As the
temperature drops in NYC, we look back nostalgically at a summer of exploring not only Manhattan but
also Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx…and learning English along the way.
Escaping the Heat in the NY Jungle
The various
parks in NYC, including Central Park, were the star attractions for many of our
younger students. We went fishing in its
waters, searched for native birds and creepy crawlies in the shady nature reserves, floated across a lake in row boats and cooled off in the water playgrounds.
Our older students escaped the heat along the harbor and on rooftops and beaches. We discussed water purification using oysters,
sustainable agriculture in and around NYC and American ingenuity and
entrepreneurial spirit as we explored a NYC undergoing a green revolution.
NYC Treats
There was always
something to taste in the neighborhoods.
At a farmers’ market on the Upper West Side, we discovered that honey
was being made on the rooftops across NYC.
How cool is it to get honey from as diverse places as the West Village,
mid-town Manhattan and Prospect Heights!
On the Lower
East Side, we tried bagels with cream cheese (Can you believe that some of the students had
never ever tasted this?!), cherry soda, and Pop Rocks. Our Chinatown visit
included soup dumplings from Shanghai, our Brooklyn excursion salted chocolate
and our Harlem walk fried chicken and corn bread. And then there was the cactus and Dominican
chicken and rice in Queens!
Of course, in
every neighborhood, there was pizza. Enormous and served in slices, we had them
in Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Manhattan.
The jury is still out on which is a Hi-New-York favorite!
Fridays were
days to say good-bye to new friends and to trade email addresses with promises
to keep in touch. Always a part of the
parting were the Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies and Oreos. It was amazing to see how popular Oreos had become
around the world. Apparently, it is sold
in Brazil, Spain, Germany, France, Italy…everyone seems to know and love them!
Encountering the Familiar
and the Unfamiliar
There
is much in NYC that is familiar to those who live outside of the US, thanks to the
numerous movies which have been filmed here. One young student, upon emerging from the
subway in Times Square, exclaimed: “This
is just like the movies!”. She then saw
herself on the big screen above and squealed with pleasure.
There
are a few things in NYC, however, that are unfamiliar to foreigners. A walk through Wholefoods required a stop by
the cut fruit section with a discussion on why people would choose to buy what
is obviously more expensive than whole fruit.
The next stop was at the breakfast section where a student admired the various pancake mixes. He was French and
couldn’t get over the fact that we would buy a pancake mix instead
of throwing together the very few ingredients required to make them. I think he would have been floored if we had
taken him to see the Dunkan Hines cake mixes (in a supermarket other than Wholefoods of
course!).
Tipping
is also something that bewildered the parents accompanying our young students. They didn't know when to tip and how much to tip since this is not an
accepted practice in most of the countries outside of the US. They asked: Why do you need to tip the hairdresser? Aren't you paying them through the price of a haircut? As much as
20%?!
Using
English to Build Bridges
Hopefully,
our students understand better the American
way of life after spending time with us in NYC. Many visitors only scratch the surface of NYC; there is so much more to the city than the Statue of Liberty and
the Empire State Building. To those of
us who call NYC our home, the city is as diverse as the people who live in it,
and it gives us great pleasure to share ourselves and the city’s many facets
with our students. Let's keep in touch!
