Thanks to the incredible generosity of Adam Sinn, we were scheduled to visit an amazing set of cities over the course of three weeks. We began in New York City. My first impression was that transportation must be incredibly inconvenient for those who cannot afford to live within the city. We stayed in New Jersey and while I didn’t mind the commute for a few days, I could imagine it being challenging over the course of years. Otherwise, I thought the city was cool but ultimately not a place I could see myself culturally fitting in. Next, we went to London where I was surprised that it didn’t feel too much different than America. Yes the accents were different and there seemed to be more foreign languages spoken all around us, but otherwise, I didn’t feel a huge cultural shock. The most surprising thing to me is how old everything around me was. Walking through St James park and seeing massive trees and buildings far older than America was very cool. I appreciated the culinary diversity of London and enjoyed tons of great food. Next was Belgium where I was again shocked by how old and beautiful every building was around me. Few people spoke English and for the first time I felt like I was truly in a foreign country. We didnt spend long there and soon it was off to Frankfurt. Of everywhere we went this was probably my least favorite city. It was still great but the weather combined with the less interesting food and architecture meant that I didn’t like it as much. We had a chance to visit Auschwitz and I think I still need to process this experience. It was one of the most challenging and powerful things I have ever witnessed. This concludes my first impressions of the first part of the trip.
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