Κουίνς: Ταξιδιωτικός οδηγός, τιμές και δωρεάν διαμονή · 2026

MKMeruyert Khamzabayeva1 Φεβ 2015Διάβασμα

Good day to you :) Almaty Airport. June 2nd. 9 AM. I never imagined what it would be like to fly so far away from my loved ones, to the other side of the world. And yet, my dream came true - I am just a few meters from passport control! The internal struggle between joy and sadness didn't leave me until the first step onto the plane's ramp. This is it! Off to chase my American dream! :) My companion was a childhood friend who was the initiator of our trip. Back in March, some guys from the coveted NYC who happened to be among my Instagram followers kindly offered to meet us upon arrival. Dangerous, risky? Perhaps, but they were our own people, fellow countrymen. And so, having desperately slept through the entire flight, waiting for sleepless walks through the night "city of dreams," we finally arrived. Honestly, not expecting to see our newly minted guides. But then the door opens, and two breathless guys are scanning the airport hall... We hadn't even left the building when a completely new scent hit our noses: heavy, yet somehow familiar. New York spread its evening embrace. Of course, on the way, we couldn't believe our eyes: skyscrapers, buildings, people, highways, the Brooklyn Bridge... No matter how detailed I describe it, everyone will have their own bouquet of enthusiastic emotions :) Destination: a restaurant. It was completely unexpected, having arrived in America, to see a menu in Russian and mugs with national ornaments :) Yes, this is all Brooklyn. Not having had time to miss "our" food, we wondered why exactly here. The answer was: "By the end of the summer, you'll start going crazy without our dishes." Shrugging our shoulders, we didn't argue. After parting ways with the guys, we took a taxi towards Manhattan... Driving along the avenues, littered with hundreds of shops and cafes, I silently marveled at how familiar everything seemed... Surely everyone has had that feeling? Apparently, it's all the influence of Hollywood movies. After walking around, we were quite tired and went to a hotel in the Queens area. In the morning, we overslept breakfast at the hotel and headed to a nearby grocery store. How pleasing it was to the eye to see small, bright, and so cozy houses along the street. But Queens is a more "African American" area, so at first, it was a little scary. To avoid living on the outskirts of the city, book hotels and hostels in advance. We took about an hour to get to Manhattan by subway. But every time, returning after the huge metropolis to our secluded and quiet area, we felt at home :) The following two days in NY were spent in unity with the city itself and its residents. The free and welcoming mentality of Americans will win the heart of any resident of any post-Soviet state. And that is very encouraging :) Excluding the details about exploring New York, I will add that we were in search of relatively cheap tickets on Greyhound to the coastal town of Myrtle Beach, SC. I repeat, book everything in advance. Ticket found! $75, 15 hours, 4 transfers. Given the frantic pace of life in NY, we slept peacefully for almost the entire bus ride.

LKLyudmila Kovalevamila_kovaleva · 15 Οκτ 2011Διάβασμα

Around 11 a.m. on July 29, we finally landed at JFK airport, safe and sound... Honestly, I had spent a long time imagining this moment—stepping off the plane and taking my first steps in New York, playing the Jay-Z and Alicia Keys song in my head) But in reality, it wasn't as magical or exciting, because all I could think about was: “Oh my God, we are in America, on a completely different continent, so far from home! What are we supposed to do?!”) But God didn't answer, and I felt more and more panic and anxiety) I think everyone who goes on the Work and Travel program expects something grand and unrealistically awesome... I want to warn other dreamers like me right away and bring them down to earth: America is not another planet, and the people living there are just as ordinary as you and me (well, maybe a little strange, but only at first... later you'll get used to it and become just like them)) And the air there, by the way, is the same, and the sky is no bluer than ours... I'm writing this because I myself thought that even breathing in the USA would feel somehow special.) Well, anyway, we arrived at JFK, picked up our luggage, and went through security. A nice gentleman looked at our documents, stamped our passports with the I-94 form (a small piece of paper that you absolutely cannot lose, and you must return it when you leave), and wished us a great summer. After that, we happily wandered off to find representatives from our agency so they could tell us how to get to the Port Authority bus station. To our great disappointment, we found out that since we arrived at the end of June, the agency representatives were no longer meeting anyone... And right then, a Russian immigrant man ran up to us, deciding to profit from poor, lost students. He started offering us various services for almost “peanuts,” but we politely declined and went outside. There, we saw a guy we had flown with on the plane, and he advised us to take a Shuttle Bus that was just about to leave. This Shuttle Bus took us to Port Authority for 18 bucks. While we were driving to our station, I somehow managed to hold back my emotions... JFK itself is located in Queens, and honestly, there wasn't much to see there. But as soon as we entered Manhattan, it was like I ended up in the “Sex and the City” series. Life in this city doesn't just flow, it boils... crowds of people everywhere, everyone is in a hurry, everyone is busy with their own business... and all around are huge billboards, advertisements, and more people, taxis... Well, anyway, they brought us right to the Port Authority building, we grabbed our luggage, and went inside. Port Authority is a huge building with tons of cafes, shops, information desks, etc., on every floor. We somehow found the place where they sold tickets for Greyhound (a very famous company providing bus transportation within America). And that's where we had to decide exactly where we were going. A ticket to Cody, the town I desperately wanted to visit, cost a whole 265 bucks (per person, of course), and it took 3 whole days to get there... all of this didn't make Asel very happy, and she started trying to persuade me to go to some other, closer state... But I wasn't going to back down from my goal, and in the end, we had 2 tickets to Cody with a buuuunch of transfers) Unfortunately, the ticket was for the next day, and we needed somewhere to spend the night since we were exhausted from the long journey. We dropped off our luggage right there at Port Authority, paying about 8 bucks each. Stepping outside, we felt the so-called “culture shock” in full force. Perhaps that was the moment I started disliking this New York... how do people even live there?! The city, in fact, is terribly dirty... I guess I'll be the only person who didn't like this praised New York, but a city this noisy and crowded just isn't for me... I felt like I was suffocating there... We couldn't even step aside and think calmly—there were people everywhere! W

DDream-landguest_16012 · 1 Οκτ 2009Διάβασμα

Here is my first letter home: I really enjoyed flying by plane)) It was a bit scary the first time during takeoff and landing, I guess it's like that for everyone) I sat by the window)) I wanted to bathe in the clouds, the view over the mountains and continents was unreal—like from space! The food was tasty (though maybe we were just very hungry), everything was packaged so coolly)) I especially remember the wine, they poured it in full glasses)) They also played various movies) Our airline was Alitalia, with a layover in Rome. The luggage arrived without any losses! Everything is good with us, except for minor problems!!! We don't have money yet to buy a laptop, so we use the internet at the library, the time is limited here, only 1 hour per day! But the internet is free everywhere—wi-fi! We spent all our first days in New York trying to find work and housing! Now we are already living in an apartment (or rather, in the basement of a private house). The owners are an elderly Russian (or rather, Jewish) couple!!! We found it in 4 days))) Before that, we lived in a hostel (in Chinatown) in a small, cramped room (we booked it 4 days in advance). At first, there was no time to even walk around the city because of various errands, we were always sleepy and hungry!! We saved on food, I lived almost entirely on bananas so that we could pay for the apartment, we had to pay a deposit for 2 months immediately, $700 per person. We lost a little weight)) We often bought something at a diner, the portions here are huge everywhere, you can stretch them for the whole day! Now our "torments" are behind us!!! It's a 2-room apartment, a small kitchen, a shower, generally okay! There was little furniture there, but gradually we dragged a lot of useful things into the house! Here, it's customary to put everything out by the road on trash day, and on the way home, we found many interesting things for ourselves: leather chairs, a TV with a rolling shelf, and a dresser)) Only there is nowhere to do laundry (you can do it for money at a laundromat). So we all walk around in dirty and wrinkled clothes) We will pay $1050 a month for the three of us (including utility bills!) The area is very quiet and calm (Briarwood, Queens), it reminds me of a cottage settlement. There are many shops around, even Russian ones, it's a 15-minute walk to the subway... It takes half an hour to get to Manhattan. In general, we like everything!!! Now we can cook food at home)) I already spotted all our cereals (the brands are the same) and black bread in a Russian store)) We walked around the city and went shopping several times)) It just blows your mind with the abundance of things (prices in the city center are much lower than at our market, and the items are good, famous brands!!!) So we dreamed a little)) New York itself is a city of dreams: huge skyscrapers, crowds of people from different corners of the world, everything around is bright and unreal, as if you ended up in a movie!!!)) The only drawback is the subway! It can't be compared to the Moscow one—it's dirty, ugly, doesn't run as often, and the map is very confusing! On the weekend, we went in the evening on the free ferry near the Statue of Liberty!!! BEAUTY... everything is in lights!!! And we also went to the famous Brighton Beach! Russians everywhere, everything is covered in trash, lots of people, and the water is cold! Not very good impressions of the beach! For a week now, there has been wild heat outside!!! But everywhere indoors and in the subway, it's very cold because of the air conditioning! So I have to carry a jacket with me constantly! I even caught a slight cold) We recently bought a liter of rum!!)) We celebrated our move-in)) We already have a friend, Valdo—an American)) He helps us look for work and promised to drive us around the city in his car! I barely understand Americans((( I only understand standard questions and compliments)) There are a lot of handsome guys, which you can't say abo

Searching, searching, searching... I'd been tired of looking for a job for a long time, but out of habit, I was still checking craigslist.com, just in case something interesting popped up. Though by now, we were mostly looking at ads for a laugh, since we'd sometimes find funny ones—like, 'seeking donors for Jewish testicles' or 'professional dog walking' (with experience, and practically a degree in veterinary medicine...). I stumbled upon another ad that said they needed a bartender with no experience. I sent another email into the void. But this time, a reply came back: wheredoyoulive? I replied that I lived in Brooklyn and waited impatiently for a response, which took forever! I had already imagined myself behind the bar, making cocktails... Then another message came, saying, 'come for an interview, ask for Rachel.' And an address was provided... From my house, if I was lucky, I could get there by 2 trains and 1 bus in about 2 hours, or even 1.5 if I didn't have to wait... Of course, I wasn't thrilled, since it was in the middle of nowhere in Queens. But I didn't lose heart, and the first time I got there, I realized it wasn't all that bad—hehe, it was absolutely terrifying! I was lucky I didn't get lost! I filled out an application and that was it... That's it??? How is that it?? I traveled so far, and they won't even talk to me? I was angry, very angry! Well, what else could I expect? The only thing that saved my nerves was that Rachel turned out to be very sweet; she gave me the owner's phone number, and we even chatted a bit (though mostly she did the talking). After a while, another email arrived, inviting me to a real interview. Yes, yes, the owner talked to me; he was a funny old guy, and he liked me right away) But unfortunately, I didn't get the job, but he suggested I come by and practice bartending skills. Maybe—or rather, most likely—he suggested it hoping I'd say no, but I decided it wouldn't hurt! And the very next evening, I set off to take bartending lessons. It was an unforgettable evening! First of all, the atmosphere in the bar was very pleasant; everything was decorated in a Hawaiian style! Secondly, there was a jukebox where you could play music. Thirdly, everyone tried to give me advice (including the customers), and I was doing pretty well. Of course, I immediately met all the regulars. Nick looked like an actor—he had such a beautiful face, long hair, and a bit of a rocker look. He told me his ex-girlfriend was Russian and shared his knowledge of Russian words) We even made a cocktail together when Rachel went somewhere and a customer ordered a drink. Joker—he asked for a beer, and you know there isn't much room behind the bar to walk around, so I took a beer from the fridge and opened it, and Don (the bar owner) handed it to Joker, but he didn't take it and said he wanted to get the beer from me... so after laughing a bit, Don and I swapped places, and the customer got his order... that was when I got my first tips in that bar))) I felt like I was just visiting, but Don said I earned that money and could take it. Of course, I mostly just poured beer, and the real bartender did the rest, but it was still very interesting, and I chatted a lot with the customers... many even tried to ask me out on dates) In the evening, the bartender changed, and I was in the company of tall, very tall Chris)) against his background, I was just a little kid. He also taught me a couple of lessons, but it was getting late, and I still had to get out of that remote neighborhood. I didn't want to leave, but I had to say goodbye to this funny place, which I really likedJ Svetik really liked my story (here, of course, I described everything briefly and not everything, but believe me—a bar is a special atmosphere), and next time, we went together to learn the craft... In the photo, it's me and Chris (the big and small bartender)

VSViktoryia Stsepanchuk8 Ιουλ 2014Διάβασμα

Say Hello! I had never been this far from home before. So I was overwhelmed with both joy and a slight fright. I knew that I would definitely get to the States someday, but I didn't think it would happen so soon. It seemed like just recently we and the guys were gathering a huge pile of documents, attending an interview at the embassy in Krakow and buying plane tickets. And now I'm already walking along the beach in Atlantic City, trying to distract myself from not very successful job searches. But now, everything in order. I had heard about the Work&Travel USA program for a long time, but only seriously considered it last fall when the guys suggested I apply together with them. If, like us, you want to go to the USA with Work&Travel, I advise you to have a substantial amount of money on hand, which, as practice shows, in most cases is returned, and, most importantly, nerves of steel! I know it looks simple from the outside: documents, fees, interview, the coveted visa — and you're on a plane to New York. In reality, finding a job offer, preparing for interviews, the agonizing wait for a response from the sponsor — all of this is not easy at all. In any case, we did it and now we are on the other side of the ocean. Let's go! New York Day #1 Our plane landed at John F. Kennedy Airport at 9 p.m. Tired from the flight, we went to find a way to get to the city center. Right from JFK we took the Air Train, a ticket for which costs 5$. But before delivering passengers to the nearest subway station, the Air Train took us around all the terminals of the airport. The ride in the subway cost us 2,50, and thus we reached Queens Plaza station. By the way, in the subway we purchased a special reusable ticket for all types of transport, to which a certain amount is loaded for fares. If you are going to stay in NY for a few days, I advise you to load more than 5$ so you won't waste time in lines later. The dumbest mistake was going to New York without booking accommodation there in advance and hoping to find something upon arrival. This is not at all like me, because in such cases I am used to thinking through everything in detail beforehand. But this time I hoped everything would work out by itself. As a result, we searched for a hotel for about 2-3 hours, because at 11 p.m. there were no rooms left in hotels. And when we finally found a free room, we faced a new problem: at the reception they asked us for id (passport or another document proving that one of us is 21 years old). As you might have guessed, none of us is twenty-one yet. It was pouring cold rain outside, we didn't even have a chance to change clothes, and the huge suitcases complicated the search for a hotel. In general, somehow a nice girl at the reception took pity on us and let us stay overnight. And yes, you won't believe it, but the biggest challenge of the day turned out to be trying to take a shower. The room was far from cheap, and the shower was the strangest I have ever seen, because we still couldn't figure out how it works. Or we missed something, I don't even know. Day #2 Breakfast at the hotel turned out to be very tasty. There was everything I love: yogurts, fruit, omelet, cereal with milk and various drinks. But for the second night we needed to find cheaper accommodation where we would not have to provide id. This time, on the tip from an acquaintance, we went in search of a motel near Brighton Beach. Note: sometimes it's better to take a taxi than to drag huge suitcases in 30-degree heat. Although maybe someone, like us, doesn't look for the easy way. Thank heaven, we were able to easily find that very motel, which, by the way, also turned out to be not cheap, and check into it, so we immediately threw our things and headed to Times Square. I can't say that I had many impressions of the city, because we spent very little time there. We walked around Times Square, the streets of Brooklyn, saw the famous Empire State Building, drank a lot of Iced Coffee at the

VSViktoryia Stsepanchuk8 Ιουλ 2014Διάβασμα

Say Hello! I have never been so far from home before. That's why I was filled with both joy and a slight sense of fear at the same time. I knew that someday I would definitely make it to the States, but I didn't think it would happen so soon. It felt like just recently my friends and I were gathering a huge pile of documents, going through the embassy interview in Krakow, and buying plane tickets. And now, I'm already walking along the beach in Atlantic City, trying to distract myself from a not-so-successful job search. But let's take things one step at a time. I had heard about the Work and Travel USA program for a long time, but I only started thinking about it seriously last autumn when my friends suggested I apply with them. If you, like us, want to go to the USA with Work and Travel, I advise you to stock up on significant funds—which, as practice shows, are returned in most cases—and, most importantly, nerves of steel! I know, from the outside it looks simple: documents, fees, an interview, the coveted J-1 Visa – and you're on a plane to New York. In reality, finding a job offer, preparing for interviews, and the agonizing wait for a response from the sponsor—all of this is not easy at all. In any case, we did it and are now on the other side of the ocean. Let's go! New York Day #1 Our plane landed at JFK Airport at 9 PM. Tired after the flight, we set out to find a way to get to the city center. Directly from JFK, we took the Air Train, a ticket for which costs $5. But before taking passengers to the nearest subway station, the Air Train took us around all the airport terminals. The subway ride cost us $2.50, and that's how we reached the Queens Plaza station. By the way, in the subway, we purchased a special reusable ticket for all types of transport, onto which a certain amount is credited for travel. If you are planning to stay in NY for a few days, I advise you to load more than $5 so you don't waste time in queues later. The stupidest mistake was going to New York without booking accommodation in advance, hoping to find something upon arrival. This is not like me at all, because in such cases I am used to thinking through every detail in advance. But this time, I hoped everything would work out on its own. As a result, we spent about 2-3 hours looking for a hotel, because at 11 PM there were no rooms left in the hotels. And when we finally found a vacant room, we faced a new problem: at the reception, they asked for an ID (a passport or other document confirming that one of us is 21 years old). As you might have guessed, none of us are twenty-one yet. It was raining cold outside, we didn't even have the chance to change clothes, and the huge suitcases made the hotel search difficult. In short, somehow the nice girl at the reception took pity on us and let us stay the night. And yes, you won't believe it, but the biggest challenge of the day turned out to be trying to take a shower. The room was far from cheap, and the shower was the strangest one I've ever seen because we couldn't figure out how it worked. Or maybe we didn't understand something, I don't even know. Day #2 Breakfast at the hotel turned out to be very delicious. It had everything I love: yogurts, fruits, omelets, cereal with milk, and various drinks. But for the second night, we needed to find cheaper accommodation where we wouldn't have to provide an ID. And this time, following a tip from a guy we knew, we went in search of a motel near Brighton Beach. Note: sometimes it's better to take a taxi than to drag huge suitcases in 30-degree heat. Although, maybe someone, like us, doesn't look for the easy way. Thank heavens, we managed to find that motel without any problems, which, by the way, also turned out to be not cheap, and checked into it, so we immediately dropped our things and headed to Times Square. I can't say that I have many impressions of the city because we spent very little time there. We walked around Times Square, the streets of Broo