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I went all 'Great Romanticism Poet Movement of the 19-20th Century' with the title, though not meaning to. Basically, it means that I'm starting to tire of this little island. Not in the bad way, and when I say tire I don't exactly mean that I'm beginning to wish I wasn't here, but in fact it means my body is beginning to see the effects that the 24 hour lifestyle (And I'm talking the real 24 hours, not the Tesco is open 24 hours kind of lifestyle) is having on me. Being placed in front of mega enormous advertising signs and sitting in coffee shops with other regular people at any hour of the day is really difficult to get a hold of, and until now it has only been my adrenaline that has kept me going. Now I wish to see a more peaceful side of the USA. I am going somewhere else tonight. (Also, mega kudos points for bringing Tesco into the conversation! Talking of which, I styill have the 7 pound coupon in my wallet, and there's no pound sign on this keyboard!)
Stil, at least now my keyboard works, I can give some kind of update. It won't be long because of the ol' money running out thing, but I'll give you an idea of the horror of rainfall. A normal day for me would be waking up at around 9 O clock. I'm talking normal for this vacation/holiday (Thats something else, learning to talk American is only going to be a temporary thing. I won't be arriving back into the UK with a need to spell things without the letter 'u' and I certainly won't be asking for chips where I want crisps. There could be an idiot who would actually make that mistake come true... o.O). Today i wanted to try something new so I got up at 6 O clock. I'm not crazy, I wouldn't wake up without any reason. My intention was to travel down to the Rockefeller plaza at 7 to queue/line up for tickets to this recording of a TV show here in America. However, after having a shower, sorting my luggage for checking out, putting my luggage into a secure locker for the day and checking out, I only got out of the hostel at 6:55. Still, I figured my hour early would be all right, as the tickets were supposed to go on sale at 8, so I carried on going. I realised I'd made an error, because I'd left my guide book map in the suitcase and openeing it again would cost me a further three dollars and I had wanted to save all of my cash for buying something good later on. Needless to say, I didn't get the map. I figured I knew where it was roughly so I'd go down there and have a look until I found it.
Damn my luck. I couldn't even remember where it was! Looking at a map for so long and using it only gets you used to just looking at a map and using it. So, when it came to locating somewhere I'd been but couldnt remember vividly, I drew a blank. I was in Times Square, and looked desperately for a free map with the places on, but alas, the only shops that weren't open were the ones with the maps. They opened at 8 o clock. So, I just decided to look for it myself. I went all the way up to near Central park and back (Btw, it was raining non stop all day let me tell you. I was getting drenched!) before I realised I was in the wrong direction. I'd bought a metrocard which got me free travel on public transport, so I hopped on a bus, and eventually got to it. I went to the NBC store, and they told me the queue/line was outside, so out I went to be confronted with a huge line (Not as big as the empire state building line y\before, definitely nowhere near that long!) that only lead to the doorway. I joined it, and was about to leave straight away when people behind me got in, and then psychological things happen to you. You are inexplicably drawn to stay in a queue you know won't lead to anything just because you dont wish to lose your place to the person/people behind you. It's true. That's why the Simpsons made a joke about it on the Krusty Water Park episode. Luckily for me, the two ladies behind were very nice and we ended having a juddered (Stop and start type) conversation, with each lady leaving for periods of time on their own, instead of waiting all their time in the queue. They were only here for the weekend too! In the background I could see a talk show being filmed, but really all I could see was the window where the audience are allowed to view the chat show hosts in the studio. I could have been on TV! But as the queue/line appeared st7uck until 9 o clock, I didnt even get a look inside 😞
Soon around 9, a man came up telling groups at a time about the situation. I won't bore you with the details here, but he did say that we weren't getting in. And not even to the second show that not a lot of people really came for (Some group booed as he mentioned it, much to me Martha and Madeline's amusement!) We waited around, and the line disbanded. I said my goodbyes to the two women, who'd shared their umbrellas with me, and I just went looking around. I had no specific plans for the rest of the day, apart from being in certain spots to see if sandy would show up. Yes, after I left the internet last night I left a note in her hostel, but I'm afraid she eiother didnt get it, was too p'd with me to meet me today, or just didnt want to meet up again. Oh well, I left her my email address if she got it, so hopefully we can stay in touch. And talking of last night, I met my new room mate, a student at harvard, who's studied around many universities just like Rogelio had. His name was Way, or Weigh or a chinese spelling of it, and he seemed very intelligent. We had talks about school structures, the london bombings and the problems in our countries. I actually felt smart/clever for a bit!
After my aimless wandering around, I went on a bus, but not the first one, because for some reason my card was rejected. Anyway, the second one let me one, so I was all right. I apparently got on the wrong bus, and so I waited inside the bus while it was stopped so the bus driver could rest and start his router again. We were talking about which celebrities had famous apartments nearby, what each of our countries was like (That is basically the regular conversations you have with strangers in New York, but most of the time its just the basis of getting to know somebody, and our interests and hobbies take over the rest. Thats how you can tell if youre going to be somebodies friend or not.) So after that, I went into the first electronic type camera/gaming/tv styore (Like a Dixons) I went into on my first day, and I remembered some good stuff and deals so I came in and was looking for a camera. (Earlier I went into HSBC and was told I could not withdraw more than my daily limit at any one time, so I have to keep taking money out every day from the ATMS, which I did earelier). I didnt plan to until the end, but I edned up buying a Sony camera. The model is DCS60 or something with D's and C's and S's and a 60 on the end. It's 4.1 megapixel and has 3x/2.2x zoom, which means its good, and it works on batteries so no need to charge! From now on I'll be trying to take pictures and put them up here! But not today though , still trying to get it to work!
And that brought me here, to get out of the rain, but I did visit a cafe where I got to create my own salada, and it was VERY nice, only costing me 4 pounds for a good size FILLING meal. And now I'm here typing this to you and theres more Id like to say but its too nearly the end of my internet time so I must say goodbye. But I have spoken to some of you so you know I am ok, and not going to do anything dangerous like fighting dragons or bothering gangs or crossing the road behind a bus (I think me and Dave will get that 😉 )
So, from me, I say, adieu!
Russ/Epiq
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mum
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a camera at last
Hi Russ, well u actually got your camera so u can put up some pics for us to see now,I cant wait. It sounds very tiring what with all those neon signs, huge meals, 24 hour everything nonsense so heres hoping u find a quieter part of the usa, r u going to Montreal anymore? Your travelblogs get wittier all the time, and i laughed out loud a few times reading the last one. You r a star Russ! Yes, Im still worring about u but hey, whats new? Im glad your not bothering any gangs, u never know what might happen! only joking! keep away from bombs and dont travel on the tube if u can avoid it, Bush is already worried about NY because of what happened over here, god, its so much quieter in Cwmgwili you know! anyway loads of love and missing u tons, cant wait to see u, keep updating us and watch ur back! lol mumxxxxxxxxxxxxx