Grand Central: ce qu’il y a autour, comment y aller et quand venir · 2026

NONatalia Opalevanatataolala · 15 déc. 2017Lire

My trip to the USA this summer wouldn't have been this cool without all the people I met during this time. To start with, the American mentality is strikingly different from ours. Anyone visiting this country for the first time will notice this. Just arriving at the New York airport, you start to notice how smiley (positive thinking), responsive (ready to help), neat, and cautious the residents are (saying "sorry" at any accidental touch, even if they just walked by and didn't touch you at all). This time I was very lucky with my workplace; you can get there from New York in half an hour from Grand Central station. While I was on my way, I suddenly realized that because of all the early exams, the hustle, and the packing before the trip, I didn't have any information other than the location of the workplace itself. I didn't know how many students would be there, who they were, or where they were from. Later it turned out that all the guys had found each other in advance and created a group chat that I wasn't in, so no one knew about me, and I was a real surprise for everyone. I also had a dilemma in my thoughts: was it right that my friend and I decided to go to different places again for the sake of practicing English, or would it have been more fun together? I also thought that I might be the first J-1 to arrive at work this season, since it was May 29th... On the first day, when I just arrived at our Country club, there was already an event taking place. In the main building, I found my boss, and she said she would send another J-1 to take me to our housing. I was burning with curiosity: who would it be?! And then a long-haired brunette came out and asked me in English where I was from. How much happiness was in her eyes after my answer. She asked again, "Russian?!!!" and hugged me tightly. No one had ever met me so joyfully before. On the way to our house, she managed to tell me a lot, that there were already four of them here: her and her friend, as well as two Slovaks. She said they had arrived a couple of days ago and for now, her friend was living with her in our four-person girls' room, but he would move to another one tomorrow. And so we lived the three of us in that room for a whole month until two Italian girls arrived, and our macho had to move out. Yes, we were just five of us there for a whole month. In the evenings, we went to our beach to watch movies or just sit on the internet, and not because we loved the beach (it was, of course, beautiful, but by evening it was overflowing with biting midges), but because that was the only place we had WiFi. And at night, returning late to the room, we would start conversations about life. Oh yes, perhaps one of my favorite activities this summer was philosophical conversations. We often talked about the differences between American and Russian cultures, and over time, when guys from other countries arrived, we shared our observations about their culture, and sometimes we argued. By the middle of the summer, all the hired J-1 students had arrived, and there were 13 of us. Of course, not everyone was able to become friends with each other or just find a common language, but everyone was able to gain valuable experience communicating with a native of another culture. We were also very lucky with some of our colleagues. For example, we had our cheerful Peruvian Raul, who shared something useful with us at every opportunity (for example, he gave us a refrigerator) and was always ready to take us to the store whenever we asked him. And also, the American James, who was in charge of the yachts in our club's harbor, won universal love. To say he was kind to us is an understatement. When we first met him, we found support in his eyes. He was like a kind American uncle whom we all came to visit. Once he took us to his favorite seafood restaurant, which, by the way, was in another city, so he had to drive there three nights in a row so that we could all visit it, talk to him, get t

EPElena Poliakovaelena_polyakova · 30 nov. 2015Lire

A short layover and here I am at the New York airport. You quickly grab your luggage and rush to get to your hostel, where you are already expected. When you are alone, it is a special experience. There is a certain magic in it too. I walked out with a backpack on my shoulders and a suitcase on wheels. I felt like a grain of sand in this huge metropolis. "Only now, looking at the stars whose names I did not know, did I realize how far I was from home. Not just from home — from the entire Earth. Infinitely far. Life seemed to have turned a few pages and started a new chapter. It is not yet known whether it is interesting or not, sad or cheerful. Just new. Only I — the main character — am the same." It was already evening and it was raining. When I left, it was raining, and upon arrival, the weather was the same. The only difference was that this was already a different country and there was no turning back. I successfully made it to the hostel, having talked to a traveler on the way. This was the first dialogue with someone who was a stranger to you, but so sincerely happy for you and for this opportunity to find yourself in a new world. I arrived at the hostel and found a desk with an InterExchange representative, where they kindly explained where to go and what to do. After the trip, I needed to sleep and recharge before a whole new day in New York. That feeling when you are in Manhattan, 15 minutes from the famous Times Square. At the hostel, I met a girl from Poland and her boyfriend, and the three of us spent our first morning in New York. We went to make copies, and then found a cozy cafe where we had breakfast together. (What was unusual was that in America, document copies are made in self-service mode and payment is made by card; few people knew this). It is so simple to sit and have breakfast with the same traveling students and tell each other about everything. When you cross the street in New York, you watch this cycle of movements of the locals. Everyone has a watch on their hands, and by 6:30, everyone is rushing to work. People who live in motion. A city that never sleeps. The weather was getting a little better. Already at 9 a.m., we were waiting for a lecture from our sponsor's representative about what awaits us and how to behave. We were fully instructed and had bracelets put on our hands. This bracelet accompanied me until the moment of departure. We were also given commemorative gifts, like t-shirts and pens, and we happily went about our business. For the first time, I had to face the American subway, so incomprehensible and frightening. When you need to get to a place and you absolutely do not know how to do it, you involuntarily start asking everyone. Everyone seems ready to help you, but New York is so big that not everyone knows all the places there. So I had to look for it myself. I managed to get lost in the subway, and besides, I learned Lesson number 1 here. Never rely on someone's help if it is not a police officer or an information service representative. A kind person who volunteered to help me took 20 dollars and sent me on the wrong path. And only later did I guess that I had been scammed for money. (We laughed for a long time that I didn't give him all the money). It was pouring rain, and in the end, I returned to the hostel. From there, we decided with that same couple to go for a walk around night New York. It was great, even though the weather was not pleasing. Wet but happy, we saw another world. Everything is in lights, in the beautiful windows of huge stores and in wonderful places. You make your way through the streets and meet places from once-beloved films on your way. I could never have imagined that I would be standing opposite the place from the ending of one of the parts of my favorite movie "Home Alone". I could not believe that here it is, the famous Grand Central Terminal with its stunning architecture, antique chandeliers, and incredible high vaulted ceilings. "Grand Central

ISIuliia Shamsutdinovashamsutdinovajn · 1 févr. 2015Lire

On days when I only had half a day off, my friends and I usually went to the beach or attended events for tourists like the Air Show, Miss America, etc. But things could have been much more interesting if I had turned 21, as I could have visited all the city's most famous casinos, but at that time I was only 20. Since I was working two jobs, it was very hard to coordinate a travel schedule, so as soon as we had overlapping days off, my friends and I would try to leave somewhere immediately—either to nearby Ocean City, New York, or Philadelphia. The latter will forever remain in my heart; there are so many museums in that city where you can walk endlessly, admiring the canvases of famous artists—the Art Museum alone is worth it! Despite the skyscrapers and the endless flow of traffic, the atmosphere in the city is calm; people on the streets play giant chess and checkers, moving the pieces with their whole bodies. There are also many universities and historical monuments in the city. By mid-August, I started slacking off and quit my second job to travel and sunbathe more. It so happened that a friend of mine had acquaintances living and working in Connecticut, and she suggested I go there for a couple of days. Of course, I agreed, especially since I always enjoyed planning routes. We decided to go through New York by train, so we had to get to Grand Central. Fortunately, it's located a few blocks from the bus station, and we found it quickly (IF YOU ARE AT GRAND CENTRAL, BE SURE TO LOOK AT THE CEILING; IT DEPICTS A STARRY SKY WITH ZODIAC SIGNS). Upon reaching the town of Clinton, I was a bit disappointed; it seemed very boring to me, and the water was colder because the state was further north. After returning and working for about another week, we planned a trip with friends to NIAGARA FALLS. The tour was organized by a Russian guy in a minivan. It took us about 8 hours to get there, but we couldn't really sleep the whole time because it was very cramped. And so we arrived, paid for admission—it's worth noting that the admission fee also includes free access to the museum, the aquarium, and most importantly, YOU CAN RIDE THE FERRY!!!! As soon as we saw that beautiful view of Canada and Niagara Falls, all our fatigue drowned in the Mariana Trench!!! My vocabulary isn't enough to describe all the feelings of delight we experienced there! True, there were some funny moments; for example, there are a lot of Canadian flags in that place, and at some point, there are so many that my friend declares: "We crossed the border into Canada, we're going to get arrested now and have huge problems." I try to calm her down in every way: "Canada is in the other direction, you can't just take and cross the border like that," but she doesn't calm down. As luck would have it, we got a little lost, and there was no one around. Finally, having miraculously gotten out of there, to calm my friend down, I ask a police officer: "Where is the border with Canada?" to which he replies: "It's on the bridge, and you still have to go through passport control before that." At that moment, I turn to my friend and ask with a touch of sarcasm: "Well? Did you visit Canada? Now you won't even have anything to brag about!" My work permit was expiring, and there were 1.5 weeks left until my flight, so I decided to visit my parents' friends and spend the remaining time with them. They lived near Washington, so we agreed to meet in Washington and walk around the local attractions on the National Mall and, of course, see the White House! Of course, it's impossible to walk around everything in one day; we didn't go into the museums (for the record, they are very interesting, and most of them are free), and it just so happened that vandals had spray-painted the Lincoln Memorial the day before, so in all the photos, there are workers cleaning it... So, I spent the next 1.5 weeks relaxing in a small town where the only entertainment was shopping. There were a lot of outlet

MMarinaMarina_Nagibina · 26 nov. 2011Lire

After reaching Washington, we were so exhausted that all our plans to visit a museum (at least one in 2 years) were canceled. I suggested to Lyusya that we go to my place to spend the night, freshen up, and then with renewed energy, see a bit of Washington early in the morning before heading to New York. The decision was unanimous. We went home, I introduced Lyusya to all my housemates, and we went to the store to buy some real food instead of the stuff you eat on the road to save time. (We usually ate subs, and that smell makes me feel sick now—Subway has such a specific sandwich smell). We had to get up very early at 5 AM to catch the first bus to the metro to get to Washington faster and then catch the next bus to NYC. We arrived in Washington around 7 AM, decided to have breakfast on the lawn near the monument (we brought yogurt), then walked from the monument to the bus station, passing the Capitol and some museums (but we didn't have time to visit them, and they don't open that early). Reaching the station, we bought the next available ticket—the bus was leaving in 15 minutes—and quickly hopped on. As we approached NYC, the weather turned bad again with a heavy downpour. By the time we reached the hostel, it was already 4 PM. They told us there was a problem with our booking: we had one night for two people and another for one. We tried to find another hostel, but everything was booked, so we had to trick the hostel a little. But first, we had to postpone all our plans for conquering NYC until the next day because we only had a little time left that day, and the day after that, we only had a few hours before Lyusya's flight back to Oklahoma and my return to Virginia. So, I suggested spending the rest of the day in Chinatown buying souvenirs. I already knew where to go, so I immediately bought magnets and T-shirts of decent quality and returned to the hostel with peace of mind so we wouldn't have to rush or stress about souvenirs the next day. The next day, we got up as early as possible and went at a gallop. First, we took the boat to Staten Island to see the Statue of Liberty. We had breakfast at the ferry terminal building, then rushed back to the Brooklyn Bridge. I wanted my dream to finally come true and walk across that bridge (last year, my sprained ankle didn't allow it). We crossed the bridge and ended up on the Brooklyn side—it's so beautiful there! We walked around the park, took a bunch of beautiful photos against the Manhattan skyline, strolled a bit through nearby Brooklyn, and headed back to Manhattan. Then we headed towards Central Park. Last year, I didn't get to walk around it much; this time we covered only half, but we reached the famous fountain and the hemisphere where the beginning of Step Up 3 was filmed. Then we tried to find a place to have dinner, but it dragged on because I really wanted to find a Cheesecake Factory in NYC, but it wasn't there. We had to look for another place. Then we gathered our strength and walked around the nearby streets, then wandered into Grand Central Terminal, where many famous movies were filmed. After that, we decided to walk to Times Square, walked around, and sat on the famous steps. It's so comfortable there, crowds of people, everyone going somewhere, everything moving. That's exactly where you realize there are 7 billion people in the world. After that, we walked a bit more, but we had no energy left, and we got to the hostel around 1 AM. I tried to stay awake with Lyusya in the lobby, which had sofas and a TV, so I wouldn't leave her alone, but I had no strength. I went to sleep for a bit and ended up sleeping for almost half the night. Then we quickly checked out, left our bags in storage, and went shopping and just walked around without rushing. But after a while, I had to see Lyusya off to the right subway line going to the airport, take a walk myself, and then go to the bus station and head home.

AZAssel Zholdasbekasel200303kz · 12 déc. 2025Lire

Assel Zholdasbek on Instagram: "Our route:🚴🏻‍♀️ Station🚉 Harlem -125 St (NY) Marcus Garvey Park Columbia University Central Park Apple Store 5th Avenue Pier 84 Hudson River Park Times Square Grand Central 🚉 ——— I've dreamed of cycling through New York for a long time😻 a little bit about something: The most amazing thing is that we started our day at Columbia University and finished at Times Square, where we met a master's student from the SAME university. And then we found out that he graduated from the SAME university where I am currently studying - MNU/KAZGUU. (He was the first Kazakh I've met in the USA in the three months I've been here😹) On the way home on the train, I remembered another student whom my friends and I met on the "Pirates of the Baltic Sea" cruise. He is doing his second master's degree in Finland. In Boston, there are also two Kazakh girls from NIS Shymkent, both named Assel: one graduated from Yale University and now works at Harvard, the other just started her master's degree there. ——— Such stories inspire me incredibly. You hear their stories, and the thought immediately pops into your head: "Wait, was that even possible?" It's interesting that these people don't even suspect it) Thank you, you are the best!!! Magzhan Zhumabayev was right when he said "I believe in the youth"🥹 IEC Tik Tok: @iec_1989 IEC YouTube: @iecriga Video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-1x9u3NwUP/?igsh=MWQxeW1pZmJ0NHpxcQ==

MMarinaMarina_Nagibina · 26 nov. 2011Lire

After reaching Washington, we were so exhausted that all our plans to visit a museum (at least one in 2 years) were canceled. I suggested to Lyusya that we go to my place to spend the night, freshen up, and then with renewed energy, see a bit of Washington early in the morning before heading to New York. The decision was unanimous. We went home, I introduced Lyusya to all my roommates, we went to the store, bought real food instead of the stuff you eat on the road, saving a lot of time. (We usually ate subs, and that smell makes me feel sick now—Subway has such a specific sandwich smell). We had to get up very early at 5 AM to catch the first bus to the metro to get to Washington faster and jump on the nearest bus to NY. We reached DC around 7 AM, decided to have breakfast on the lawn near the monument (we brought yogurt), then walked from the monument to the bus station, passing the Capitol and some museums (but we didn't have time to visit them, and they don't open that early). Reaching the station, we bought the nearest ticket—the bus was leaving in 15 minutes—and quickly hopped on. Approaching NY, the weather turned bad again with a heavy downpour. By the time we got to the hostel, it was already 4 PM. They told us there was a problem with our booking: we had one night for two people and another for one. We tried to find another hostel, but everything was full, so we had to trick the hostel a little. But first, we had to move all our plans for conquering NY to the next day because we only had a little time left that day, and the day after that, we had a few hours before Lyusya's flight back to Oklahoma and my return to Virginia. So, I suggested spending the rest of the day in Chinatown buying souvenirs. I already knew where to go and immediately bought magnets and T-shirts of decent quality, returning to the hostel with peace of mind so we wouldn't have to rush or stress about souvenirs the next day. The next day, we got up as early as possible and went at a gallop. First, we took the boat to Staten Island to see the Statue of Liberty. We had breakfast at the ferry terminal building, then rushed back to the Brooklyn Bridge. I wanted my dream to finally come true and walk across that bridge (last year my sprained ankle didn't allow it). We crossed the bridge and ended up on the Brooklyn side—it's so beautiful there! We walked around the park, took a bunch of beautiful photos against the Manhattan skyline, strolled a bit through nearby Brooklyn, and headed back to Manhattan. Then we headed towards Central Park. Last year I didn't manage to walk around it much; this time we covered only half, but we reached the famous fountain and the hemisphere where the beginning of Step Up 3 was filmed. Then we tried to find a place for dinner, but it dragged on because I really wanted to find a Cheesecake Factory in NY, but it wasn't there. We had to look for another place. Then we gathered our strength and walked around the nearby streets, then wandered into Grand Central Station, where many famous movies were filmed. After that, we decided to walk to Times Square, walked around, and sat on the famous steps. It's so comfortable there, crowds of people, everyone going somewhere, everything moving. That's exactly where you realize there are 7 billion people in the world. After that, we walked a bit more, but we had no strength left for anything else, and we got to the hostel around 1 AM. I tried to stay awake with Lyusya in the lobby, which had sofas and a TV, so as not to leave her alone, but I had no strength. I went to sleep for a bit and ended up sleeping through almost half the night. Then we quickly checked out, left our bags in storage, and went shopping and just walked around without rushing. But after a while, I had to see Lyusya off to the right subway line going to the airport, take a walk myself, and then go to the bus station to head home.