Sunset at the Park

People come from everywhere
To watch sunset at the Park
Big green lawn in the middle
Surrounded by tall concrete buildings
The beauty of the calmness is right there
If you watch sunset at the Park

A guy’s reading his big book
A guy’s sketching and drawing
A guy’s walking around the lawn
A black plastic bag he is carrying

No one knows what this guy thinks
Why he’s starring at this pretty lady
No one cares what’s been going
As long as they enjoy and happy

Shakespeare in the Park: A Midsummer Night's Dream

I have been living in New York since 2001, meaning five summers have passed. My desire of seeing Shakespeare in the Park has been decreased every year due to the difficulty of getting tickets. However, this dream has been fulfilled. Thanks to my friend, she and her friend were patiently waiting in line for these free tickets. We missed the Romeo and Juliet last time; therefore, my friend swore that this time she wouldn’t miss the second show—A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Looking at the pouring rain outside my windows, I was wondering if my friend would like to cancel and call it a night. I called her up. She insisted on going to see the show. Three of them were already waiting in front of the Delacorte Theatre. I was just the follower following their order. It was drizzling when I entered Central Park. Briskly walking, I stopped to catch my breath under the bridge. There was a man running behind me and stopped next to me. I could see water spot on his blue shirt. He must have walked in the rain for somewhat several minutes. I thought, “What the heck does he think? Walking out of the office without an umbrella when you wholeheartedly knew it was going to be raining.” Playing a nice girl, I was asking him with no knowledge of where he headed. “Would you like to go together?” I said. He was looking at me surprisingly and then replied with a smile on his face. “Oh, thank you very much. I am heading to the theater. Are you going that way too?” I, again, thought to myself, “Nah, that isn’t my destination. I just happen to love walking in the park when it rains. GDI. Of course, I am going to the theater too.” Well. I replied, “Yes. I am.”

We had small talk. I told him that I was very upset and mad at my friends. If it wasn’t for my friend’s sake, I would go home and stay in my cozy blanket. He also told me that his friends already there and waiting for him. Neither of us knew the direction to the theater. Therefore, we had to stop and looked for the sign. He was kind of following my lead even though he was the one who carried the umbrella. He worriedly asked, “Are you getting wet?” as it was his fault to force me to share the umbrella with him. I replied, “Don’t worry, I am already wet.”

We half walked half ran. At one point he was asking for my name. I thought he tried to be polite. I told him my name, on the other hand, I didn’t ask for his name since I didn’t see the point of knowing it. We were just pedestrian and I am too nice to let poor guy getting wet. Finally we reached our destination. I dropped him off where his friends were standing. I didn’t even recall if he thanked me or not. Honestly, I didn’t care. I hurriedly looked for my friends. They were on the other side of the theatre.

Starring at pouring rain, we were patiently waiting. They let us in around 8:30 and the show started around 8:45. I was impressed by the crowd. The seated were almost filled up even though it was heavily raining couple hours before the show started. The light and sound were great considering it was an outdoor play. Luckily, I read the story’s synopsis. Otherwise I would get lost in between the show. My English had become terrible that night. My friend’s boyfriend wasn’t pleased by the acting. His reason was that he has seen the different version which made him cry. People could interpret Shakespeare’s masterpiece into thousands different ways. No one is right or wrong. This production is very funny especially at the end when lower-class laborers performed a crude play in front of Theseus’ wedding. I was laughing very hard and momentarily forgot that I was shivering because of the cold weather.

Sorry people, taking photo are strictly prohibited.
Seriously, I think I could return home now. I have done almost everything here…

Seven Days in New York

Bottles of wine and the city of time
Lovely smile and a moment of prime.
Living a life of uncertainty
Seeing the world of foreign
Cigarette pack for share

I admire you for what you are
Distance and time are relative
So short the time we get to meet.
I am carefree and proud
Don’t you know me, don’t you know me by now.

composed by Dao

Mad World

Surely, New Yorkers are faced with the mess of the subway train one way or another, especially today when it was pouring in the early morning. I knew the commuting would be a disaster. However, after you read my story, you might find yourself amusingly smiling.

Normally, I go to work by taking the 7 train and then transfer to the F train at Roosevelt Avenue station. But today there was no F train running from Queens to Manhattan. Therefore, my plan was to take the 7 train to the opposite direction and transfer to the N train. I couldn’t get into the first 7 train when it arrived at the platform because it was so crazily packed. I waited until the next train came. I finally managed to get into the train. However, my skirt was stuck between the doors. This Chinese lady was kind enough to continually pull my skirt out of the doors. My back was leaning against the doors. I was standing next to an old guy. In front of me was a guy wearing a hospital gown, so I guess he might be a doctor or work in the hospital. Anyway, it was mucky and muddy. I was sweating and so were people in the train. You get the picture how nasty it was, right?

The local train was running slowly. It was jam-packed. No one got in or out. Millions of people were waiting at the small platform looking at passengers in the train. I bet they would like to scream at us because we were so lucky finding the spot in this overcrowded train. The train stopped, there was one guy getting out of the train. Unfortunately, I was blocking his way. So I stepped out of the train to let him out. I was going to get back inside the train. But the doors were instantly closed in front of me. “Damn,” I said. People at the platform were sympathetically smiling, some were laughing. I could sense that they felt sorry for me. On the other hand, they felt good to have one more person joining their could-not-get-into-the-train club. It certainly was that stupid guy’s fault. It was not my day at all.

Oh well. I couldn’t believe what I saw when I was looking at the passengers. They were shocked and upset, especially that Chinese lady. She was like, “Oh no! You better let her back in. She is one of us. She belongs to be with us in the train, not standing outside.” That old guy was like the same, looking at me like, “Hey, you don’t deserve this. You shouldn’t be left outside like that.” Other passengers who saw this incident had this-world-is-unfair look!

I took a deep breath, optimistically thinking that there was always the next train right behind this one. Suddenly, God has ears, the train doors were partially open. Unluckily, I couldn’t get in. But you’ve got to see all these passengers’ face. They were like, “Come on, girl. You have to get back in.” They were being supportive. The doors were opened again. And this time I was able to get in by the help of the passenger. They were literally grabbed my arm, dragged me in and made sure that I was inside the train completely. It was not that easy. My bag was stuck in between the doors. The conductor was announcing, “Get your (fucking) bag inside the train right now! Otherwise the train has to stop running.” I was like, “So, open your (fucking) doors!” The doors were opened once again. With the help of the old guy standing next to me, I got my bag in. The passengers were giving me the winning smiles and perhaps if they had spoken to me, the conversation would have been like, “Alright girl. You made it. Welcome back!” I also could hear the sound of an applaud as the background. I felt like I was a movie star when she fought and did win a difficult task.

Come on, people. Isn’t it a lovely story happened in a chaotic moment? I could see you smile.