Salmon

There will be made some minor changes in this blog in the coming days. I will add some direct links to Berkeley College’s website.

People will be able to navigate directly from my blog to two different websites. There will be one link that will make it able to apply for more information about the school and a second one for application information.

I think that this will be a great tool for visitors and it will make it easier for people to take that extra step towards pursuing their dreams.

I have been studying for my two tests today and I feel really good about them. My macroeconomics test is generally about supply and demand.

We will have to know how diagrams work but also how supply and demand are related. There will also be something about scarcity and other macroeconomic questions.

My advertising and promotion test deals with a lot. I have to know everything from the FTC to laws and regulations. It is interesting though and I am learning something new in every class.

My fiancée and I wanted to cook something different today so we had some fresh salmon. It turned out really good and I fried it perfectly. I wish I had some lemon spices or similar though because that would add some extra flavor to it.

I am thinking about if I should start working out again. I am getting a little lazy and I think that it would do me good to get in shape again. I will try to find a local gym this time though because I really don’t want to take the train to Manhattan every time I want to work out.

It is also a little inconvenient to bring a big bag to school with gym cloths each time.

I will study a little bit more today but I won’t study too hard. I think I know about everything I need to know and I want to enjoy the evening. I will probably stay home and play some “Guitar Heroes” with my fiancée.

It is a really fun game and the music is really good. I do not play that much though, but it is fun when there is nothing else to do.

Manhattan Portage and Sushi

I went to buy a Manhattan Portage bag yesterday. It took me a while to find a store that sells the bag but I finally found one in Soho.

I spent about half an hour in the store with my fiancée and I had a hard time in choosing what bag to buy. They had a lot of nice bags there and I took a look at most of them.

I finally picked a gray one that has a great size and looks really good. On my way home, I actually regret that I didn’t buy a smaller one but after using it today I felt a lot better. It is perfect for me and I love the design.

My fiancée and I also went out to buy some sushi in Chinatown yesterday. We were starving on our way home so we ate about thirty pieces together in the subway. We had two different kinds, eight with salmon and 24 with broiled eel.

We really like sushi so we eat it as often as we can. The ones in Chinatown are really good. It’s only $4 for 12 pieces and the taste is not much different from the ones you get at restaurants such as Blue Ribbon etc.

I have two tests on Thursday and I feel good about it. Both of them are multiple choice tests and I have studied for them for about two days. I will study some more later today. I will read the chapters and read the review tests that the teacher gave out.

I also registered for next quarter today. I am really happy with my schedule and I think that I will enjoy next quarter. Just like this quarter, I have classes on Tuesdays and Thursday from 9 AM to 2.20 PM. I also have one extra class on Mondays and Wednesdays though so I will take a total of 16 credits.

I will read business law, consumer behavior, microeconomics, and college algebra. I feel good about everything except the math class because I really don’t like math. It is a class that I have to take though so I will not postpone it or anything like that.

I have a few friends that have the books that I need for next quarter so that is great. I will save some money by using their books instead of buying my own ones.

I will do some studying now. I will probably eat some seafood later on. I have the day off tomorrow too so I have a lot of time to study then, which feels great.

Studying Abroad

Many people who are interested in studying abroad wonder if their language skills are enough and if the school simply will be too hard for them.

I felt the same thing before I applied to Berkeley College so I will talk a little about that. When it comes to English, it is simply easier to understand it than speaking it. My greatest fear before I came to New York was that I wouldn’t understand the teachers.

I was surprised about how good Berkeley College treats international students. They have an international division that will help you with anything you need. They are very used to international students since there are so many non Americans there.

I arrived in New York just a few days before my classes started. The first two weeks was therefore a little nervous for me. I was surprised how easy it was to understand the teachers though. Everyone is very professional.

After the two weeks, everything felt a lot easier. You will stop thinking about that English is your second language and everything will feel very natural.

New York is a great city in that matter because it suits everyone whether you are Chinese or Swedish. It is very easy to get around and there is something for everyone.

Many people also feel that the school might be too hard for them. I was positively surprised when I found out how easily it is to get used to the Berkeley College system and how helpful everyone is.

As long as people are not afraid of asking, I am sure they will be fine. It takes a lot of mental preparation before people apply to a college abroad. I had been preparing myself mentally for years because I have always wanted to come to the States to study.

If everything feels right, I recommend that you just do it. There will be some difficulties and you might have some language problems in the beginning but they are just tiny problems.

You will improve your English and your knowledge, and Berkeley College will help you to accomplish whatever you want to accomplish. It is up to you to take that extra step though.

If you have any questions, you are free to ask me about anything.

Manhattan Portage

I am still looking for a Manhattan Portage bag but I think I have found it now. I searched on Google and there is supposed to be an official retail store in Soho. I will go there today with my fiancée.

Yesterday was a fun day. We went to a mall in New Jersey called Jersey Garden. We took the bus there from the Port Authority Bus Terminal close to Times Square. It was Sunday and because of that, there were no people working in the information booths.

I found it pretty weird that no one was working on Sundays. This is New York and they should have at least a couple of information desks open. However, we finally found a ticket booth and so that we were able to get our tickets.

The mall is surprisingly big. It has carpet everywhere you go and that is really comfortable. It actually looks about like any other mall around New Jersey or New York, it is just bigger. I believe it is a called an “outlet mall,” so everything is really cheap there too, which is great.

I bought a pair of Lacoste shoes, which I adore and that was about it actually. We had a great steak at the food court too though before we left.

On our way to the bus we realized that IKEA is pretty close to the mall and they have free shuttle buses between IKEA and the bus terminal in New York. We only had half an hour before the shuttle buses would stop service for the day but we decided to go for it.

We arrived at IKEA five minutes in time and were able to take the last bus home to New York. It felt great actually because we saved $10! Next time we will go to Jersey Gardens, we will take the IKEA bus for sure.

I have a midterm coming up this Thursday so I have to study a little today and the rest of the week. It is a multiple choice question midterm so most people feel happy about that. I actually prefer normal essay tests.

I think I will do well though and my teacher is very good. He has posted a review on blackboard with several questions. What is good about that review test is that you can do it online and get the answers very fast after you complete the test so I don’t have to print it.

I will go to Soho today to buy the bag. I am really looking forward to do that because my old bag is falling apart. I know that you can buy the bag online too but I really want to see the bag before I buy it. It is so hard to know if the color will be the same if you order it online.

I also want to see if the size is good. This store in Soho is great because they have the whole line of Manhattan Portage bags. I really think that they should start selling the bag at more places though. It is just too hard to get.

Lazy Day

This Wednesday, My fiancée and I went to Century 21 and Queens Mall. I bought two pair of jeans and that was about it. I was trying to find a Manhattan Portage bag at Queens Mall but failed doing so.

We like Queens Mall a lot. It is always fun to walk around there because they have a lot of stores and the food court is great.

We had some sushi and barbeque chicken. We usually love the barbeque chicken but this time we felt that we had gotten a little tired of it because we have been eating it too much. The sushi was really good though.

I almost forgot to do one of my assignments for yesterday but I remember it one day before it was supposed to be turned in. It kind of ruined my evening though because I had to spend about three hours doing it.

It was interesting though because it was about advertisement, and I like that. My advertising teacher gave out a review for the test yesterday, and it consists of 72 questions. I am in the process of answering them so that I easier will be able to prepare for the test and it takes a while to do that.

I have started to drink Starbucks coffee now. My fiancée convinced me to try the iced coffee so I tried the caramel macchiato. I really love that one and I have drunk several of them this week. I always order a big one and I can drink it in five minutes.

I know that it probably isn’t that good to do that but I can’t really help it. It’s simply too good.

Today has been a somewhat lazy day. My fiancée and I went to a supermarket to buy some groceries and other stuff. She also bought me a nose trimmer and I really like that even though it’s a little scary.

I also did laundry and that felt good because while I was folding the laundry, my fiancée cooked for me. We had some Chinese meat with rice, potatoes, and eggplants.

There is some kind of balloon flight activity in Central Park going on right now. I believe it costs about $25 and that will give you a ride so that you can see the whole city from above. It’s probably attached to the ground so it’s not moving but I think I will go there tomorrow to check it out.

I have never ridden in a balloon before and I am sure it will be fun. I will bring my camera too because I am sure that the view the ride will offer will be fantastic.

We may do something else tomorrow too but we don’t really know yet. It all depends on our moods and if the weather is good or not.

Times Square

I just woke up and I love that I only have two days of school per week. I will go out with my fiancée this afternoon to buy some jeans and maybe some other cloths.

We went to Hard Rock Café in Times Square this Monday and that was fun. I usually love the food there but it wasn’t that good this time actually. We ordered the New York strip steak and the meat wasn’t very juicy.

I normally order a hamburger when I am there and they have always tasted really good. I ordered nachos for us as a starter though and that was delicious. That is one of my favorite starters and I love the cheese and the spiciness.

We had milkshakes to drink and they are amazing. My fiancée had a vanilla shake and I had one with chocolate flavor. They are not on the menu though so if people want to order it, they have to ask for it.

We went to the Toy’s R Us in Times Square after the dinner and I really like that place. I have talked about it before but it is worth to mention again. They have huge moving dinosaurs there and big buildings made out of Lego.

After that, we went out to see the Batman movie. It was really good filled with a lot of effects and action. It’s a pretty long movie though and we watched the late one at 10 PM, which meant that we weren’t home until about 2 AM.

That wasn’t very pleasant since I had school the next day but it worked out alright. I wasn’t too tired in school and I learned some new things like I always do at Berkeley College!

I bought some crabs on my way home so that we could eat that for dinner. It was the second time in three days that we had that for dinner but we really like it.

My fiancée also cooked me some Chinese spareribs and they were delicious. The picture shows exactly what we ate that day and we will definitely eat that again in the future.

We will probably go to Century 21 to buy the jeans today. It’s raining outside so we will do some indoor shopping. We might go to Queens Mall too. We were planning to visit Governors Island today but we won’t because of the weather.

We have plenty of time to do it later though!

Chinatown

Chinatown is a very fascinating neighborhood. There are several in New York actually, which are located in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens.

The biggest Chinatown is the one in Queens but I have actually never been there. The most famous one is obviously the one in Manhattan and most people think that that one is the only one.

I live fairly close to the one in Brooklyn and I go there with my fiancée sometimes to buy groceries. It’s a little weird actually because you don’t have to pay tax on most stuff you buy there. However, I very much prefer not paying taxes.

My fiancée and I went to Chinatown today and bought a lot of food. She wanted to cook me something Chinese and she knows that I really like that.

The grocery store we went to is very Chinese and almost everyone shopping there is from Asia. What I really like about the store is that they have a lot of seafood and they don’t only have frozen seafood.

They have all kinds of animals in there and most of them are alive. They have crabs, fishes, turtles, toads, and much more.

We bought living crabs today and that was a little scary. We wanted to try something new and they were really cheap. We got six crabs for less than four dollars and we couldn’t wait to put them in boiled water.

They were pretty aggressive actually and they tried to grab us all the time. It was really nice to see them turn red after we dropped them into the boiling water. I think they die instantly but it must be a very painful death for them.

They tasted great though and we also had some spareribs, rice, cabbage, and shrimps. My fiancée and I really like spicy food so we made it extra spicy. We will definitely cook this again.

We really like cooking and it’s really nice to eat seafood together because it takes a while to eat it.

It’s really hot in New York right now. It’s about 95 degrees and we are running our air conditioner all the time. I am really looking forward to the fall because it’s not too cold and not too warm.

I have to do my homework tonight. We didn’t go to watch the batman movie but we will definitely go to see it in a few days. We just want to wait a little so that the theater won’t be too crowded.

Happy Times

I am really happy now. My fiancée came back from her vacation and everything has gone back to normal for us again. There are so many things we want to do and I am really looking forward to it.

We have been really lazy these two days because she is a little jet lagged and is trying to get used to New York again.

There is one thing that is really hard when it comes to being an international student. The first time I went back to Sweden after coming to New York felt okay but it’s coming back to New York that feels really weird.

I was only in Sweden for two weeks that Christmas and when I came back to New York it felt like everything had been a big dream. It simply doesn’t feel real. It’s really easy to forget what you used to do and it feels weird being in the city again.

It’s like a déjà vu experience. You feel that you know the city but at the same time, you feel like a stranger. It’s very hard to explain but I am sure most international students would agree with me.

School feels good right now. My macroeconomics teacher is very professional and interesting to listen to. I have a few homework assignments to do for next week but they are short and easy so I don’t have to worry too much about that.

My fiancée and I will go to see a movie tomorrow. We might check out the new Batman movie because we really like big movies with lots of effects and explosions. It seems to be a really good movie and the reviews are great so far.

I bought all my books for my classes last week and I received them really fast. It took three business days for all of them to arrive. I bought all my books on amazon.com and I definitely recommend students to buy their books online.

Berkeley College has its own bookstore actually, which is great because you can buy everything from books to souvenirs there. Their prices are okay too actually but you can usually find the books online cheaper.

Homework

I did my first assignments for this quarter today. I only had two and they were pretty easy. The first one was a macroeconomic assignment. I had to find an article concerning macroeconomics.

I navigated to Fox News website and found a great article there. I also went to CNN to find a second one. I will see which one I pick but it really doesn’t matter.

The second assignment was a little harder. My international marketing teacher is a little old fashioned and he is using a lot of big words when he is talking. The article was not very hard but it wasn’t easy either so I really had to concentrate when I read it.

The article is about globalization and I had to answer ten questions about it. There are a few questions that I don’t really know if I answered correctly. However, I talked to a classmate and he had the same problem.

I took a walk in Prospect Park today. I thought I was going to play soccer but my friend didn’t show up. The weather was great though so the walk was very enjoyable even though I was hoping to have a beer with my friend later.

It’s still very warm in New York and the humidity is terrible here. It’s almost always over 55% and it’s very noticeable. I run the air conditioner several hours every day.

I have one more day left before I start school again. I need to do laundry and clean the apartment so the day will be a little boring. I might go to Manhattan just to take a walk but it all depends on the weather. I don’t want to stay inside the whole day though.

I bought some ice cream today because it was a really long time ago since my girlfriend and I ate that. I bought chocolate for me and vanilla for her. We will probably eat from each other’s bowls anyway though.

There is one thing I don’t like about weekends. NBC doesn’t show Late Night with Conan O Brian or the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I love watching those shows and it always makes me laugh. I will get tickets some day to see Conan O Brian. I tried to get it ones but because of the writer strike, my tickets got cancelled.

I hope I won’t have bad luck like that again.

First Week is Over

The first week of school is over and I can now enjoy the weekend as usual. My first impression of the new teachers was not that overwhelming actually. I was a little negative about it at first but that was probably because it’s hard to get used to new classes and new teachers.

Yesterday was a lot better and the classes will definitely be funnier after each class. Macroeconomics is very interesting and that is definitely something I will concentrate hard on learning.

It’s basically about national economy and the economy as a whole. I will learn a lot from that class. International marketing is also very interesting but we have only covered the introduction so it’s not that exciting yet.

I am looking forward to next week when school really starts of. The first week is always a little slow because many students are switching classes and are confused, so some teachers prefer to just introduce the course in the first two classes.

Advertising and promotion is also an interesting class. However, the way the teacher lecture is very much not my style. He only uses PowerPoint slides, which makes the class feel really long. I hope it will get more interesting in the future though.

There is also an extra credit assignment each week. To earn the credits, people have to make an outline of the chapter that the teacher covered during the week. It’s a lot of work but at the same time that gives you a lot of practice.

I don’t have many plans this weekend. I will go to play soccer with a friend in Prospect Park this Sunday. He does that almost every Sunday but I have never attended so I am looking forward to do that. I am not a good player but it’s only for fun.

I went out to CVS today to develop some picture that I have taken. I really like the self service system they have. You can plug in a CD or USB with your pictures and then you can choose what picture you would like to print.

You can also enlarge the pictures, which I did. The size is 6 x 8 and they turn out awesome. The picture quality is great and I am really happy with the result. I printed fourteen pictures and that cost me about $20 so it’s not that expensive either.

For people who don’t want to pay that much, they can turn them in and wait for one hour or a few days. The longer people wait, the cheaper it gets. It’s very easy to do.

First Day in School

Today was my first day in school for this quarter. It’s very hard to say if the teachers I have are good or not because I simply haven’t talked to them that much yet.

However, my first impression is that it feels okay. I think that my teachers are very experienced and they all seem to be good.

There is one thing that I don’t like that much though and that is that two of my teacher will lecture by using PowerPoint presentations. This will make the classes feel a lot longer because people can’t really take down notes since everything already is there.

We will have to print the PowerPoint slides and bring them to class and on those take notes of what the teacher might add during the class. I don’t really feel that this is the right way for me to learn. I prefer that the teacher uses the blackboard and explains by drawing and writing down what he means.

By doing this, I have to take notes and this gives me extra training when it comes to learning the material. I would also then type the notes in Word which would give me another time to read everything. That’s why I don’t really like when teachers use PowerPoint slide to lecture.

It feels a little as if they use it because it’s easier for them and because they will save some time.

I have to buy a couple of books this week and, unfortunately, one book is brand new so it will be a little expensive.

As I have mentioned before, Berkeley College moved out from one building so now, they only have two buildings. They are using more floors in the other building now though and it is better building. The only problem with that building right now is that there are so many students that you have to wait for the elevators pretty long.

They are going to upgrade the service elevator to a normal elevator though and I think that will speed things up. Many students also use the elevator to go to the second floor which is quite annoying. I think they are trying to solve this though.

I only have one class tomorrow but it is three hours long. I will start school at 8 am and finish about 11 am but I think we will finish early because no one will have the book yet. There will probably be an introduction and hopefully we can go home after that.

School is Coming Up

School is coming up now. Most students will have their first classes this Monday but I don’t start until Tuesday. I wouldn’t mind if I had to go to school tomorrow though because I am getting kind of restless.

I am taking four classes next quarter and it includes: macro economics, international marketing, advertising and promotion, and advanced spreadsheets. I think it will be a fun quarter actually especially since there is no math or accounting.

Many students divide their major classes so that they have them evenly spread out through the different quarters. I am taking three out of four classes in marketing this quarter but I feel good about it. I want to spend time with my girlfriend more and she doesn’t have school until august.

I have also had math, accounting, and other classes almost every quarter now and because it’s summer, I want to make the quarter as easy as possible.

I haven’t done very much since 4th of July. I think I am still in Western time because I fall asleep really late every night. I always wake up early though which is good, I guess.

I have been taking a lot of pictures these days and many of them are really good. I am thinking of contacting a postcard company so that I can try to sell my pictures. It would be really nice to make some extra money on something I enjoy doing.

The competition is pretty tough in the amateur photography business though. There are a lot of good photographers and many of them don’t demand much money for their pictures.

Even though I’m a little restless these days, I’m not totally motivated to start to study again. It’s always a little slow in the beginning but I’m sure I will find it funnier when everything starts rolling again.

I might go to Manhattan tomorrow to shop some new cloths. I am thinking about going to Century 21 which is located in Downtown Manhattan. The only downside about that store is that there are a lot of tourists. I think there won’t be too many people there tomorrow though because it’s Monday.

It’s still really warm in New York and I have to run the air condition every day. I’m getting tired of the heat actually and I am already looking forward to the fall. I miss wearing long sleeved shirts and I want to wear one that I bought in Seattle.

I will talk more about school after Tuesday and I will write about my first impression of my new teachers.

Happy 4th of July!

Today was Fourth of July and I went out to do some typical American things. I went up early to prepare my trip to Coney Island because I wanted to see Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Competition. I have been looking forward to doing that for really long.

I thought that there would be a lot of people when I would arrive but it wasn’t that crowded actually. I didn’t get a very good spot though but I could see a little and I was able to take some photographs by sticking my camera in the air.

It was a very intense competition and the former American champion Joey Chestnut broke even with former six time Japanese champion Takeru Kobayashi. They all looked very full but because they broke even with each other, five new hot dogs were brought to them for a sudden death match.

Chestnut finally won and everyone was cheering and screaming: “USA,” and “Go Chestnut.” It was amazing to be there and experience that. Everyone was happy about the results and it took a while to get out from the crowds.
I later took the train home and spent some time there. At about 6 PM, I went out to go to the promenade in Brooklyn Heights. I wanted to watch the fireworks but I was afraid I wouldn’t get a good spot because they said on the news that there already were thousands of people.

I brought my tripod and camera and was crossing my fingers that I would get a good spot and I actually found one, even though there were a lot of people there.

I had to wait for about two hours because I arrived at 7 PM and the fireworks started about 9.30 PM. I have never seen anything like that. They shot up a lot of fireworks and the bangs were really loud. People could actually feel the sound wave going through their bodies.

Many people were surprised about how good it was and I really loved it because I have never seen anything this big before.

The only thing that was a little bad was that it started raining when they started shooting the fireworks. I brought my umbrella and I tried to cover my camera because it doesn’t handle water that good. It got a little wet but everything went fine and I took a few amazing shots.

This was the first time I shot fireworks with my new camera and I was a little unsecure about what settings to use. I got everything right though because the pictures look great. There were a lot of people at the promenade so it took me a while to get home but it went surprisingly smoothly.

The police in New York are really good with organizing people and it really worked this time.

The Waterfalls

I have gotten back into my old routines and life here in New York now. I shopped some groceries yesterday and took a walk around my neighborhood.

I found out today that the waterfalls in New York are complete and that they are all running. I decided to go and check it out today and my idea was first to cross Manhattan Bridge but I walked a lot more than that.

Manhattan Bridge offers a great view on Manhattan and not many people cross it. The weather was really hot today and the weather was very clear so I was able to take a few good shots.

After I had crossed Manhattan Bridge I started walking west towards Brooklyn Bridge. I was not very familiar with the area but I didn’t really care about where I would end up. After a twenty minute walk I found myself at Brooklyn Bridge and there were a lot of people there.

I didn’t really cross it actually because I didn’t want to take the train from Brooklyn so I stopped half way and turned around to walk back to Manhattan. The view is great and you can see two waterfalls from there. There is one close to the Manhattan Bridge and a second one at Governors Island.

I really recommend people to bring at least one bottle of water when they take walks in New York. The weather is usually really warm during the summer and the traffic doesn’t make it better.

I also walked to the financial district in South Manhattan and visited Ground Zero. I have been there numerous times but there is actually development going on there now. The base is being built and I believe that people soon will be able to see the new tower take shape.

I had a double whopper at Burger King, which by the way is my favorite and after that I took the train back home to Brooklyn.

I really feel that my one week vacation in Seattle was good for me. I really needed to get away from New York for some time and get some rest from the big city. I almost stopped to appreciate the city life but now when I am back I really love New York again.

Fourth of July is coming up soon. I will go to Nathan’s eating competition in Coney Island. There will probably be a lot of people but I have always wanted to see that competition so I am looking forward to it.

After that, I will probably go to Brooklyn Heights or Roosevelt Island to watch the fireworks. I will tell you more about it after the celebration.