When I pull the curtain of window in bedroom, the white snow
has already covered the ground. It was the first snow of the season. We were
about to leave for a trip of 2700 miles all the way to New York from Illinois. That
was one of my dreams to travel all the way from Midwest to east coast. We left
the Carbondale at 6:45 in the morning and passed through the Marion seeing the first
car pooled off. As we move further east towards Indianapolis and then Cleveland,
we saw couple of wreck. Amazingly we had to fix our watch when we enter the Eastern
Time zone. We decided to stay in Ohio.
The other morning, weather was pretty and sky was blue and clear, it looks
cunningly beautiful. The Pennsylvania looks endlessly gorgeous with high and low
ridges, the terrain looks amazingly unevenly plethora, I felt that was the
most beautiful state I ever had visited in US. As we move into the New Jersey,
It was already 3:00 PM, the traffic looks restless, giving us the flashback of
New York, the headquarter of the world.
The New York looks amazingly beautiful at least in the
aesthetic beauty, perhaps the most diverse conglomerate of man kind. The big mansion,
the bridges, the crowded peoples didn’t lured and enticed me as it looks recklessly
and chaotically fanatic. The scenery from the bridges of New York looks so
hilarious and yields us to rethink about the superb civilization of human
beings.
From Hoboken New Jersey, We look at the spectacular view of
New York City. The other day we took a ferry to Staten Island, perhaps that is
the only free things you can expect in the city like NY. New York metros looks
so much complicated but I remembered the metro in Beijing in 2007 that looks
more horrible and crowded. However, traveling through the metros in the big
cities is not appealing as it should be, you will be always leaving the life of
uncertainty if you are not a day to day commuter. We saw the financial capital
of the world, Wall Street, one of the worst tragedy of human civilization, the bases
of demolished twin tower. The city looks very vibe with plethora of diversity
and for me, a chaos of uncertainty. The people will gather in the new year-eve
celebration in Manhattan.
The other day we went to Co-Co Key water resort in Mt.
Laurel, NJ and had one of the best experiences in the life. It was so much fun
as we pass through the tunnel. The
Queens looks like a typical Indian city like Banaras where you have to think
whether you are in US or not, the diversity in queens and the environment in
queens look very uneven than typical cities of the United States. Perhaps,
being the land of immigrants and home of hundred of countries, Queens
represents the unique perception in New York City. It could be interesting to analyze
the dynamics of heterogeneous society for sociologist and cultural
anthropologist but for me it was obstructively pathetic.
The day was New Year eve. We decided to go for Dance Party
at 42 Route 46 in Wayne, NJ. I was so lucky to win two T-Shirts. That was the
great time, the excitement for New Year, the seeds of thoughts, the emotions of
present, and the inspiration for the future.
Finally, on the day of New Year 2012, we decided to travel
to Atlantic City, the city of casino in the east coast in the beach of Atlantic
Ocean. It was really a big co-incident that Pit Bull was in the ocean city, the
very day. Atlantic City looks calm in winter but again the city of passion and
fashion lures us. Although, it was not a summer time, city looks uniquely
blended.
I was so disappointed to see the casinos for the first time
in my life, I saw how humans are mechanized in front of
those tiny machines seamlessly for endless hours , the passion and indulgent of
an addiction. I played in casino for the first time, surprisingly; I was not so
excited although I won the first game.
Seeing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time was an exhilarating
experience. The sand was cold; the wind was chilling but the passion to see the
ocean for the first time was euphoric and tranquilizing.
The houses in the beach looks awesome, absolutely peculiar
and the sounds that you can hear in the early morning shows the life is same 24
hours a day, the clock keeps on ticking seamlessly. Later we traveled back to
Queens and ate in Indian Restaurant, the food was great. The other day we came
back seeing the wonderful ridges of Pennsylvania, stayed again in Ohio, finally
we were back at Carbondale. I felt good
and excited, to see my home for a year. It was such a wonderful trip for me
traveling more than 2700 miles and seeing the natural beauty and the
civilization of eastern US.
The school started again, the chilling weather was on the
door-way. School makes the life exciting but busy. Amazingly I never realized
that I was in the middle of the semester and the spring break is already over.
The Tornadoes hit badly in Harrisburg, which was only 50 miles away from
Carbondale. I felt sorry for the loss; the Midwest is prone to this
catastrophic weather. We never know the other one might be coming anywhere. As
the temperature goes off and the spring shows up with beautiful buds and leaves
in the plant, I realized that life is moving faster than ever and happy to
enjoy the wonderful weather outside. The international cultural show 2012 was
memorable experience for me.
Finally I am expecting for the summers very soon as the odd
weather become terrible, killing 5 peoples in the Oklahoma Tornadoes; back in
Nepal, people have just celebrated New Year 2069 – giving not only the glimpse
of 12 hours ahead but a feelings of 57 years ahead!! – Happy new year to all of
us, the numerical illusion of 2012 to 2069!!