|
|
Visiting, as a tourist, for a few months instead of the usual five or seven days is a wonderful way to get to know a big city. I had planned such a prolonged visit to New York for a while and the 2008 pre- and post-election period seemed the perfect time for it. I was hoping to avoid the cliché about the ‘historic election’ but it was clearly going to be an exciting time and I wanted to experience the last push before polling day as well as the immediate period after the results were out.
My time in New York was preceded by two peaceful weeks in Maine, or as peaceful as watching television coverage of the Republican Party Convention can be. A comedian on BBC America explained the difference between the two cultures: America is full of people who say to you, ‘have a nice day,’ and then shoot you in the head, whereas in Britain nobody wants you to have a nice day but then they don’t shoot you either. Fortunately, the Americans that I came across were atypical, at least in this respect. All in all, my visit turned out to be even more rewarding than I had hoped.
This real-time diary includes political musings as well as anecdotes of chance and not so chance meetings in the city. According to the writer John Pope-Hennessey, diaries are of no value unless they express personal opinions, feelings and gossip. I am low on gossip but hope that you will not be disappointed regardless.
|
|