Queenians explore the Big Apple Debaters tell of sights of unforgettable trip
CHAT to the five Queenians who recently returned from an amazing trip to New York and they bubble over with enthusiasm about all they saw and did.
Qhawe Bula, Emilio Smith, Ndayeni Manzi, Lawrence Lwanga and Aphendulwe Ngqola and their teacher, Thobeka Sihlahla, won the all-expenses-paid jaunt of a lifetime for winning the SA Agency for Science and Technological Advancement debating competition and spent five days in the Big Apple.
Leaving from Johannesburg, they flew via Heathrow in London to J F Kennedy airport in New York, where they stayed in the Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan, opposite Central Park. On their first day they felt pretty exhausted, but could not sleep so they decided to wander round and see what they would like to explore more, such as Times Square and Central Park.
They were fascinated by the culture, the beauty of the women and found very few people they spoke to were actually from New York. They were taken aback by the fact that there were so many people minding their own business, so much traffic, so many pedestrians and yet one saw teachers with groups of children and families out and about at midnight. Also by the fact that the motorists and pedestrians were law-abiding, the streets and pavements were in good repair and clean, in spite of the huge numbers.
They soon discovered Starbucks and describe the beverages as ‘addictive’, but add that a cup of cap- puccino was the equivalent of R60! The realisation soon set in that they were not living the life of an average American teenager.
They were, however, most impressed by the fact that people seemed pleased to have a job – even if it was cleaning streets – and went about it cheerfully, politely and to the best of their ability. “The job satisfaction at all levels is very evident,” they say.
They visited the New York School of Performing Arts and learnt about the American education system, finding that they attend school in civvies, teachers are addressed by their first names and are much more inter-active with pupils. Schoolgoers in the States are encouraged to follow their dreams first and later settle down to study and start thinking about a profession.
Many of the teachers work part-time on nearby Broadway but the group came to the conclusion that they were insecure and not very happy and said, “It seems that the city sucks the life out of them.” However they made ‘friends for a lifetime’ and still speak daily on What’s App. This being Day 2, jetlag set in and although they tried to fight it off for fear of missing something, they eventually had to give in and go home for a nap.
They visited the Museum of Natural History which was ‘great fun’ and listened to talks on bisons and bears, saw life-sized anacondas and Komodo dragons, learnt about ichthyology and astrophysics then attended a 3D cinema where a serving of popcorn was almost the size of a bucket!
Their call on the museum had an unexpected, but very complimentary spin-off when a woman they know only as Valerie was so impressed by their good manners and behaviour that she offered them a VIP visit to the Rockefeller Centre – the second-tallest building in the city – which saved them $60 (about R720) each and they did not have to stand in line to get in! A feather in the cap of Queen’s, the boys and their teacher.
Another amazing visit was to The Dome (a kind of planetarium) and they also took a ferry ride to see the Statue of Liberty, Twin Towers memorial, Brooklyn Bridge, the United Nations buildings and the Yankee Stadium. They were impressed by a trip through one of the wealthiest parts of the city, where a servant earns $100 000 and found there are more millionaires in New York than there are people in Queenstown.
They spent their last afternoon quietly sitting in Central Park, watching people, soaking up the fact that they were actually there and letting the experience sink in. This introspection brought them to the conclusion that they would like to go back, maybe to study or work for a while, but South Africa would always be home. They found the city easy to navigate on foot or city bikes that one can hire on the street, because they are marked and numerical. “We were never afraid that we would get lost.”
And Thobeka Sihlahla, what does she have to say? “It was an eye-opening experience, one I never dreamed about, but I learnt that young people must make use of every opportunity. The friendliness, cleanliness and positive attitude of Americans towards their jobs struck me. The people are so pleased to have a job, it does not matter what it is.”
‘I learnt that young people must make use of
opportunities’