Dave Turchin
I've been here for a little over a week now but it doesn't seem like the anticipation or excitement has begun to subside. It would, of course, be cliché and gross understatement to talk about the incredible variety of things to do and see around this city, but…let it be said – it really is overwhelming. I realized today that I could probably see a movie every day for a year and never go to the same theater twice, catch a concert and never go to the same venue, visit a different art gallery every week and never see the same medium or style twice, eat pizza every day and never eat the same slice twice. You get the picture.
Food has been a big focus of my wandering and exploring. We've come across Lombardi's (some of the best pizza in the city), Peking Duck House (cooks up an incredible bird), Papaya King (great hot dogs and tropical drinks), as well as Katz' Deli, where – for a price – you can pick up the best handcut corned beef sandwich you will ever have, the 2nd Ave. Deli – which, despite what my Jewish heritage tells me, I feel is overrated and overpriced. The focus for me over the semester is to find a handful of places with good, cheap eats that I can frequent. I've got a partner in crime in Dave Chen, who shares my zest for eating huge quantities of cheap food. Today we came across "Fried Dumpling", easily the most ridiculous deal I've seen in my life. Five dumplings for one dollar! Chen walked home with a bag of 30 frozen dumplings for $5. I had the sense to realize I'd end up eating them all in one sitting on a lazy Sunday afternoon so I left the place before I could pull a $5 bill out of my pocket.
Don't get me wrong, I do more than eat here. I also look out the window quite a bit. I'm not going to lie, our first night here my roommates and I flirted with taking up voyeurism for the semester – the Ritz is right next to our building and we're certain we'd see some interesting stuff peering over there on a regular basis – but there's a lot more to capture the imagination close by. Our building is right on the Hudson and the Statue of Liberty is a stone's throw away. We've also got a great birds eye view of our other neighbor, Battery Park, which I promise I'm going to start running in any day now (I'm going to have to do something to compensate for my primary hobby).
I'm looking forward to a great semester here - meeting new people, learning new things, bar hopping, Knick's games, Broadway shows, learning the ropes at my internship, jazz concerts, and anything that comes along. I never stop feeling incredibly fortunate for where I am and what I'm doing. It's a difficult feeling to shake in a place like this.
