Unfamiliar Places and Faces

Unfamiliar Places and Faces

Getting prepared and ready to explore something new is just minor compared to the actual adventure for a senior anticipating the departure of their school trip. I was a member along with 30 other classmates of the co-curricular group called Business Professionals of America, a club organized through our school. Our teachers, club officers, and all of the members had been planning and fundraising for our trip to New York City for months. The excitement grew more and more as each day got closer to take off. All of us were anixious to see The Empire State Building, "Ground Zero," a Broadway play, and the spectacular views of gorgeous ocean sunsets. We had all been told and were aware of the different surroundings of the environment, or culture we would be experiencing when we arrived. Different cultures are common throughout the world, even in different places around the United States. Going on a trip to explore New York City really made the differences in cultures aware to me.

As our plane landed at LaGuardia airport in New York City and we walked out into the terminal through the long dark and narrow jet way, the first glances made all of us aware we were not at home. I was on a school trip along with 29 other classmates and six chaperones, 36 people who were used to the calmness of the peaceful town in St. Michael, MN. The facility was outrageously filthy with trash barrels completely overflowing and the floor looked as if it had not been mopped for weeks. The endless amount of loud people scattered everywhere throughout the airport made it difficult to walk without running into the person in front or beside you.

In hopes to get to the hotel quickly, we left the airport scared to death and hopped onto a huge bus filled with more people whom none of us were used to. This bus ride was not your normal elementary school bus ride, the driving time to the hotel was roughly 45 minutes in length and the people and the things they did were much different. Personally, I was seated next to a tall and fairly hefty African American man who was wearing a Subway uniform on his way to his job who asked me, “Soo.. What do you have planned for the night?” My friend Maria found an empty seat next near the back and was seated next to a younger man. As the bus continued on he eventually had the nerve to say, "Hey, I have some really good pot and I can hook you up if you want." All of us immediately learned that for the next five days we wouldn't be in the comfort of the surroundings, or culture we were used to back at home.

Once we got to the hotel to unload the things we had packed for the trip, we had a few hours to go out and explore the sights on our own. As my friends and I hurried along the busy sidewalks we were so amazed at everything surrounding us. The buildings and high rises filled the sky to a point where the tops couldn’t be seen from the ground level. From a distance the high rises gleamed from the light reflecting from the gorgeous sunset making it impossible view the beauty in awe. The billboards and news programs that filled the sides of huge towers were unreal. They were huge pictures of underwear or name-brand models and television screens broadcasting the nightly news or popular television programs, the size of a three story house just on average. The sight of huge pictures of barely dressed men and women made