Dear Readers

Dear readers, 

Having a gap year can be a rewarding experience. In my case, however, it meant spending October 2018 somewhere entirely else than in New York. That, if anything, made me miss going back even more. Thus, in 2019, once again, I had the great privilege of leading a group of students through both the American Studies course and a memorable week in our favorite city. 

As always, there was a lot to see and much to experience in the city that offered us its best. There were twenty-six of us this year and that is quite a group! We were well received everywhere, and everyone, be it our tour guides or the staff in any of the places we visited, went out of their way to help us.  

Do read and enjoy the accounts written by my students. They certainly had their own favorites on our itinerary. Mine were the Metropolitan Opera, as always, with an extraordinary performance of Porgy and Bess, Guggenheim, and our visit to Columbia University. Seeing the enthusiasm the visit evokes is always the best possible thank you one can get.

I would like to thank my wonderfully energetic and bubbly students as well as their exceptionally supportive families. Also my co-chaperone Ville deserves a big thank you! 

NYC is a city to be experienced in person. I hope there will be new groups of students to do so one day. 

Until next time, New York!

Love,

Mervi

P.s. Photos on this post by Tuuli. Thank you so much! All other photos are mine unless otherwise indicated.

Brooklyn October 11, 2019

Brooklyn

Our third day in the New York began and it was time for Brooklyn. We spent the morning on the NYU campus, and then headed to Brooklyn by subway. 

When we got off the subway everyone started to get hungry and we decided to split up to eat. Our boy band decided to eat pizza and after searching we found a really good pizza restaurant called Juliana’s Pizza.  The restaurant was rated New York’s best pizzeria and it got us excited. The ratings were not wrong because the pizza was the best that I had eaten for a while: 5/5. When we had our stomachs full, we headed to the Brooklyn Bridge! It was time to cross the famous bridge on foot. We were not really the only ones on the bridge, but despite the traffic jam it was a spectacular sight and experience. 

Rockefeller Center and Top of the Rock October 10, 2019

Rockefeller Center

We visited Rockefeller Center on the second day of our trip in New York. The Top of the Rock was one of the sights that we visited there. Also, the ice-skating rink that was surrounded by many flags from many different countries, was something that we saw. We did some shopping near the Rockefeller Center, too.

We went to the sky deck in the evening, so it was dark outside. The view was very pretty and different when we saw all the city lights.

We had some time to spare before going to the Top of the Rock, so we had an opportunity to see a little bit more of Rockefeller Center.

At the area of Rockefeller Center were many people. It wasn’t a big deal because in New York there is always lots of people everywhere. However, I noticed that in that specific area there weren’t many poorly dressed people. Everyone looked classy and fancy and most of the people there looked like they don’t live in New York.