Another week has flown by here in Cold Spring; I barely realize how fast time flies here. Three weeks in which I completely settled down and adapted to the American lifestyle. Three weeks in which I learned the ins and outs of MKTworks, Inc and its clients. And three weeks in which the big Apple is no longer an unknown territory to me, rather a place where I have no trouble whatsoever to orientate myself.
It was a week where I got to experience rush hour in New York, a trade show at the Hilton Hotel in New York, a dinner with the Cold Spring Area Chamber of Commerce, a week where I got to drive the Audi A6 by myself, as Marshall was in California for Business.
This is of course a short preview of what can be read and seen in my blog about another great week on the banks of the
Monday, 19/03/2012
As MKTworks, Inc has a second office in San José, CA and as Marshall's wife is in charge there, he had to go away for a week to attend meetings with clients and to check in the office at the west coast of the country.
So we had to drive Marshall to the JFK airport. Normally this ride takes us 1h30, but today it took us about 4hours to get there. We left around 1pm at the office and everything went just fine, up until the moment we entered the highway leading to New York City. Along the road I got to see 3 car accidents and 4 car breakdowns that held up traffic towards a city of 8 million inhabitants. To all the commuters in Belgium traveling back and forth to Brussels, Antwerp or Ghent: you ain't seen nothing yet! It took us about three hours to travel over a distance of 15miles (24km). In addition, it was a day where the temperature rose to 22°Celsius in the blazing sun. At some point that time I felt like being in hell.
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| At least I had the opportunity to took a picture of Lower Manhattan |
As it was already in the evening when we returned, I picked up the Audi at the office, stopped by the supermarket to buy some food and returned back home.
Tuesday, 20/03/2012
As I might have told you already, I had to attend a trade show on Search Engine Optimization in the city. As Marshall was not around and as Marc had an important meeting with B&B Pools And Spa, I had to go in by myself. Unlike the weekends this was a week day in the city. So most of the train was filled with people commuting to the city. The image that ruled the streets was people in suits rushing to a meeting, people checking their mails on their iPhones and Blackberry: a typical image of the city life on a week day, which was of course very nice to see!
The trade show took place at the Hilton Hotel on 6th avenue/Avenue of the Americas. As we host several websites for our clients, we wanted to get as many information as possible on how to generate leads, track your website activity, how many people visit your website. The differences between organic search and PPC (pay per click) where advertisers get paid per time someone clicks on the ad shown on the internet. But also the major importance Social Networks sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Netlog - for people still using this site - and even Google+ can have on advertising. I attended keynotes on the psychological side of Social Media, I got some information on the services the people were promoting. It was a very interesting day with many things that I have learned, which can be useful to help our websites to the fullest.
I returned later that day with a bag full of brochures, flyers, goodies and business cards and arrived in Cold Spring around 6pm. In the evening I went for a 5km run on a small peninsula which is a perfect place to go for a run. Afterwards I grabbed a bit to eat in the restaurant and try to fell asleep around midnight. As it was still soooo warm outside, I had some trouble to fall asleep so I fell asleep around 3am.
Wednesday, 21/03/2012
As every wednesday we had to record a radio show with Doc Rick at two different location. The first radio show was a telephone interview with dentist Terecita Dean who has her office in Alameda, CA. The second radio show was about how people can benefit from vitamin B and what products people can buy containing that vitamin.
Afterward we had our weekly lunch in the Diner close to I-84 and afterwards we headed back to the office, because we had still some work to do for BBPools. I was assigned by Marc Sabin who is Executive Vice President at MKTworks, to write a blog on pool parties. There is a difference in meanings when it comes to a blog. The blog you are reading now is updated every week with new, cool and fun stories on my internship. The blog I had to work on was to inform people in a 400word document on the many possibilities people have when organizing a pool party; giving people information about a specific topic. A second blog I am working on for the moment is a topic all pool owners can benefit of: how to save energy with your pool.
In the evening I had some diner at the restaurant and afterwards I went for a drink the Natalie, the daughter of the owner Jimmy, and two of her friend at Whistling Willies on Main Street. As it was a week day not many people were at the bar, so we had a few drinks and headed back around 1am.
Thursday, 22/03/2012
Thursday wasn't really a special day. I had to work on the blogs for B&B Pools and Spa while Marc was correcting what I have written so far. He said that I did a good job on the built-up of the blog, but as it's only my first blog, the words I used weren't chosen properly and the built-up of the sentences have to be worked on, but then again it's my first blog.
I also ordered a travel guide of New York City in order for me to get to know the city better, so this arrived to day in the mail. I also got my Social Security card in the mail today, so from an administrative point of view I'm settled.
It was also a special day that day as my dad celebrated his 50th birthday, too bad of course I wasn't in Belgium to congratulate him.
In the evening I attended a dinner of the Cold Spring Area Chamber of Commerce. The dinner took place at the Dutchess Manor, a really nice place with a beautiful view on the Hudson
I had a really nice time talking to people from Cold Spring. It was also an occasion were awards were handed out to people who did a lot of work for the chamber and for the city. Also a scholarship was reached out to a 6th grade Highscool Student who wrote an essay on how he contributed to the community and how he had grown in doing so. I also took some pictures who are shown hereunder. The guy depicted twice on the photos is Marc Sabin, who is in charge for the moment of the Cold Spring office.
A rather normal day was awaiting me; there was only one meeting scheduled with B&B Pools and Spa and Karl's Appliances. Karl's Appliances is a big store specialized in Home appliances like kitchens, barbecues, refrigerators... As BBpools is our client we also had to attend that meeting, which was a very interesting one. We came back at the office around 4pm and we spent time revising my blog and finishing my blog on green energy.
In the evening I went for a run, which was just great. I ran 5km in 26minutes, so it's a way better time compared to last sunday. The graph of which is depicted here below as well as a picture of me after my work-out.
Saturday, 24/03/2012
Yeaaaayyyy, weekend!!!! which means back to the city! Instead of wandering around in the city without a travel guide visiting all the spots where tourists hang out, I decided to work out a different game plan. As most of you people know New York City is made up of 5 distinct boroughs: Manhattan (where the vast majority of people stay when visiting New York), the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island.
During my stay I will focus my visits on Manhattan, which is divided up in 15 neighborhoods: going from Lower Manhattan all the way uptown to Harlem. As there are fifteen neighborhoods, and as I have plenty of more weekends left, I will cover each weekend two areas. I will start in the tip of the City and I will work myself all the way up to Harlem. So by the end of my stay here, I will have covered the city in which I definitely want to live and work in the future in all its facets.
This weekend I visited 'Lower Manhattan' and 'Seaport and the Civic Center'. But before taking the subway downtown, I stopped by a barber shop to have my hair cut and the result, to me, is just great; results of which are shown later this blog.
Afterwards I took the subway to the place where it all started for New York City. Lower Manhattan is a neighborhood in which a perfect mix has been created between historic buildings and the modern skyscrapers. Lower Manhattan is worldwide known for Wall Street where the New York Stock exchange was founded in 1817, Trinity Church one of the country's older parishes and Federal National Hall Monument where George Washington was sworn in as first President of the United State of America.There I found myself walking around in an area where history was written: from the inauguration of George Washington, via the stock market crash in 1929, to the attacks of 9/11 on the World Trade Center.
As many of the sights were closed during weekends, the first stop was Trinity church. This gothic church was built in 1846 and was at that time the tallest structure of the city. Pictures of which are shown here below. When visiting lower Manhattan this is definitely a sight worth checking out and the entrance is free!
After checking out this beautiful historical landmark, I was back on my way to the famous 'charging bull' who marks the beginning of Broadway. This bull is created by Di Modica in 1989 after the stock market crash of 1989 and symbolizes "strength, power and hope of the American People".
But as I was walking on Broadway a mob of people was coming my way, this mob is the so-called Occupy Wall Street movement in which capitalism is heavily criticized. No need for explanation here, just pictures.
I left the mob what it was and headed for the most southern part of the city: battery park. At first I wanted to buy a ticket for Ellis Island and the Empire State building but when I saw the massive crowd standing in line for the ferry, I figured: "maybe other time." After which I took a nice 2km-walk in Battery park on the banks of the Hudson River. This is the ideal place to rent a bike, go for a run, have nice walk and talk or just to read a book. Some pictures to illustrate my walk.
Too bad the weather wasn't that great compared to the previous weekends, but it was a nice long walk alongside the Hudson; definitely now during spring time with the blossoming threes, the nice temperatures. At the end of the walk I grab a small bite to eat in the beautiful atrium of the winter garden.
Afterwards I visited also the Museum of American Finance. As New York Stock Exchange are restricted areas hence not accessible to the public, this museum gives you all the information you need to know about the NYSE and the New York Mercantile exchange. This was a very interesting visit with loads of informations on the happenings inside the walls of Wall Street. Definitely worth checking out if you pass by, prices are 5$ per person.
This was also my last stop in Lower Manhattan, so I walked via Wall Street to the next neighborhood called Seaport and Civic Center. Seaport and Civic Center is very well known for the Brooklyn Bridge, Pier 17, City Hall Park, Criminal Courts House, New York County Courthouse and many other sight to discover.
My first stop was Pier 17, which is a three-stories high sturdy constructed pavilion hosting food stands and restaurants, clothing shops and small souvenir shops... On the third floor a magnificent view of the Brooklyn bridge is noticeable. This building is definitely worth checking out on your next visit to New York. Beekman and Fulton street adjacent the quay at Pier 17 are nice shopping streets with shops like Abercrombie & Fitch, United Colors of Benetton... and many others. 
This neighborhood also hosts the City Hall and other Municipal Buildings. The city hall itself was restricted area, but the adjacent park is just beautiful. Around that time I already walked quit a lot, so it was time for me to have a break. I took the time to check my photos, check the soccer results from the Cofidis Cup in Belgium and the Spanish Competition. I even Skyped with my parents while being in the park. So I gave them a little preview of what they are about to see and experience when visiting New York in two weeks.
Most travel guides en websites say that the most beautiful view of New York can be seen while standing in the Middle of Brooklyn Bridge. I did it already last year in the evening and it was amazing, now I wanted to see how the skyline of New York looked like by day! And yes it's true, it is a magnificent view! Only pictures can illustrate this!
This was also my last stop of another nice day in the city. After having walked all the way back from Brooklyn Bridge I took the subway to Grand Central Station, grabbed a bite to eat, bought a magazine and headed back home.
Today, sunday, wasn't really a special day. I finally had the change to sleep out. In the afternoon however I helped Marc working in his garden, cleaning up the twigs and bundle them. It was a fun afternoon where I also got to meet with his wonderful children. So not many special things happened that day...
Next weekend I won't be visiting the city as my family are coming over the week after that. So on easter sunday you will get a full report on all the things I have visited this week, illustrated with hopefully beautiful pictures. This week will be an exciting one as well I hope. Tuesday we have to pick up Marshall at the Airport at 7.30am and wednesday we have to do a presentation for the IBA who is coming over on a study trip! So tune in next week for more exciting stories to come!!!
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