I’m really enjoying myself. I just walked across Broadway and am still impressed. First I sort of got lost in a Toys ‘R Us shop and afterwards I got a very big medium milkshake at the Mac. Then I was just walking around the chaos of people, cars, taxis and famous people. :-p

Of course I also went by the Virgin store, looking for interesting trance music. The offer was just huge. Now I’ll spend my last 6 minutes of internet and then I’m off to find some food somewhere.

Oh, even here!!! Sad supporters all dressed up in orange. :-) They are the typical fans of the Dutch football team. Their colors make them easy to recognize, and there are quite a lot, more that I would have expected.

YEEEEHESSSSS, I have arrived!!!!

And it is really COOL!!! I am in New York, on the 23rd floor of a very small but comfortable hotel… just below Central Park and nest to Times Square.

But first things first, the entire story from this morning. First I drove to Noordwijkerhout at a quarter to seven I believe… afterwards my father and mother brought me to the airport and made sure I passed the customs. After customs I was frisked twice and needed to fill in a long list of questions. All my bags were searched, and people expressed surprise at seeing the large amount of food I brought, but they let it pass.

I ended up inside the plane and spend quite some time listening to music I brought on my mp3 player. I arrived in New York half and hour early where I was questioned again and my bags were searched again. Still I was able to pass the checks quite fast and then I was in. :-D

In New York I took the subway to my hotel, and when I left the subway and made my way to the surface I was really surprised. Everywhere I looked I saw huge buildings, shops everywhere, yellow cabs everywhere… really nice and my hotel was right in the middle of it all :-p

The time here is 2 minutes past 4, so you can calculate the difference yourself. Internet is everywhere and right now I’m in an easyinternetcafe, that is located just next door to my hotel. Now I only need to get MSN running.

My phone is just as expected useless. I’m going to have to get a new one. Also I need to get some public transport card for a few days and of course a camera…

I am leaving… My passport is nearly expired, so I will probably have some issues, but I have good hopes that I will be in America this afternoon.

I hope I will not miss you guys that much, but in this day and age online access is available everywhere and the world is getting smaller and smaller, so keeping in contact should not pose any problem.

See you in 2 months :-)

Yes, everything arrived :-)

I received by ticket via email. Apparently only the bar code is important. I also have a voucher for a car and a voucher for my first two days in a hotel. Everything was arranged very fast thanks to Tioga Tours, a company that I found out about while reading forums about traveling to America on Fok!.

I’m looking forward to it!

Making a phone call in America is done in a different manner as in Holland. Why, I will probably never understand, but I do understand that only with a very expensive phone it is possible to make calls in both countries. My free Postbank mobile is useless in America, so I won’t be taking it with me.

My plan is that once I arrive in America I’ll go and find a cheap prepay phone and inform my family at home about the number.. maybe I’ll even post the number on this blog. The change anyone will abuse the number is small, because any international call will cost the caller a small fortune. :-p

Of course I’ll check my emails, at least if it’s send to the correct address. I’ll also try and post some of my adventures here online. There is no reason to panic, just be patient and for sure I’ll send some note in the next three months.

Just received my flight details..
Departure:
Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2004
From: Schiphol Arpt, Amsterdam Netherlands
To: John F Kennedy Intl, New York NY – U.S.
Departs: 11:00 AM Arrives: 1:10 PM
Return:
Date: Sunday, August 29, 2004
From: San Francisco Intl Arpt, San Francisco CA – U.S.
To: John F Kennedy Intl, New York NY – U.S.
Departs: 8:25 AM Arrives: 4:45 PM
and
Date: Sunday, August 29, 2004
From: John F Kennedy Intl, New York NY – U.S.
To: Schiphol Arpt, Amsterdam Netherlands
Departs: 6:25 PM Arrives: 8:00 AM Next Day

When I leave it will take me 2 hours and 10 minutes. Pretty good time, but when I return I will have to face a massive 20 hours and 55 minutes of flight time! Incredible!