Posts Tagged ‘NYC’

10 days into 2012, and already, New Year’s Eve feels like a long time ago. These first 10 days of the year are probably rather indicative of what the rest of year will shape to be: a year full of surprises, changes, personal challenges that will require me to find my inner balance. In the past 18 months or so, I’ve always thought back to my life in Cameroon for perspective and some zen when things get a little out of control in the “real life”. As that experience fades a little more into memory each day, I am in need of some other forms of perspective.

A good friend dragged me to yoga this past week as I was struggling to find inner peace. I’ve practiced yoga on and off for many years now, but have resorted to audio and video recordings ever since I moved to Cameroon. I haven’t attended a studio class in well over three years. Yoga in a place like New York city is more of a fad than actual practice. The studios often charge an arm and a leg for classes that I often cannot afford.

As such, when I learned about Yoga to the People, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a donation-based studio scatter across NYC. Unfortunately a location doesn’t exist in the Upper West Side. I love this studio because every time you go, the energy and dynamic is entirely different, depending on the personalities that are in your class. It may sound strange, and although no one speaks except for the teacher, the energy in the room is different each time. The classes that I’ve attended are Power Vinyasa, so a pretty good work out on top of some much needed zen.

I know they tell you to leave you thoughts at the door as you begin your practice, but today, I had so much on my mind that my thoughts followed me into the studio. Strangely, while I was contorted on my mat, and then flowed into my downward-facing-dog, a sense of clarity glossed over my confused thoughts. Who knew?

Life is about to pick up speed again here in a few days. I am hoping this will be a good excuse to get me out of my Columbia bubble and allow me to find peace among chaos of life.

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Holiday Season in NYC!

Merry Christmas!! Finally had time to take in the holiday season after weeks of finals projects, papers and exams. I didn’t get to enjoy as much of the Christmas spirit this year, but I still sneak in some pretty nice moments around the City. A trick for all: walking around New York City while listening to Christmas music on your iPod gives this surreal movie-like feeling!

This IS the most wonderful time of the year. Despite the commercialism of it all, I really love it! New York City is especially magical during the season. Hope everyone is able to find a piece of this magic wherever you are and can be with loved ones today!

Christmas lights at Columbia

Christmas Shopping Frenzy

Rockefeller Center

Macy's fancy display

Christmas Market at Bryant Park

Ice Skating at Bryant Park

Didn’t actually go skating, but it looked like a lot of fun! Walked by it on a random Tuesday night and it was pretty happening!

Nutcracker @ Lincoln Center

After my last final, I unwind with a showing of the Nutcracker at Lincoln Center! It was every bit as amazing as I remembered. I think I was just as excited as the 5-year-old girl sitting near me! Oldie but a goodie, never gets old!

Columbus Circle

lights inside of Columbus Circle

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School of International and Public Affairs

Happy Halloween! Somehow, November is upon us, the first snow of the year came and went, yet I had not written much about my time thus far at Columbia SIPA. Life has been busy, but in a positive and fulfilling way. Columbia is a magical place. I feel myself growing all the time. Everything I thought I wanted out of life and career changes constantly as I become inspired by a speaker, a conversation with professors/fellow students, or an intriguing lecture. People say you need to come to graduate school with a clear career purpose and direction. That makes sense, to a degree. I knew exactly what I wanted, or so I thought. The soul-searching is incredibly confusing and scary, but better now at 25 than 30 dull years of being an office monkey later and then experience some severe form of mid-life crisis.Tho perhaps this process never ends, but I am learning that it’s not a bad thing to learn about oneself.

Columbia Quad - my happy place

Anyway, all that to say that it has been an exciting few months at Columbia SIPA. This place is everything I had expected and more. I am being challenged in ways beyond my wildest imagination. Beyond academics, I find myself asking very big questions about life, global poverty, financial crisis, and more. When you have a diverse student body where people are interested in subjects ranging from energy, to development, to international finance, to security policy, conversation with your peers keep your mind constantly active and thinking of problems from different angles.

Butler Library - oldest library on campus, but one of many. Never need to worry about not getting a seat.

While academics is an important part of SIPA, and its wide range of course offerings helps tailor one’s graduate education to his/her interest, I find that the most valuable aspect of being at Columbia is the experience. It’s the diverse student body that I described, the array of career panels that help you learn more about what xyz actually does, the fact you can decide at 5:30pm that you will spend your evening listening to Jeffrey Sachs, the President from xyz country, or the UN representative speaking about one important issue or another, and the array of activities that are constantly happening not only at SIPA, but on the Columbia campus as a whole. In the end, academics constitute only a fraction of your SIPA experience, and taking advantage of all that Columbia has to offer, and cultivating this network of amazing student body will serve you well into the future.

Some highlights of Columbia SIPA happenings thus far:

• During the 2nd week of classes, my concentration (International Finance and Economic Policy) took us to a campsite two hours outside of the city for a little bonding experience. I got to meet a lot of cool 2nd year students. The downside of being a dual degree student is you get caught in a weird limbo between being new, but also a 2nd year.

• SIPA Student Association (SIPASA) throws many good parties, and the boat cruise along the Hudson is one such event.

• One day, randomly, a market appeared at the Columbia Quad.

• My love for Africa has not died and I joined SPAN (SIPA Pan-Africa Network). They hosted Taste of Africa during the first week of classes for students to try out different dishes from the continent. To create the atmosphere, African music was played; when P-square came on, I felt at home. Just a little plug for SPAN, we are hosting the African Diplomatic Forum open to all, so if you are in the NYC area, come join us for this exciting event!

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This afternoon, on my way home from Trader Joe’s, a strange vintage train approached the 2/3 train platform. I was confused, but people were getting on, so I joined as well. Turns out it’s a train HBO is running on weekends to promote Boardwalk Empire. That is some serious marketing strategy. I know nothing about the show nor how it relates to vintage NYC train, but now I sure want to google and find out. Whomever came up with this idea is pretty genius!

It was cool to be able to ride in an old train and imagine what life is like back then. I am a sucker for historical things, and being able to experience it makes it that much more exciting than seeing it in the museum!

let's hope there won't be any emergencies on this train

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