New York - Day 1

Today Weston and I went to New York. We are part of the National Model United Nations this year, representing the Czech Republic with WSU. There are thirteen people in our contingent, and we'll be staying until next Saturday.

We woke up this morning at 3AM for the drive up to Spokane. We'd spent most of yesterday packing and planning for the trip, so we were able to just get up and go. We picked up Erik Dahl and piled all of ourselves and our belongings into Weston's car. The drive up wasn't too eventful; we missed the exit for the airport but that was pretty much it.

After parking Weston's car in one of the airport lots, we took a shuttle to the terminal. The driver was pretty nice, but he let us off in a really funny place. We were flying Frontier Airlines, so he dropped us off in front of their ticket counter. The thing is, there aren't any doors there to walk through. So by trying to help us out and get us as close to our destination as possible, he made us walk more.

We waited for everyone to show up to the airport because we were the first ones there. The WSU and UI delegations eventually all showed up, even though Kristin Simmler (our head delegate) was late because she misplaced her ID. While we were waiting, Samuel L. Jackson walked into the airport, went to the ticket counter, and got checked out through security. Someone said he's been doing a movie in Spokane for the past few weeks. It isn't often you get a little brush with fame in the Spokane Airport.

The flight to Denver wasn't too eventful. Weston traded seats with someone so we could sit together. Bill Smith (our advisor) and his wife sat behind us. There was a short layover in Denver before we caught a flight to Laguardia.

After arriving in New York, we were picked up by two shuttle buses. The drivers in New York are fearless. The go flying down narrow roads and pay no attention to staying in their own lanes. Our driver gave us a sort of tour of Queens. There were fenced-basketball courts just like you'd expect, and there are also a significant number of very large, very old cemeteries. We took a toll road and a tunnel that went under the East River, I think, and before you knew it we were in Times Square. We checked into our room at the Marriott Grand Marquis on Times Square, which has a great view of the big video screens and neon signs.

For dinner we met up with the rest of the WSU delegation and went out to a Thai restaurant. To get there, we walked down Times Square and ended up crossing through Grand Central Terminal. It's an impressive building which reminded me a lot of Union Station in Washington, D.C. The food at the restaurant was very good, especially considering that it was free. The Honors College paid for the whole thing: appetizers, main courses and desserts. (Honors, we're that cool.) The Thai tea, fried bananas, and green tea ice cream were all good.

After dinner Weston and I took a little walk around the city to see what we could see. First we tried going into the Chrysler building, which is probably the coolest looking skyscraper in New York. It isn't open for tours, though. Then we wandered over to the Empire State Building. We decided to pay the $16 to go to the top during the daytime so we could take pictures. On the way back to hotel we crossed 34th Street (of movie fame) and Macy's. When we got back to the room, we spent some time planning our adventure for tomorrow.