“Bright lights, big city, gone to my baby’s head…” – Jimmy Reed
These song lyrics seem to be running through my mind all day, like a soundtrack playing in the background as I’m living and navigating through my new life in New York City. Because the bright lights, the sights, the sounds of this city have pretty much gone to my head. I have fallen head-over-heels in love, and oh, it’s an amazing feeling 🙂 I feel like I know this place… I’m hit by a strong feeling of déjà vu every now and then… I feel like I know the streets, the shops, the buildings. Too many movies and TV shows have been filmed in NYC! I love the street system, how everything is numbered systematically… so even I, with my appalling direction sense, feel like I can find my way around without too much of a hassle. In those moments, it feels familiar and comforting, but then every now and then I’m hit by a wave of awe and surprise, some sort of mingled pride and gratitude… that I’m here, that this is really where I’m going to be for the next few years. I can’t believe this is my real life now, I can’t believe I actually made it here. I feel like I am living in a dream, a wonderful, fascinating, beloved dream, and I’m going to wake up any moment now and find out that I’m actually still waiting, waiting for grad school applications, waiting for exam results, waiting for a visa… waiting for my ‘real’ life to begin. But it has, it really has, and how!
That’s the skyline 🙂
The institute seems amazing… the buildings, the halls, the corridors… very impressive, though not the easiest to navigate. And oh, the people! My program directors talked to all of us for less than an hour, and I’m already bowled over by their wit and warmth, and although I’m slightly intimidated (Ivy League school! Can I live up to it?!), I feel very welcome and wanted. The researchers here are extremely smart, extremely talented, and on top of that, they seem like really nice individuals as well. Classes haven’t started yet, so I really don’t have much to go on at the moment, but I’m sure it’s going to be brilliant.
My fellow students are all from completely different backgrounds, both culturally and education-wise. We’re a very diverse group, and we’re still getting to know each other. So far it’s been really fun, talking and laughing, learning how to pronounce names, hearing different accents… let’s see how it goes!
Now that I’ve got the obligatory ‘so how’s grad school?’ answer out of the way, (since after all, isn’t this what I’m here for? :P) let me move on to what else I’ve been doing in my orientation week, which has mostly been fun, more fun, followed by even more fun.
We went to the US Open!!! Granted, I’ve never been into tennis before, I used to think those matches go on waaay too long, and what’s the point of having so many games anyway! And I never really understood the scoring system, so basically, I just went to the US Open for the experience of actually being there, at the Arthur Ashe stadium in Flushing Meadows, watching a Grand Slam match… which, let’s face it, is a pretty awesome thing to be doing. I just expected to have a lot of fun, and get instant bragging rights 😛 But what I didn’t expect was to see Andy Murray, whom even I have heard of. I didn’t expect to end up understanding the scoring system. And I definitely didn’t expect to actually get into the spirit of things, loving the crowds, loving the charged atmosphere, loving to just be there and cheer on Andy like everybody else. It was one exhilarating experience, and I’ll never forget it.
Arthur Ashe stadium!
The next thing we did, which was what I was looking forward to the most, was the yacht cruise. I had supremely high expectations from this event, and it didn’t disappoint … in fact, it actually exceeded them (I hadn’t factored in a buffet lunch on the yacht 😛 Wow!). It was a bright and sunny day, a bit too sunny at times, but I was all set, I had my new sunglasses 🙂 There was a lovely breeze, there were occasional waves, and the yacht would bounce up and down, sending me into delighted squeals and whoops. We were out on the water for around three hours, and I loved every moment of it. I took hundreds of photos, jumped and pointed excitedly when we first glimpsed Lady Liberty, and basically acted like the tourist that I am. The people were great, I talked and laughed a lot, and was thrilled when the captain walked up to me to strike up a conversation. It’s moments like this which make me feel like I’m starring in my own personal movie!
Here’s what the yachts look like!
Apart from tennis and cruises, we went to Central Park, which is surprisingly very green. You don’t expect to see such an idyllic spot bang in the middle of Manhattan. The park is huge… (just like everything else here) and crowded. Crowded in the American sense though; being an Indian, I feel right at home. We went on a ‘sweets and eats’ crawl in Lower Manhattan, and I discovered the loveliest little cupcake shop ever! Cute, colorful, delicious cupcakes, made of pure sugar and happiness… the ultimate comfort food. I don’t care how far the shop is; I can feel its magnetic pull on me. I am so going back!
I saw Times Square, and attended the Smorgasburg in Brooklyn… I had a discounted shopping trip at Bed, Bath and Beyond where I bought myself a nice fluffy pillow and a huge comforter… I went with a group of people to China Town for dim sum, and they had the most enormous variety of hitherto-unheard-of food… and a bunch of us had brunch together in someone’s apartment today, where we made pancakes, frittatas, french toast… had fruits with dollops of whipped cream, all washed down with orange juice and/or caffeine – and it was so yummy, and so much fun!
I’m loving it here. Life is Good, Good with a capital G. I’ve had one of the most terrific weeks of my life, and as someone warned me, grad school life is probably just going to go downhill from here … 😛 Ah well, I don’t think that’s true, but making the most of it nevertheless. NYC is amazing, it’s as good as it’s hyped up to be. My grad school journey has started out great, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the ride is like. Bring it on!!! 😀
Sunlit Prism 