some concluding remarks on new york ;)

first things first: i didn't fall in love with the city...
it's true, there are millions of things to do and see and explore, but you get that in almost every big city. times square was shrill and fancy, but to me it looked like a cheap copy of some random corner in tokyo. statue of liberty was cool to see, but since 9/11 you're not allowed to go up there any more, which sucked! there are heaps of people, but to be honest they weren't very friendly.

seems like i only see the negative aspects, but i think the real problem is that i automatically compared the city to my true love, sydney ;)

also i couldn't meet up with my personal guide (*gg*) chantal, cause her plain couldn't take off in zurich because of the strong winds (what's going on there? i heard there was quite some snow too?) - so i was rather disappointed :(
at least i had a huge list from grace, with all the things i had so see :) thank you so much grace! (i was too lazy to send you a postcard from over there, but i'll send you one from san francisco - promise!)

the one thing i found really awesome though was a show on broadway! i went to see grease and i really loved it!

i took quite a lot of pictures (also the "grand central station reloaded" for michi ;)) and as soon i get to download them i'll show you some :)

how to cross the street in new york

first, check whether the traffic light shows "go" or signals to hurry up. if so, walk (and be carefull of not being run over by cars turning - don't worry it hardly ever happens ;))

if the traffic light is "red" (which it isn't cause it shows a hand which signals to stop) walk as far out into the street as possible (usually there is a parking lane blocking your sight) - check from which side the cars are coming (most of the time it's one way only) - wait untill there is a gap between two cars - walk! :)

rather easy isn't it? :) if you wanna make sure people think your a newyorker, just walk and if you really have to turn around and let the cars pass :)

stop over in toronto

on my way to new york i had a short stop over in toronto. it was quite a disturbing experience... not only was the view from above weird (all the houses looked exactly (!) the same) but also did the crew show the emergency exits once again shortly before the landing :/

obviously everything went well (otherwise you wouldn't read this blog entry now ;)) and the only hurdle left was the immigration to the u.s. i had some understanding for them to ask me whether i was a terrorist, a spy or a nazi (well...) but the last question was really hard to answer: "are you seeking entry to engage in immoral actions?" well... i don't think so, but since there wasn't a list what the holy americans consider immoral, it was really hard to tell. to be on the safe side i just answered "no" and after leaving my fingerprints and picture i was allowed to immigrate. whoohooo!

how much luck can a fortune cookie bring?

i thought it might be a good idea to crack the fortune cookie i got for my birthday before i start travelling... and indeed, it was quite promising: "you can enjoy yourself and also include others" :)

i reckon this also counts for my stay in new york - just today i found out that chantal is going to be there for the weekend! :) woohoooo :) if anyone else is gonna be somewhere on my route, just tell me! i'm gonna share my enjoyment with you! :)

done with uni - and paying for economy class but flying business class ;)

i passed my last exam today - which means i'm done with uni!!! no more exams ever!! (at least for the next few months ;))

oh and the other good thing that happened: i got an email that my flight back home from canada changed: instead of flying from toronto directly to zurich, i'm gonna have another stop over in frankfurt... they didn't reply my email where i asked whether i'll get a discount for this inconvenience. but when i called them they upgraded my flight to business class - fair enough, i'd say :)
at first i even thought it would be especially cool, cause it's a night flight, but on second thought i fear i'm gonna miss all the cool things while sleeping... so maybe it's gonna be a busy night for me ;)

getting ready for my very last exam

i read 1200 pages...


i drew a mind map for each chapter and i subsumed all of them in one huge mind map (with additional notes as you can see in the picture)...


tomorrow i'll squeeze some important details in my head and then i guess i'm ready for tuesday :)

woohooooo - my very last exam at uni!!

today i finally got the date for my very last exam at uni :D so keep your fingers crossed on tuesday at 10.35 :) thx!