Smith: Guia de viagem, preços e alojamento gratuito · 2026

OKOlga Kovachol-kovach · 8 de dez. de 2017Ler

Story 2: Oh, New York, New York… Chap.1 Yeah boy Manhattan, skyscrapers, The Great Gatsby, avenues… – That’s how I imagined New York for 20 years. And then… The plane lands, the passport is stamped, the suitcase is picked up… and from the taxi window, to an Aerosmith song, you inhale the wind of freedom… (which is supposed to make your hair flutter, of course). Oh boy (as Americans would say). Geographical ecstasy. But after 5 minutes in Times Square, you realize that this very wind, on whose wings you flew from Balandino airport to JFK, is firmly and long-soaked with the scent of homeless people sleeping on every corner, handsome guys, and the smell of trash rotting on the sidewalks of the unofficial capital of the USA. “You just went to the wrong places!” they tell me in response to my indignation. Seriously? The wrong places? Where should I have gone? Why did no one warn me that Wall Street would smell bad, and on Fifth Avenue, I would have to do a grand battement over a sewage river? Well, yeah, we didn't see any homeless people in Central Park, consider yourself lucky. Fine, we were just “in the wrong place,” okay. Chap.2 Subway surf If your life is too calm, then, as they say, “Welcome!”. So, on Kasimina (see story #1), an African-American grandmother leaned over to rest on the subway. Standing up. And that would be fine, but for some reason, when she woke up, she exclaimed with a dissatisfied face: “Miss!”. Like: “Hey, woman, why aren't you holding me?” Lifehack: in any confusing situation in the USA, start speaking Russian. Even the most brazen ones don't know how to respond to our polite: “Young man, unfortunately, I don't understand a word of this gibberish you just uttered.” Problems are usually solved with one sentence. Any word with our Russian “rrrrr” sound scares people: they raise their eyebrows, nod respectfully, and walk away silently. This worked always and everywhere, but not at the “Brooklyn Bridge” subway station, where I again said with an impassive look to a tanned gentleman that I didn't know how to speak his language. And then he replied with his tanned mouth: “You understand everything. And I remember you.” Really? Just… You would remember, there’s no one else white here besides Kasimina and me. #saynotoracism Chap.3 This side of Brooklyn Bridge As you guessed, we spent the last 2 days of our stay in the USA living in Brooklyn. It’s a place where if your skin color is even slightly lighter than the earth, you are “beautiful”. And I don't even know what hardened me more: 3 years of studying at the “heat engineering” department or 2 days of living in Brooklyn. Anyway, not a bad experience. Sharing: A) “Hey Arnold!” was “filmed” in Brooklyn. B) We lived in a house like “Hey Arnold!”’s. C) Not with Arnold, but with his tanned friend Gerald. D) And with other very tanned guys. E) Better lock the door at night. F) And push the wardrobe. Against the door. Another lifehack: if you belong to this very “beautiful” category, then even on a hot day in Brooklyn, don't forget to wear something baggy that hides your body from neck to toe. The main thing is not to attract attention: nobody likes show-offs. Although no. They like them too much. #usatoday #tobecontinued

NBNatasha Belyaevasolnyshko_1994 · 30 de nov. de 2015Ler

Washington in five words: heat, art, free, silence, and running. That is exactly how I remember it. National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden All students coming to the States for the summer can be roughly divided into two categories. The first are those who earn money for crazy trips around the country; the second are those who slave away at three (I'm exaggerating) jobs without days off to take all their earnings home. My Czech friend Michael and I were somewhere in the middle. Neither here nor there. We worked 14 hours a day and dreamed of getting away somewhere, but it just didn't work out: either our days off didn't coincide, or the weather spoiled the fun, or we just wanted to sleep in. In August, realizing that if we waited any longer, our dreams would go down the drain, we decided to act. Where to go? "W" - Washington - it's close, interesting, and budget-friendly. Still the same National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden After going through dozens of possible "how to get there" options, we settled on E-Point. 60 dollars round trip – at 9:30 AM you are at your destination, at 10 PM you are back in the center of our native Bethany – perfect. The first thing we noticed upon arrival was how quiet it was all around. I was prepared to see colorful crowds of people rushing everywhere as soon as I got off the bus, but in the end, the only semblance of a crowd that caught my eye was a group of toddlers that an attendant was vainly trying to get to move in the right direction. People, where are you? Going to Washington for 1 day is a bit of a stretch. We rushed around the National Mall, trying, as they say, to grasp the ungraspable. The phrase of the day became "come on, faster, we still need to make it there." National Museum of Natural History, National Air and Space Museum (must see!), Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Capitol, White House, National World War II Memorial – we ran through all of this as fast as we could. Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum At the National Museum of Natural History, I spent a long time reading the information on the billboards dedicated to the ocean and the origin of life on Earth - tired of waiting, Michael came up with a great thing: "Listen, do like the Chinese: take photos of everything, and you'll read it at home, come on!" I admit, for lack of another choice, I did just that later on. It's embarrassing, but what can you do. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Most of the time was spent at the National Gallery of Art. Expecting to run through it in an hour, once we got inside, we immediately realized that we would fail this mission, gave up on everything, and began to slowly move from hall to hall with our mouths open. Monet, Van Gogh, Da Vinci, and Warhol – could I have even dreamed of this? At five in the evening, we felt as if we had walked a hundred kilometers in the desert – we wanted to lie down on the grass somewhere and not move. And we also wanted to eat. By the way, about food. For a whole hour, we wandered around the National Mall, trying, as it turned out, absolutely in vain, to find at least one working stall with burgers and hot dogs. Five o'clock is the approximate closing time for all the Mall's attractions, and "food," as I realized, works on the same schedule. We sadly remembered how in the morning, to lighten the weight of our backpacks, we stuffed the leftovers of our packed lunch into ourselves – fools! Who knew. My advice to those who are going to visit Wash – go to the city for a couple of days. Without thinking. It's worth it. And plan in advance what exactly you want to see, because the number of museums collected within this place can drive you crazy. There is an outlet here for absolutely everyone, whether you are a creative soul or a fan of ancient history. And yes, no skyscrapers or shocking buildings – all Washington buildings are elegantly strict, as if to say, look, I'm neo-Got

НКНаталия Карпенкоmoscowmain_788129278804 · 21 de out. de 2012Ler

It's a nightmare! I've been looking for housing for several days, but all my attempts are absolutely useless! There are no options to rent a room in Smithtown at all! None whatsoever, unless it's an entire apartment or house, and that, obviously, is way too expensive for me. Plus, living with Rich is getting tiresome; I feel like I'm imposing on his family and him... Even though these Americans are so sweet, saying everything is fine and I can stay as long as I want. Rich tells me I can stay at his place at least until next Tuesday. But I have a strong desire to move out as soon as possible. Yesterday we went to look at one place, the cheapest one we could find, for $475 a month in the neighboring town of Port Jeff. This potential place is located near the train station, so I would be able to commute to work by train, since my cafe is right next to the Smithtown station. But this place is just something else. If it weren't for the price, I might have agreed. A man in a long orange robe opened the door for us. He led us through the backyard into some strange structure and showed us the room. It was unfurnished, just one dresser, the window was half-boarded up, and you could hear the trains passing by perfectly. And the strange owner of this dwelling turned out to be a Buddhist monk, by the way) He said that, in principle, he could provide a bed. But Rich and I left this as a last resort if we don't find anything else. Today we went to see another place, where a sweet grandma is renting out a room. But it's a bit expensive for me, $540 a month. Besides, the room is for 2 people, but if a roommate appears, the rent stays the same. Tomorrow we'll go to another place. And they said, damn it, that it's not hard to find housing in America... I don't know about everywhere else, but in my town and the surrounding areas, it's pretty tough. Honestly, I'm ready to move anywhere just so I don't bother Rich in his house. I can't do this. And Rich is truly a great person. I don't do anything at all; he solves everything for me—calls people, makes arrangements, drives me to and from work, and feeds me. And on top of that, I'm living at his place for free.

НКНаталия Карпенкоmoscowmain_788129278804 · 4 de out. de 2012Ler

Fear gripped me again this morning. I clearly understand my situation right now - alone, in a foreign country, without housing, without acquaintances, with a limited amount of money, and it is unknown what will happen next. I'm shivering, and my hands are struggling to pack my suitcase to set off. But isn't this what I wanted for so long? I guess I should take it all easier and catch the positive vibes) After all, I am in America! Packed my things, said goodbye to Greg, and even made it to Penn Station without any adventures. There, I started asking everyone how to buy a train ticket and get to my town. But in the end, when I figured out all these intricacies and arrived at the indicated platform, the train left right under my nose, right before my eyes! And the next one is only in 1.5 hours. I'm already late for work. It's wonderful to be late on my 1st working day. Called work, explained the situation, they seemed to say that everything is fine, nothing terrible. Started waiting for the next train. A guy approaches me, in Moscow I would say of Caucasian appearance, and suddenly asks: 'Did you come via Work and Travel? Are you from Ukraine?' I was even a little stunned – is it really written on my face that I came via W&T?) It turns out he lives on Long Island, and I turned out to look very much like his friend who previously went to America via W&T. He left me his phone number, email, home address and said that I should call at any time, and especially if something happens. Then he asked if I have a boyfriend. He struck out) We chatted a little more, and he said goodbye and left. I was once again surprised by my English skills) Usually, they tell the opposite story, that our students go to America and think they speak well, but in reality, it turns out they can't understand anything, let alone speak at first. For me, as always, everything is the opposite) But it's for the best) Waited for my train. While riding, I was frantically looking at the LIRR map that was depicted on the old ticket. I was very afraid to miss my station, even though I had to travel for about 1.5-2 hours. Apparently noticing my anxiety, a man sitting opposite gave me his convenient LIRR map, which also had a train schedule. I said thank you to him) He also showed me where I would need to transfer to get to Smithtown. These people) I've only been here for 2 days, but I think I won't stop being surprised by the people here, even by the end of the summer) Got off at the right station, asked how to make a transfer. It turned out to be simple - I just had to stand and wait for one train to leave and another to arrive) Having reached my destination, I found my cafe, which was right by the station, and went inside. Details of the first working day will be on the next page =)

НКНаталия Карпенкоmoscowmain_788129278804 · 29 de set. de 2012Ler

Morning. Woke up. Said goodbye to the girls. So sad. I'm alone again. That stupid fear started creeping in again. It's okay, I calmed down and went back to sleep. Woke up. I had to decide what to do about housing in the city where I was going to work, since I hadn't found any Couchsurfers in that area yet. They aren't responding, and I haven't decided on permanent housing yet. Also, I needed to buy an American SIM card. Why do I want a physical SIM and not just a phone with an eSIM? Because I want to use mobile internet, and a basic brick phone won't handle that. I told Greg about my problems, or rather my plans for the day. He practically took me by the hand to the store and helped me buy the SIM. I was just following him around like a puppy. No way, I'm not okay with that; I want to practice my English, not just run around with him nodding my head and occasionally inserting a few words. While we were out getting the SIM, Greg ran into an acquaintance on the street. While they were chatting, I didn't understand a thing) To be honest, I didn't really try to follow their conversation—I just didn't care about anything. In the evening, Gregory was planning to go to a hockey game; he loves it. He gave me a map and showed me where I could walk around near the place where he'd be at the game (and the Brooklyn Bridge is nearby, yeah)). He showed and explained everything, how to get there by subway (he was planning to bike there himself). But as expected, I got lost anyway) I got on at the wrong station, couldn't figure out where I needed to go, it was a nightmare))) I asked a nice woman how to get there, understood everything, and even arrived without any adventures) Got out of the subway and went to look for the bridge. Honestly, I didn't try very hard to find it) I was just walking the streets and enjoying myself. I still can't believe I'm in New York. But time was passing, and I was supposed to meet Greg soon. I got so carried away walking that I forgot about the bridge) I called Greg, explained where I was, and he said he'd be there soon) He arrived on his bike and took me to the bridge after all. It's a pity it had already gotten dark, and my camera doesn't take great photos in the dark... But whatever, I still took pictures of the views from the Brooklyn Bridge, and Gregory and I headed back. At home, Greg started helping me find housing on Long Island; or rather, he started digging through the internet and calling people himself. Oh, these kind people in America))) And finally, at least one response from a Couchsurfer on Long Island! A guy from the town of Stony Brook, which isn't too far from Smithtown where I'll be working, is ready to host me for the first couple of days!!)) WOOOHOOO, I have a place to stay for the first little while)))) Because in that remote area, there aren't even any hostels for the first few days, only hotels for at least $80/night. I'm not ready to shell out that kind of money for housing, although if that guy from Long Island hadn't written to me, I would have had to. Went to bed. Tomorrow morning I have to go straight to work with my suitcase, and after work, head to the Couchsurfer's. Ugh, I hope I get to work okay, don't get lost, and don't be late. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day.

UUSAblogi · 5 de out. de 2009Ler

They say if you really, really want something, the whole Universe will conspire to help you. Well, it's true. Despite all the difficulties, all the doubts, all the skeptical remarks from friends and family like "you won't find a job there," "oh, you found one? well, that means they definitely won't give you a visa, they don't give them to anyone...", "they gave it to you after all?? yeah right, you won't earn any money, you won't cover the program costs..."... well, you know how it goes... despite everything - we did it!! No, that's not it... WE DID IT!! That's more like it! YES, we got the visa. YES, we managed to find a job in Florida. YES, we spent the best summer in Miami. And, attention... YES, we covered the program costs! This is a story about how my friend and I spent two months on the other side, in a completely different world, unlike our own - in the USA... I'll be honest, I'll lay it all out as it is... anyway, as Will Smith sings: "WELCOME TO MIAMI! Bien venido a Miami!"