New York!

After a very short holiday week in the end of August, I finally came to New York. I just arrived a couple of days ago so, between the jet lag and the shock of really being here, I'm feeling like I'm permanently hangover.

And it all started with an amazingly lucky story. For the ones who already know me, they would say that this is just one of my typical stories. In fact, similar things have happened many many times. And always with the same good outcome. Here's what happened:
- Arrived at JFK
- Took out the big A4 envelope with all my documents (passport, etc) to present at the Homeland Security desk
- In this envelope, I also had all my money for the next 4 months.
- Gave passport, visa, I-20, etc to the Homeland guy
- Everything was fine, so I went to pick up my luggage
- Went out, got a taxi, checked backpack for a map
- Noticed that big A4 envelope was missing... with the money in it!
- Yelled at the driver: "GO BACK!!!"
- Entered the airport running like crazy.
- Talked to the first police man "Hey! I need to get back in there! I left some papers at the Homeland desk!"
- Acknowledged that I had to find an airline (KLM) agent to escort me back in
- Tried to find a KLM agent. No one was there.
- Went to the information desk and said "Do something! Find me someone from KLM!"
- Got into ultimate desperate mode and started running everywhere, asking everyone to make a call, use the radio, etc... and get a KLM agent
- Almost losing hope, a girl comes in and asks "Can I help you?"
- Explained the story, she made 10 phone calls. No one could help her. WTF?!?
- Another guy comes in. "Hey, can you help this gentleman here?", she asked. "Sure!"
- The guy went back in
- After 5 minutes, he arrived with the big A4 envelope... and my money. 2 hours have gone by between losing it, and getting it back
- Gave him the biggest tip in my life.
- Went home, slept thinking "Shit! I'm really lucky!"

So, now it's business school time. Yesterday we (exchange people) had the orientation day, to go through the basic stuff and to configure our laptops. Today I had my first class (Advertising & Integrated Communications) and, although the subject is really interesting, the professor was not that good. I will probably drop this one. Later on, during the evening, I had my second class. Strategic Management of Media. And this one rocked! The subject is fantastic and the professor (Bruce Greenwald) is really good. Same quality level as Duncan Simester (my favourite professor at LBS... invited from MIT).

Here are some random thoughts about my New York / CBS experience so far:

- Cars: they're huge!!! Everyone drives an SUV or a car with a big trunk! It would be funny to see a Smart or a Yaris in here...

- The flag: it's everywhere. Every other building has an american flag. The underground trains have flags. Some buses too. These guys love their flag! :-)

- Clothes: Oversize is king. I've never seen so many people (guys, mostlly) wearing oversized t-shirts and baggy BAGGY pants. Man, I thought that was a 90s thing! And what about those nets these guys wear in their heads???? Funny stuff.

- Campus: it's a fantastic campus! My first thought when I saw it was how great it would have been doing my undergrad here. Big buildings, lots of people, nice green areas, I love the place. There's a Barnes&Noble bookstore on-campus with LOADS of school merchandising. Here's something for LBS to learn.

- School: Business School looks cool. Apparently, the main lobby went through some refurbishment works during the Summer. And it looks great. However, classrooms are not that great. Leg space is not enough for me ;-) and facilities / equipment is not as good as LBS. The room where I had the morning class even had a chalk board! Looks like primary school. I saw some better rooms, but it seems most are like the morning one. LBS is way better in this subject. Having said that, the campus completely compensates for these 'not-so-good' rooms. One curious thing is that, just like my friend Miss N, I still haven't figured out the logic behind the room numbers... Oh! Another important thing!! There's a CBS version of Sundowners! It's called Happy Hour and it's also on Thursdays. I don't know if I would survive my Thursdays without free drinks :-)

- New York: what can I say? I've only been to a few places but... what a city! It's very hard to describe how it feels to see New York for the first time. It's so... big, colourful, busy, cool... it's like being in a movie. And the fact that it is much cheaper than London also helps.

That's all for now. I will try to blog more frequently. About New York. And Columbia, of course. But more about New York ;-)

PS: Coming here was a great opportunity to go back to my favourite hobby: photography. If you guys know any hidden treasures and/or cool spots for taking some shots, please let me know!