Arsenal: was in der Nähe ist, wie man hinkommt und wann man fährt · 2026

NBNatasha Belyaevasolnyshko_1994 · 30.11.2015Lesen

Good traditions are a cool thing. My friend from Alaska and I have one – to see each other every summer. A couple of days together - a year of waiting, a couple of days together - a year of waiting... A year of missing each other, sending messages, and definitely knowing that a new meeting is just around the corner. For three years, Sasha came to visit me in Belarus – but for the fourth summer, the one that coincided with my trip to the States, we chose New York as our meeting point. August 26, 2015. I am in the very center of Manhattan. Well, I am - me and (hello again!) my unliftable suitcase with all sorts of things in one hand, a longboard in the other, a backpack stuffed with gifts on my shoulders – where to go, what to do – I had zero clue. "I won't get lost, it's not my first time in an unfamiliar city, right?" I thought, squeezing myself and all my belongings into the nearest Starbucks. "I'll catch some Wi-Fi now, and everything will go smoothly." A week before the trip to New York, Sasha and I found a roof over our heads on airbnb.com – a room in a Brooklyn art apartment. Its owner, a charismatic American named Dana, promised to give me the key to the front door as soon as I arrived at the destination – somewhere in the Nassau Ave area. Where that was and what it was, I could only guess. I sent her a message saying I would arrive in an hour and decided that catching a taxi was the best solution to the problem. Expensive? Yes, but did I work all summer for nothing? I can splurge a little! To be honest, my "splurging" didn't go so well. I got into the first car I saw, driven by a Black driver, thinking he would whisk me away to the desired Nassau, but at some point, I realized that everything was not going according to plan. "Hey, why are you so shy? This is New York – a city of great opportunities – everyone here is open to new acquaintances," the man interrupted the silence. "Why on earth should I say anything at all?" I thought. "And I'm not shy, just tired from the road," I blurted out in response. "Ah," the driver continued, "I understand! Listen, what if a guy showed you his penis, what would you do? You'd probably run away, right? Nobody has done that here for a long time! Do you know how to behave? Well, you have to tell that guy, like, 'ooh, how huge,' or 'pfft, not impressive' – this is New York! I was shy at first too, well, when I first arrived here, but then this city changed me!" I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Why? Why am I always lucky with some kind of jerks?! Oh, I'll just bury myself in my phone, abstract myself, pretend I'm busy, maybe he'll back off," my brain worked intensely. At some point, I realized that our "carriage" was starting to slow down, pulling over to the side of the road. Mentally, I was bombarding this psychopath with every bad word in my arsenal and preparing for the worst. "Hey, look, come on," he said to me in a near whisper. I decided not to show anything: "Hey, sir, can we just go already!" - "Hey, hey, come on, look!" I wish I hadn't looked at all. Moving close to the glass partition separating the driver and passenger, I looked forward – the "sir" was sitting with his pants unzipped and stroking his private parts. I screamed. A minute later, we moved off. "That'll be 40 dollars." - "No problem, thank God we arrived at all!" - I was ready to scream with happiness – I'm finally getting out to freedom! - "Just don't tell the police, okay? We're all friends here, okay? I just wanted to show you what New York is, okay? Because my buddy showed a girl too, and now he's in jail. Don't tell, okay?" - "God, okay, just drive away already!" After getting the keys to the apartment, I decided that for "today," NY was more than enough for me. I spent lunch and the evening in our Brooklyn hole, waiting for Sasha and processing everything that had happened to me. After that, it was much calmer. Our New York days always followed the same plan: at nine in the morning, while Sasha was fin

EKEkaterina Kudriavtsevakate_rina-93 · 23.11.2015Lesen

About work and Americans Before leaving for America, I imagined that I would work all summer, going out at most on Fridays to some local bar with two or three roommates, and also swimming in the ocean a couple of times a week. In reality, it turned out that for three months I felt like I was on vacation (provided that I worked one job for about 6 hours a day, 6 days a week). The same cannot be said for those who worked multiple jobs, having free time only after 11 PM, considering that they had to get up for work again at 8 AM. The choice is up to everyone. It depends on goals, needs, and desires. There is no problem finding a second job (or even a third). I would like to note that I applied for America through the International Exchange Center in Saint Petersburg. I chose the full service option, which implies that the program sponsor, InterExchange, finds an employer for you. That is how I received my cherished job offer at a company that sells the most delicious frozen yogurt in America - sweetFrog Premium Frozen Yogurt! I always (well, almost always) went to work with pleasure, for which I thank my beloved colleagues from Turkey (Ayşe and Gökay) and the wonderful atmosphere thanks to the customers – many stories happened every day! Last working day with Ayşe Evening with Gökay before his departure It was the working hours at sweetFrog that helped me understand what a modern American is like, which I will talk about next. Americans love to chat. You won't get away with a simple "hello" or "how are you doing"! They are always interested in where you are from, noting your "pretty accent," constantly smiling and joking, and often saying kind wishes to you as a person who has come to work and learn about the culture of their country. Yes, Americans are truly a friendly nation, with a constant smile on their faces and an arsenal of pleasant phrases for every day, which are customary to say to each other in a store, bank, transport, on the street, at work, at the post office – everywhere! Thus, being polite, sociable, and always smiling is the key to not feeling too much like a stranger in a foreign country. At first, it is difficult, but soon you get used to the peculiarities of the mentality and feel as if you are living in some fairy-tale world where everyone smiles, wishes you a good day, the sun is always shining, and all that is missing is a colorful rainbow: - kids from the house next door offer you lemonade on the way to work; - a woman reading the morning newspaper on her balcony shouts after you that you have beautiful shoes; - a man lets you go ahead in the checkout line at the store, seeing that you only have one bottle of milk in your hand; - a colleague is ready to drive you home before going on her shift, since it started raining hard just as your shift ended, and it takes at least 20 minutes to walk home. All this is one of my days in America, in the city of Virginia Beach. Of course, you get used to good things quickly.

ЕКЕлена КуницаLenKa1 · 20.04.2011Lesen

While I was studying all the information about Work and Travel USA during my first year, I got the impression that finding a job offer was a piece of cake. No, I didn't think someone would hand it to me on a silver platter, but I had so many methods and examples in my arsenal that I didn't doubt my success. That's why I even smirked at the coordinator's words when he said that the job search service from the agency didn't apply to us (we were flying too late). I started searching right at the end of December using j1jobs.com. At first, I only sent applications to the vacancies I liked, then, about a month later, to every single one available. There were no replies. Around February, I started corresponding with an employer who later turned out to be a scammer (thanks to the agency forum for the info). There was also another one that seemed trustworthy, but everything was complicated with them. In the very first email, they wrote about a bunch of interviews, online training, etc. Plus, the job was in Vegas (I really didn't want to go there, believe me) and involved selling some unknown junk for kids, like magic toys (I didn't even remember the name and was extremely scared when I opened their website :D). Nothing worked out with anyone else there; I only got about five rejections, but they are still coming in, even though I haven't looked there in ages ;) The next step, in parallel with the previous one, was craigslist.org. Having grown up on American movies, I wanted to go where? No, not to LA. But to California, you guessed it. Ulyana's mom has college friends in NY and SF, so we decided to go to the latter. That's what I focused on closely on Craigslist. It was terrible. I followed all the advice, but it led to nothing. There were no replies at all. Panic set in.. I read on forums that it's useless to look for an offer in SF. I started looking all over the East Coast, because, again, I had read that there's not much to do on the West Coast. I didn't want to go to the center at all, because spending the whole summer just working is clearly not for me ;) As I communicated with employers, I began to understand which ads were worth answering and how. I long ago moved away from traditional cover letter templates and simply presented them with the fact that I was a student and needed a summer job; if they were interested, they could find my CV in the attachments, if not, well, okay. This turned out to be much more effective. Plus, I started searching for "summer" there, and that immediately led to more suitable options. Thanks to all this, options started appearing. But this started happening closer to the end of February, when I was completely desperate and bought an offer from a girl on VK in NY. Payment was after confirmation, so that gave me the opportunity to continue searching. What I remember most is a woman who was very touched by my story, told me that she once had exchange students living with her, and wanted to help me in every way. She scheduled a Skype interview, but.. While she was saying short phrases at the beginning, I could hear her perfectly, but as soon as she started telling me something enthusiastically and at length about the job, the connection started to break up.. It was terrible, I explained to her that I couldn't hear her well, she said "ok" and started over. And again the same thing.. As you might have guessed, I was left without that job :( Then two options appeared simultaneously: one in Florida at a restaurant, another in New Jersey at a fast-food place. I wanted the restaurant, of course, so I was actively corresponding with the employer. But they both kind of died out at the same time.. I didn't despair, I kept using Craigslist, but there were no suitable replies, I got upset and after about two weeks I wrote to both of them asking how they could crush my dream, that without their help I wouldn't go anywhere, that we needed an offer to travel. The first one responded immediately and started demandi

АСАлеся Селезневаforkgalaxy · 28.10.2009Lesen

Chapter Eight: Continuation Everything was going as usual; it was the second half of July, and we were looking for work. Sasha and Maxim joined the search; Sasha was being mistreated a bit at Kroger and wanted another job, while Maxim was mostly just tagging along. Kirya and Sasha were the most intense in their search (out of desperation, they would ride really far). As for me, in search of harmony and solitude, I would throw pencils, sketchbooks, a water bottle, and a bike pump into my backpack (the tires were always going flat because they were punctured by nasty star-shaped weeds with sharp thorns) and ride off somewhere quiet to draw ponds, Catholic churches, and, of course, the ocean. One day, the four of us (us and Sasha) were wandering along the highway as usual in search of work. Seeing some construction site on 48th Avenue, we decided to turn in and ask if they needed any migrant workers. Not understanding anything from the Mexicans working there, we moved on. The path was narrow, with Kirya and Sasha riding in front and us with Sashka behind. Far ahead, a cyclist's figure was rapidly approaching us. That is the last thing I remember. Literally seconds later, I fell onto the asphalt from a heavy blow to my left arm. Lying on the ground, I heard someone screaming. As it turned out, Sasha and Kirya had chased after that cyclist. Coming to my senses, I saw Sashka, who was saying something and holding my left arm, which I was clutching with a death grip due to the unbearable pain. I don't know how much time passed, minutes or half an hour, when I finally opened my hand to the light of day. Something dangling at the wrist joint and covered in blood appeared before my eyes. The tendons (or I don't know what you call it) were torn, my fingers wouldn't move, and a bare bone was gaping at the knuckle of my ring finger. It was even scarier than the day I knocked out 8 teeth at once, scarier than the hip surgeries... I didn't know what to do or what was wrong with my hand. A woman ran out of a nearby restaurant and started pouring water on my hand and shoving napkins at me, saying that was all she had. We decided to go out to the highway. Then I was seized with terror. Kirya and Sasha had gone in pursuit and still hadn't returned! What if it was a bandit with a weapon?? Terrible thoughts plunged me into an even more horrific state. We went into a travel agency; the ladies there gave us their entire arsenal of medical supplies, and we went back out to the street. While Sashka was working on my lifeless hand, a terrifying roar of sirens approached from somewhere far away, as if an air raid was starting. A motorcade of all kinds of emergency services rushed past us and turned onto 48th Avenue. "What an unlucky street," I thought, "someone must have had something serious happen." I hadn't even finished that thought when a man ran out from around the corner of 48th Avenue and called to us, something like: "Hey, girls, aren't they looking for you over there?" We followed him and found ourselves at the epicenter of attention. Sasha and Kirya, who had appeared from somewhere, were talking over each other, telling the paramedics what had happened. They quickly examined me, put me on a stretcher, and shoved me into the ambulance. Kiryusha asked to come with me, and now we were heading who knows where. They put a miracle-pouch on my wrist that was constantly cold, even though it had no ice in it; Kirya and the rescue guy were talking about something... I won't ramble on; I'll just say that at the hospital, we had to wait quite a while for our turn to be examined. The hospital was incomparable to Russian ones. Bright, cheerful colors, no smell, paintings everywhere—both fine art and abstract. I was looking around with my mouth open. Anyway, my turn came. They examined me for a long time, took me for an X-ray (before the X-ray, they put some huge armor-suit and a helmet on me, placed my wrist on the table, and filmed it from different angles

ККириллstriklend · 27.10.2009Lesen

Six months ago, as a first-timer myself (not like now=)))))), I ran into a bunch of things that suddenly became urgent to solve, know, etc. They all stemmed from two eternal student troubles - lack of money and lack of time (lack of food wasn't in my plans back then)) and they were all conditionally divided into two categories. "How to do it cheaper and better?" and "Where to go?". So, I'll scratch my head about these sacred topics for a Work and Travel participant in my blog. Quest I. Preparation for departure. Choosing a program If we don't want to waste extra money and (very possibly) nerves, we choose the self-arranged program. Many had problems this year with tickets and offers from their agencies. Moreover, this program gives you almost unlimited (except for the borders of countries where you have visas) freedom of action. In fact, America, with the skill of finding ways to solve emerging problems being developed in it, starts now. We look for an offer by all possible means, at worst, we can contact the CMO office later, and we cross out the prices for such tickets from our arsenal of acceptable prices at least until the first biggest paycheck in the world. So, the program costs (let me check) - $650 for beginners. Ok. Let's add here everyone's favorite +$16+$17 - mandatory fees for the card and something else. In general, $700. Now we swear by Jet Li and Martin Luther that we won't give anything else to the enemy.

SSanSIDORSSR · 14.10.2009Lesen

Actually, I love flying just as much as taking the train. What attracts me here is something else: firstly, it is a much higher class of service, where they bring you food, take away trash, smile, and apologize when something goes wrong. Secondly, it is an opportunity for me to look at the architecture and city planning I love so much from a completely unusual angle. They look especially breathtaking at night. Thirdly, it is both a plus and a minus: unlike trains, planes are used by more affluent, and therefore more educated, cultured, and business-oriented people, with whom it can be very difficult to strike up a conversation, and you are forced to sit for the entire 10-hour flight in silence, staring at the cold porthole. However, the choice of airline is a moment that determines how comfortably your 10-20 hour flight will go. How many times and what you will be fed! What quality of headphones will be offered on board)) Actually, to be honest, in both the first and second year I did not choose an airline myself and bought tickets directly from the center, but if I suddenly have to fly next year, I will definitely buy tickets myself. Why? Because it will most likely be at least a little cheaper. I found Moscow-New York-Moscow tickets for my friend for only 14,000 rubles!!! It was Aerosvit with a layover in Kiev, but for that kind of money! There are many sites specifically for finding the cheapest tickets, but the most convenient and easy to use, in my opinion, is www.anywayanyday.com My second piece of advice is not to take a direct flight, but to make a layover in Europe. You will have a chance to see +1 country. But most importantly for me, you will have 2 flights lasting about 4-7 hours each, which means you will be fed as many as 4 times. If you fly a direct flight, you will only have 2 meals. The same fate awaits those who fly the now very popular Moscow-Washington-New York route. Since the Washington-New York flight is domestic and lasts only 1.3 hours, you are unlikely to be offered anything more substantial than a glass of juice. And the last piece of advice. Almost every airline, if not every one, has long had a loyalty program in its arsenal. This means that once you choose an airline, the miles you have traveled are credited to your account, and when you buy a ticket next time, you can often take advantage of a number of privileges by spending those very miles. The most worthy privileges, in my opinion, are: class upgrade, i.e., you fly business class but pay for economy, or a free ticket, where they simply hand you a free ticket, deducting the required number of miles from your account. So, to participate in such a loyalty program, you need to register on the official website of the airline and get your number, which you will present at check-in. Often, after registering on the site, you can choose the class of food you would like to enjoy on board (say, vegetarian or kosher) and the seat you would like to sit in. The names of such loyalty programs are Mileage Plus for United and Flying Blue for Air France.

SSanSIDORSSR · 14.10.2009Lesen

Actually, I like flying at least as much as traveling by train. What attracts me here is different: first, it's a much higher class of service, when they bring you food, take away the trash, smile, apologize when something goes wrong. Second, it's the opportunity for me to look at the architecture and layout of cities I love from a completely unusual angle. They look especially breathtaking at night. Third, and this is both a plus and a minus, planes, unlike trains, are used by more well-off people, which means more educated, cultured and businesslike people with whom it's often very difficult to start a conversation, and you're forced to sit through a whole 10-hour flight in silence, pressed up against the cold porthole. However, the choice of airline is a factor that determines how comfortable your 10-20 hours of flying will be. How many times and what you'll be fed! What quality of headphones they'll offer on board )) Actually, to be honest, in the first and second years I didn't choose an airline and bought tickets right from the center, but if I happen to have to fly the next year, I will definitely buy the tickets myself. Why? Because it's likely to be at least a little cheaper. I found Moscow–New York–Moscow tickets for my friend costing only 14,000 rubles!!! It was Aerosvit with a transfer in Kyiv, but for that kind of money! There are many sites specifically for finding the cheapest tickets, but the most convenient and easy to use, in my opinion, is www.anywayanyday.com The second tip is not to fly direct, but to connect in Europe. You'll get a chance to see one more country. But most importantly for me, you'll have two flights of about 4–7 hours each, which means you'll be fed as many as four times. If you fly a direct flight, you'll be served only twice. The same fate awaits those who fly the now very popular Moscow–Washington–New York route. Since the Washington–New York leg is domestic and lasts only 1.3 hours, you're unlikely to be offered anything more substantial than a glass of juice. And the last tip. Almost every airline, if not every one, has long had a loyalty program in its arsenal. This means that once you choose an airline, miles corresponding to the distance you have flown are credited to your account, and when you buy a ticket next time you can often use a number of privileges by spending those miles. The most worthwhile privileges, in my opinion, are: an upgrade in class of service, i.e. you fly business class while paying as for economy, or a free ticket — you're simply given a free ticket, debiting the necessary number of miles from your account. So, to participate in such a loyalty program you need to register on the airline's official website and get your number, which you will present at check-in. Often, after registering, you can already choose the type of meal you'd like to have on board (say, vegetarian or kosher) and the seat you'd like to sit in. The names of such loyalty programs are: for United it's Mileage Plus, for Air France it's Flying Blue.