When you’re in New York you quickly realize that the buildings there are so tall that you can’t see the buildings behind them. Unless of course you go a few stories up to get a better view. That’s why we decided to go on the Top of the Rock (at Rockefeller Center). I was really looking forward to taking in a whole new perspective of the skyline, but unfortunately we got caught by surprise by fog that came over from a wildfire in Canada. So what else could we do other than take awkward tourist photos? As you can see by the pictures below it took several attempts of taking a picture with the Empire State Building between us until we got a somewhat acceptable result.
After that we decided to wait until sunset to see the lights of the city turn on. During that time, we naturally played the card game we’ve been playing a bunch in the few breaks we got from exploring the city. After approximately one hour it got darker and the lights slowly but surely turned on. And it was so worth it!
Now we could go back down with a good feeling and we decided to finish the day off at a bar. At this point, we had already visited some bars, even with the people who were not 21 years old yet. This was possible because there are a lot of bars where 18+ year old people can enter without getting served drinks (like the Karaoke bar in Milledgeville, which you will hopefully hear from in the other blog posts). With this in mind, we made our way to a bar where we wanted to meet up with Linus and his friend. Unfortunately, that bar was stricter and the bouncer didn’t let us in.
But we didn’t let this ruin our night! We went to the supermarket, got some groceries and let the evening wind down at our Airbnb. This was actually a really nice change from the loud city that never sleeps. No music, no noise, just conversation and laughter. Especially Onur shared some funny and interesting stories. Looking back I think this was an evening where we really grew together as a group and it’s one of my favorite memories from the trip. These moments that weren’t planned stood out the most to me. Central Park is another good example. It was so hot and we were all exhausted. Then we saw some swings, joked about swinging and then actually went for it. That was so fun because it had probably been 10 years since I did it the last time and for a second I felt like a child again.
Then another time we (Leon) wanted to see some battleship. On our way there, we spotted a group dancing tango on the street. Obviously, we had to join. I was shocked that I apparently unlearned everything they had taught me in our school dance course. Watching the video back, Kirsten definitely dominated our group. Still, it was fun for all of us and I’m glad we did it! Overall, this just shows that some things you cannot plan. You just have to walk through life open-minded and with your eyes open.
Eventually, we had to say goodbye to New York and flew to Atlanta. Luckily, our flight arrived with only a 2-hour delay, unlike Onur’s and Linus’s flights, which were both cancelled.
On our way to the Airbnb, we got greeted by this self-driving delivery robot. I found this so fascinating because it perfectly reflects the mindset of the United States. From my point of view, they are so far behind in some aspects but then so far ahead and innovative in other aspects. In Germany, I could never imagine such a robot actually leaving a training lab. What would happen if it causes an accident? But in the USA they just try it out, because why not?
Then on the next day, Kirsten and Emma got up early to keep the Strava streak alive and get some breakfast on the way. I then made some questionable eggs with Malya’s instructions on how to cook them in the pan without any oil. Afterwards, we went straight to the Coca-Cola Museum. For those of you who don’t know, Coca-Cola is actually from Atlanta. As an enthusiastic Coca-Cola drinker, I couldn’t miss it. For the first time ever, I actually listened to the things a museum guide said. I learned about the beginnings of the company, about their secret formula and about all the different brands that they own. Did you know they own Powerade and Fuze Tea and that they hold big shares in Monster Energy?
Another highlight of the museum was the all you can drink test section. Or so I thought… We all drank so much in such a short time that we couldn’t drink another soft drink for approximately 2 days. And trust me it was hard to find something other to drink in the US. Nevertheless, it was pretty cool tasting all the different flavors, since they differ depending on the country where it is sold. My personal favorite was Fanta Apple Kiwi from Thailand.
The very last stop was the Vault of the Secret Formula. To be fair, it was the tourist version. Nevertheless, I found it quite interesting to learn about the story behind the formula. For instance, Coca-Cola once tried changing it but went back to the old one after only three months because of the public backlash. To top the visit off, we got to see all the vintage advertisements and merch, which I really enjoyed. That’s probably also the reason why I walked out with a T-shirt with the Coca-Cola polar bear on it.
Overall, I think the time we spent in New York and Atlanta before the actual seminar in Milledgeville started helped me a lot in getting comfortable with everyone. Before the trip, I never imagined we would get along so well as a group. Sharing an Airbnb is probably not the usual way to get to know new people, but for us it worked really well. The cool things we did every day also made us bond quickly, which helped during our work week later, since no one was afraid to speak their mind.
