"a city lit by fireflies"
One day I am going to run out of U2 lyrics about New York to use as titles, and I will have to start making up my own.
I went on a boat ride on the Hudson the other night. We went round the Statue of Liberty, which I've never seen. It was beautiful. The skyline was stunning. I really can't express it any better than that. I tried to use that tiny bit of alliteration to emphasize exactly how stunning it was, but I don't think it worked. Cheap trick, that.
I sometimes forget I'm in New York. I'm trying really hard to be a good student, as well as keep up with my job at home. I've had to reconcile my dreams of New York to what my own personal New York actually is; the two don't mesh very well. I love my neighbourhood and am quite comfortable here, but I spend most of the day completely unaware that I'm in this huge, incredible city. I haven't really explored at all. I've already gotten into that mind-set where I feel guilty if I'm not studying.
So seeing the skyline like that last night was a great reminder. It's very iconic - it's always in movies and tv shows and on postcards. But it's different seeing it while smelling the water and teetering on the boat. (NB: Don't wear skinny high heels on boats. Bad idea.) Everytime I see something really, irrevocably New York - like the skyline or the Statue of Liberty - I get that good, warm, crush-like touristy feeling of loving something that you don't know. But maybe life in New York will always be like that; how can you ever know this city? Even if you live here for years and years, the neighbourhoods are too diverse, and the city is constantly in flux, always on it's way to becoming something else. It's like Heraclitus's river, only, you know, solid.
TIFF is over. I am officially no longer homesick.
I went on a boat ride on the Hudson the other night. We went round the Statue of Liberty, which I've never seen. It was beautiful. The skyline was stunning. I really can't express it any better than that. I tried to use that tiny bit of alliteration to emphasize exactly how stunning it was, but I don't think it worked. Cheap trick, that.
I sometimes forget I'm in New York. I'm trying really hard to be a good student, as well as keep up with my job at home. I've had to reconcile my dreams of New York to what my own personal New York actually is; the two don't mesh very well. I love my neighbourhood and am quite comfortable here, but I spend most of the day completely unaware that I'm in this huge, incredible city. I haven't really explored at all. I've already gotten into that mind-set where I feel guilty if I'm not studying.
So seeing the skyline like that last night was a great reminder. It's very iconic - it's always in movies and tv shows and on postcards. But it's different seeing it while smelling the water and teetering on the boat. (NB: Don't wear skinny high heels on boats. Bad idea.) Everytime I see something really, irrevocably New York - like the skyline or the Statue of Liberty - I get that good, warm, crush-like touristy feeling of loving something that you don't know. But maybe life in New York will always be like that; how can you ever know this city? Even if you live here for years and years, the neighbourhoods are too diverse, and the city is constantly in flux, always on it's way to becoming something else. It's like Heraclitus's river, only, you know, solid.
TIFF is over. I am officially no longer homesick.
posted by j | 8:55 AM
2 Comments:
What is TIFF?
It's good to study but part of the experience is to actually live in the City and experience it.
TIFF is the Toronto International Film Festival.
I'm glad you think that. Today, I work up at 10:30, bummed around, read about four pages of homework, and then went shopping on Broadway all afternoon.
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