New York City Day #1


I made it through Day #1 with meeting new people and seeing new places. I boarded an Amtrak train early this morning at 9:45 from Back Bay in Boston, and arrived at Penn Station in New York City. I should have taken pictures; it is incredibly crazy and busy there. There were so many more people than in any Boston train station. Plus - there were lots of Yankees fans everywhere!

After I checked into my dorm at Columbia University, I took a few pictures. This is the view out of my room - it looks down upon the Columbia University quad. The large light stone building in the middle with the rotunda/dome roof is the Columbia University Library. The green is the quad, where students will hang out, read, study, play frisbee...A bit of info on Columbia University: it was originally founded as "King's College" on what is known locally as "Morningside Hill," in 1754.

There are 16 schools at Columbia -- undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools. Columbia had an extremely famous dropout, who became an essential player in the Revolutionary War. In fact, he dropped out of college to become a Continental Soldier for the Americans. His name? Alexander Hamilton.After checking in, I went for a run through Central Park. It is the equivalent of the Boston Common, but with a lot more hills, a lot more trees, and a lot more space. It was incredibly crowded-- it seemed as though the entire city was there today!After that, all the teachers from the institute where I am studying had dinner together, and got to meet one another.

Tomorrow morning we have a walking tour of the city, mostly around lower Manhattan. This means we will spend the day around the southern tip of Manhattan Island, which is basically "downtown" NYC. It should be great!But first, tomorrow morning, I will go for a run along the River....on the west side of Manhattan...any ideas of what river that is? This picture is from the hallway on my floor. Any thoughts as to what state is beyond the river on the other side?

Any thoughts, be sure to email Mr. G.! Until tomorrow....

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