| The cherry on the sundae of my
European trip was being able to see New York for a few days at the
end of it all. I didn't take any pictures, but the story is
still pretty good.
Before
I left Europe, however, I had to go to the Frankfurt airport again,
and it was not without its horrors the second time. The last few days I
was in Europe, it became evident that I had contracted some sort of
cold or flu. In a move that I am going to credit to my fevered
delirium, I decided I was going to stay at the Frankfurt airport
overnight so that I wouldn't have any trouble catching my plane
the next day. As it turns out, this was a stupid idea.
Also, I hadn't showered that day. This was also a stupid idea.
I spent a semi-feverish 13
hours contemplating my sanity in the horrific vastness that is the
Frankfurt airport. I still thought it looked like the setting
for a zombie video game, but it was even truer the second time
around because it was dark and I wasn't feeling too great. To
make a long story short, I finally boarded the plane and spent
another 10 or so sleepless hours in dingy clothing, crammed in a
corner not really wanting to talk to anyone, even English speakers.
When the plane finally landed, we were holed up for another hour or
so due to a sort of airplane traffic jam. I felt like a
drowning rat on the Titanic, or something. I wanted to get off
that plane so badly.
It actually felt pretty good to be back
in the States. After weaving through the long customs line and
making my way FINALLY out of the airport, it probably took me
another half hour or so to locate the airport tram that would take
me to my subway station. It took me a while to figure out how
the darned station worked, too... as I mentioned earlier, the ones
in Paris are easier.
I waited waited waited for the train
and eventually boarded. I sat next to a very talKateive little
girl on the subway who just happened to be Dutch. I wanted to
tell her that some good, friendly American advice was to not talk to
people on the subway, but I refrained. One good thing about
going to Europe alone is that once you get back, you feel like you
can pretty much go anywhere and get your way out of any jam.
When the going gets rough, I still think to myself, "At least
everyone's speaking English." It's so true.
To make another long story short, I
dragged my homeless-looking self across Brooklyn and eventually got
to the hotel and met my mom, dad, and extended family. It was
great to see everyone, and there were many relatives around that I
hadn't seen in quite a while. Then, I took a REAL SHOWER, WITH
REAL, DRY, TOWELS. Words cannot express how fantastic that
was, since I'd been using a foot-odor and blue pen ink
contaminated tee shirt for the past week and a half.
Later that night, I met with another
friend and he showed me around the city a bit. I'd never had
Korean BBQ before, but that's what we had, and it was pretty
delicious. I later found out that one of the things I ate that
night was cow tongue, which is totally weird. I had to
apologize, because I'd spent quite a long time without sleep and I
was pretty tired that night. Actually, "pretty tired" may be
the understatement of the year. Nonetheless, I had a fantastic
night out and it was totally worth the sleep deprivation. I
know there was a rumor flying around for a while that I was
"underwhelmed" by the architecture of New York after being in Europe
for a couple of weeks, but that wasn't the case at all. New
York is a beautiful place, and I would like to at very least spend
Christmas there someday. Something about the city is magical.
The whole reason for my being in New
York in the first place was to attend my cousin's Anne's wedding,
and the wedding was absolutely beautiful. I was very proud of
myself for not shedding a single tear in Europe, even when the going
got tough, but I have to admit that I broke down a little bit when I
saw her walk down the aisle. The ceremony was wonderful, and I
am very happy that I was able to make it.
I saw a lot of amazing things on my
trip, but my stay in New York reminded me that the greatest
treasures of the world are those moments we share with our family
and friends. To all of my family members, family friends, and
friends from the even wider world of the internet, I thank you for
the great times, and I hope I'll have the opportunity to visit you
all again very soon.
The End |
