I’ve been wearing my culture hat over the last few weeks as I’ve managed to get round to seeing the Met Museum, the Cloisters (basically a museum built around medieval cloisters that some bloke imported from Europe into the US) and the Museum of Modern Art. All were good, highlights being the Egyptian temple at the Met and, in my immature way, a piece at MoMA consisting of a couple of linked films by a Dutch artist where he had someone film him (1) falling off a roof and (2) cycling into a river.
In addition a few weeks ago I saw a guy called Dave Brubeck in concert at the Lincoln Center. Dave Brubeck is a jazz legend and he was playing with a Brazilian Orchestra under a guy called João Carlos Martins. It was amazing stuff. Talking of good music there was a man playing music with a saw at Atlantic Avenue subway station last week – he was actually quite good!

I’m also really appreciating the food out here. It’d be all too easy to go mad and eat my way into a ball of flab but so far I’m holding out…
Diner’s are almost everywhere and are an entity that the UK doesn’t really have. Firstly the sizes of the menus are just bizarre – they seem to be longer than Lord of the Rings and War and Peace combined…probably the best one I’ve been to so far is on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and has a meal called the lumberjack which happily consists of pancakes or French toast (different to French toast you buy in Britain), sausage, egg, potatoes, toast, ham, bacon and probably some other stuff as well – it is immense.
There’s also a great cake shop near work called Crumbs which does the best cup-cakes known to man – there’s about six million variations, each with enough icing and toppings to fill an Olympic swimming pool and enough calories to kill a family of elephants. However one afternoon at work someone had bought some in and as there were a number going spare I naturally did the decent thing and had two in order to prevent wastage – I’m pretty sure that by the end of this culinary adventure I was on the verge of a heart attack…

Last Saturday a few of us went to a great housewarming out in Bushwick, Brooklyn. We were in Manhattan at the time and were debating how to get there as the subway was on death’s door that same weekend due to an infinite amount of maintenance going on. It was then suggested that we get a Zip car, which, I found out, is a car hire system allowing very quick and easy access to cars on demand, paid for by the hour – so relatively cheap for small use. So thus began our road trip across New York City. It could have been a fairly sensible, uneventful journey across two Boroughs but for some reason we seemed to pass by a whole host of the weird and wonderful. This included a whole community of people seemingly united by the huge, furry hats they wore, a man dancing around the cars at a set of traffic lights and a few slightly dubious areas where we felt that if we were to get out the car we may have regretted it…

As much as I enjoy the lifestyle out here I do admittedly miss some things about the British culture…for example I’m starting to crave a good Cornish pasty or a tasty pork pie and I wouldn’t mind finding a pub that is actually a pub. There are a large number of bars in New York that claim to be ‘pubs’ but miss the mark every time. I’ve satisfied some of my British longings by watching repeats of Top Gear on BBC America but still wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a decent steak pie.
There is apparently a shop in Greenwich Village in Manhattan that sells British delicacies so I’m thinking that before too long I may have to root it out so that I can finally feast on the joys of British pastry!

To finish, I’ve been encouraged this evening by the following quote from Proverbs in the Bible:
‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight’.
If I’m honest I’ve often read through passages like this and not really fully appreciated them. It is undoubtedly a great soundbite but is also much more than this. Trusting in God with all my heart and not relying on my own strength and ability is undoubtedly a challenge but by being in this city over the last three months and having to find my way through the ups and downs of city life, I’ve come to appreciate how essential it is not to trust in my own understanding. I freely admit that time and time again I’ve turned my back on God and attempted to find my own way but ultimately I’ve come to realise that the ability to gauge the ever-changing landscape of life is a task that I simply cannot achieve on my own. When things are rosy and good I’m all too happy to dance around in self-satisfaction but when life starts throwing unexpected curveballs in my direction I need God to be at the centre of my life. Without him I am alone, fighting the challenges of the world single-handedly, but with him I am far from alone – I have the creator of the world on my side.

Some UN conference was going on last week it seems…
I work relatively close to the UN and the amount of security in the area was a tad over-indulgent.
Walking to work last Monday from Grand Central there appeared to be police officers at every intersection. Police sirens were continually sounding as another convoy travelled to or from the UN. Men in dark suits and dark glasses were also hanging round trying their best to look intimidating.
There were signs on the roads near to the hotel where (I think) Obama was staying stating that by ‘entering this area’ (this area being reasonably big) you were giving your ‘permission’ to be searched at any given point. Not sure how fair this was if, like many people, you had to access these streets for work etc. And in fairness you couldn’t actually get to the hotel in question even if you wanted to as the actual road was completely blocked off with about a million police and secret service standing guard.
One of the most laughable characters was a bossy secret service officer who was walking around with a flak jacket proudly proclaiming ‘Secret Service’. I couldn’t help but think that he was anything but ‘secret’.
On two occasions I was leaving the office for a walk at lunchtime and found that 50th street was being blocked off by the police. The first time I was a little confused but then came to realise that Obama’s motorcade was coming through. I was expecting quite a lot of security but was not prepared for the sheer amount of police motorbikes, police cars, secret service vehicles and an ambulance as well as the three central cars of which one was carrying the man himself. I have to admit I felt quite chuffed seeing the big man on two occasions, although to be fair it was only a momentary glance through the window of his car!

To take a more serious turn for a bit I had an unexpected experience on the subway on Sunday evening. To cut a long story short I found myself in a conversation about Jesus with a woman I had never met before. However, unlike conversations like this that I’ve had before, this one took me way, way out of my comfort zone. For a start I would never normally communicate to a complete stranger on the subway, especially since I’ve unfortunately got into the habit of zoning out whenever people come on begging for money or attention. The woman I found myself talking to was clearly suffering emotionally. She had apparently been sleeping rough recently and wasn’t in the best of shape. She told me that she was trying to have faith in Christ and was trying to believe, but that due to current circumstances she was struggling to have any belief at all. I haven’t been exposed to many situations like this before, especially not within the confined and populated space of a subway car, so my initial reaction could well have been to panic, to have forced the window open and jumped out of the subway train. However, retrospectively, I was not alone in this conversation as I somehow found words to explain as well as I could that despite the challenges life can create, God’s love is still supreme and always with us even if sometimes the trials of life seem to create an alternate reality. Her questions continued and I tried my best at answering them, not knowing how good my answers were, but nonetheless striving to trust that the situation was in the hands of the man upstairs. Things were bizarre enough but then when I changed trains at Union Square she followed and I somehow found myself praying with her. There is absolutely no way that I can credit this to myself. For a start I was praying for a woman that I didn’t know on the middle of the platform of a busy subway station, a situation that I simply cannot believe I had the guts to partake in. I was in way out of my depth and yet somehow coped. The only explanation I can give is that God was behind it all.
We both got the next train and then at Fulton Street Station we departed – her name was Cathy and although I may never see her again she had made a huge impact on my current situation.
Through this I have been stunningly reminded of the absolute and unmistakable sovereignty of God. Despite my weakness and inclination to avoid awkward situations I was somehow used by Him in a situation decades from my comfort zone. I don’t know what plans God has for Cathy but I trust in Him and know that whatever happens He is in absolute control.

Dodgy cabs and scary cycling

After living a bit like a hobo for the last few weeks I decided I needed some proper furniture so dragged myself along to Ikea last weekend. I wandered round the rather gigantic store as quick as I could, dodging people spending six hours deciding what colour they want their new bookcase and somehow managed to choose a few bits of random furniture that will hopefully last for the next 10 months without collapsing. Thus I purchased the items and headed outside in the hope of finding a taxi to take the furniture back without breaking my back. Unfortunately because the Ikea is in the middle of the Brooklyn wilderness there aren’t many NYC taxis going around. There were some rather dodgy looking private cabs but common sense told me to avoid these like the plague.
However after waiting 20 minutes with no sign of a yellow cab I decided that rather than wait around for what could be literally eternity I’d risk my life and approach the dubious cab men. I made sure I arranged a reasonable price beforehand but even so, as one of the men led me to a car located down a side road with a number of scary looking men hanging around, I began to think that the cab fare may not have been the main concern…
However, despite my fears it was in fact fine – the cab driver was actually very friendly and got me back to the apartment in one piece. That said I’m not sure that getting in a cab that I was unsure about from the offset would be something that I’d wholeheartedly recommend.

In other news I went to Governors Island a couple of weeks ago…it’s a small island off the southern tip of Manhattan that was deserted for a number of years before being opened up to the public last year…(I think).
Arriving on the first ferry at 10am was ideal – it was deserted and peaceful – we hired bikes and started cycling round, enjoying the space and the sound of silence as opposed to the constant hum of the city.
After exploiting the free space for a couple of hours the island began to get busy as more people began to arrive onto the formerly peaceful entity. This certainly made cycling quite interesting…there was no clear division between cyclists travelling one way and the other so quite often I found myself travelling at speed towards someone else travelling at speed – it seemed that horrific accidents were only seconds away before one person made the last second decision to divert away. Fortunately nobody died but it was a close call.

It was an absolutely stunning day yesterday so decided it would be a good day to try and combat my recent lack of proper exercise. One of my friends from church mentioned that he played pickup soccer (aka football…) on Saturday afternoon so thought I’d tag along. The fact that I nearly died was a wakeup call to try and make this exercise lark more of a regular slot in my existence.
However despite my lack of fitness it was well worth it. I’ve played on some pretty good pitches but the one I played on yesterday was probably one of the best. It was on the roof of a sports complex meaning that whilst playing we had the view of the Empire State Building on one side and downtown Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty on the other. It wasn’t half bad.

I’ve also discovered that the British phrase ‘washing up’ (i.e. washing the dishes) in fact translates in America as washing yourself…so when I asked someone a couple of weeks ago if they wanted help washing up I think they were slightly concerned…

So that’s some of the story of the last couple of weeks.

As a postscript the longer I’m here the more I’m getting to realise just how in control God is. Every situation, good or bad, is guided by him. Some situations can seem pretty tough but again and again God has shown me the depth of his love by being there each and every time. Things can turn out differently to the way I expected/wanted them but at the end of the day I trust that he is in complete and utter control and that through this I strive not to fear or worry because he is there and he will never leave.

I’ve now been in New York for almost two months – and it’s been a very full two months. If I tried to write it all down I’d be here until Christmas so here are some highlights…

First impressions of New York seem to present it as a fairly safe city – admittedly there are places I wouldn’t wander into, especially at night (at least not without a couple of shotguns), but on the whole I’ve walked round places, especially in Manhattan, at night and not felt threatened. Admittedly there are a good number of oddballs but these seem to be harmless folk.

It’s also a friendlier city than is often portrayed. There are obnoxious characters but the large majority of the people I’ve met are incredibly friendly. That said the girl who served me in the supermarket at the weekend was a bit on the miserable side – when I arrived with my shopping she gave me a look as if I’d just insulted her mother and then proceeded to scan my stuff as if it was the most painful task she’d ever endured…

The English accent is certainly an interesting thing as well…on one side it’s a great conversational asset but also there are a fair amount of people who struggle to fully understand it…I was at an American football game on Saturday and went to buy some food from a stand where I saw that an option of ‘sausage and peppers’ was offered, which appealed more than the standard soggy hotdog. Thus I went up to the server and asked him for the aforementioned item to which he produced a bottle of doctor pepper and looked at me in a rather confused manner when I explained the mistake. My second attempt to order the food failed again so I gave up and ordered a pizza from another food stand instead.

Talking of American football I can’t say that it appeals as much as to me as it does to the American population. It’s a very stop, start game and as soon as it gets exciting the referee blows his whistle for some massively obscure foul (such as kicking the ball too high and accidently hitting a passing pigeon) and stops the game which is a bit on the annoying side. I’m trying to convince my friends at work that rugby and football (soccer…) are far superior games but am not having much luck.

I’ve now found accommodation in Brooklyn which is all good. It’s just within the boundaries of the Park Slope area which is one of the nicer areas of the Borough. It’s close to Prospect Park as well which is a bit like Central Park, but in Brooklyn (surprisingly!). I was living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan for August, and was staying with a family friend for July so it’s good to have somewhere longer term. I also managed to acquisition a bed from someone who was moving out in the same area, although as the guy lived in a different part of the neighbourhood the problem of getting it down four avenue blocks and across five streets was a bit of a challenge…until we utilised an abandoned trolley that we found. I’ve certainly felt less conspicuous in my life than I did transporting a bed on a trolley through the streets of Brooklyn…

The subway is quite an interesting beast as well. On the weekdays it’s pretty darn efficient and the length and variation of the lines mean you can get around the city and its boroughs at quite a pace. However, it’s not the cleanest place I’ve ever been to. Some stations (the 59th street station is probably the best example) absolutely reek of something awful. As one of my work colleagues pointed out, it smells as if something’s died and been left to donate its smell to the passing population. The subway performers/beggars/weirdoes are also quite something as well.

I’ve also been going to a church on the Upper East Side of Manhattan for the last few weeks which has been great. It’s called Christ Church NYC (http://www.christchurchnyc.com/) and is an offshoot of Redeemer church, one of the biggest churches in New York, and is great for its focus on the awesome teaching of the Bible.
In fact, these couple of months have really grounded my faith in Christ more than ever before. There have been a couple of situations/decisions where I’ve really had to trust in God and he’s really shown me how awesome he is and how my trust in him is certainly not wasted!

This is rather a long update with not that much of the last two months in it, but over the course of the year I’ll try and keep this updated – hopefully it’ll give a taste of the rather diverse and fascinating nature of New York life…