The City That Never Sleeps

                    In the evening I decided it was the right time to show Times Square. I know, I know, it doesn't seem that special after you spend in the city more than a month.

                    But admit it, the first time you were coming to NYC, unless you've lived here your whole life, you were picturing Times Square full of lights, taxis and people rushing around.                     So I didn't think my aunt was an exclusion, and I brought her to the most touristy spot in NYC on her first night. But, even though you eventually get used to this view, the first impression is always "WOW!"                     And I cant even explain how much I love when people actually get excited about the places I take them.   When we were sitting on the  red  stairs, I saw my aunt's eyes, I noticed how bright they were. I don't know if they were that bright from the surrounding light or from the happiness and excitement. Whatever the answer was, it made me happy. 

                    "We have so much to see!' I kept talking and explaining what we were going to do in a few next days. 'Not sure though, if we have enough time to do everything. I wish there were just 5 more hours in one day!'                    'Well...' - my aunt replied. 'It the city that never sleeps, so how about we follow its craziness, save this time and win't sleep?'                    My aunt actually just actually offered to spend a sleepless night in NYC, Dang, this girl catches up with the craziness of the place pretty fast! As I'm always up for the craziest ideas my friends have, this seemed even pretty normal and legit.                    However, I've never seen the city in such light. Walking down Broadway, we saw drunk old men leaving gentleman's clubs (I have no clue how these places are absolutely invisible in daylight), unreasonably laughing frat boys, girls wearing clothes, main purpose of which was to get your attention. All of this was a different city, I've never seen before. And I was glad to be just a member of audience and not a participant. 
                    4 AM. Coffee shop. The guy there is smiling and looking right into my eyes trying to find the reason of such an early/late visiting. Yeah... who will even think that there are crazy visitors like us.                    

 5.10 AM. Time to get a train to the ferry. We're on subway, laughing and hal-sleeping. I still can't find the reason, why we were that tired! I think it's the poisonous night vibes of the city.                     When we got to the ferry, I spent most of the time sleeping. I swear, I couldn't just open my eyes. People looked at us like something was wrong with us, but come on, they saw much weirder staff in this city!                     But at this point we couldn't just go to the ferry and leave. Of course, we went to see Wall Street Bull.

                     7 AM. "Hey!" - My aunt says, "it's Today Show time now, right? I actually want to see how it's made." It was her only chance to see it, as later it would be weekend. Of course, we went there.                     Looking at everything that was happening there I was just smiling as I knew, that's what I want to do. I could see everything filmed and shot, and at the same time see how it appeared on TV screens in the entire country. The excitement and inspiration I got that morning is very significant. It's just always great to know what you want to do, It;s even better to see that it's happening right by your side, and it's absolutely terrific to know that you'll be able to reach this if you work hard in a couple of years. 
                    

My aunt got sort of infected by my excitement. We were smiling and basically bouncing around seeing the working process around us, At about 9 we left, and finally made it to bed. 

Great morning = great day = great life

             Probably it's some mysterious power of the city that makes me wake up every morning pretty early. Who knows what the reason is, but the fact is that I woke up at 4 AM. I decided not to lose my time and do something cool. Instantly I remembered the studio the night before.
             "Morning show! I should go to some morning show!" - the decision I made was more than certain even though I didn't know if I actually can just go an watch how the show is made. But it's New York City, so anything is possible.
           

 Funny fact, but even though I want to work with television, I don't watch TV really. I didn't want to go to NBC morning show because I saw their studio yesterday already, so I wanted to see something new.
As always, I used my one and only Google in my research of where and when to go. After a few pages I picked the CBS morning show.
             I was proud of myself as I was great on time (it was suggested to get to the place at least half an hour earlier and I was planning t

o be there an hour earlier). I got to the address posted online where I got a pretty interesting comment at reception table: "Sorry ma'am, but CBS moved to the other building about half a year ago."
             By the way, I didn't have Internet access on me. So now I had to figure out where to go being led by such a mystical thing as random people's directions.
             Even though Trump International Hotel sounded to me like the weirdest place for the show to be shot, I still got there as somehow all pedestrians were sure that this was the right place for the CBS show to be filmed.
             I ran up the stairs, and was about to open the door, when two gentlemen opened them widely for me smiling at me. The gorgeous hall was full if flowers, expensive furniture and smiling staff people.
             - Good morning, ma'am! How can I help you today?
             Honestly, at this point I was assured that it definitely wasn't the place I was looking for. However, I still told the lady at the reception table that I really wanted to see the CBS morning show. And you will never

believe but she asked me to take a sit and wait until she finds the address online. After about 5 minutes the only place she found was the one I was sent from.
             - Ma'am, I think you should just got to the Today Show by NBC.
             I decided that this decision probably would be the smartest thing to do, so I went back to the place I left just 6 hours ago - Rockefeller plaza.
           

           

             A huge crowd was surrounding the place the show was shot at. Lucky me, somehow I still found a good spot. The main reason for this probably is that I wasn't looking forward to get on TV. All I wanted to see was the working process, the way the show gets created.
             From the very corner I had a great view on everything I wanted to see: cameras, lights, screens. 

             It was pretty funny as all of the people around me didn't see this at all, they were excited to see broadcasters they knew. I saw this people for the first time in my life. However, I guess I was supposed to be excited about this too. But all I saw was the beauty of the working process. Each person was doing some certain part, and all together it created a full picture, just like a puzzle.
             A girl standing next to me asked: "Are you from here?" When I told her that I just moved to the city she got very excited. "Oh my gosh! You got to live in NYC! You're so lucky!" She was here with their choir band from Tennessee. She would almost jump every time she saw the celebrities coming out.
             Apparently her friends and her were even more excited than most of the people out there as some apparently famous people kept coming to talk to us.
             One of the broadcasting girls with NBC tag on her jacket came up to us, and told us that she was an intern from Tennessee. All I heard was "intern." Yes, that's who I need to talk as she definitely knows how to get here! And I just started asking her questions if how she got here. It wasn't something I wanted

here though as she got the internship after college graduation. Well, I needed to talk to somebody who knew a faster way.
             Two more broadcaster came up to us. After they asked us where we from, I was the only one from the group who wasn't from Tennessee.
             - I'm from Russia, - I said.
             - Cool, are you here to visit?
             - No, I'm for school actually. And in a few years we're going to be colleagues, - I still can't believe I actually said this exact thing, but I did.
             - Oh, nice. I'll see you soon then.
             Really, sometimes I don't even expect myself to say certain things. It's just like some mechanism turns in my head and "boom."
             Apparently this morning this "mechanism" decided to do what it wants to do because in a minute I

saw a young guy working with lights who seemed to be the right age to be an intern.
             - Pst! Excuse me.. Are you an intern?
             - Huh? Oh no, I work here. Are you looking for right connections? - he asked back.
             After he explained me that I probably should talk to a stage manager about things like internships and that actually there college sophomores working in studio, I gave him my e-mail. I learnt the lesson that the success in New York City is proportional to the connections you make. Oh, just saying, but this guy was cute.
             The show still was in the process of making and looking at all of this I just got to the conclusion that this is going to be my next goal - get the internship at NBC. Looking at how the shooting worked, how everything was well-organized I just knew that this is the place where I want and I will work.

It's always an amazing feeling when you set the goal, when you know exactly what you want to do, and especially if you know it's possible to reach what you want. I was ready to work hard and do everything I could to get it.
Probably there is something special about the city because it leads you where you're supposed to be. I don't know how it would turn out if I went to CBS show. But I was totally happy to be this morning at Today Show as I just set my new goal that I was ready to achieve.
             As soon as I saw everything I needed and talked to everybody I wanted to, I left the show.

             It was only 8 AM and I had the entire day free, which, I knew, was going to be amazing. 

City Smile

           - OK, Alex, how are you with oatmeal?

           - Love it!

           In about 15 minutes two happy Russians were enjoying a delicious oatmeal made with some honey, cranberries and nuts. I don't know how to explain this, but moments like this (eating breakfast with your new awesome friend) make me very happy. However, it might just the fact that I'm just happy about everything.

           Anyway, the great sunny morning was continued with a nice walk to Columbia University Campus. I personally always feel great when people walk as fast as I do or even faster, as I don't have to feel like I'm in slow motion. Alex definitely became a perfect walking partner for me as we never stopped or slowed down, we just kept moving while looking on the street sides with their pretty houses and shadowy trees.

           - Oh my gosh! Look at that "castle" up there! - Alex exclaimed, pointing at the very top of the Morningside Heights Park. Tha
t's what I love about New York City. It doesn't matter how long you've been here, you'll always find something new and exciting.
           The "castle" turned out to be a wall separating Columbia University from the park. After climbing all the way up we were happy to discover a very nice panoramic view on Harlem.
           - Alright, Alex, get ready to see cute smart guys from Columbia University! - I whispered to my friend.
           - You don't have to say that, it's pretty obvious out here, - she giggled.
           After passing the first block we saw the university. For both of us it was kind of seeing Hogwarts.
           - I can't believe we are here! This is really it! One of the best schools. Ivy League. Oh, dreams, dreams..., - Alex talked to herself.
           While getting to the park inside the campus we took a few pictures of entrance pointing and smiling at it.
           - Yeah, we definitely don't look like we're part of it. Linda, we should try to jump around and scream and just walk calmly, so we fit the situation.
           In about 30 seconds we gave up and just started taking pictures and exclaiming things like "Oh my gosh! It's Columbia University Library!" "Look! It's their bookstore! Now I need to read all of these books!"
         
            After a good long walk I invited Alex to get some coffee at

Hungarian Pastry Shop. I've been there before once, and it got in my "Top Favorite places in NYC" right away. Reasons? If you get coffee to stay, the refills are free, the pastry is like A
MAZING there, and the atmosphere is just so nice! It's just so inspiring for me to look at all of these students at their laptops working on something or discussing their group projects. Oh! And their restroom is pretty cool too. Don't think anything weird, but they have great writing on the walls.
           I knew Alex would love this place, and I was right. We had to leave just because the time told us to. However, we had a great day together, and as soon as Alex went to the train station to get home, I went to explore New York City even more. So, I just got on subway, and went to the Rockefeller Center.
           I heard that the view deck out there was pretty amazing, so I decided to check it out instead of traditional Empire State Building view.
           But, apparently the city wasn't ready to show me this part of it, as the tickets for that night were already sold out.
           'Oh, well,' - I thought. 'I'll just walk around.'
           While I was walking by, I saw bright screens with NBC previews on it. I wasn't surprised at all, as advertisement and commercials become parts of the city life just like neighbors do. But then I got closer, and I saw a studio. A real TV studio. Even though, the lights were off, I still could see everything.
           The thing is, I'm fond of video and producing, and I'd love to do this for living. Television, obviously, always seemed as one of the fields to go in. However, you can never know if you just read or listen about it. You have to see it, and you will feel it. And I felt it. There was some kind of magic inside. Just imagine, this little studio creates something new every day that people watch all over the country! Isn't this purely amazing? The team works super hard and creates a final product on daily basis.           In my head, the studio got alive: the lights are turned on, the broadcasters are all sitting at the desk smiling with their extremely white friendly smiles, the cameras are all at the right spots, and here it's me with a clipboard in my hands checking if everything and everybody is in the right place.
           I thought that it would be pretty cool to come and see the process of creating the show. I decided to google it later.
           Now I just kept walking near the building, looking at the flags, the fountain, flowers. It was just a great night to be here. Some kind of party was going on downstairs, and pretty people who looked like they just left magazines' cover kept going there and back.
         

           I just sat on the bench right in front of the Rockefeller Building and smiled. Smiled, because it was such a great night, because I found an awesome friend in the city, because I was happy. Then I realized that somebody was smiling at me. It was a couple walking away from that party. They were gorgeous as everybody who was leaving that place.
           I think the smile the gentleman form this couple had was the only smile Great Gatsby could have had. It was so open, so pure. This smile exchange between three of us didn't last longer than 5 seconds. But it was an amazing moment. It felt like the city itself, gorgeous, lofty, prosperous and simply great smiled at me.