It’s almost time to leave !

Manhattan landscape

In two weeks my semester at NYIT as a French student is finished. My experience in New York will last longer because I am going to leave in the middle of June. But when I think about my departure that makes me become so sad. I don’t want to leave New York; I really fell in love with the city. I did not see my five months here passed. What I am going to miss ?
- The constant noises of New York characterized by the police, sirens of emergency or the taxi’s klaxons that you hear only in this city. The come back to my quiet home country city will be weird.
- Not be able to go to the store to buy anything I want in the night or doing a night shopping. For American People, in France almost every store is closing at 7:00 or 8:00pm.
- Dunkin Donuts. I am addicted to donuts and the brand doesn’t exist in France. Maybe I could find bakeries which are doing donuts but it is not going to be the same than here. Hmmm my glazed Coffee Roll.
- My busy schedule that I have here. Because when I am not in internship or at school, I spend all my time visiting and discovering every part of the city. It is tiring but I want to enjoy every day that I am here.
- My naps in Central Park when the weather is good or between two classes.

To finish my American adventure, I am going to make a road trip in the West Coast: Los Angeles- Monument Valley-Grand Canyon-San Diego-Las Vegas and Miami (how can you be in New York for a long time and not going to Miami ?)

I don’t want to miss anything, I don’t want to leave with regrets to not have done this or that, So what do you think it’s important for me to do before leaving or during my trip if you ever been in these destinations ?
What do you like the most to do or the best place according to you in New York city. For you what I have to do absolutely here ?

Zombie Apocalypse Preparation 2013

First of f let’s start by saying DON’T kid your self this is still going on. If you thought it was over just because the Mayan calendar, which spans about 5,125 years ago,  suggested that it would mark the end of the world on December 21, 2012 which as of today it hasn’t , don’t be fooled.

When given a survey about the Apocalypse nearly 15 percent of people worldwide believe the world will end during their lifetime and the rest believe the zombies and vampires are going to be taking over. . Whether they think it will come to an end through the hands of God, or a natural disaster or a political event, whatever the reason, one in seven thinks the end of the world is coming and the other six believe it is zombies and vampires. Perhaps it is because of the media attention that came from one interpretation of the Mayan prophecy that states the world ‘ends’ in our calendar year 2012 and since that didn’t happen they are just waiting.Thanks to the media we are all in frenzy.  Since 1in 7 believe we will be walking among the dead in about a month. So awhile back I had conducted a survey on what to do in preparation for this Apocalypse and the answers are quite intriguing and useful. This of course was just for fun, I had asked my friends at NYIT.

Question: Where would you go? 5 out of 10 NYIT students responded with the same answer, Wal-Mart! What is not to love about it, you have everything you need. The other half responded with their families and loved ones or somewhere they have always dreamed to go like Greece. Who knew my friends all thought alike.

Question: Who would you want to be on your side during this time? Ironically all the males asked out of the 10 NYIT students said Chuck Norris; apparently he can do no wrong. The females said their boyfriends, best friends and anyone who can use a gun.

Question: What supplies would you take with you? Generally everyone said guns but a few answered with that guns are good but what do they need to survive water, food, security and medicine.

Question: How do you prepare for something like this? 3 answered they have been running miles at the gym. 4 answered they will be going to the shooting range and watching all of the resident evil movies. 2 answered Chuck Norris is enough preparation and the last said just not to die and act among the dead.

Question: Do you really believe the apocalypse will happen? Majority said they don’t know what is coming but they believe something is going to happen and whatever it is they are ready for it.

What are your responses to these questions? Do you still believe in this? I don’t believe in zombies and vampires but I do  in political events and natural disasters to come.

 

Racism in America

I’m a White Man – opinionzmatter

I was actually thinking about a YouTube series that I used to watch when I was in my country. They were very interesting, and they make fun of typical situations that Hispanic or Latinos live everyday in United States. They give a very funny twist, but sometimes we faced these kind of situations. I invite you guys to watch one of my favorite episodes. Please guys watch it and give me some feedback.

Also if you are interested, you can go to their YouTube channel and watch other stuff and episodes.  Please watch out the strong language, just be aware.

Amazing Flea Market!

http://www.designblahg.com/

This weekend I had the pleasure of discovering the Brooklyn Flea Market! Apparently I must be the last to know that it exists because this fabulous market was full of tourists! More particularly French, and I was pleasantly surprised to notice that they  were complaining as much as when I left France!

 

Anyway, me and my friend were amazed by the huge Ali Baba’s cave! A life is not enough to discover all the treasures it holds. If you have the opportunity to go there do not miss the food stalls, many of which offer the delicacies prepared by remarkable restaurants from the neighborhood.

 

 

For example you can enjoy an amazing hot dog preparing under your eyes by Asiadog‘s cooker and finish your lunch in a pastry whose profits are donated to a charity. You can then stroll among the stalls, (re) discover old vinyls tubes, buy a pretty flowered dress designated by a local creator or rummage through old antique looking for a vintage necklace!

Did you know this place ? Have you ever been there before ? What did you buy there ?

Flea market: 176 Lafayette Ave at Fort Greene

Hours: From 10AM to 5PM on Saturday

The END is near

http://www.blackborder.com/q/node/3555

Oooh I know all of you love the end of the semester (NOT!) For some who take one class or two this might be a breeze. But for people who are full-time graduate students as well as full-time employees somewhere. The end of the semester resembles something like hell weeks. Sometimes I feel like all the professors just sit together in one room and collaborate on how to make your life hell. I know this isn’t true but it sure feels like it and when you suffer you always tend to make up conspiracy theories. So as you can imagine I’m stressed which I’m sure you are as well.

I swear all semester I felt like I didn’t have much do at all. I just came to class and participated. In two of my classes I had no homework due at all. In one of those two classes I just sat there and doodled. Literally, my notebook is like a big sketch pad with a few words in between. Besides my social media class where I think the work was spread out throughout the semester very evenly. My other two classes are like WHAT? Where were you all semester long? When I could have done the work without freaking out and ripping my hair out. This is slightly exaggerated but this is what happens, “OOh by the way; we will have the exam next week, ooh and don’t forget your paper that’s due the same day, oooh and when you get home tonight watch this because I will throw in a random essay question on the test about it that happens to be 45% of the test” – this is my life!

To make matters even worse, May is also the month where everyone goes crazy! I find myself being in situations like -

” One of the girls called out of work, could you stay and do a double?” in my head I reply “I have a really big exam tomorrow, of course this happens” or……

“Well she’s super sick and she needs help” or……

“His car broke down, he can’t make it to work”.

Things always go so wrong around this time too. Your car breaks down (this didn’t happen to me but one of my friends) or your dog goes missing (also didn’t happen, just an example), or you get sick (another inconvenience), or you lose your wallet (also didn’t happen), and so on.

I know… I just have to do it and I will as I always do. So I know many of you are in my position. I chose to write about it to get it out…how about you? What do you do to relieve the stress?

This will all be over soon and then we’ll have that ahhhh feeling! Till then…let us pray.

 

 

“We Need Your Facebook Password.” Seriously?

Can you imagine employers asking for such personal information as access to your social media accounts? It happened to one of my friends. She was looking for a job so she posted her resume on line. Two days later, a man called her saying that they were very interested in her and wanted her Facebook password to have further insight into who she is in everyday life. Does that sound creepy? After refusing that request politely, she called me immediately. She asked me what I would do if that happened to me. I didn’t know how to handle it. I just couldn’t believe it was happening. Seriously? Is it legal to ask employees Facebook password? That day, I searched the internet trying to find the answer.

It turned out that Facebook has issued an announcement that employers should not ask for passwords. Moreover, according to WIRED, six states have officially made it illegal for employers to ask their workers for passwords to their social media accounts. Those states include California, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware. However, what if you are not in those states? Does that mean you need to hand in your password? Of course not! I found some good answers to refuse the request politely. (reference: Wetfeet) Hope it helps.

GOOD ANSWERS:

1.  Private Person

“I’m a very private person in regards to my online social presence, and would prefer not to give out my passwords, but please feel free to view my profiles as they publicly appear.” For some companies, this may be enough to continue the interview without having to reveal your password.

2.  Professional Profiles

“I’m glad you’ve taken an interest in my online profiles, so please take a look at my Linkedin profile to see my professional network and recommendations.” If this isn’t good enough for the employer, they’re probably already looking for an excuse not to hire you.

3.  Required or Optional

“Is it a requirement for the interview process to move forward that I give you access to my profiles?” Some employers may not require this to move on, and will just ask in hopes of you turning it over without questioning it.

Did this happen to you? Share your experience.

Picture source: Facebook, snooping, good idea

Simple ways to $ave money

http://therunningdoc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Saving-Money.jpg

I’ve been living by myself ever since I’m 17 years old. I had the chance to have my parents financially support me, but I quickly learnt the value of money. Now, you must know that before I came in the city, I lived in Paris for 4 years, and even if it’s quite expensive, New York daily life is way more expensive.

At first, it was a bit disturbing for me to pay $80 at Duane Read for some cotton, shampoo, bounty and a set of toothbrush !

But now, after 2 years in the city, I’ve learnt some good ways to save my money.

- Instead of choosing conveniency and go to the Amish Market which is 1 block away from my apartment, I walk up to 72nd street and Broadway, and I grocery shop at Trader Joe’s. $70 will be enough to make me last 2 weeks before I go back, while it would make me last 5 days if I spent them at the Amish Market.

- I go to Lot Less ! I’ve recently discover this place, and it is so worth it! You can find many things you’d find at the duane read, for at least half the price.

- I also registered to the Amazon Local Deals newsletter. They offer plenty of deals and you can save up to 70%. Right before Christmas, I bought bus ticket to go to the outlet stores an hour away from the city. The tickets usually are 49$, and I got them for $19 each. I bought a lot of clothing and christmas presents, again, for half the price!

- I’d tell you to go out for drinks in bars during the happy hour, but we’re generally in class during this period of time. But, some places are happy hour all night long certain days, (remember Nurse Bettie) and otherwise, you just can go out with a promotor who will get you in for free and serve you drinks for free as well.

- And finally, and this one’s great because it takes time, but when it happens you’re really happy: I save all my coins, pennies, quarters…(the quarters I actually keep for laundry but anyway) and once every 3/4 months, when the box is full, I bring it to the TD bank and leave the bank with a $20 bill.

As a student, in NYC, life isn’t always easy financially speaking. So those are some tricks that helped me save a little, and little by little, you end up saving a lot! It’s up to you what you want to do with that money. I personally like to spend it on live music shows, good restaurants, or gifts for my friends !

5 Pieces of Advice for Future Grad Students

http://bit.ly/18MQUbs
Source: English106

The end of this month marks the completion of my first year of grad school. Looking back, it was both everything and nothing that I expected it would be.

If you’re thinking about applying to grad school or are starting this fall, here are some words of advice I wish I had gotten before I started:

1. Your program’s webpage is like a menu from a bad restaurant. Sometimes the courses mentioned on the website are no longer offered or haven’t been for many years. They pretty just keep them listed because the courses sound cool or make the program seem more comprehensive than it is.
2. Your classmates are just as valuable as your advisors. You’re all in this together, and they will tell you things as they are. Thanks to a certain classmate, I realized that I had to take more classes. Without her advice, I wouldn’t be able to graduate when I expected! They will also give you advice/warning about classes and professors you have to take in the future.
3. It sucks if you’re working at the same time. If you work and take classes, you’ve got a lot on your plate. One surprising thing about graduate school is that not all graduate classes are held in the evening. There are some held early in the morning which is weird considering that graduate students are more likely than undergraduates to be employed. If you need to take a required class that’s around the same time as your shift, you are stuck.
4. You need to pay the bills somehow. There’s a lot of risk involved paying tuition. Grad school is very expensive, and unlike in undergrad, there is next to no financial aid for graduate students. Whatever aid (scholarships, grants, state aid)  is available will mostly likely only cover a small amount of your tuition bill. There are no guarantees that you will get a job well enough to pay back a private loan quickly.
5. It will mess with your emotions. Grad school is very stressful (no, d’oy!), and you will have moments when you don’t know whether to laugh or cry. You may have spent all night doing a project on photoshop and have it crash before you had a chance to save it (tip:always keep saving). Weird things will happen that will make your brain cry and you more emotionally vulnerable than you ever were in regular life.  Don’t even get me started about final exams.

Despite all the craziness, grad school is worth it. You gain skills, experiences, networks, and friends that make you a more well-rounded person and a more appealing job candidate (than you were before graduate school).

What advice do you wish you were told before going to graduate school?

Are you a couch-surfer ?

Some of you may know the website which offers its users hospitality exchange and social networking services. Yes, it’s most popular travel way among the youth peers: www.couchsurfing.org

Couchsurfing was founded in 2004. The website provides a platform for members to “surf” on couches by staying as a guest at a host’s home, host travelers, or join an event.As of January 2012, the website had 3.6 million members. In March 2013, the website had 6 million members in 100,000 cities worldwide.

I joined the community in 2007 when I studied in Beijing, China. Because I don’t have independent accommodation at that time so my first couchsurfing experience started from taking a couch in Shanghai, China. A totally unknown girl accepted my request to stay in her couch for two nights and I was her first guest as well. You know, Chinese people are always shy to strangers even I think I am open to anything than my friends around me. But when stood in front of her door, we both feel embarrassment and wired. I remembered I said Hi to her firstly and she invited me in very welcome ways. After five minutes icebreaking communication, we both were talkative. I know we found the common ground with each other. In that two days, she introduced the amazing local food and attraction spots which were not mentioned in guidebook. That’s the biggest advantages I still use the couchsurfing from my opinion.

 I experienced a lot from couchsurfing. In China, I accepted 25 guests from France, Span, Uk,Russia, America, Peru, Germany and Iran, Iraq, India. Of course, when I travel around, I always send surf requests to local person, it can control my budgets very well. couch-surfing has been a good way to make friend world-wide and explore some real fresh culture from my guests, like the Iran and Iraq friends gave me some Muslim gifts which were totally new to me.

Plus, I also want to emphasis one tip when you want to use couch surfing—read the references list firstly but don’t trust them all. Users usually left some comments after they engaged with the owner, 95% are positive but still might have cyber paid poster to organize the user account, in fact, they are the local guest house or hostels. Don’t be silly or cheated by the free offers.

Did you have experience in using the couch-surfing? or will you consider to send a request when you plan your next trip?

 

Feel Upset? Let’s Meet Jimmy Kimmel!

I am a big fan of Jimmy Kimmel Live show. I knew this show because of an accidently click on a Chinese website one year ago. The video was Jimmy Kimmel YOUTUBE Challenge-“Hey Jimmy Kimmel I told my kids I ate all their Halloween candy”. It was so funny that I laughed loudly during the class. I wanted to find more video clips like that but I couldn’t because I had no access to YouTube. When I came to New York, the first thing I did was search Jimmy Kimmel Live show on YouTube. I spent almost a whole day siting on the bed and watching the show on my laptop. I found there were something more than Jimmy Kimmel Challenge, such as Lie Witness News, Pedestrian Question, Lie Detective etc. My favorite session is Lie Detective. Those kids are so adorable. Here I list some of my favorite videos. Enjoy!

YouTube Challenge – I Told My Kid I Ate All Their Halloween Candy Again

Lie Witness News – Did You Watch the Super Bowl

 

Picture source