The
most interesting part of class today was instructing each person to walk through the door and enter the classroom with
curiosity and open mindedness, and then watching each student
walking through the door with their own style. Some of them opened their eyes very wide, often looking every which way, side to side, up, a few of them down,
but more often up, and sometimes even feigning surprise and awe. Others more directly stroked their chins and furrowed their brows in careful
discernment of the potential clues around them, whereas a handful merely walked through
as quickly as possible to find their familiar seat where they could go back to
being quiet. We were reading an article that advocated traveling more, but also pointed out that every day is travel, that is, if you walk through the "front door" with "curiosity and an open mind." When I couldn't find any volunteers to make a face laced with curiosity, I ordered all of them out of the room, and told them to walk back in with "curious, open-minded looks."
Soon I was giving some speech about being in New York and being able to find interesting things even when you don't know what you're looking for, simply because you're out there and doing something, anything, that is, in between the necessary routines.
In keeping with this theme, I chaperoned a field trip to the neue galerie on the Upper East Side. They're supposedly free from 6-8 the first Friday of every month. Unfortunately the line was around the block. There were only a few students, so after 30 minutes they decided to go to the nearby apartment of one of them. I was invited, and surprised to be served Turkish tea by my hosts. I rarely find people with whom to share the second most popular beverage in the world (after water), so I was amazed to learn that they'll drink tea anytime, even a Friday night. Of course they had the requisite alcohol as well, which sparked a conversation about "lion's milk," a Turkish liqueur gifted to me by another Turkish student for the holidays. I'd shared this with my friends on New Year's, and really enjoyed it. I sometimes love alcohol (beer, wine, tequila, straight shots of anything when the time is right), I just think it's better for the body to make a habit of tea and to save alcohol as a special rarity. However, that's just what works for me. Imbibe anything that helps you vibrate with the symphony.
Anyway, one year ago I signed the lease on this place. It took all day (I wrote about it in January 2014), but I got the keys before the evening arrival of winter storm Hercules.
1 year ago tomorrow I moved into this place, right after Hercules had covered the ground with snow, which made the journey a little more interesting. I'm currently very happy to not be on my third round on the 1 train, with three backpacks and a full suitcase, as I was on this date last year.
I could go on and on about everything that happened in the past year, but I pretty much talked about all of that as it happened. However, I will say this, which is the most important truth of all: after my 1st year living on the island of Manhattan as a resident of New York City, the heart is still beating while the eyes are often open wide. Are yours? If not, perhaps it's all in how you open the door...
Soon I was giving some speech about being in New York and being able to find interesting things even when you don't know what you're looking for, simply because you're out there and doing something, anything, that is, in between the necessary routines.
In keeping with this theme, I chaperoned a field trip to the neue galerie on the Upper East Side. They're supposedly free from 6-8 the first Friday of every month. Unfortunately the line was around the block. There were only a few students, so after 30 minutes they decided to go to the nearby apartment of one of them. I was invited, and surprised to be served Turkish tea by my hosts. I rarely find people with whom to share the second most popular beverage in the world (after water), so I was amazed to learn that they'll drink tea anytime, even a Friday night. Of course they had the requisite alcohol as well, which sparked a conversation about "lion's milk," a Turkish liqueur gifted to me by another Turkish student for the holidays. I'd shared this with my friends on New Year's, and really enjoyed it. I sometimes love alcohol (beer, wine, tequila, straight shots of anything when the time is right), I just think it's better for the body to make a habit of tea and to save alcohol as a special rarity. However, that's just what works for me. Imbibe anything that helps you vibrate with the symphony.
Anyway, one year ago I signed the lease on this place. It took all day (I wrote about it in January 2014), but I got the keys before the evening arrival of winter storm Hercules.
1 year ago tomorrow I moved into this place, right after Hercules had covered the ground with snow, which made the journey a little more interesting. I'm currently very happy to not be on my third round on the 1 train, with three backpacks and a full suitcase, as I was on this date last year.
I could go on and on about everything that happened in the past year, but I pretty much talked about all of that as it happened. However, I will say this, which is the most important truth of all: after my 1st year living on the island of Manhattan as a resident of New York City, the heart is still beating while the eyes are often open wide. Are yours? If not, perhaps it's all in how you open the door...
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