Wed
Apr
21
I know it’s back!
Applying for Mountbatten
When I decided upon trying out for the Mountbatten programme I asked myself one single question and that was if I don’t do this will I regret it. You see, my life wasn’t bad before but it had become stagnant after finishing university. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. I had a good family, a good group of friends and relatively good prospects for work but my life felt almost worthless because in my opinion I had no life experiences and the worst thing of all is I had never pushed myself as I was living and working within my comfort zone. So that question I asked myself again was if I don’t do this will I regret it and the answer was a wholehearted yes. It almost felt like fate as I let the original deadline for the March intake of the Mountbatten programme slip for a number of personal reasons at the time. The fate part came to me when I was looking around and everything I saw said New York on it. From advertising, to films, to music which is relatively normal but then I had a dream that cried out Mountbatten so I decided to check the website. The deadline had been extended by 3 weeks and this was the end of the second week! That is when I asked myself that fateful question that would eventually change my life. From that moment I got all the forms completed and all my references from previous employers and my lecturer at university then things would change forever.
Accepted on the Mountbatten Programme
From that moment, for the first time since I left university I had direction and something to work for. I got offered an interview with Mountbatten about a week after applying and had the actual interview three weeks later. At the interview I was told about the programme itself by the Mountbatten staff, had an interview about what I was looking for and then the most important was my first taste of meeting future Mountbatten’s and I liked it. Meeting like minded people who were willing to pack up their lives for a year in New York. The interview went well and I was accepted on the programme the next day. The excitement really started to apply to me and I was firmly focused on making it to New York but I had to wait. Once you get accepted onto the programme there is a long wait before Mountbatten send out our profiles to prospective companies to look over and decided who they wish to interview.
The Interview With JP Morgan Chase!
It was a long wait and plenty happened in that time including the passing of my grandmother which came about two months before I would be due to fly out. It was not a great situation to be in but I always knew my grandmother was firmly behind me in making it to New York and she gave me strength when I needed it. That strength came just over a month later when I was called up by Mountbatten telling me I had a telephone interview with JP Morgan and I had two days to prepare. Those two days I put everything into it writing down every question that I believed could be asked and finding out as much as I could about the bank. So when the call did come I felt confident that I could get the role I just needed to prove it. The interview went very well and at the end of it, the interviewer said good interview. That set my mood for an agonising 24 hour wait. I couldn’t just assume I got the role because I didn’t want to be left disappointed. Almost 24 hours passed and I got the call from Mountbatten. I answered the phone and they asked me how the interview went, at which point I thought maybe they would have come out and told me straight away you’ve got the job. I said I thought it went well then they said you’ve got the job! It was one of the best moments of my life. For the first time I was able to tell people I was off to New York as before that it was always I might be going to New York. It was the most unbelievable feeling and I still never really believed I was going until I was boarding the plane for my new life.
Getting the Visa
Before leaving for my new life there was one last thing to do and that was to get my visa from the US embassy. I was assigned by Mountbatten a day to go and some of us are sent there on a certain date in groups with other people on Mountbatten. This was the second time I got to meet Mountbatten’s and the first time I knew what people I would be experiencing the next year with. It was great getting the visa accepted and then hanging out with future friends. I knew I had made the right decision as we all spoke with genuine excitement for what was ahead of us. It was such a great feeling going into the embassy and getting the visa as this is what I had worked for. My new life would soon begin all I had left to do now was pack!
The Flight
The flight was a day I will forever remember. BA flight 185 was the special flight and some of us had named the plane the “party plane”. Before boarding the flight I said goodbye to my family, I looked pretty pale as I was worried about my new life. I was stressed but it was a good form of stress. I met some other Mountbatten’s along the way in the airport. I knew who the other people on the programme were as they were the ones that looked a similar age with a similar look of fear yet glee on their faces. The flight eventually took off and once we were in the air a lot of us started talking to each other by the toilets and this drew some anger from the cabin crew. We were all so enthusiastic about our new lives we forgot we were on a flight. Instead of telling us to sit down I remember seeing one of the cabin crew going on the internal phone and calling the captain to put the seatbelt signs on. He duly obliged and said there is turbulence ahead (lies) but we all sat down anyway! The first sight of New York from the plane was incredible. There it was the place I was about to live my new life in. This was the most amazing feeling ever I have arrived in New York!
Okay so Niagara Falls. Well it all started nicely on the pretence that we were in for a 6h 30min coach ride from New York to Niagara Falls. From the moment that the China Town bus moved away on Saturday at 8 in the morning we were in for a shock. It started with our tour guide called Vicky. She was a nice enough person but I got the feeling that she didn’t really get the whole idea that people were prepared to sleep. You see, she goes on the mic and starts laying down the rules such as don’t be late and there is a toilet on the coach that isn’t going to be used because it’ll get smelly and so on but then she started giving us a tour guide of the journey straight from the off. This included the history of the Holland Tunnel, which is the tunnel that takes us from New York under the Hudson to New Jersey, to why New Jersey is called the Garden State. She did ask the question why are there no gardens that you can see in New Jersey and she got no answer so she asked us whether we were sleeping. I guess she got the point. After about 30mins she shut up but I wasn’t sleepy thanks to her chatter! Anyway, 6h 30min journey later we arrived in wait for it, Thousand Islands, which is a place in upstate New York where rich people own mansions on many different little islands there. I should have read the small print because I didn’t realise that we were going to this place and that it was another 4 hour journey to Niagara Falls. Thousand Islands is nice but we were there for less than an hour and it was a total waste of my time. We went on a boat for an hour, got a rather poor tour guide to tell us some tour guide stuff about the islands and then we got back onto the bus. Another 4 hours later we arrive in Niagara Falls or nearly!!!! Vicky informs us that in a tourist “hotspot” like Niagara Falls there are no places to eat so they take us to a Chinese Buffet in the middle of nowhere. China Town bus obviously gets some sort of backhander for this but I refused to go there so instead I went to Subway, which I had to cross a 4 lane road for, but it was well worth it!
So, eventually we jumped back on the bus and headed for the falls. When we arrived at the falls after setting off at 8 in the morning, we finally made it there at 10 at night. It was difficult to see anything but the falls were incredible. The sheer power was just incredible. One thing that surprised me though was how lacklustre the New York side of the river is compared to the Canada side. The Canada side was all lit up and had some nice looking buildings while the New York side was pretty dark. From there we checked into our hotel, which was a holiday inn and actually pretty nice. We sat in the bar, got ourselves a drink then walked over Rainbow Bridge into Canada to see the falls from the other side of the river. It definitely looked better frim the Canada side. We were told we had to be up at 8 the next morning so that we could catch an imax film on the falls. I decided to not do this and just went and stared at the awesomeness of the falls, which is quite simply beyond words.
Eventually we left Niagara but we weren’t going home just yet as we had to go to a place in the middle of nowhere called Corning where they make all sorts of shapes and things out of glass but on the way there we had two eventualities, the first of which was karoake, Oh dear forced fun is not what I like and it was not fun. Nobody really wanted to do it and all we wanted was for Vicky to sit down and shut up. After some lacklustre performances she did shut up. So now onto our meaninless 4 hour journey to Corning. When we arrived in Corning we first stopped off at another Chinese Buffet but Vicky informed us that this one was better because it also does sushi! Anyway, I gave this a wide berth for Wendy’s and had an awesome buger! Onto the glassworks, which again I didn’t want to do so me and my friends sat outside on the grass as it was a nice day. It took another hour before everybody emerged before we set off on our final 5 hour journey home. Yes, going to Corning had added on 2h 30min to our journey. The final leg was long and it certainly felt like the longest but when we got back it was something to not be happy about but we have just had an experience we can forever to talk about and my blog would look better for it.
Anyway, next up my mediocre cruise in the Bahamas!!!
Wed
Nov
11
Well halloween in New York is definitely a crazy one. Everybody dresses up so if you don’t dress up you’re the one that is left out. There is a store called Ricky’s that opens up many big stores in and around New York specifically selling costumes. I went in two days before halloween to get my costume and the queue’s were up to an hour long just to pay for your costume! Anyway, I dressed up as a rabbi for a change. I saw the costume on the Internet and thought that is me. This is what I saw and I thought I got to get me one of them… So on the day of halloween it is a day unlike any other day. All the shops stock candy for the kids. The kids go round with their parents to the stores in the mall all dressed up most of whom have made a serious effort. Anyway, it was a different experience to the UK version of halloween, which usually consists of a couple of kids knocking on their neighbours door for some sweets only for the neighbour to pretend they’re not in!
So how did my costume go down. As you can see below there is a picture of myself with a chicken. A normal occurence around the time of halloween. I was asked on the subway a couple of times “are you a jew?” Of course I’m a jew I’m a rabbi aren’t I! Anyway, I went back to a danger party in Brooklyn, this time it was in a warehouse rather than a boat. Still semi-legal but so well organised! The party was pretty good. It was sooooooo sooooooo packed but still had a great time. There was the usual blend of music from rave type music to Sam Sparrow who I somehow managed to miss his performance. Never mind. I still had a good time and it was another memorable night in New York but it isn’t as memorable as what’s coming when I go to Niagara Falls. (Coming soon!)
Fri
Oct
30
Okay so I know I have been out for a long time and there is probably way too much that I have missed out but it’s impossible to recall it all, instead I am returning to blogging with my recent experiences then move on from there so here goes…
This past Saturday I went to a place called Philadelphia. I left in the morning and came back in the evening via bus. So my thoughts on Philly are this, it is nice, friendly but little to do there. I guess I have been spoilt with New York with endless amounts of fun to be had each and everyday. Anyway, I went with six girls and no other men and had an excellent time. I took loads of pictures and put a video together that can be seen below. Before leaving for Philly there were four things I decided I wanted to do there. These were to run up the Rocky steps, which are the steps to a museum that Rocky ran up in his film, see the Liberty Bell, stand by the original love sign which can also be seen below and eat a Philly Cheesesteak! I managed to do all of these things. It’s fair to say from that list that there is little to do there but I went there in mind that it may not be all that impressive but yet I still liked it for some reason. I don’t think there is any need or desire for me to go back but that is not because I hate it, it’s just that there is no need for me to be there! All in all it was a good day and the cheesesteaks aren’t too bad either even though they kind of look like a bit like a kebab!
On Sunday I went on a visit to the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. I have to say the only plants I like are weird and wonderful looking ones otherwise I get a bit bored by flowers even if they look pretty! There were some weird plants there for me to enjoy but it was mostly flowers. It is quite a big place and the Bronx River flows through it complete with a small waterfall. This waterfall is pitiful compared to the beast I am due to visit next week, which is the Niagra Falls! More to come on that but the botanical gardens was very pretty and it was a nice day so it made it all the more better. If you like flowers this is the place for you but otherwise I guess it isn’t. I like it when you can touch stuff and see what it can do!!!
Anyway, that’s all for this blog Halloween coming up next…!
So Part 2 starts off with PS1. PS1 is a Museum of modern Art (MoMA) event in Long Island City, Queens. It is basically a party that happens every Saturday during the summer and is a museum in its own right. I believe it was a school before it became a museum. Below are some pictures of the art. Once checking out the art everybody congregates in the courtyard where there is a band playing weird music. I wasn’t too impressed by this band but once they finished on came the hardcore trance dj’s. I’m not a fan of this type of music when listening to it at home but when listening and dancing to it in a huge crowd is simply fun personified! I had an absolute blast and had been meaning to go to PS1 for ages so when I finally got round to going I wasn’t to be disappointed. I’ve included some pictures of the scale of the crowds below as well.
On my way back to Manhattan from PS1 I went to an off Broadway comedy club called Ha! This was one of those comedy clubs that sold tickets on the streets of Times Square. The number of times I have walked past these people and said no you would have to have many fingers and toes to count but this one time I decided to give it a try. The tickets cost $8 which isn’t too bad but the catch is you have to buy two drinks and they’re not cheap. To be fair I don’t mind paying if the comedy is good and the comedy was pretty good. We were placed right at the front in the line of sight of all the comedians. Oh dear this is not the place to be placed as I did get ridiculed once or twice. To be fair one of the comedians said I look like I am in good shape “do I work out?” If only they had known I eat loads of food, most of it bad for me and still have trouble putting on weight!!! Anyway I had a great time at this comedy club and I’d definitely recommend it but just make sure you’re placed closer to the back so save yourselves please!!!
Okay one of the best places I have found in NYC is Café Wha! It is a bar with an amazing live band. I have been 3 weeks in a row and I’d easily keep going back. This band gets everybody involved, they all sing, play different music for all tastes, the club has an amazing atmosphere and it is just the sort of thing you need on a Sunday night when you’ve got work the next day. No words can describe this place. Seeing is believing so I’d definitely recommend it to anyone visiting NY. I have included a video of them singing an Avril Lavigne song “I’m with you”. The person singing is simply incredible and could put most professional singers down in her own right. Anyway enjoy…
