Vignettes

Shin Dong-gun, Junior, College of Law
At the Central Park in Manhattan

   Last year, I stayed in Indiana, USA, to study American English and learn about what American is. In August, I finished my language course. Before coming back to Korea, I wanted to take a backpack trip from Miami to Boston. But, I didn't have enough time to take such a long trip. However, God gave me a chance to visit some cities in the USA. Before I registering at Yeungnam University for the fall semester, I knew I had two more free weeks. Once I made up my mind, I booked my airline as well as my hostels as soon as possible. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep well, while waiting for the day of my departure.
   On August 16th, I took an airplane to go to my first destination, Washington DC. It took two and half hours to arrive at Washington Dulles Airport from O'Here International Airport in Chicago. The capital city of the USA was the most exciting city that I had ever visited. It was the living museum of America because it has not only the White house in which the great leaders of the world have lived but also there are so many historical monuments. If anybody wants to know about American history and politics, I thought he should just go to study there.
   On arriving at the airport, at first I didn't know what I had to do. First of all, I needed accommodation to stay a few days. I found my hostel was located in the upper part of Washington. When I got there, I was so disappointed because my accommodation was so dirty, messy, and noisy. I can give one tip to the readers of this article. If you want to visit Washington DC with your friends, you would be better to book the inn. Most inns are conveniently close to the famous places or downtown. So, you can get easy access to tourist spots. After taking some rest, I went to my first destination, the White House. After 9.11 terror, I was told that the life of Washington DC was completely changed. Before the terror, anyone could see and visit any places without checking by FBI or police officers. But now, some of buildings were not open to visitors. Even if you may enter some places, you will be checked by officers. So, don't carry a big pack with you. Perhaps you have to consider how safe the place is for my visit first. I learned that most of the terrible crimes frequently occur at the public places. I am not saying that any tourist spots in the USA are dangerous. Apart from Washington DC, most tourist attractions are safe. In the Capitol, you'll never miss see the many beggars around you. Anyway, I went to the White House by the subway. Actually, subways and stations in Washington DC are remarkably clean with attractive interior designs. The White House is just a white painted house. I couldn't enter the House. Nevertheless, I witnessed one of interesting things happening in front of the House. One old Spanish woman was demonstrating against the nuclear war. Surprisingly, she spoke to me in Korean fluently. So, we exchanged a few words with each other for a minute. Around the White House, I found there are many art museums and government offices which I could remember all of them. Usually such a public place closed at 5 o'clock. As I arrived at the White House about 3pm, I couldn't see many places as I wished. So I'd like to advise anyone who want to see many places in a limited time, "be hurry". After getting back to my sleeping place, I had dinner with other students who came from England, Japan, France, and so on. Although my hostel was poorly facilitated, I enjoyed talking with other foreign students. If you are good at speaking English, it is not bad to stay at the hostel because you'll not feel lonely.

A Night View of Mahattan from Empire state building

The following day I arrived in Washington DC, I got up rather early to visit other places. I visited National Mall and various museums, such as arts, science, national history, and even holocaust. The mall was surrounded by the large green fields, so I could see many people jogging and some people enjoying a family picnic. For me, the most interesting place was the National Air and Space Museum. From the Wright brothers' airplanes to the space ship, Apollo No. 11, the actual size spaceships were on exhibition. I was so interested in space and fell in love with that museum. Next, I went to the National Art Museum. I was sheerly overwhelmed by the huge size of the museum building. The museum consists of three stories. I was amazed to know that there were thousands of paintings and sculptures. As a matter of fact, I was not interested in arts. Although I saw so many artistic works, I couldn't stay long because the opening come to close. So, I moved to see the Capitol Building and the National Court. Both of them were built in Gothic style. Around 7 pm, I felt so tired and hungry. I went to China town near downtown. If you don't like western food nor have enough money, you can go to Chinese restaurants. I am sure that you'll be satisfied with Chinese dishes.
   The next day, I moved to Philadelphia. Actually, I stayed just over one night in Philadelphia. This city is located next to New York City. Although Philadelphia is overshadowed by the gigantic New York city. It is worthwhile to visit. Thus if you have a chance to visit Philadelphia, do not miss a chance to have cheese steak.
New York City is often compared to the heart of the world. The city has the highest density of population in the world, and the most exciting events take place someshere in this city. Just look around the city, you can feel what a fantastic city New York is. First, I'd like to say something about New York transportation. In the city, you can take Amtrak, trains, and Grayhound coaches, long distance buses. But the problem is that transportation fees are not cheap at all, as you may suppose. So, you had better take a Chinese bus. You can easily find it in every Chinatown. Taking a Chinese bus is not only convenient but also cheaper than other transport systems.
   In New York City, first I went to the Broadway St and then the Times Square. While I was walking along these streets, I felt this was real America. There were so many tall buildings, cinema houses, theaters, and multiracial people. New York streets are famous so that often they appear in movies as well as on TV. While I was walking around, actually I saw some actors and actresses although I could not remember their names. One thing that you should not miss in New York City is pizza. I noticed so many pizza houses in the city. In fact, I visited one pizza house because it was lunch time. Even though New York pizza was not bad, I thought Korean pizza was much tasty for me in comparison with New York pizza. After having lunch at the pizza house, I went downtown to buy a shirt inscribed with 'I love NY' on it. Then, at 7 pm I went to Empire State Building to take a night view of New York City. On the top of the building, I couldn't take off my eyes from so beautiful scenes far or below. I was so overwhelmed that I could hardly express my feelings about them in words. I fell in love with the city.

The next day, I went to Central Park located in upper Manhattan. I was impressed by its huge scale. The park is so large that I thought it will be three times bigger that the scale of Yeungnam University. One morning, I took a walk there, and then took the subway to go to the Statue of Liberty. After taking a boat for a few minutes, I arrived at the statue. Here, again visitors were not allowed to take the elevator unfortunately. I took some pictures and walked around the statue. In the early evening, I came back to Manhattan and enjoyed my last night in the jazz bar while drinking some wine.
On August 24th, I left New York City for Boston, my next destination. If I have a chance, I will further write about my experience in Boston for our readers sometime.

Observer 다른기사 보기