Blurbs From Eunee's Mind (and Life)

So just as I said in my previous entry, my stay in Montreal deserves its own blog entry - and so here I am, typing away at my keyboard again. I arrived in Montreal at about 8:30 p.m. and being hungry, I mentioned it to my friend. She immediately stated that we need to find food now, before things close! Huh? I was a bit befuddled but I chalked that one up to my exhaustion from being confined to steel containers with windows. So, we went looking for something to eat. Fortunately we did not have to go too far as there was a food court right there. Then my friend proceeded to warn me as I looked at my choices, "Set your expectations real real low." Okay.....now I was a bit more confused. But I just let it go. That was my introduction to Montreal - a city where almost everything closes down at 5 p.m. except for a few eateries, some cafes, and all the bars and clubs. Yes, even the mall closes at 5 p.m. I don't think I've ever had to hustle to get to the mall before it clos...

Okay, so I didn't learn my lesson and decided that before things got hectic for both my friend and myself, I'd take a trip up to Montreal to visit her. Yes, Montreal, Canada.... Although a flight to Montreal takes about an hour and forty minutes max, the cost is the same as flying home to Los Angeles from New York. So, in the interest of saving money (a round-trip student fare from New York Penn Station to La Gare Centrale - Central Station - in Montreal, Quebec is a whopping $100 and change), I decided that although the train-ride is 10 hours long, I would do it since I had tons of reading to do for school. So I awoke (or didn't really sleep actually) at 4:30 a.m. to make sure I was on the 5:59 a.m. train (at the latest) out of Port Jefferson into Penn Station. When I got to Penn Station in New York, I started to panic when my reservation # would not bring up a reservation for me on the Self-Ticketing Machine. Oh boy.....I HAD confirmed at home, but what was going on?!? I ...

So it has been over a week since I've been here now - actually it has been 2 weeks - and those moving adventures have now been filed away as memories and lessons learned. School has begun and so has my adjustment to a new state, new city, new school, and new life. My mother left yesterday which was sad, but I had to remind myself that I was here in New York for a reason. I dropped her off at JFK International Airport and then took a parkway along the south shore to drive from the airport to Brooklyn Heights where I was to meet my nephew and drop off some goods for him (namely ramen and a package his mother had sent to me to give to him). Making the drive to Brooklyn Heights from JFK took more time than driving from my apartment to JFK (which is usually an hour and a bit)! Yes, traffic IS really bad in New York. I'd venture to say it might even be worse than L.A. BUT most of my drive enabled me to see some sights and forget for a moment that I had been sad. I saw the Statue of L...

This is the last installment of my initial adventures in New York during my first weekend here. The date was Sunday, August 26th and we were accompanying my nephew to his dorm in Brooklyn Heights (right across the water from Manhattan). I don't think I mentioned that it takes a while to walk anywhere from my apartment. The previous day we walked for 45 minutes to the nearest grocery store. At the pace we were walking, it would probably have taken us an hour to the train station. The bus? The nearest bus stop is probably about a 30 minute walk - I might look into it; the only problem is that it stops running after 8 or something ridiculously early like that. Doesn't help when I have classes after 8. . . . Anyway, we called a cab since we are taking 3 bags - one each - and none of us were in the mood to be dragging them down the road for an hour to the train station. . . . We got to the train station and found that the train had been delayed due to some technical difficulties. I ...