Willich in New York!

I arrived in New York yesterday exhausted and tired and yet buzzing with anticipation. New York has been a city I have dreamed of visiting since I was a little boy. I remember seeing Ghostbusters and thinking 'wow that looks great' and distinctly remember the opening scene in the New York Central Library where the ghost haunts the ghostbusters. So as I sit here writing my update IN THE NY CENTRAL LIBRARY I can't help but be overwhelmed by the fact that I am actually here!

Arriving into wet and miserable weather yesterday I found my way onto the subway. Exiting the subway near my intended hotel I had no clue where I was as everything is gridlike in this city. So I asked a passing stranger expecting merely a few words and a grunt as is commonplace in London and most cities. Instead I found my very first New Yorker I had ever spoken to to be welcoming, friendly and very kind. She walked me to my hostel only to find it overbooked. The next few hostels on my list were also booked out as we walked around the neighbourhood searching for anyplace I could place my bags and hopefully sleep! Eventually with her help through many phonecalls I found a hole, sorry hostel, in a street nearby which you would have easily missed had you not known it was there beforehand. Sleeping on a mattress on the floor my palace of comfort is putting me back a cool $33 and thats considered cheap here! However, it does include breakfast (toast) and complementary tea which I am sure you would know I abuse a hell of a lot!

Margaret, my new American friend who had adopted me, invited me to come along with her to eat some Japanese food with her husband. Both Margaret and her husband Mark are extremely friendly and easy going and I have to say they are two of the most worldly people I have ever met. We spoke for hours over great Japanese food about different cultures, travels, New York and of course my favourite topic - music! It turns out Mark is a huge rock fan and knows way more than anyone else I can think of about the British music scene. They have travelled all over the world and lived in the Pacific for over a year and a half. In all my years of travelling I have never met Americans quite like them and wish that more Americans followed in their example of how to live life.

New Yorkers have a reputation for being rude and not very helpful but I have found exactly the opposite since I arrived. Every New Yorker I have spoken to has been very helpful and wished me a good visit to the city. Everyone appears to be very proud of their city and rightly so as it has a real passion and soul to it.