A November to Remember (Parts of it at least!)

As I sit here on the plane heading to my Thanksgiving destination, Knox-vegas (Knoxville for those who don’t know about Knox-vegas), I realized that I haven’t updated you all on my happenings in New York.
It’s been well over a month since my last entry and for that I apologize. Lets just say that the middle of a semester of graduate school is when all the “fun” happens. In a span of four weeks, I had four major papers due and a research project that is still looming. Couple the papers with all of the assigned reading and a 6-hour a internship and one finds little time to sleep, eat, and pray (I did find time for all those though).
So here’s a brief synthesis of my last month in New York (synthesis, a research term that I have grown to love and hate at the same time!!).
Halloween in the City.
Halloween is indeed a spectacle in the Big Apple. It’s celebrated almost the entire day. People are seen dressed up in costumes riding the subway in the morning. All the orange and black you can dream of comes out of the woodwork.
Starting in the late afternoon though is when the ghosts and goblins started appearing. People dressed up making their way down to the Village for the Halloween Parade. This parade puts the Franklin Street Halloween spectacle in Chapel Hill to shame. Hundreds of thousands of people gather in the streets as early as 5pm to check out each other’s costumes and ready themselves for a walk down the street parading their unique and at times outlandish costumes. I didn’t get the opportunity to witness it myself, but the pictures on the news that evening told it all. I was kind of glad I wasn’t there.
You might be asking yourself, “Joey, what do the kiddos do for trick or treating since there are no houses in the city, only store fronts?” Well funny you should ask. I ended walking down Broadway in the Upper West Side and noticed a bunch of kids dressed up going in and out of the stores with their trick or treat bags. I had to investigate this type of loitering for myself and so I walked into a Circuit City and sure enough, the stores give out candy to the trick or treaters!! That’s what I call using your surroundings for a little sugar. The stores seemed much obliged to hand out candy as if it were their civic duty to do so. So if you’re in town on a Halloween, make your way down to the Village and catch the Parade, or better yet, stroll along Broadway and gaze at the kids trick or treating in the stores.
ING New York Marathon
A true inspiration. 38,000 runners embark on a 26.2 mile run through the five-boroughs of New York the first weekend in November. The race started at 9:15 with the wheelchair division, followed by the elite runners who wins over $100K and a new Toyota Prius, and then the standard Joes begin their trek. Luckily for me and my friends, church ended just as the wheel chair division began their final sprint to the finish in Central Park. I was able to witness the extraordinary event walking along the course encouraging the runners as they ran by. I saw Lance Armstrong with his LiveStrong Posse surrounding him running which pretty neat, but the coolest thing was being able to find my friend Claire Whitehill in a mob thousands running and encouraging her as she was entering mile 24. The sea of runners was amazing. It seemed like it was never ending. One after the another would run by us with shear determination to finish this grueling race on the face. When people would start walking, we would scream and yell encouraging them not to give up. Those runners were amazing. My hat goes off to anyone who has run a marathon. It is a definite testament of mind over body. After watching the race, I told myself that one day I’d like to give this marathon thing a try. That’s if my knees are wiling to let me run that long. Maybe I’ll try a half-marathon first. 13.1 miles seems a lot more feasible than 26.2!
Phantom of the Opera
Amidst my crazy time studying and writing papers, I managed to squeeze out some time to take a break and see the longest running Broadway musical, Phanton of the Opera. It was a fantastic show. The music was incredible and the voices on the actors one dreams of having.
Two days after seeing the show, the stagehands strike began. I was lucky in that I had the opportunity to watch a show before Thanksgiving as this was my goal. I missed an opportunity to see a play on Broadway this past Monday due to the strike. I only hope that the strike will end soon as there are some cool holiday shows I’d like to see before I head home for Christmas. I have been able to see other show since I’ve been here, most notably Wicked. If you have the chance, see Wicked. It’s well worth the ticket price. The benefits of being a student are great in that I didn’t have to pay the hefty price tag! Student discounts are great!
Happy Thanksgiving
As I get ready to embark on a couple of days of being with family and eating a lot of turkey, I can’t help but to look back on the year and reflect on the things that I am thankful for. There are many to be sure, but the most important thing that I have been thankful for is the blessing having friends and family care so much for me. This has been a year of great ups and downs, yet it has been one of the years in my life that I am most thankful for. The Lord has taught me many things over the course of 2007 and one of those realizing that being thankful isn’t a once a year thing we do on the fourth Thursday of every November. It’s a great time to reflect on the things you’re thankful for, but we should be thankful every day we live on this earth for the blessings we receive which we see and don’t see. I’ve learned to thank the Lord for everything he’s put in my life as it’s because of Him that I am a stronger person.
Thank you for everything you have given me. I only hope that it will be returned to you ten-fold. May the Lord bless you and your families this Thanksgiving!!