New York City, Chapter IV: The UN, Night at the Met and Little Korea's Nightlife.

---

Note: All of the events described in this entry occurred back in March 2011. For more updated trips and entries, please refer back to this blog at a later date. An updated trip or entry will NOT include a note like this. Thanks and enjoy!





The next day, Matt and I got up late, c. noon because of our bar crawl last night with my friend Bianca. Nonetheless, we got up, got dressed and headed out for more sight seeing. Our first stop was the United Nations building. I was interested in seeing this because a) one of my two majors in undergraduate was in political science b) I was a MUN competitor and participant during my undergraduate years c) I was studying my Masters in International Relations at the time and I did have a published paper called "Financing UN Peacekeeping Missions: In Trouble?" (http://www.suffolk.edu/images/content/UNPeacekeeping_Paper_D__Swisher_5_Ap14pp_Dec__2009.pdf) and d) Like most individuals who have studied IR, I would like to work for the United Nations someday or at least be a part of the real one somehow 😉 e) I was and have been studying all the Security Council Open Debates held from 2002-2010 regarding women, peace and security, or rather how on earth does the international community implement Security Council Resolution 1325 for my internship at the Boston Consortium for Gender, Security and Human Rights (http://www.genderandsecurity.org ).



Anyway, after stopping by a local cafe for some cappucinos, Matt and I made our way to the United Nations. There is a special entrace for visitors past all the flags (I would say it's on your left, just keep on walking and follow the signs). There were a lot of very creative, poignant sculptures outside the UN, such as a gun with a knotted barrel and a globe separated in quarters from the center, which basically hinted at the organizations committment at creating a "culture of peace" in our world. Anyway, we pass by these statues and make our way into the visitor's entrance. Once inside we had to go through security, just like you would in an airport setting. I believe we did take off our shoes, coats, hats and scarves and put our bags through those x-ray machines just like at the airport and we had to go through metal detectors is something i definitely remember. Once we received a security clearance to enter the building, we retrieved our things and were led into a "welcome center" area. We just followed the signs until we found the front desk for arranging tours within the complex. I believe we paid $15 each for our tickets to participate in the English speaking tour. Despite our success with obtaining tickets, the tour would not start for another hour!

The Good news was that there was lots of places to sit and exhibits to look at in this huge "welcome center"/lobby area. For example, there was an exhibit concerning the Holocaust of WWII, and there was another regarding the UN Millenium Goals. The Eight Millenium Goals to be achieved by 2015 are: 1) Combat extreme poverty and hunger 2) Attain universal education for all children ready for primary school 3) Promote gender equality 4) reduce child mortality 5) improve maternal health 6) Combat HIV/AIDS and other pandemic diseases 7) Promote environmental sustainability and 8) Promote partnership and a sense of community within the international community to promote development (source UNDP). I had remember learning about these before this exhibit because of my MUN background however it was nice to have a review as to what they are.

After touring these exhibits, Matt and I decided to sit down and wait for our tour to start. While waiting we talked to a mother and daughter originally from Texas who were in NYC to tour colleges. The four of us talked for a very long time about travel, college life and the application process, and introduced ourselves to each other.



Finally our tour was announced, and we were given special headsets in order to listen to the guide. We saw and learned the following along the tour. First, our guide brought us into a room that contained gifts given by some of the UN member-states. When a state becomes a new member of the UN, they normally give a gift to demonstrate appreciation of this honor. For example, the Ukraine gave a mural depicting the worst nuclear disaster in its and the world's history when it joined, and Thailand gave a very decorative yet aborigional looking piece. The next room we went in gave a history of the UN, it's mission and how it's work has expanded and evolved over the decades. Our guide also told us about the different institutions that make up the UN, the role of the Secretary-General and a little about voting procedure. The current Secretary-General of the UN is Ban Ki-moon of the Republic of Korea (ROK-aka South Korea), his predecessor was Kofi Anan who was very influential in moving the UN and the international community as a whole towards the idea of creating a "culture of peace." One example as to how he encouraged this was by promoting the UN to conduct more peacekeeping missions, emphasizing the reason behind this as part of the organization's mission to maintain and insure peace and security in the world.



The next part of the tour took us inside of the General Assembly, which is the major legislative body of the UN which tends to focus on most issues within the international community. However, we ended our tour in the true heart of the UN: the Security Council. The Security Council is where most voting and debate surrounds the major security issues in the world, including peacekeeping. Historically, only three member-states were represented in this chamber known as the Big 5: Russia, China, Great Britain, USA and France. However, there has been much work and debate to extend the number of member-states within the Security Council because of the changing political environment in the world as well as economic which would make it more fair to have this reflected in this body. I believe the Security Council has 15 members now however I do not remember if they have assigned new permanant members of if they are still rotating member-states who are allowed to participate in the debate.



After the tour, Matt and I headed to the Turkish Tourism Center to visit an art gallery there for free and we talked with the owner about future travel there. We grabbed some brochures and then headed to a pizza place where we each got a slice of pizza and a drink for a dollar each! We also went to DUMBO in Brooklyn with the hope of looking at art presented by an artist colony there, which we did however there was only one gallery open. However, we did get to go get a box of chocolate at Jacques Torres' original boutique which was a memorable experience.



We then got on the subway and headed towards Times Square to walk around and hang out until it was time to go to the Metropolitan Opera that night. While there we went into several shops, including the super huge Toys R US which is like a huge theme park! It has a ferris wheel, and a carosel, huge lego sculptures and a moving dinosaur that raurs! Matt loves Transformers so while there he had to buy some and I took a picture of him in front of the Optimus Prime sculpture that was there. The selection in this store was a dream; even though both of us are adults the sensation of being in this store makes one feel like a kid in again. I felt like I was at Disney World because of the scale and the rides that's how unbelieveable this was.



Finally it was time to head towards Lincoln Center on the subway and find our way to the Metropolitan Opera House to meet up with Bianca. She did arrive pretty close to showtime because she was lost but all three of us managed to get to our seats. The Metropolitan Opera house is a spectacular edifice! The fountain outside was all lit up, and the building's glass walls glistened. There was a bar on the third floor, which was very nice for intermission or before the show however we didn't have time to enjoy it! The actual theater was one of the largest I have ever seen, with a huge crystal chandalier that toward over the chamber. I just had to take a picture, however an usher got on my case, telling me "you can't take pictures inside the Met!" We sat in the "family" section which costs about $25 a piece; a quarter of the price to see a Broadway show and I would say much better. In front of each seat however, was a small monitor where you could choose your language for subtitles while watching the opera. Tonight's opera was "The Queen of Spades" composed by Tchaikovsky and based on Pushkin's book by the same name, so because the opera was in Russian I definintely needed to use the subtitles.



I couldn't get over how huge the stage was-I don't know the measurements but I remember that it was very deep and in the shape of a complete cube! The cast was huge, and even included animals I think. The costumes were elaborate and the performers were not surprisingly among the best I've ever heard in my life. It was a night to remember and probably one of the highlights in my young life as a concert-goer. If you love the performing arts, especially opera, you MUST come to the Met and see an opera. I am desperately dreaming about the next time I will see an opera there and I would travel to NYC just to see one.



After the performance, we followed Bianca to the subway in order to find Little Korea, which as it sounds, is a neighborhood which cators to the Korean population of NYC. Once we arrived, we shared a huge dinner (you do not order a la carte in a Korean restaurant because the portions are designed to be shared among diners). First, we had a meal that was almost like an octopus salad that was cold with lots of vegetables and chilis. Our other dish was the national dish of the Korea, which I don't remember it's name but I remember it had ground pork, beef and seaweed ontop of rice, and you mixed it all up. That dish was our favorite. After dinner, we head to a karoke bar where we drank two bottles of soju (a Korean rice wine beverage that's very common) amongst the three of us and bought a few tickets to sing in the public room. The first to perform was Bianca, who chose "The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem. I learned for the first time that night that Bianca was a huge fan of hip hop and R and B; I remember us talking about her collection of French hip hop which was interesting. I decided to sing next, which I chose a very familiar favorite from my adolesance "I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne. Even though I'm a classically trained violinist, I have been told so many times over the years that I have an incredible voice and I will admit my performance was very professional. Bianca and Matt were just blown away and the rest of the conversation that night just surrounded around "Danielle, how are you able to sing like that that's incredible!" Matt finally sings a song by Greenday, and he and I sing one song together because he's rather shy and unsure of his voice (however personally I feel he has a great tenor voice with execellent potential for performance). I sang two more songs, the first Bridge over Troubled Waters by Simon and Garfunkle (I sang the song impeccably without any intonation issues which is a feat considering how difficult of a song that is to perform because of key and range) and Annie's Song by John Denver, which has always been a personal favorite of mine. We stayed up until 5 am and eventually took a taxi back to our respective lodgings. I bid Bianca goodbye for now and once Matt and I got back to Bineta's apartment, we immediately went to sleep and did not wake up the next day until 2 pm.



Before we left to go back to Boston, Bineta took us to an area of Spanish Harlem now known as Little Africa or Little Senegal. There is a huge Senegalise expat population here in NYC now and Bineta wanted to show us some of the African style markets and shops, and we ate in a West African style restaurant. I unfortunately don't remember the names of the dishes we had, but I remember ordering a chicken stew which had a spicy penut sauce to it and Bineta ordered this lovely fish dish and Matt ordered some sort of spicy stew concoction I think with lamb. We also drank ginger juice with our drink, which is one of my personal favorites. I was first introduced to ginger juice by Bineta when we were both college students at Winthrop University. She had made a batch for her and her husband while he was visiting from NYC and she served me some. This was the first time I had tried the beverage since then and it was Matt's first time ever so it was quite a treat.



Eventually it was time for us to get our bags and head to the NYC Bus Port Authority in order to catch our bus back to Boston. We made it just as the bus was loading up but we managed to get on safely and with all our things. We made it back to Boston very late like 11 PM I think but everything worked out fine. I remember feeling tired for the remainder of that week once Matt and I got back to Boston. I really had a wonder time in NYC; so far I will say it is one of my favorite cities in the world because of the history, culture, shopping, fine dining, nightlife, architecture, energy-NYC has it all and I can see why it has acted as the setting for so many movies, TV shows, songs, books and other visual and performing arts pieces. It's a city worth visiting for sure and I cannot wait until my next one....or who knows maybe I will call NYC home someday 😉

---