1 minute read
Quintessential Cultural Wallops
Helena Sihui Hu '26
“Dear passengers, you have now arrived at New York, we wish you a pleasant journey.”
When I first stepped off the plane, I knew it was something new, something different.
My airpods were filled with the words: “Welcome to New York~ it’s been waiting for you~ welcome to New York~ welcome to New York~”.
As I gradually went down the escalator, the place that I had pictured multiple times suddenly became clear to me. Just like what my friends have always told me, the boisterous crowds, high skyscrapers – the center of everything. They say that it is the financial hub of the world, a cosmopolitan city, home to NASDAQ, Wall Street and New York Stock Exchange. They say that New York is the city that never sleeps.
At this split moment, scatters of puzzles seem to form a complete image. The depiction of reality contrasts with what I always had in mind. The mix of the smell of perfume scents, odors from boiling oil from the nearby Mcdonald's, and that smell of coffee that everyone seems to have. It was a different culture, a different taste, a different lifestyle, a different world.
“Passengers of DL5652, your flight time has now been delayed to departure at 7:20 p.m.” The sound from the speaker pulled me back to reality.
Now at this corner in the arrival lounge, there was minute graffiti on nearby walls, congenial contraptions nearby the shelf, and devilled Sushi on mahogany tables with unsavory smells.
Indistinct conversations along with slight clicking on keyboards and MacBooks, tapping sounds with sketches on iPads, soothing jazz music along with the crispy crust sounds from focaccias in plastic wrappings. Tapping sounds of stilettos, drip drops from the geysers, and the busy ambiance all throughout.
Everyone seems to be engaged in their little own world of thoughts.
I sat down on a bench near a neglected plant, invigorating myself with a new round of gaming. Waiting for the car that is going to take me to a school down at Mt. Everett, tantamount to the middle of nowhere.
