Zero. I don’t know what to say about Ground Zero, it was really hard for me to relate the building site I saw to the quite unbelievable pictures I will never forget. I didn’t really stay very long, 9/11 still doesn’t seem quite real in many ways, though, of course, we are all now dealing with the consequences.
A bit more walking and a Starbucks stop later and I arrived at the Staten Island Ferry which made for an interesting trip given the lashing rain and fog that pretty much hid Manhattan from view. Still I was grateful for the rain I was so hot that it was nice to be covered in rain so I didn’t look like the sweaty fat guy.
On the Sunday I took a train up to 42nd Street and Times Square on the advice of a native New Yorker whom I asked about buying toys for the kids. The Toys ’R’ Us store in Times Square rocks, I had a great time staring at the indoor Ferris wheel and the (I am guessing) near life sized animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex. I managed to come out having spent only $60 which was quite miraculous.
The rest of my week in NYC was spent doing the things I had come to do but there were bars for beer at 2am, constant trips to Starbucks, a trip down to China town, Sushi for lunch and, of course, the Apple store… ahem!
One of the real highlights was a trip out to Queens with a colleague and fellow good food nut. He assured me that here in the middle of what seemed like nowhere was a fine Thai restaurant. And fine it was, the food was seriously spicy but so well cooked. Good spicy food lets you taste what you eat before blowing your mouth apart and it was just that. I couldn’t quite manage more than a piece of the curry my colleague ordered that was just too dangerous but the soft shell crab, the soup, the spare ribs, all absolutely stunning and incredibly inexpensive. If I am lucky enough to go back to NYC I may have to go again.
The trip to Queens also provided me with the third of three movie moments. Points during the trip when I thought I could have been in a movie. This one came about as a result of the subway being on staging above the road; I was immediately transported into a scene from the Blues Brothers.
The second of the the three movie moments came in the form of a lot of the vans I saw driving around NYC, some of them with round porthole like windows cut out of the side panel. These, of course, are the vans baddies drove in every US 80s action TV drama I ever watched as a kid, including the A-team.
Overall I came away thinking how much I like New York City, or at least the bits I have seen and I want to go back for sure. I did feel a little twinge of regret because I had thought about coming to live in New York when I was a chef but didn’t really follow the idea up. A little bit of me wished I could go back and tell the 19 year old me to go for it but hey ho that was not to be the path I took.
I didn’t see a great deal of San Francisco due to the fact that I was there for a conference but I had by far the best movie moment in Oakland airport. I was strutting towards the terminal looking out of the huge glass windows from which you can see mountains, airplanes and clear California skies. It was at this point that some 70s funk started playing in the background. I couldn’t believe my luck, I was instantly transported straight into some low budget Blaxploitation movie. Totally awesome man.
The other thing that happened to me in the airport was discovering what going large means in America.
Oakland airport has a great smoothie outlet; perfect for a web developer who had sat up until 4am drinking Scotch (not Whisky as we call it in the UK, no, Scotch). My mistake was to order a large smoothie. It didn’t so much come in a large paper cup as it did a bucket. Large actually equals fucking huge in America!
I wish I had more to say about San Francisco, it looked great and the weather was beautiful but I didn’t really have much time to explore. Needless to say I’d like to go back under my own steam.
Many of the preconceived ideas I might have had about Americans in general had long since gone since I started socializing on the web anyway. A visit to the U.S. served to reinforce my notion that not all Americans are gun totting Cowboys, Astronauts or Hollywood superstars. Though hanging around SoHo I am not so sure about the latter and I am told that had I looked at the face of the stunning woman I was ogling on the corner of Broome Street and Broadway I would have noticed that it was Gwyneth Paltrow.
I’m not so sure the land of the free is any freer than the rest of us these days but you certainly made me feel very welcome and for that I am immensely grateful.
Oh and what better way to finish my trip than to be stood outside Heathrow waiting to be picked up and have Keith Richards saunter by accompanied by his pet sycophant and 3 lovely looking (very) young laydeeezz.
