It is been a week that I am back in Barcelona, still, I had to share some thoughts about my American experiences. I have talked to many people about the trip to NYC and it has been interesting to discuss the good and the bad sides of this vibrating place. Next saturday I am going to go back to Berlin, with “one crying and one laughing eye” to express it with a German saying. But first, here’s what’s left on my mind about New York.

It was too cold. I am sure to go back to New York some day, but it will definetely be in a less freezing moment. You cannot enjoy the hidden jewels of a city if the snooze drops like ice from your nose. When you, despite a thick woolen cap, cannot feel your ears.
We couldn’t walk around, we always needed a target. So probably we missed out many nice spots. The ones that were shown to me had a nice atmosphere of creativity and ideas, but also always of competition and ambition. Continue reading →

New York, they say, is one of the most liberal cities in the United States. Still, a lot of stuff is not allowed, either because the city’s administration introduced laws and reglementation (e.g. no smoking inside public buildings, no dancing without a proper license, etc) or because a lot of places are privately owned and the propietor does not want people to behave inadequately. But while e.g. UK-adminstrations or even those in California always stress the cooperative element in rules and orders (“thank you for your cooperation”) or have at least an educational approach (“we have to do this because of this”), in NYC sometimes all those signs transmitted an unfriendly or even suspicious mood to me.
I have a little collection of “No”-signs here, just to stress my observations. And if you do not agree with that perception of New York City life, feel free to discuss it here. Continue reading →