Beccy on Tour - My Semester Abroad in Raleigh, NC, USA

Rebecca Schaden 0:09
Hello, guys, and welcome to my podcast Beccy On Tour about my semester abroad in Raleigh, North Carolina in the United States. My name is Beccy, and I'm your reliable source into the exciting world of American college life. So if that sounds like something you'd be interested in, stay tuned.

Hello, hello, guys, and thanks for tuning in once again. As you can probably hear, my voice is a little sore. So, apologies for that. But I hope you had a great Thanksgiving break last week and got to spend some quality time with your family and loved ones. As some of you might have seen on my Instagram stories, I flew down to Miami to meet up with my parents for Thanksgiving. I haven't seen them in over three months and while that hasn't been the longest I've gone without seeing them, I did miss them a lot. That's also partly why there hasn't been a Beccy On Tour episode last week. And I figured you'd have your plates full with turkey, mashed potatoes and green beans. Yeah, I do love word games! I am curious though. What do you guys usually do for Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving dinner to be more precise? And this question is primarily aimed at my US American audience because I know most Europeans don't celebrate Thanksgiving. I will do a poll on Instagram and I'm looking forward to your responses.

But for now, let's get into the 15th episode. Gosh, I cannot believe it's already the 15th episode and that my semester abroad here at State is soon coming to an end, unfortunately, but this is not the time to get nostalgic. This is the time to tell you about my trip to New York. After all, this is what you've been waiting for. And for those of you who were expecting me to talk about Florida in this episode, don't worry. We will get to that next week.

I was contemplating changing the intro for this episode to Frank Sinatra's New York, New York song, but I figured that would mess with the structure of this podcast. And we all know how much I value structure. But feel free to play it while listening to this episode. I think it will be quite fitting.

And now that we're all comfortable, let's talk facts. If you listened to my last podcast episode about my trip to D.C., you know about my nightmarish experience with the hostel. And I'm happy to tell you guys that this time it wasn't like that at all. We lived in an Airbnb in New Jersey, Guttenberg to be more precise, which is a town in the northern part of New Jersey, because let's not kid ourselves living in New York is hella expensive. And while the accommodations in New Jersey are no bargains either, they're definitely more affordable and agreeable in terms of value for money. And it doesn't take you nearly as long as I originally expected to get from New Jersey to New York, just about 30 minutes by bus. There was actually a bus in walking distance from our Airbnb that took us directly to Port Authority Bus Terminal Station, which in turn was in walking distance to Time Square. As always, I will provide you with the links to all the locations I'm mentioning, in the episode description so that if you're planning on visiting New York, you can go back and look at it.

This time, we decided to go by plane because the bus ticket would have been similar in price but taken five times as long. So it did make sense. We arrived at around 9:30 am and headed straight to the Met, Metropolitan Museum of Art. And trust me guys, if you like arts and culture, you should definitely check it out when you visit New York. And that's not just because it's one of the most famous arts museums in the United States, if not the most famous. If you're wondering what kind of exhibitions and galleries they have on display, the better question is what they don't have. Impressionists like Manet and Degas, contemporary politically-inspired art, Egyptian and Roman statues and even Korean art. Everybody will find something they like. Personally, I was especially impressed with the Egyptian art exhibition. I remember they had a massive Sphinx, an ancient Egyptian temple, a large pond in the middle of the room, and various other Egyptian statues.

Since I was a little kid, I've loved Egyptian history. And to this day, I think their culture and religious beliefs are utterly fascinating. Cairo and the pyramids have been on my travel bucket list for ages and even though I wasn't actually there, the exhibition surprisingly came pretty close. Of course, it's not the real deal, but it provides you with a decent overview of Egyptian art and culture. I was a little surprised to find they had some of Picasso's cubist art pieces on display. I'm a big fan of Picasso's. He was without a doubt an amazing artist but according to those who knew him, he was also a very interesting person. I wrote my high school graduation thesis about him and his artistic endeavors and one of his quotes stuck with me to this day: "Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth" And if you consider his art, especially his Cubist pieces, that seems very fitting. But anyhow, I highly recommend paying the Met a visit while you're in New York. And if you do, feel free to reach out on Instagram, and let me know which exhibition you liked best, I always love exchanging ideas, especially about art.

Did I already mention that I was on this trip with a German friend of mine, Bastian? Well, anyway, that's why we spend the evening at a German comedy show featuring comedian Sebastien Hotz, better known as "El Hotzo". And those of you who are wondering right now: Who the heck is that? I feel you guys, I had never heard of that guy before. But apparently, he's pretty well known in Germany. Makes sense, to be honest, he would likely not be performing in New York if he weren't. And despite my initial doubts, and the fact that I was extremely tired, it was a fun show. I really enjoyed his dry humor and sarcastic jokes and after the show, Bastian struck up a conversation with a German guy who was also at the show, and he offered to take us home. So that was nice as well. Turns out, he has worked on Wall Street before and he's still working in the finance industry. If I hadn't been so freaking tired, I would have probably bombarded him with questions about what it's like to work in the United States. So, I guess it was his lucky day. But we still got some interesting insights into the world of Wall Street bankers. So that was cool.

The next day, we did a boat ride to the Statue of Liberty. And despite the weather being less than optimal, it was fun. Funny enough, the statue isn't as huge as she appears to be on pictures. She's still very impressive, don't get me wrong, but I would have expected her to be bigger in size. And another interesting fact I haven't heard of before: When you think of her, you imagine a female blue-green statue, right? Well, she wasn't always blue green. In fact, when she was constructed, her skin was of a reddish-brown copper color. But air pollution and chemical reactions like oxidation resulted in her turning from copper to brown, and finally to the blue-green that we know her to be today. If you want to know more about the chemical process, I'm afraid I'm not the right person to ask. But there's a museum located across from the statute where the process is explained. So if you're interested in learning more about that, definitely check out the Statue of Liberty museum as well. While we were there, we also met up with a friend of Bastian's from Switzerland, who was in New York for work related reasons. We got together again in the evening when he invited us to join him in his Manhattan penthouse apartment. And trust me, guys, everything you've heard about penthouse apartments in New York is true. The view is amazing, you feel oddly close to the skyscrapers that make up the skyline of New York and you should not be afraid of heights because the only thing separating you from falling to your certain death is a thin layer of glass. Still, I personally could have stayed there forever, just taking in the breathtaking scenery of New York at night. But that wasn't in the cards for me, because we already had plans for the evening.

Bastion had tickets for a techno show of T78, a DJ and producer who was performing in a club in New York. So, we headed there shortly after midnight. I'm not usually a big fan of techno music, to be honest, but it was definitely a cool experience especially because after the show, we ran into a guy who had also been at the show and he took us to see another techno show at a different club. New York truly is the city that never sleeps and we got to experience that ourselves because by the time we got home, it was after 7am and as I had scheduled a photoshoot Saturday at 11am I definitely did not get a lot of sleep and neither did Bastion who joined me for the photoshoot.

I had never really been shooting with another person before. So that was a brand new experience for me. But from what I could see on the camera, the photos turned out pretty amazing. I cannot wait to show them to you guys, so keep an eye out for them on Instagram. It was an indoor photo shoot, so we implemented some ideas I've been meaning to realize for a while but that wasn't the only photo shoot I did. After all, as a model, you can't go to New York and not do a photo shoot on Time Square. So, in addition to the Saturday indoor photo shoot, I did an outdoor one on Sunday. While I had a blast, I feel like I spent more time doing photo shoots and writing articles than I did exploring the city. But I guess that's the American way of life. You're always working even when you're on vacation. Still, I do think that I got a feel of the New York City Life everybody talks about. The city is bustling with life. There's always something going on day and night and even though everybody is far too busy with their own stuff, you never really feel alone. Odd, isn't it? But also strangely calming. At least that's how I feel about it.

But you might have noticed that there's one thing I haven't told you about yet, something you most definitely have to do when you visit New York: Watch a Broadway Show. And of course, we did that too. It was a somewhat different kind of show because the actors had the audience participate in the show, and they served cocktails at the beginning and during the performance. It was called Drunk Shakespeare and it's about five actors who meet up as members of the Drunk Shakespeare Society. While one of them drinks five shots and then tries to perform a Shakespeare play, the other ones try to keep the play on track whenever the intoxicated one falls out of character. I have to say, as I haven't read Shakespeare since High School, it was somewhat difficult to follow the plot, but it was still a lot of fun and a very unique show and I would definitely recommend going to see it if you get around to it. They're still touring through different cities in the United States, including New York City, D.C., Phoenix, Houston, and Chicago. So, if you're thinking about traveling to these cities in the next few weeks, it's a great way to spend a Saturday evening.

That being said, we have arrived at the end of my 15th episode. As always, if you have any questions, recommendations or constructive criticism, feel free to reach out. Also, if you'd like me to elaborate on anything New York City related please feel free to reach out to me as well. I am happy to help you out with accommodation tips, sightseeing tips, event tips, restaurant tips, or anything else you might need. Other than that, have a great rest of your week. Greetings from the other side of the ocean and I will talk to you next week. Bye bye!

Transcribed by https://otter.ai