背包走天涯之纽约

Arrival

My first sight of New York wasn't that of the Statue of Liberty. It was the Long Island. Sitting high above in SQ26, I could see the beautiful and seemingly endless beaches. They did name the island aptly. How I wished I was down there in the beaches because the cramped space in the plane was making me claustrophobic, and the irregular sleep certainly didn't help.

When I touched down I had imagined I would see a crowded airport. After all this was JFK and it was supposed to be one of the busiest. At least, I had an impression that it would look just like it did in "The Terminal" starring Tom Hanks as the passenger who was trapped in no man's land. Things couldn't be more different. Terminal 4 was so eerily deserted it seemed that my plane was the only one that touched down that morning. I hastily took my luggage and went out of the Terminal only to be shocked by a gush of cold wind. It must have been like 10 degrees and my face went so numb I ran back to the refuge of the Terminal. Then, equipped with the thickest winter clothes I could find in my luggage, I ventured out again. There was a black man in service uniform outside the door and he said in a deep nasal voice, "Hey, where are you going?"
"To Grand Central Terminal," I said. I wondered whether he would understand my accent.
"Got a ticket yet?"
"Nope"
"Ok fifteen dollars for a ticket to Grand Central. The next bus would be here at 11:30."
I bought the ticket from him. All this while I was thinking about the interesting fact that I had just talked to the first black man in my life and I wondered how he would react if I had told him that. Its interesting because I saw Michael Jordan play basketball and I played Grand Theft Auto and I watched Hollywood movies but they were nothing quite the same as speaking to a black in person. If I had told him these he would probably stared at me like I was some kind of idiot from some part of asia.

The bus stopped along Park Avenue. I alighted and looked around to get a sense of direction. New York's avenues were broad and they were so straight I could see the rows of buildings that lined the two sides of the avenues. I couldn't see much of the sky though. With so many skyscrapers around, this city certainly needed much more air space. As I walked down the avenue I saw a magnificent sight. Right in front stood the Grand Central Terminal. It was just that--Grand. Its huge size, together with its intricately sculpted Greek statues made me feel as if I had landed in some fairyland in Enid Blyton's. If this was how New York was going to be I wouldn't mind staying here for six months.

I hoped.

posted by wayne @ 3:53 PM