So, it's been a while since I updated so hang with me...
There hasn't been a lot of notable things since my last post since I have been drowning in work in preparation for the oodles of conferences coming to the university.
After a week of hard work, my friend Nick (one of the new NODA interns) and I decided to take in a Yankees game. If you know anything about NYC, New Yankee Stadium is located in the Bronx, which is North of Manhattan. The train that we took in goes the the World Trade Center, which is in the Southern part of Manhattan. So we already know it's going to take a while to get to the stadium, but we are ready for the adventure. So, the initial PATH train was just bursting with tourists who love to disclose themselves as such. I, of course, am able to blend in as a New Yorker and carry myself with dignity.
Once we get on the island is where the adventure begins. We get on one train that will take us to Columbus Circle so we can transfer onto the train that will take us to the Bronx. While we are on the first train, there is a delightful young lady yelling at her child about his behavior loud enough for the whole train to hear. The mother was attempting to embarrass this kid and was clearly succeeding, because that kid was trying to tell his mother to calm herself down. I tried not to appear to be watching/listening, but everyone on the train was watching the soap opera unfold in front of our eyes.
When we got to the circle, we transferred trains. We found that the train that we had been waiting for wasn't running, but the other train that ran would take us to where we need to go. So we finally get on the train to take us to the stadium and find that there is a man that is talking very loudly and deciding to spread his hobo-logic. At first, we thought that he was just a crazy man/regular New Yorker, but after deciphering his babble, I realize that he is actually doing a stand up routine to each subway car for tips. The first thing I hear him say is, "everybody better get out or I'll pull these shoes off... then this place will clear out quick!" Then he moved on to explaining that he had found all of his clothes in parks... in which I had to congratulate him for his noble effort of finding clothes! After realizing what he was doing, I sneakily started to record him with my phone (if you run into me, I can show you!) in order to document the gold that was happening before me.
So after we left the homeless Jerry Seinfeld's house (the D train), we emerged from the train station and could immediately see the New Yankee Stadium. It was an amazing sight to see for any sports fan and even though I'm not a Yankee fan, I still wanted to gain this experience. We make our way to our seats, which were up in the nose bleeds of course, but they still gave us a great view of the enormous stadium (and the projects in the Bronx)! Nick is originally from Colorado and is an avid Rockies fan and was one of the ten within attendance that day. I couldn't help but actually want the Yankees to play well in order to see the fans go crazy, which they did for the three Yankee home runs that we saw! It was super intense and a great experience that I will treasure for years to come.
After the game, we had to wait a while to avoid the crowded train that everyone is taking. I got a sweet Babe Ruth jersey-shirt thing and then we decided we are going to head back home with less trains taken then we did on the way there. On the ride home, we had to transfer trains once again at Columbus Circle and right as I'm about to get onto the previously crowded train, I see someone that looks strikingly familiar. I realize it's my first RA Sara from KU! I was able to get her attention and quickly catch up before her and I have to part our separate ways. I couldn't believe how small the world was at that exact moment! The rest of our trip home was uneventful and I was thankful for that!
The next day, I had to help the outgoing Associate Dean within the housing office at RUN move to NC. He had asked if I could drive his car/dog down to Greensboro, where he is moving and working for UNC-Greensboro. Honestly, not a lot happened along the trip that was notable... until I got to the South, of course! Once we got into Virginia, we had the pleasure of driving through the beautiful mountains and saw a mountain lightning storm happen (baller!)... Right before we got into NC, we decided to stop and get some food. I immediately got the familiar sights and sounds of the South in the local Lynchburg McDonalds. First, there was a Bojangles (I could hear Brice salivating). Second, there were some killer Southern accents all around me. Third, the heat was wet and painful to breathe. Lastly, there was definitely a 19 year old that had a 4 year old child... Now I've grown to love the South, but I also know that it's got some strange fellers in them there parts... Sorry Southerners, you just have to admit that it's a fact!
We made it to NC without any problems and its strange to be back so soon, but today I'm leaving to go back to the fine town of Newark! I can't wait to come back down here in about 4 weeks and see my fellow tiger friends... I hope all of your journeys are as eventful as mine! This weekend Mr. Packet (that's right) is visiting. Blog worthy events will happen... I assure you, fun will be had! Keep me posted with your lives and keep on keeping on!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Oh the places you'll go...
So, its been a little while since I posted and a lot has happened so I'm going to try my best to sum it all up without losing your interest while doing so... it's gonna be a long'n!
Flip, flip, flip-adelphia!
Last week, my supervisor told myself and the other interns that we were invited to be a part of the MACUHO summer conference and that it would be great professional development... FOR FREE! The best part of the conference is that it was in Philadelphia (in which it was "always sunny!"). I, having never been to Philly, was very excited for the opportunity to visit this amazing place! The first day was more of the arrival into the city and checking into the residence hall at Temple University. I happened to be the odd one out and got my own (baller) apartment in their suite style hall. We quickly met everyone that was from the region and introduced ourselves and came to find out that Rutgers-Newark had broght 75% of the interns of the whole conference there... which was the 3 of us. There was one other intern named Matt who coincidentally does his grad work at South Carolina! We exchanged our thoughts on the South (Seer Sucker, Sperry's, etc) and it was a great reflecting moment for me! Side note- Everyone up here considers me a Southerner even though I'm from Kansas. Even though I explain it's not the South, they try to pull the Mason-Dixon line out... not quite. Either way, I enjoy it. Back to Philly! We got to play Taboo with the others in the conference and had to introduce ourselves in interesting ways that involved alliteration. Mine was "Boombastic Billy"... by far the noblest name... just saying. Also, I forget the actual clue that was given to a certain word, but I did quiet the room by yelling "catheters!".
The next night was the more interesting night of exploring South Street in Philly. We first set off to the nearest cheese steak place to satisfy our touristy meal while being there. It was great, but not quite life changing... sorry Philly! We then walked down to the docks and saw the night lights dancing on the water and it was a very beautiful sight. Once we had our fill of the beauty, we starting walking back to, of course, get a drink! Cool moment on the walk- Saw a guy with a Chiefs hat and pointed it out to him... I don't think he was a psyched about it as I was, but I love the Chiefs more than most things in life... so I win! We stopped and got a drinks with others from around the region at this place called the "Copabanana" which was the oddest name ever, so I found it fitting to stop there. We relaxed and people watched for a while there for the rest of the night and then headed back to the campus to retire for the evening.
On our last day, we walked around and sight saw in Philly. We ate lunch at this huge market that had literally everything you could possibly want to eat from fish, bbq, chocolate mice, etc. After filling up, we did the touristy things like see the Liberty Bell of course and walked into a few neat museums. We ended up having desert by the water at an old timey soda shop (the guy that served us had a sweet 19th century style mustache) and the ice cream was unbelievable! We then decided to walk around a little more before going back home to the homestead.
Bean-town!
The very next weekend, we decided to take advantage of our friends that live outside of Boston to visit yet another place I had yet to visit. After a four and a half hour drive, we made it to Salem, MA... that's right, THE Salem where all of the witch trials were. Roxie dropped me off with my friend Tina (that's seriously your name now!) and Steven at Salem State. We quickly decided that a trip into Boston had to happen post haste and took the train in. The first thing we did was go to Fenway Park. Little did we know the New Kids On The Block and Backstreet Boys concert was happening there that very evening! There were all of these once prepubescent screaming girls that had become post-pubescent screaming ladies! We noticed on the train that there was a lady that had a t-shirt tucked in, fanny pack, and yelling random silly things was repping her very own shirt clearly on the way to the concert (and getting stuck on the subway with her was the worst!). Either way, it took us back to our high school years (and karaoke nights in Clemson) with which we couldn't get "I'll be the one" out of our heads! We walked around and did a bit of shopping in order to get jackets and shoes to rival the bitter cold that was sweeping about the Boston streets.
We then walked around and saw some of the historical sights that were scattered about the Boston area such as the Boston Massacre site, the place of the first reading of the declaration of independence, etc. One interesting fellow that we happened to see was a man walking down the street yelling, "meow meow meow pussycat!" which was humorous and slightly disturbing all at once, but I've been the NYC enough to know that these people are everywhere and I'm no longer as creeped out as I should have been. We made our way to little Italy and enjoyed the sights (and smells!) of that part of town. We went to the Quincy Market and were forced to make a difficult decision as to which of the hundreds of different types of food to choose from and decided that see food would suit us best for where we are!
After an exciting night of discovering Boston, we decided to head back for the evening and got on the train to head back to Salem. The next day, we were guided on a tour around the witching town of Salem, in which everything is witch themed in some way. Most of the things in the town are very silly and unnecessarily themed in Halloween style witch themes. The memorial that was built for those that were killed during the trial was actually very interesting powerful. The town was also very quaint and homey. It was a good town to walk around with friends and discover the silly witch themes in!
Needless to say, it was an exciting few weeks and there are more to come! A few of my friends and family are coming to visit me here in NJ and hopefully, therein will lye another gaggle of stories! Thanks for hanging with my long winded story and stay tuned! I love and miss you all!
Pictures at: http://s1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff447/billysmassey/Philadelphia/?albumview=slideshow
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Shenanigans...
Sorry guys, but this is a long one!
One of my supervisors invited the other interns and I into the city to see his friend's Manhattan apartment that he is dogsitting for. Of course, we accepted his invitation. We spent the afternoon on 5th avenue (I know, I stuck out) shopping and admiring the swanky stores along the street. After a while, we decided to make the long haul over to the apartment and meet our supervisor. This walk was at least 20 blocks, which isn't the first time we have had a long walk like this, but we finally made our way over to that side of the city. As we get closer, we get a text instructing us to tell the man at the front desk that we need to go to the 35th floor. As we look around, we have identified the building that we are heading to, but we refused to believe that this was the building we were supposed to be in. As it turns out, this incredible building ended up being our destination, to our disbelief. We head up to the 35th floor (there was only one floor above it), and head into the apartment. As we enter the apartment, we noticed the windows surrounding us on each wall. We quickly went out on the balcony which overlooked much of the Manhattan island. You can see the Hudson Bay, some of Times Square, the Empire State building, the Chrysler building, and the Statue of Liberty. WHAT?!?!?! We couldn't believe that we were actually there. A man from a small town from Kansas that has barely 600 people, on a 35th floor apartment in Manhattan! This day was also extremely windy and the railings had glass windows around them in order to see the city even when sitting down. This made me relatively anxious, but in a good way! My heart was jumping the whole time, but the disbelief was motivating me to stay out and enjoy this breathtaking experience! I truly wish you were all there to share that experience with me!
After a wonderful dinner and social time with my co-interns and supervisor, we decided to venture toward the Hell's Kitchen area and have an adult beverage or two. Side note: my co-interns are both classy young ladies that just happen to notice that it was fleet week. Fleet week, if you didn't already know, is when the city is invaded by sailors in uniform. They must have like 5 or 6 different uniforms because they wear them constantly because they know that it makes women of all ages melt... and they are everywhere! So my co's wanted to, of course, fulfill every girls dream and meeting a sailor man. We ended up going to a bar called The Pony Bar which offers a fine menu of microbrews (which excited me) and we spotted sailors going int (which excited them). While they were talking to sailor men, I watched the Yankees game with a guy that was from Jersey and was really friendly! After a while, we decided to change venues (i forget the name, but it was Toxic or something like that). In arriving, I quickly made friends with these Irish chaps at the bar. There were 4 of them and they were extremely friendly and were excited that I could understand their accent. I couldn't help but think that they sounded like Charlie from Lost... which I enjoyed!
At around 2:30am, I decided that I was tired and wanted to go home. The ladies weren't ready to go home and decided to stay for a little while longer, whereas I felt like I was going to turn into a zombie at any time with my level of tiredness! Therefore, I started my venture to the New Jersey Transit train station. As I walked, I noticed that I was at least 12 blocks away from the station. While I was not very drunk at all, I was extremely tired and not excited to be walking a long distance again! I just happened to run into the nice Yankees fan from the Pony Bar again and we had a small chat again before we parted ways. As soon as I made it to the train station, I looked on this giant board to see if I could see a train leaving for Dover, the train that goes to Newark Broad street, which is about 3 blocks from the residence hall I'm staying at. Alas, there was no Dover train listed. I decided to ask a police officer when the next train was and he explained that the next one was at 5:40am... uh oh..... So I then started walking toward the PATH station which I knew took longer, but I wasn't about to wait for 3 hours for a train and sleep in the station.
I get on the PATH train which I knew had to take me to Hoboken first on weekends. It takes me at least 30 minutes before I had to transfer trains, which is 2 stops away from Newark. As I get off the train to transfer, I asked a lady how long this usually takes, in which she said it wouldn't take long. So here I am, waiting on this train stop with about 30 other people that are drunk and dressed accordingly which is a story in and of itself. It takes about 25 minutes of tired me pacing back and forth on this train stop before the train FINALLY comes! I get on the train and notice that its about 3:50am and I know that the shuttle that runs from the Newark station (about a mile and a half away from home) stops running at 4am.
I get off the train and get outside at the strike of 4:04am. I have just missed the shuttle that runs to the university and now am weighing my options. I wanted to call them to see if there just happened to be a shuttle still running, but my phone had just died. I have $4, but can possibly go get money out of an ATM to pay for a taxi. While I'm pondering these thoughts, I begin to notice the demons that were beginning to surround the area of the Newark train station. Needless to say, there were some suspicious fellows beginning to prowl for those that are intoxicated coming back from the city... aka-me! I ask a police officer if he knew about the shuttle or a taxi that took debit and he said that he couldn't help me... douche! He also had the decency to explain that if I decided to walk back, I WOULD get jumped... thanks a lot bro! So, I decide a taxi is my best bet. I approached a few taxis and asked how much it would be to go back to the university... 8 bucks, but as previously explained, I have $4. It took a while, but a polite Pakistani taxi driver took pity on me and decided to give me a ride for said amount. He shared with me his story of where he lived and how he got to the USA during our short ride, but all I could think about is how unbelievably tired I am!
I made it home safely and made sure that they ladies were back safe. All in all, it was an adventurous night of learning and something I'm glad I experienced! I have plenty more stories, but this night was particularly eventful so I decided to share! I apologize for how long it was, but I commend you for making it all the way! Thanks friends!
One of my supervisors invited the other interns and I into the city to see his friend's Manhattan apartment that he is dogsitting for. Of course, we accepted his invitation. We spent the afternoon on 5th avenue (I know, I stuck out) shopping and admiring the swanky stores along the street. After a while, we decided to make the long haul over to the apartment and meet our supervisor. This walk was at least 20 blocks, which isn't the first time we have had a long walk like this, but we finally made our way over to that side of the city. As we get closer, we get a text instructing us to tell the man at the front desk that we need to go to the 35th floor. As we look around, we have identified the building that we are heading to, but we refused to believe that this was the building we were supposed to be in. As it turns out, this incredible building ended up being our destination, to our disbelief. We head up to the 35th floor (there was only one floor above it), and head into the apartment. As we enter the apartment, we noticed the windows surrounding us on each wall. We quickly went out on the balcony which overlooked much of the Manhattan island. You can see the Hudson Bay, some of Times Square, the Empire State building, the Chrysler building, and the Statue of Liberty. WHAT?!?!?! We couldn't believe that we were actually there. A man from a small town from Kansas that has barely 600 people, on a 35th floor apartment in Manhattan! This day was also extremely windy and the railings had glass windows around them in order to see the city even when sitting down. This made me relatively anxious, but in a good way! My heart was jumping the whole time, but the disbelief was motivating me to stay out and enjoy this breathtaking experience! I truly wish you were all there to share that experience with me!
After a wonderful dinner and social time with my co-interns and supervisor, we decided to venture toward the Hell's Kitchen area and have an adult beverage or two. Side note: my co-interns are both classy young ladies that just happen to notice that it was fleet week. Fleet week, if you didn't already know, is when the city is invaded by sailors in uniform. They must have like 5 or 6 different uniforms because they wear them constantly because they know that it makes women of all ages melt... and they are everywhere! So my co's wanted to, of course, fulfill every girls dream and meeting a sailor man. We ended up going to a bar called The Pony Bar which offers a fine menu of microbrews (which excited me) and we spotted sailors going int (which excited them). While they were talking to sailor men, I watched the Yankees game with a guy that was from Jersey and was really friendly! After a while, we decided to change venues (i forget the name, but it was Toxic or something like that). In arriving, I quickly made friends with these Irish chaps at the bar. There were 4 of them and they were extremely friendly and were excited that I could understand their accent. I couldn't help but think that they sounded like Charlie from Lost... which I enjoyed!
At around 2:30am, I decided that I was tired and wanted to go home. The ladies weren't ready to go home and decided to stay for a little while longer, whereas I felt like I was going to turn into a zombie at any time with my level of tiredness! Therefore, I started my venture to the New Jersey Transit train station. As I walked, I noticed that I was at least 12 blocks away from the station. While I was not very drunk at all, I was extremely tired and not excited to be walking a long distance again! I just happened to run into the nice Yankees fan from the Pony Bar again and we had a small chat again before we parted ways. As soon as I made it to the train station, I looked on this giant board to see if I could see a train leaving for Dover, the train that goes to Newark Broad street, which is about 3 blocks from the residence hall I'm staying at. Alas, there was no Dover train listed. I decided to ask a police officer when the next train was and he explained that the next one was at 5:40am... uh oh..... So I then started walking toward the PATH station which I knew took longer, but I wasn't about to wait for 3 hours for a train and sleep in the station.
I get on the PATH train which I knew had to take me to Hoboken first on weekends. It takes me at least 30 minutes before I had to transfer trains, which is 2 stops away from Newark. As I get off the train to transfer, I asked a lady how long this usually takes, in which she said it wouldn't take long. So here I am, waiting on this train stop with about 30 other people that are drunk and dressed accordingly which is a story in and of itself. It takes about 25 minutes of tired me pacing back and forth on this train stop before the train FINALLY comes! I get on the train and notice that its about 3:50am and I know that the shuttle that runs from the Newark station (about a mile and a half away from home) stops running at 4am.
I get off the train and get outside at the strike of 4:04am. I have just missed the shuttle that runs to the university and now am weighing my options. I wanted to call them to see if there just happened to be a shuttle still running, but my phone had just died. I have $4, but can possibly go get money out of an ATM to pay for a taxi. While I'm pondering these thoughts, I begin to notice the demons that were beginning to surround the area of the Newark train station. Needless to say, there were some suspicious fellows beginning to prowl for those that are intoxicated coming back from the city... aka-me! I ask a police officer if he knew about the shuttle or a taxi that took debit and he said that he couldn't help me... douche! He also had the decency to explain that if I decided to walk back, I WOULD get jumped... thanks a lot bro! So, I decide a taxi is my best bet. I approached a few taxis and asked how much it would be to go back to the university... 8 bucks, but as previously explained, I have $4. It took a while, but a polite Pakistani taxi driver took pity on me and decided to give me a ride for said amount. He shared with me his story of where he lived and how he got to the USA during our short ride, but all I could think about is how unbelievably tired I am!
I made it home safely and made sure that they ladies were back safe. All in all, it was an adventurous night of learning and something I'm glad I experienced! I have plenty more stories, but this night was particularly eventful so I decided to share! I apologize for how long it was, but I commend you for making it all the way! Thanks friends!
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