One night in New York
"I'm at fucking Madison Square Garden..."
This is what I thought when I walked up the stairs at Pennsylvania station, New York. Everything what could go wrong went wrong at the airport. I had to wait 2,5 hours longer because there was something wrong with my visa. Because of that my luggage wasn't there anymore and I had to give my address so they could send it to my house as soon as they've found it. It was 21.00 U.S. time, but for me it was 3.00 in the night. I was totally exhausted after all the chaos, but when I saw the huge entertainment centre in Madison Avenue (which I only knew from television), I was totally impressed and I forgot all the non-stop panic that I was in for the last few hours.
I thought that going to New York would be like living for the first time abroad all over again. Like when I went to Hamburg for the first time. I was totally right. Except this time my parents weren't there to support me if anything went wrong. I was on my own... And I couldn't call Julien at the house, because I didn't seem to have any reach in the U.S. So I took my hand luggage (the only luggage I had still left) in a cab and asked him to drive me to the street where my new house hopefully would be.
It was already dark and I opened the car window. I didn't mind the wind blowing in my eyes, because I wanted to take a better look at the giant buildings and the lights that were passing me. Whatever street the car went in, everything looked the same in every direction. Still I couldn't help thinking about my luggage. What if something happened to it? All my clothes were in there! Then the car went over Queensborough Bridge. The millions of lights that drew the skyline of New York seemed like a solar system on earth. It was so breathtaking that it made me forget about all the problems I had that night. For a moment, it left me totally paralyzed.
After driving along some 34th, 33th, 32th, 31th Avenues, I arrived at Crescent Street. My teampartner Julien was smoking a cigarette outside and I was really glad that he was there. Now I knew for sure that I was at the right address. At least that couldn't go wrong anymore. That night I had a really good sleep. When I woke up in the city that never sleeps I heard to my surprise that my luggage arrived.
At least these coming weeks won't be as chaotic as this first night in New York. Nothing is comparable to a first day abroad in a new city. It feels like jumping into the deep water and making your way to the surface again. But I made it. These coming months I'm going to discover the city and make a lot of work at Saatchi. New York, I want to be a part of it and I'm gonna!
This is what I thought when I walked up the stairs at Pennsylvania station, New York. Everything what could go wrong went wrong at the airport. I had to wait 2,5 hours longer because there was something wrong with my visa. Because of that my luggage wasn't there anymore and I had to give my address so they could send it to my house as soon as they've found it. It was 21.00 U.S. time, but for me it was 3.00 in the night. I was totally exhausted after all the chaos, but when I saw the huge entertainment centre in Madison Avenue (which I only knew from television), I was totally impressed and I forgot all the non-stop panic that I was in for the last few hours.
I thought that going to New York would be like living for the first time abroad all over again. Like when I went to Hamburg for the first time. I was totally right. Except this time my parents weren't there to support me if anything went wrong. I was on my own... And I couldn't call Julien at the house, because I didn't seem to have any reach in the U.S. So I took my hand luggage (the only luggage I had still left) in a cab and asked him to drive me to the street where my new house hopefully would be.
It was already dark and I opened the car window. I didn't mind the wind blowing in my eyes, because I wanted to take a better look at the giant buildings and the lights that were passing me. Whatever street the car went in, everything looked the same in every direction. Still I couldn't help thinking about my luggage. What if something happened to it? All my clothes were in there! Then the car went over Queensborough Bridge. The millions of lights that drew the skyline of New York seemed like a solar system on earth. It was so breathtaking that it made me forget about all the problems I had that night. For a moment, it left me totally paralyzed.
After driving along some 34th, 33th, 32th, 31th Avenues, I arrived at Crescent Street. My teampartner Julien was smoking a cigarette outside and I was really glad that he was there. Now I knew for sure that I was at the right address. At least that couldn't go wrong anymore. That night I had a really good sleep. When I woke up in the city that never sleeps I heard to my surprise that my luggage arrived.
At least these coming weeks won't be as chaotic as this first night in New York. Nothing is comparable to a first day abroad in a new city. It feels like jumping into the deep water and making your way to the surface again. But I made it. These coming months I'm going to discover the city and make a lot of work at Saatchi. New York, I want to be a part of it and I'm gonna!
posted by Robin Stam at 12:36 am
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