On Liberty

So as you can see, I took a trip today (Saturday) to Liberty Island and to Ellis Island, to view the statue and the Immigration museum there. Photos, as ever, are displayed below. I had been on the cruise before, when I was here three years ago, but I didn't set foot on Liberty Island then, stopping only at the Immigration Museum, of which more in a moment.

Before that, I rounded off the week by paying my tuition, signing up for the college gym, and looking for a job on campus, before taking the departmental language test on Friday morning. I did pretty well - placed in 5th year Japanese class, as I aimed to do - but because of scheduling conflicts I won't be able to take any language classes. I don't think my professors are unduly bothered by this, but I will have to make an effort to keep my spoken J-go up to scratch.

Friday night, went for a drink with Juliet, a British girl in the Columbia Business school I met on Tuesday, then went downtown with a view to having a few drinks outside of Morningside Heights. Treated myself to an overpriced beer or two and came home - the 10,000 yen nights of Sendai are thing of the past now, sadly.

Anyway, today I took the abovementioned ISSO tour, and enjoyed it thoroughly. It was a beautiful day, and as you can see a good one for taking pictures of 自由の女神 as the Japanese call her. Although you can't go into the statue itself as once you could, you can (amidst very, very tight security - I'm talking metal detectors and x-rays and everything) go up into the pedestal, and view the inside of the structure. It's a triumph of engineering, ahead of its time in so many ways and vastly impressive even today.

Spoiled somewhat by the wasteland of tat that surrounds it, viz. the inevitably tacky gift shop and the appallingly overpriced, nutritionally barren crud that passes for food in the alleged "refreshments" area...but then I suppose that's a captive market for you.

The boat ferrying us around the bay next stopped at Ellis Island. I'll admit that it's not high on most visitors to the Big Apple's list of must-sees, but I would strongly recommend it if you ever happen to be in town. It's a fascinating depiction of how New York essentially came to be the place it is today, still more so the United States as a whole. Formerly the staging post for inspection of all immigrants to the US, it's now a magnificently restored museum telling the story of the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free".

And the story was told by a rather remarkable man, Ranger Dan Milner of the US Parks service, which is responsible for the maintenance of both Ellis and Liberty Island. A lively, 61-year old man with a bushy moustache and a real talent for storytelling, Ranger Dan brought the history of the island, from its formation 50,000 years ago to its closure after the change in US immigration policy in the 1920s and beyond, right to life before our eyes. He knew his stuff and was clearly passionate about the museum and everything it had to relate, clearly relishing the chance to perform for his audience. A shame, then, that we caught him on his last day - the last group before retirement. I spoke to him later and learned that he plans to finish a degree in Geography at Hunter University - he needs 17 more credits to graduate. Quite a fella.

It was a fine day out. There's some remarkable things in this country, and I'm only scratching the surface.