Though I know I’m not the only one who has written about this day in New York, it was one in which I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about many of the topics we covered in this course. Our first Wednesday in New York was full of activities and walking and stands out as a really clear memory for me.
The morning was the same as the morning before, in which I woke up around 9 am to take a shower and get ready for the day. The communal showers in our hostel were certainly interesting to navigate, but by that day I was starting to work out a system that I would follow through the rest of the trip. Once back in my group’s room and changed, I went downstairs with my classmates to meet up in the lobby to start our activities for the day. Staying in a group, we made our way to the subway stop near our hostel and found our way to the Oculus Center and the 9/11 memorial, where we spent time while we waited for our meeting with Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press. From the memorial, we made our way to St. Paul’s Chapel, where we spent time not just walking through the cemetery but also looking through the church itself. I stuck around a bit longer at the cemetery, reading through the inscriptions that were not weathered away and allowing myself to think about how many things have changed and stayed the same since many of them passed centuries ago. Eventually, I made my way in to sit in the chapel for a bit, and it brought a sense of calm that is often very hard to come by in such a bustling city like New York. After a short time there, it was time to go to our meeting.
Our meeting with Macmillan introduced us to significantly more people than we would meet with throughout the whole trip. We were exposed to multiple steps and perspectives of the publishing process through them, and the pizza we were given during the meeting was certainly a plus. While it was a fascinating insight into what large publishing houses look like and how they work, the corporate management type and focus on profit really turned me away, as much as I hoped it wouldn’t.
From there, though, we went from the meeting to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, a trek that had my legs getting especially tired as we neared the end. Though the view was gorgeous, I was looking forward to the next stop we were making: EastVille Comedy Club. One of our classmates had signed up for a spot there and we all came to support her. The drinks were great and the laughs were even better. It was my first time at a comedy club, but I quickly found that I really enjoyed it and would love to go back to one once back home. After the show was over, we made our way to get Mexican food down the street, which was also delicious.
Finally, we made our way back to the hostel on the ferry and subway, the water under us on the boat choppy but providing us with a gorgeous view of the city at night. After a few compilations, we made it back to the hostel and finally rested our feet, exhausted but excited for the next day.