Well, I made it. And not just in the sense that I landed at Laguardia today around 2:15, but in the sense that this is an accomplishment, a goal that I'd set out to achieve since I'd visited New York City a few years ago. A small check mark can be printed on my bucket list: I will be living in the Big Apple (even if just for the summer!).

So here I am, typing from the ninth floor of The New Yorker Hotel at the corner of 42nd and 8th in Manhattan, 6 floors above where 20th century scientist, Nikola Tesla, died in 1943. Walking a block or two in either direction leads me to Koreatown or the Garment District. I can see the antenna of the Empire State Building, could crawl to Penn Station and, despite everything being fairly exotic and strange, I feel strangely at home here, something I didn't quite expect to feel.

I keep considering what coming to New York City means. I think about Ellis Island, that tiny piece of land that served as one of the main entrances into the U.S. for years, and all of the people who came here. They came here hoping for a better life, hoping that what they'd find here was better than whatever overcrowded, old world nation they originated from. Consider the people who came here across the Atlantic, pennies to their name and started a new life. Or, less pleasantly, gambled everything and were turned away by U.S. Customs to return broke and broken-spirited back to their country of origin. I keep asking myself: if they can do it, why can't I?

When I think about the millions of people who have seen New York City as a place of hope and progress that I realize the scale of this move. I've engrained myself into human history in a small, fairly insignificant way: I've seen New York City as a place of opportunity and growth, just like millions of others have in the past and just as millions more will in the future.

My first day was spent unpacking and setting up my small room here at The New Yorker. It's basic, no-frills and simple, but I like it and the utilitarian aspect of its simplicity. It's already starting to feel like "home" and I'm hoping to post pictures of it in the next few days.

I decided to do some exploring after setting up my room. I did some grocery shopping, picked up some basic necessities and took the subway up to 50th Street and decided to get off and walk up to Central Park. I stumbled upon Columbus Circle and, having only eaten Pop Tarts and an Uncrustable earlier in the day, filled up on a buffet at Whole Foods.

The remainder of my night was comprised of walking through Times Square (and trying not to trample tourists in the process) and has ended with a bit of Skype with my family and Top Gear on the TV.

A few things I've learned today:

1. New York City rats are very real and quite common.
2. NYC taxi drivers don't use their vehicles so much as modes of transportation, but menacing battering rams and tools for securing dominance.
3. International visitors need to recognize the affinity that Americans have for personal space. I met two nice people from Spain and Brazil, but kept finding myself stepping back just for some room. This is America! We have plenty of room!


All right, well that's all for tonight. I'm hoping that I can keep up with this blog to detail my time here. If I begin to get lazy, let me know! If people are still reading it, I'll still write.

A few pictures, too: