Saying Goodbye To My Family

My family left yesterday, and both them and I thought it was too early. The week has gone really fast and I wish that they could stay for a few more days.

However, we had a great time before they left. We all went to Madam Tussaud’s to see the wax figures at Times Square.

The figures are extremely realistic and I thought it was a blast to see the movie stars as well as the politicians. They have, among others, Morgan Freeman, Bill Gates, and President Bush.

There was also one thing that neither of us was prepared for. After seeing most of the wax figures, we were lead to a 4D movie theater. Staff gave us some 3D glasses and we then took a seat.

At first it all seemed pretty calm and slow but it evolved into more action after a while. The movie was some kind of water show, showing animals in the ocean. For example, when dolphins landed after a jump in the ocean, you could feel water splashing up in your face.

Also, there were a few water snakes sneaking around at one time in the movie. People could then suddenly feel a poke in their back. Apparently, there was some kind of stick in the chair that poked people. It really scared people in the theater because everything happened fast and came as a surprise.

It was the second time in my life that I went to a 4D theater, and it is fun every time. The movies are not that well made but it is still fun because of the extra effects.

You may have noticed that I have posted several blogs during the same day. That is because I have written blogs, but I have not had access to Internet. I have therefore written the blogs and saved it, to later post it when I have access for Internet.

This week has been very busy due to my family’s arrival. I have had a great time though and I have seen a lot of tourist things that I would not have seen if they would not have come here. 

Trouble At Times Square

I think I have been really unlucky lately, especially at Times Square. The people selling comedy show tickets and roses have been really rude to me, and I do not know if it is because of me or if they are like that all the time.

The first time it happened was this week when my fiancée and I was on our way home. A guy selling roses asked me if I wanted to buy some and I said no. The response I got back sounded something like cheap head or similar.

The second time was today when my family and I went to have dinner at Friday’s. There was a guy selling comedy show tickets outside the restaurant and he asked people if they wanted to buy it.

I did not even look at the guy because I was busy getting my family inside the restaurant. The ticket guy got angry because I did not look him in the eyes and called me something really offensive, which I do not really remember.

I did not do anything to deserve that so I told him to be quiet. He got really upset after I said that but I did not want to ruin the evening so I went inside the restaurant with my family. I was a little upset for a few minutes after that, but I got my good mood back later when I got back to my family.

I really do not have any idea why people at Times Square act like that, but I think it is because they are not very happy with their own lives. 

My day was great other than that. I went to AT&T and they finally gave me an IPhone. I am really happy with it and the salesperson who helped me out is a really good guy. I know really want to take back my negative comments about AT&T. They have after all been very helpful.

The dinner at Friday’s was good. The food is not that fantastic but our waiter was really funny. He pulled jokes and was very easygoing, which made up for the food. I had a New York strip steak with mashed potatoes, and it was actually better than what I had expected.

Baseball In Central Park

Today was fun because I was out with my two younger brothers. The rest of my family was attending a taping of the Conan O Brian show so I had to take care of them.

It has been really nice since my family came here. I sometimes spend the night in their penthouse apartment in Manhattan and that means Swedish breakfast. It is also always great to wake up with the family.

This morning was fantastic. My family and I went to Central Park to play baseball. The weather was perfect and there was a lot of space for us to play on. We were four people in each team but even though it was not much, it still worked out great.

Everyone had a great time and I got some really good hits. One hit was so good that it actually hit a man in the head. It was a little scary at first because I did not know if he got hurt or not. He obviously felt pain but he walked away right after we asked if he was okay.

After the baseball, my family and I went to 30 Rockafeller Plaza. I wanted to make sure that they would find the place so I walked with them. Afterwards, I took my brothers to the American Museum of Natural History.

I was really looking forward to it because it had been more than half a year since I was there the last time. We were, unfortunately, a little late so we only had the time to go to see one show.

Everyone wanted to see the space show so we went to that one. I still remembered it from the last time I was there, but it is always impressive to watch it. We also walked around the museum to see the dinosaurs and the meteorites.

The kids really liked it, but I think my youngest brother fell asleep at the end of the space show.

To finish the day, my brothers and I went to have lunch at Subway. I really like that place because they still have the $5 ft long offer. 

Hard Rock Café

I had to do laundry yesterday but right after that, my fiancée and I took the train to Manhattan to meet my family. 

Once again, we sang “Happy Birthday” for my mom together with some champagne and grapes. After a while we became hungry so we all decided to go to Hard Rock Café at Times Square.

I was really hungry so I order some kind of trio meat platter with spareribs, chicken, and some barbeque meat. It was served with fries, coleslaw, and salad. It was too much to finish but I really enjoyed it.

We also had some deserts, consisting of chocolate ice cream and brownies. We also had nachos as a starter and everyone really liked it. It is definitely my favorite appetizer

My fiancée and I spent the night at their apartment and the morning after, we all had some Swedish breakfast. Swedish breakfast includes bread with cheese, yoghurt, and some fruit.

My family really wanted to see the Brooklyn Bridge so I took them there. We walked across half the bridge and stayed there for a while to take some pictures and enjoy the moment. The weather has been perfect today with over 25 degrees Celsius.

My family also wanted to go to New Jersey to take advantage of the lower tax rate. We took the path train to Newport, and the ride went very smoothly. It is Sunday though so the trains did not run that often.

We were all really hungry when we arrived there so we went straight to the food court to have some lunch. Everyone had different food, but my fiancée and I had Chinese food, which we really liked.

Tonight, we will just take it easy and relax in the apartment. We will probably order some take-away later. My family will attend a taping of Conan O Brian tomorrow and I will go out and do something with the kids.

Every day is packed with events and I really enjoy being with my family. It is nice to have a break from school, but I am sure that I will start missing it a little after my family leaves. That is why it is great that the break is only about two weeks long. 

The Smallest Man In The World

Today was a pretty busy day. I let my mom know that she is going to a Conan O Brian show, we went to Statue of Liberty, and we had Italian food close to Times Square.

When I met the guy who used to work at Wall Street, he gave me the advice to sign up for the magazine “The Economist.” I signed up today and I am really excited about starting to read it.

The only mistake I made was that I did not sign up for the student edition. I lost about $40 because of that.

A very strange thing happened today. When my family arrived they showed me an article in a Swedish newspaper that described the smallest man in the world. Today, when we all stood in line for the Statue of Liberty, we saw the smallest man in the world in person.

We were all very surprised when we saw him and my family screamed at me, forcing me to go after him and take pictures. I felt a little bad about trying to take a picture of him but I must say that I really wanted to take one.

I went after him and finally got a pretty good shot on him. It is amazing that we saw him that day since we all had talked about him the first morning when my family arrived.

The trip to the Statue of Liberty was really nice. It is a beautiful piece and it is a very powerful feeling to stand that close to it. I took a lot of pictures and after that, we took the boat to Ellis Island.

I have never been there before actually. Ellis Island is the island where immigrants had to go before they were let in to Manhattan. All immigrants were examined physically and mentally and it is amazing to see what kind of instruments they were using at that time.

People can also read about some pretty sad stories and some of the pictures are really good.

After our trip there, we took the train to Times Square. My little brother wanted to go to Toys R Us, which is a huge toy store. Not only my brother was amazed by the store, my whole family was.

We had to eat something after that so we went to a great Italian place close to Times Square. The food was really good and I had Spaghetti Alla Carponara. We had a great time there and I can’t wait to see my family again today. 

Swedish Birthday

My family arrived yesterday and it has been really good to see them. We had a Swedish birthday celebration for my mom this morning and she really liked it.

After everyone had woken up, my sister, fiancée, and I prepared to sing “happy birthday” for her. She wanted to eat donuts so we bought a dozen at Dunkin Donuts. We surprised her with the flowers and some other gifts and we had a great family moment.

After the celebration, we went out to eat breakfast. I took them to the diner as I had planned and we had pancakes with egg and bacon. It was really good and everyone liked it.

My family had to wait for the apartment, which they had rented, to get ready. We therefore had some extra time to spend so I took them down to Coney Island. The park was, unfortunately, closed but people can still see the rollercoaster and other roundabouts.

My mom’s husband really liked it because he recognized the place from a movie he had seen when he was younger. The movie is called Warriors and it is actually really fun to check out Coney Island after you have seen it because there are many scenes from there.

I wanted to take my family to the Brooklyn promenade but the guy with the apartment called us and we had to go. We took the train to there and the ride went great even though we had a lot of luggage to carry around.

The apartment is amazing. It is in Midtown Manhattan and it is a penthouse apartment so the view is fantastic. I am really happy for them that they found this place. I will spend the night there tonight, which I am looking forward to.

It is much better than a hotel actually because it is more personal and it is easier to keep the family together with an apartment. The best thing about it is that my family can cook and use the kitchen so they will not have to go out and eat every time they are hungry.

We also went to Planet Hollywood to have dinner this evening. It is a really nice place and their hamburgers are great. I had a big barbeque bacon cheeseburger. It tasted great and we had a really good time together.

I will see my family every day and tomorrow, we are planning to go to the Statue of Liberty. I have not been there since I visited New York in 2004 so I am really looking forward to it. 

A Day With My Sister

Today was really good. My sister and I went to Manhattan because she wanted to go there, and also because she wanted me to meet a man called Dave.

He actually worked at Wall Street not long ago and he is very successful. He gave me some great advices about getting a job or internship and I think that he is a very good contact to have.

The first thing I did in Manhattan was actually to go to AT&T to see if they could give me an IPhone. They made some calls and they actually told me that there should not be a problem in getting me an IPhone for the discounted price.

They will have to contact a few other departments though so I could not get it today. This whole process is bothering me a little. I received my papers from the BBB today and they clearly state that I should get any offer from AT&T that includes a two-year plan.

IPhone does include this but since they are so afraid of scams, they will have to go through many different departments. I am happy that they now told me that there should not be a problem though.

My family will arrive later tonight and both me and my fiancée is getting excited about it. It will be really nice to meet my family again because it has been more than half a year since last time.

My sister and I bought ten really nice red roses for my mom. They are actually from my mom’s husband but since he is not here, we had to buy them. We bought them in Manhattan at a very good florist. I am not sure what the name of the store is but if I find out, I will definitely recommend it.

I have made some plans on what my family can do when they come here. I think I want to show them Brooklyn because they have never been here before. Like most tourists, they have always stayed in Manhattan.

I think I will take them to a diner close to my home for some breakfast. They have a great pancake platter and I think that they will like that.

We will do a lot these days so I will write a lot about that. I do not want to plan too much though because I want them to feel comfortable. 

Finals are Over!

My sister arrived yesterday so I had to clean the room and make up some space. My room is very small so it was not easy to fit an extra mattress in here.

Everything turned out great in the end though. We did not do much after she arrived. She was very tired from the flight, which was good because it will be easier for her to get used to U.S. time that way.

I had my finals last Tuesday. I was very well prepared and my tests felt easy. I finished first in class in macroeconomics. It took my about 15 minutes so the teacher was very surprised and I think he got a little worried.

I got back my score a few days later though and I got 61 out of 62 questions right. I also had my advertising final. Since I finished the first finals really fast, I had time to go to the gym before having my last final.

After working out for 45 minutes, I went to do the final. I did not have to struggle with it. I felt that it was pretty easy and I finished in about 30 minutes. I got 100% on that test so I am very satisfied with myself right now.

I will maintain my 4.0 GPA again and that is a great feeling. My family will arrive in two days so I will have to prepare the apartment for them. There will be a lot of people here and the apartment is very small.

I will try to put a mattress in the living room and let four people sleep there and let four people sleep in my room. I think everything will work out though.

I also talked to AT&T about the IPhone. They have still not reached a decision so I do not know if I will get it or not. I am crossing my fingers though. There really is not a reason to not to give it to me.