Tuesday, June 2, 2009
the first few, very fun days
I can't believe that tomorrow marks a week that I've been in New York City so far. Since moving in to my place on Sunday, the reality that I'm here for a whole 11 weeks and my purpose is much more than a vacation has slowly started to sink in. Before things start to get crazy here, I wanted to share a little bit about what the past week has been like.
One of Daniel's roommates, Derek, had a birthday on Wednesday so Daniel and I made our way to to Madison Square Park to meet some church friends at a tasty little burger & shake joint to celebrate. I didn't have much to share but it was fun to laugh at the stories and comments made and start the process of getting to know some of the people I hope to grow closer to by the end of the summer. On Thursday, Daniel took me out on a date to a nice sit-down dinner at a restaurant in the upper west side to celebrate our 2 year anniversary. We got to talk about our vision for the summer and what it could look like. Having a long, uninterrupted, face-to-face conversation is such a treat for both of us and our conversation encouraged me so much.
on Friday, I met Daniel in midtown for lunch. As we were walking back to his office building, I commented on the terrible condition of my leather sperry's. For some reason, the leather has been drying out like crazy, even after conditioning it several times with this shoe lotion I bought! Daniel recommended that I have them shined and then said that he knows of a cheerful, charismatic man who shines people's shoes everyday at a particular intersection. Before I could decide whether I was even comfortable with this idea, I was in an elevated chair in the middle of 6th Avenue while my "professional shoe shiner" reprimanded me for the condition of my shoes. He went to work immediately and I'm happy to say that despite my reservations my shoes turned out great! They look almost as good as new!
Toward the end of the afternoon, I met Daniel at his office building for a company happy hour! They catered in quite an assortment of appetizer finger foods and desserts which were all really tasty! It was fun to catch up a little bit with some of Daniel's work friends that I've gotten to meet several times during my visits to the City. Depending on who I'm talking to, I sometimes feel like I'm on my toes to say the right thing or "sound intelligent," especially when they ask me about what I'm doing this summer. But for the most part, conversation is pretty comfortable and people seem to like me and express interest in what I'm up to which is special to me. After happy hour, Daniel and I left for Brooklyn because some of Derek's friends threw him a surprise birthday party that night. I saw many of the same faces from Thursday night but I also got to meet a lot of new ones. I feel like face time will be a really important key to getting to know and feel comfortable around people at church. Several of us made our way to the roof of the building and the view of Manhattan from the edge of Brooklyn was amazingly beautiful!
Saturday was pretty low key since I woke up feeling a little under the weather. Daniel and I relaxed on the couch and watched some TV. In the late afternoon, we made our way to a neat restaurant where we enjoyed an appetizer downstairs and then went up all the way up to the restaurant's rooftop bar where we met one of Daniel's friends from work and his girlfriend. The weather was perfect and I really enjoyed meeting the two of them, especially after finding out that they are both from my hometown! I hope that we can spend more time with them over the course of the summer. Afterwards, Daniel and I went to dinner at a fun, tasty, and very welcoming Italian restaurant where we stuffed ourselves with bread and pasta.
On Sunday, I moved into my new place! It was shockingly tiny at first but I'm slowly getting used to it. Once I actually finish unpacking and find some things to put on the walls, I'll post a few pictures. Everyone who lives on nearby floors are students and student interns which makes it really convenient for me to meet people from all over the U.S. who are here to do exactly what I'll be doing. My goal is to make myself available to meet as many student interns as possible and work to build relationships with them over the course of the summer. Right now and in the next week, I know that it's important for me to take initiative, get out of my comfort zone, and really put myself out there so I won't have any regrets by the time August rolls around. So far so good. On Monday night, I participated in an event called "neighborhood tour" and got to meet and talk with more than 10 other interns who will be working all over the City. After the tour, we all ate dinner together at a diner and exchanged numbers at the end of the night.
One thing that has really been confirmed for me over the last week is that I really, really enjoy meeting and getting to know new people. I walk away energized and excited. I've kind of forgotten that because it's been awhile since I've met so many new people versus just spending time with people I already know. If you think about me, please pray that I would continue to practice diligence by knocking on people's doors and following up with the people I've met so far in my building.
One of Daniel's roommates, Derek, had a birthday on Wednesday so Daniel and I made our way to to Madison Square Park to meet some church friends at a tasty little burger & shake joint to celebrate. I didn't have much to share but it was fun to laugh at the stories and comments made and start the process of getting to know some of the people I hope to grow closer to by the end of the summer. On Thursday, Daniel took me out on a date to a nice sit-down dinner at a restaurant in the upper west side to celebrate our 2 year anniversary. We got to talk about our vision for the summer and what it could look like. Having a long, uninterrupted, face-to-face conversation is such a treat for both of us and our conversation encouraged me so much.
on Friday, I met Daniel in midtown for lunch. As we were walking back to his office building, I commented on the terrible condition of my leather sperry's. For some reason, the leather has been drying out like crazy, even after conditioning it several times with this shoe lotion I bought! Daniel recommended that I have them shined and then said that he knows of a cheerful, charismatic man who shines people's shoes everyday at a particular intersection. Before I could decide whether I was even comfortable with this idea, I was in an elevated chair in the middle of 6th Avenue while my "professional shoe shiner" reprimanded me for the condition of my shoes. He went to work immediately and I'm happy to say that despite my reservations my shoes turned out great! They look almost as good as new!
Toward the end of the afternoon, I met Daniel at his office building for a company happy hour! They catered in quite an assortment of appetizer finger foods and desserts which were all really tasty! It was fun to catch up a little bit with some of Daniel's work friends that I've gotten to meet several times during my visits to the City. Depending on who I'm talking to, I sometimes feel like I'm on my toes to say the right thing or "sound intelligent," especially when they ask me about what I'm doing this summer. But for the most part, conversation is pretty comfortable and people seem to like me and express interest in what I'm up to which is special to me. After happy hour, Daniel and I left for Brooklyn because some of Derek's friends threw him a surprise birthday party that night. I saw many of the same faces from Thursday night but I also got to meet a lot of new ones. I feel like face time will be a really important key to getting to know and feel comfortable around people at church. Several of us made our way to the roof of the building and the view of Manhattan from the edge of Brooklyn was amazingly beautiful!
Saturday was pretty low key since I woke up feeling a little under the weather. Daniel and I relaxed on the couch and watched some TV. In the late afternoon, we made our way to a neat restaurant where we enjoyed an appetizer downstairs and then went up all the way up to the restaurant's rooftop bar where we met one of Daniel's friends from work and his girlfriend. The weather was perfect and I really enjoyed meeting the two of them, especially after finding out that they are both from my hometown! I hope that we can spend more time with them over the course of the summer. Afterwards, Daniel and I went to dinner at a fun, tasty, and very welcoming Italian restaurant where we stuffed ourselves with bread and pasta.
On Sunday, I moved into my new place! It was shockingly tiny at first but I'm slowly getting used to it. Once I actually finish unpacking and find some things to put on the walls, I'll post a few pictures. Everyone who lives on nearby floors are students and student interns which makes it really convenient for me to meet people from all over the U.S. who are here to do exactly what I'll be doing. My goal is to make myself available to meet as many student interns as possible and work to build relationships with them over the course of the summer. Right now and in the next week, I know that it's important for me to take initiative, get out of my comfort zone, and really put myself out there so I won't have any regrets by the time August rolls around. So far so good. On Monday night, I participated in an event called "neighborhood tour" and got to meet and talk with more than 10 other interns who will be working all over the City. After the tour, we all ate dinner together at a diner and exchanged numbers at the end of the night.
One thing that has really been confirmed for me over the last week is that I really, really enjoy meeting and getting to know new people. I walk away energized and excited. I've kind of forgotten that because it's been awhile since I've met so many new people versus just spending time with people I already know. If you think about me, please pray that I would continue to practice diligence by knocking on people's doors and following up with the people I've met so far in my building.
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