A week ago, I had just returned from a trip to New York City with other Ohio State students. I was there to see the Royal Shakespeare Company perform, which was an experience of its own. However, I want to focus mainly on the city itself, and the culture-shock I experienced my first night and morning in the fastest moving city I’ve ever been in. Here were some of my thoughts that night and the next morning.

1. My feet are blistering, but these shoes aren’t new.

Did I really walk that much today? Attending OSU, you would think that I’m used to walking a lot. When one of your classes is on North Campus, and you have to hike it to Med Campus in 15 minutes between classes, you get used to walking a lot. I was not prepared for the amount of walking that was NYC.

2. What are all of these lights -- did we go into a portal and is it suddenly day time?

My first experience in Times Square was at night, and I was absolutely perplexed. I wondered if I had somehow fallen asleep on the subway or walked through a portal, because that place is so bright. It felt like I was just walking through the city on a normal day, other than the light was a little more blue than bright sunlight.

3. Wow, this Panera is tiny.

Five tables with four or less chairs, each? What is this sorcery? How do people eat? In a city like Columbus, every Panera is almost always full during breakfast. I'm used to every Panera looking like the image above. It was a shock to see only five tables at this Panera, but even more of a shock to see no one sitting at any of them. That fact, alone, was a shock and told me that I wasn't in Columbus, anymore.

4. I used the subways and didn’t get lost.

This was a huge feat for me, especially on the day that I used the subways by myself. I am completely directionally-challenged, and I always struggle to figure out which way I’m supposed to be going. I’ve never understood people who can just figure out how to use train, bus or subway lines in a new city in like 10 minutes. (I also cheated and used my phone, so that helped).

5. Which way does this MetroCard go?

Up, down, left, right? I'm so done. I’m gonna climb over this turnstile if it doesn’t go through this time. I have to be honest, I felt like incredibly dumb when I figured out that there were arrows on the bottom of the MetroCard telling you which way to swipe it.

6. I saw a plainclothes cop -- isn’t the point for you not to see them?

Yet, it was really easy to tell that they had handcuffs, a gun (maybe, taser), and a radio at their side. I was kind of disappointed that it was that easy to tell (or maybe they weren’t hiding it).

7. Brooklyn Bridge? That sounds cool.

We can walk to Manhattan from Brooklyn! Let’s do it! This was a mistake. I don’t know why I ever thought it was a good idea, but I did, and I regretted it. Especially when we decided to get up at 5:15 a.m. so that we could walk out on the bridge and be in the middle of it for the sunrise in the morning. It was cold, windy, and my feet hurt so badly by the end that we just decided to take the subway back.

8. Shake Shack? What is that?

I will never ask that question again. I would fly to NYC right now just so that I could get Shake Shack again. So good.

9. I need an umbrella.

Oh, hey, this souvenir store is selling them for $10? That’s such a good deal! This was another mistake. Don’t ever buy an umbrella from a souvenir store. Mine broke before I could even get it open. I ended up holding it open to attempt to shield myself from the rain, and ended up soaking wet.

10. What is N.Y. style pizza even like?

This is another question that I will never ask again. New York style pizza is basically the best pizza, hands down. Thin crust, good cheese, and tiny pepperonis made up the beautiful cheesy-grease-bread that I ate. And it was so good.

11. A ferry that’s free? And cool views of Manhattan?

I’m never leaving. The only ferry that I’ve been on is the 10-minute-ride to Put-In-Bay in Lake Erie, and I remembered that you had to pay for it. However, what made this ferry wonderful was not the fact that it was free, but the beautiful view from the back of the boat as you’re pulling out from the dock.

After my four-day(ish) trip to NYC, I felt some tension in my head from never wanting to leave, but also missing home. However, the experiences I had were some of those that I’ll remember forever, and were definitely one of the highlights of my freshman year at Ohio State.