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Institution
University of Hamburg
Host
Institution
Department of Surgery, Columbia University, New York City
Research Mentors: Michal Bereta, Howard Kaufman
E-Mail: jjh.park@web.de
see Abstract
NYC? - rough'n tough! The outward appearance of the city contributes much to it. Among the cities I have visited or lived in, NYC counts as one of the dirtiest. Garbage bags are piled up at street-side, waiting to get picked up. The greatest number of rats I have seen together at once must have been around six or so.
NYC? - rough'n tough! How hard people without money are hit in a society with high living standards! NYC shows it in a most unveiled way, compared with other cities in western countries. If I gave a dollar to everyone who begged me for money, my purse would be seriously injured. This is a city where you pay a minimum of $250 monthly for your own parking spot in downtown Manhattan. On the subway, next to normal, decent and beautiful looking people, you will find people who would be admitted to the hospital because of severe mental disorders in Germany, people on drugs, and homeless people sleeping and emitting strong odors. This is the daily scene, while everyone on the train is wrapped up in his own thoughts.
NYC? - rough'n tough! People here are not restrained to say or do immediately whatever they think and feel - and do it loudly. On the other hand, it is easy to get in contact with people, since they are very outgoing.
NYC? - rough'n tough! Every ethnic group seems to demand their right to come to this city to make money. This city seems (but just seems) to be the center of the world. Maybe this is one of the differences compared with other 'international' cities like Berlin or Paris. Everything is dense in NYC - you can walk one or two blocks farther and you are really somewhere else.
Bureaucracy! It is February and I have not received my Social Security number yet! At least things work in good old Deutschland! Here in NYC, you can apply or send a request, but there is no guarantee for anything. As it is written many times, finding a suitable place to stay is not easy. There are definitely cheap ($400/month) offers to find. But you don't want to live with someone who sleeps in the kitchen with three dogs, and especially not when there is no way, other than getting through this kitchen, to reach your room. After one and a half months in Harlem, where I had to pay for a damaged floor, ruined by a couple of ink spots, which could have easily been wiped off with detergent, and where I was given a chance to listen to the sound of three gun shots, I moved to Queens for a month, and finally settled in Brooklyn, in a very neat neighborhood.
I don't know whether one should laugh because it is funny or sad to hear, "It's the law," or "We have to follow the rules."
I hope I did not scare anyone away from NYC. I thought I would write something different than how cool or 'great' NYC is. Maybe I am disillusioned a bit by this city, compared with its image, as it is created by the media abroad. In fact, NYC is much hipper, more energetic, more diverse and more of a 'trendsetter' than people would think. You don't recognize this at the first sight, and especially not as a tourist. But after you sink into its life … So if you ask me about NYC: NYC? - I love NYC! Seriously, I think the most helpful hint for students trying to come to NYC would be to contact people who have been in NYC. You will be working a lot. But this won't be different anywhere else.
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