The Random Connection City – an introduction to the people I’ve met here
Sunday, August 22, 2004
If you’re going to live in NYC, it seems that you have to be fluid with meeting just about anyone.
Over the past week, i have been meeting and greeting with people that I would normally consider strangers, but when you’re in this city, suddenly, you’re considered friends. It’s a great thing! It’s strange because my normally shy/hesitant nature about meeting new people has to be crushed and replaced with a strong, confident person who can go out and meet people without fear of rejection or judgment. I think the people i’ve met so far have really been instrumental in helping that side come out.
On the first day here, i met Becky - an teacher who goes to Bank Street College. She’s great! Not only did she show me around the block to all the useful locations and great cafes, she took me out with her and her friends to a concert and has continued to invite me to events. Her friend group consists of people that she met from various random circles - people she met on at concerts, school, online dating, through friends, etc. She is so friendly and open with all she meets that it’s easy to see why she can make friends with almost anyone. She mentioned that you’ll see people that you haven’t seen for years from all walks of life pop up in the subways. And you know what? It’s totally true! The day after she said that, I saw Michelle N. (Doug’s sister) in the subway going uptown! I didn’t even believe it was her! I dumbly stared and that was it. I heard later that she was up visiting Derek in the Bronx.
Then Grace, the girlfriend of Keith, Max’s cow-orker, came out to NY to visit for a week (she came out the same day that i did). She is incredibly connected here! She invited me to go out with all her friends one Tuesday night to Lombardi’s Pizza. I met all of her friends, including a bunch of people who just moved to the area like Mellanie and Joe. Mellanie just got a job working for the city in the department of budgeting or something like that and Joe is a stats/finance grad student at NYU. Joe is also one of Slim’s good friends and previous roommate. And if you don’t know who Slim is, he’s another one of Max’s cow-orkers and good friends of Keith and Grace mentioned above. There were more people at dinner, but i don’t know as much about them except that they were all up in the Bay Area like Stanford or Berkeley.
Through Mellanie, I went to a Bible study that is based out of a big church out here called Redeemer. I haven’t been there yet, but everyone says it’s great. So at the Bible study, i meet Hai-Yun (sp?) and a bunch of guys that sound like the apostles altogether (John, Paul, Mark, Neil, Jim, and Kevin).
On Sabbath, I went to Advent Hope, the SDA church out here. Brian L. picked me up in his car (a CAR!!) and drove me to church. It’s a good thing too because it started pouring like crazy after church. Through him, I met a whole bunch of great people. The ones that stick out in my mind right now are the ones that I ate potluck with: Nathan, Erica & Jeremy, and Jennifer. Apparently Erica is related to Laura in Nebraska through Patty C. Strange how small the world is. But it gets even smaller. Later that night, Brian, Maile, Young Joo and I met up with Erica & Jeremy for gelato. There was another couple with them: Dana and George. Dana looked SO familiar! We eyed each other for a little bit and finally she asked if any of us had gone to LLA. That’s when we realized the connection. It turns out that Dana was on my yearbook staff the year I was editor. Man, I’m losing my memory already!
Today, I went to Times Square Church with Joe and met up with his friends Jen or Jin (I couldn’t quite tell) and Norm. Norm is also going to NYU for business school. Jen is in school for music theory.
My conclusion is that NYC is basically a city of motley crews gathered from the four corners of the earth. It’s been fun, but I’m getting sort of worn out meeting all these new people. I have faith, though, that God is leading me to the people and spiritual allies who I need to meet. So for this has been an adventure, and I can’t wait to meet the people in my program! I just hope I can keep up the energy.
I have relatives in New York?
Posted by on 09/07 at 02:58 PM