Day 21: The Day Dad Did the Running Man

Today we explored New York. Not the most interesting. We went to the new World Trade Center and 9/11 Memorial. They were very fancy and pretty. The subway in New York, was super dirty. Being in subway stations in Europe has spoiled me and raised my expectations. I was telling Dad, "New York is like a dirtier, taller Europe. No offense to all the New Yorkers reading this.

Anyway after wandering around, we went back to the hotel to announce the winners and have some drinks for happy hour. I love happy hour, cause I totally get wasted and raise the roof as the life of the party. Anyway, Zoe and Rainey won, for the 6th time. Kathryn and Eric got second, and Viviane and Sal got third. And I got a participation certificate and some merch, cause I'm just the coolest. After the drinking, we went to our last group dinner.

The dinner was at a super fancy pizza place. I sat next to Katheryn and Kim, across from Dad and Eric. When we got there, I had a great conversation with Katheryn about a bunch of stuff. Like safe words, and stuff that I shouldn't mention on this blog. Dad participated in the conversations too, and talked with Paula and Tom too. It was a super fun dinner. Kim also talked to me about how she graduated college at 18! Apparently her high school was super easy going and the students graded themselves. However this school is no longer opens. I wonder why. I loved being able to have a fun dinner with this awesome group. I've gotten a lot better at socializing with them and are more comfortable with them now, but now I have to go. Its bittersweet, because I will miss them but I also want to go home. After dinner we all said goodbye and started our walk back to the hotel.

On our walk to the hotel, we had a lot of fun. Dad did the running man whenever we crossed the street, because all the other street people light signs across seas is doing the running man. It was a bit embarrassing, but it was nice that he was having so much fun though. I'm really sad to say goodbye to these wonderful people I've met but happy to go home and see my family and dogs.


Memorial


High Line 

  World Trade Center

Comments

  1. Well, I thought you were joking about the drinks until I read "this school is no longer opens." JK. I want to see your mom do the running man in August. It's bittersweet for all of us, Emory. I am hopeful I get to follow your life arc for a long time, you are a fantastic young woman who has greatness written all over you! Tell your parents hi.

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  2. If Anita and Alan are reading this: Happy Cinco de Mayo. Please enjoy a Pappasito's fajita for me!

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  3. That Memorial photo is one of my favorite photos of the trip

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  4. story (1 of 2)

    when we arrived state-side, i finally connected with the family. i want to memorialize one particular story so we can read it decades later like a stone tablet on the interwebs.

    while we're gone, sydney goes to feed the dogs. sylvi is our 15 pound, black, barky, snaggle-toothed terrier street dog. she has three neurons: bark, lick, and pee. that's it. they just alternate firing in random sequence.

    sydney sees that sylvi is shaking her head, like she's tearing at something with her mouth, then she sees what looks to be like a little bug scurry off under the kitchen counter. sylvi turns around with her snaggle tooth, tail wagging. sydney thinks, "well that was weird," and goes to put food in sylvi's bowl. she spots what looks to be a small snake, writhing furiously by the bowl, screams, and jumps up on the sofa table behind the couch, feet clutched up to her chest.

    cooper comes running down from upstairs, "what's going on?" cooper is like the first responder in horror movies - oblivious, well-meaning, and always the first to go. sydney squeaks something about a bug and a snake, points to the ground around sylvi, wagging her tail. cooper sees the writhing snake out of the corner of his eye, screams, and jumps on top of the same table, legs clutched to his chest. at this point, it's clear that the mel gibson braveheart genes do not run strong in the ying family.

    they yell for mommy. two kids screaming unintelligibly... snakes, bugs, nothing making sense. she scurries downstairs, they're pointing everywhere, sylvi thinks this is a big game, hopping around licking and barking, benjy is laying in the corner wondering what he did to deserve being adopted by this family.




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  5. story (2 of 2)

    sydney throws her phone to anita, to use the flashlight to investigate the creature, now assuredly a possum-sized tarantula, and the wriggling thing, now assuredly an "anaconda" movie-sized snake. there's literally nothing that bothers anita. nothing. except snakes. like neon orange rubber snakes in toy stores means she has to leave the store.

    it is at this moment, for the first time in 21 yrs of marriage, that she actually needs me. not because i can do anything useful, but if someone's going to die, i should die first. i'm not there, so she steps around the kitchen like the floor is made out of paper thin ice on a frozen lake and she could fall through at any moment. the kids are whimpering. the flashlight is whipping about on her fully extended arm, like a laser that will burn up anything in its path.

    she finds the creature underneath the kitchen table, writhing about. it is not the size of a possum. it is a little gecko lizard thing. it's obviously in its death throes, not looking healthy. she quickly surmises - because she's a doctor - that it's injured, and not long for this world, because it looks like it's missing half it's body. mostly, she confirms that it is not godzilla and therefore not an immediate threat.

    mama instincts kick in and she girds up to investigate the snake. for anita, going to look for a snake is the equivalent of those heroic "that's incredible" videos from the 80s where some mother lifts a car off her baby. she scans where the kids are pointing frantically, and sees the squirmer.

    it's like... what... a... worm? what is that thing? she approaches to find that it is... the tail of the lizard. sylvi had playfully ripped apart a lizard that she found outside, brought it inside, and threw it around her food dish.

    this calmed the adrenaline-fueled flight or fight instinct. however, the distasteful task of removing this from the house was yet to be handled. at this moment was the second time in our 21 year marriage that anita felt like she needed me, and the millionth time that she cursed me.

    she went and found a dustpan with a telescoping handle (who buys these off of amazon, you ask? anita!), and a broom, equipped in oven mitts and apron, and agonizingly removed the body parts like an inexperienced haz mat worker cleaning up chernobyl residue.

    this has nothing to do with the trip except that i heard the story on the last day. and because it made me even happier to come home.

    my friends ask me if we won, and i tell them yes, both for the experiences we had together and apart. on this scavenger hunt, we won a dozen stories that we'll tell at emory's wedding, and ONE story that we'll tell at cooper's and sydney's weddings. thanks for reading, until next time :)

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    Replies
    1. I can see where Emory got her blogging talent from. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading these all!!

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  6. I love your description f Nee York. Exactly. Our airports are the dirty “bus stop” version as well...

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