Day 2; Central Rock

Even the weather in New York City knows I'm here. It's cloudy and sometimes rainy giving me the time to adjust to the hotter circumstances that are coming in days to come. Today I took it upon myself to go exploring the Central Park...there are numerous things you could be doing on the way...

Driving...like any true New Yorker I bough a Metro card and been using it every single day. True, it does take a little getting used to to the heat beneath, but man does it get you fast to where you want  to go.

Walking...there is an infrastructure of walking, carriage riding, cycling roads in the Park. Everything works perfectly. Well, there is an occasional squabble between dogs trying to mark their territory but it's all part of the great circle of the Park. Meanwhile I really like the signs...

Sitting...The Rock. What a place to chill, eat your sushi and watch the kids play America's favourite pass time; Baseball. I could just stay here and chill for hours...

  

Sleeping...as I was saying...I could spend hours on The Rock while some people prefer the soft, freshly cut grass under the tree. Smart people too, bringing their umbrella while I forgot mine back in Slovenia...

And just when you think you've seen everything you see birds nesting in a traffic light...

Day 1; from Green to Grand

Though the plane ride was quite long (9,5 hours altogether) the turbulence kept away...big load off my mind. Getting from my terminal to the taxi stands reminded me just how it is being in America.

One after one limo's passed, taxi's that look like they just came out of a movie, pick-ups and of course; FedEx trucks.

Also the noise. I laughed every time an angry taxi driver honked because (in his opinion) the taxi in front of him was not moving fast enough. I missed America.

I decided to take a bus from JFK to Manhattan. Which was not the best thing I did lately...decision-wise; the bus had no AC. Me and my fellow travelers resorted to the only way we could make ourselves cooler; blowing air into our faces with A4 paper sheets. It worked...kind of.

Reaching Manhattan I got off at the Grand Central. The view was spectacular. There above me, Met Life, reaching for the sky.

I grabbed a cab (Toyota Hybrid :-)) which took me directly to my Riverside Drive hotel where it was inexplicably brilliant to see Riverside Park where the last sequence of You've Got Mail was shot. Always wanted to see this park. And now I can.

day 29: leaving NY

i must say it's been educational. mostly i'll remember the "i feel like a real newyorker" feeling going thru my mind every time i sat on the bus or took a ride on the subway. and what's my "the best of list"? best movie: dark knight. best evening: seeing "mamma mia" with my friend james. best club: plan b. best meal: dim sum at ruby foo's. best buy: ray-ban glasses at sunglass hut. best drink: strawberry daiquiri at chelsea dinner. best event: sheryl crow concert at rockefeller plaza. happiest moment: having my final project screening at the theatre of the new york film academy.

day 26: Sheryl Crow VIDEO

and there you go...a little bit of practice just to get you started...read about it in my previous post. excuse the resolution and bear with me.

day 26: Sheryl Crow

6:30am. i'm standing at the rockefeller plaza in the vip box waiting for sheryl crow to come up on the stage. i bet you're wondering how i got here? well, it just so happens that since i'm a student at the NYFA doing broadcast journalism in affiliation with NBC, they got me and my classmates in!! is that beautiful or what?? i know the hour is a little early but what the hell. sheryl just gave an interview for NBC television saying that she had to get up at 2:30am or something to get ready so i'll stop my whining now. there. i stopped. happy now? ok.

7:30 now. the practice songs. i just love that sheryl is wearing her ray-ban glasses while performnig. gotta take a few pictures. i got a pair too. i think they are just the most beautiful pair of glasses one can afford to own. and that's a cold straight fact. actually i got two pair of those just in case i sit on one or something. you never know. it's better to have a backup. where was i? oh, yes. 8:30. now the concert! the crowd is pretty big now, the sun has come out completely, so the light is simply beautiful. now she sings again. that's amazing. i've never been to her concert before so this is a really nice treat for all of us. thanks NBC!

and for all of you that haven't seen this conceret that was actually broadcasted live on NBC's today show a picture of sheryl crow while performing "soak up the sun".

day 21: the interview

why so nervous? i'm supposed to do my first real interview with a real subject and don't really know where to start. the thing is that i think it's a rather nerve-wracking job this interview thing. i mean, first you need to find a credible subject that is not really your classmate or your roommate...boy that would be easy. no, you can't do that. so back to basics! who to interview?
and the second thing is that i really do not like to harass people with questions like: what's your name, are you married, where do you live, what's your background, so do you have a job, how much money do you make, are you feeling at all depressed and alone...well maybe not that last one but anyway i guess you get my point. so that's why i think i'll meet my teachers somewhere in the middle, i'll get someone from the movie business and talk about the business itself rather than personal stuff and doing a biopic. i guess that should do it. because i'm passionate about movies and i've always been.
i really don't see myself doing a story about politics and asking people about how they voted because i could end up beaten up in the gutter somewhere and the next day my classmates would be wondering if i finally met someone famous and fled to LA or something. which wouldn't be too bad at all.

day 17: VOSOT

i must say i feel pretty good being in the field with my team working on my VOSOT field report. now imagine...being in manhattan, the big apple, and doing a field report on the new release of the hottest film this summer. i'll let you decide which movie it is... the funny thing that happened was that at the same time there were other crews of TV networks doing the same report i was doing.

they were looking at me and my crew a little suspiciously, as though they were wondering what we were doing in that same exact place. but we just went on with our work, interviewed a couple of people, i did my b-roll stuff (getting the coverage of the event itself) so i could edit it allright later. i guess it seems really pro doesn't it? yes, i'm really enjoying this course at NYFA. i think i might do another one... (VOSOT = voice over sound on tape :-))

day 14: NBC

here we are at rockefeller plaza at NBC studios. there are more television sets, monitors and lights here that in all of my country. not kidding at all. of course instead of listening to the lectures that we were having this morning at one of the NBC news conference rooms which were very interesting, most of us (me and my classmates) were actually wondering how to get a job here. this would definitely be a great place to work it. and a great company to work for. well, our hopes and dreames kind of vanished into the thin air when one of the NBC producers said that they aren't hiring right now.

it's a shame. still my friends who have come to NYFA to do the 8 week course in digital journalism still have a tiny jar of hope since they will be approached by the human resources department of NBC News after they graduate. the 4 week class however will need to start looking for other options of getting a little surge in the monthly cash flow. me included. but hey, it ain't over till it's over. right?

day 3: NYFA

not counting jet lag, i'm doing fine. the big apple is still as big as i remember. though being in the middle manhattan (west 23rd street and 9th avenue) it cuts you away from the skyscrapers of this "island". still i'm glad to see that every morning my path to school and back will be decorated by a magnificant view of the empire state building rising above broadway avenue. beautiful.

the new compound of NYFA (the new york film academy) at soho (prince st. and broadway) is beginning to be like my second home. my first class already seems like i've been here for a few weeks already. broadcast journalism...i wonder how it will turn out.

the worries that i won't be accepted and how i'm gonna fit in are totally redundant. the second i walk into the classroom helen, the international student from england, greets me and we start chatting. she tells me everything that happened the day i was missing (i reckon i don't need to go into the details again...). i slowly get the picture of what the classes will be like.

other students arrive. the teacher arrives and at 9:30am the class begins. very intensivly we get into the hands-on audio sphere with dexter. lunch. then hands-on camera with a great cinematographer/director till. i mean, it's my first day and already we are operating equipment worth thousands of dollars (panasonic hvx 200)! amazing! this is what i came here for. let the filming begin!

day 1: stranded at the terminal

finally on my way to NY. i'm sure you also had escapades where every possible thing went wrong. mine however pushed me to the limit. so, i have all my suitcases packed. got my plain ticket, 1.500$ in cash, F1 student visa, ready to collect the frequent flying points when... well the first part of my trip was just fine. i flew from ljubljana to frankfurt. got off the plane and then it started. i realized i had only 40 minutes to switch to another plane that would take me to JFK.

easier said than done. by the time i finally got to the transfer unit, they told me i was too late to check in and that i need to run to the gate in case they still let me on the plain. i ran like crazy, got on the train that took me to another part of the airport only to arrive to the point where they did not let me beyond that point: "sorry. the boarding is finished." that was it right there. i've had my first nervous brakedown of the trip.

the lufthansa staff then tried to get me on the next plain to NY, which was of course fully booked. nervous brakedown number 2. i didn't have any other choice but to go to the ticket counter and buy another ticket for the flight to NY the next day (which of course ment that i would miss an entire day of my classes at the NYFA). to my surprise the airline did not offer me any compensation and i ended up paying for the hotel and everything else plus another 100€ because they needed to change my ticket. in terms of timing this has been going on all day by the end of which i was totally exhausted and just wanted to sleep.

i arrived to my room and tried to sleep so i turned on the tv set which has always helped me relax. my luck being as it was, i chose the news channel where i heard that the lufthansa airline is supposed to have a general strike the next day. nervous brakedown number 3. am i ever gonny get out of this place??? i rushed back to the airport and got checked in for the next day and asked around if anyone knew anything about the strike. of course they all denied that the strike was gonna happen. which made me even more nervous.

i got back to my room and had a couple of "painkillers" from the minibar. finally i went to sleep. the next morning i woke up, turned on the tv and heard: "lufthansa airline is on a general strike today...". nervous brakedown number 4. i rushed out of the room, payed the bill, rushed to the ariport to the first lufthanca service centre and told them my story for the 15th time. they assured me that the plain is gonna take off because the strike applied only for the internal flights and that my baggage was still at the airport. well, i thought, finally some good news.

i grabbed a little bite to eat, a bottle of water and slowly made my way to the gate since i had a couple of hours to spare. i looked around a bit, checked out the shops, didn't buy anything, but anyway. i got to the gate with less than an hour remaining before taking off. i sat down and i was just about to relax when speaker announced: "dear passengers since this flight is overbooked we are kindly asking for volunteers that would take the evening flight to NY. not all of you will be able to get on this flight..." nervous brakedown number 5. i couldn't believe it. "is this nightmare going to end at all ??!

this was beginning to seem like a very sick joke. i mean, who are we? bags of potato that anyone can just push around or paying customers??? i decided that i've had just about enough of this s.... i got up, got to the gate entrance door and decided that i'm not gonna let anyone else stop me from finally getting on this flight. the whole the terminal movie with tom hanks was playing in my head, how he was stuck at a terminal and couldn't go anywhere.

and then it finally happened. they opened the gate door and almost like wild animals everyone that was waiting rushed thru the door to the plain. i finally made it. not something i would wanna do all over again. hence the picture of me in my window seat.